Grade 3, $100,000 Peter Pan Stakes, 1 1/8 miles, Saratoga, July 16, 2020
(50 Derby qualifying points for a win, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)
Winner: Country Grammer, by Tonalist
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
Owner: Paul Pompa Jr.
Beyer Speed Figure: 95
Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes, 1 1/8 miles, Monmouth Park, July 18, 2020
(100 Derby qualifying points for a win, 40 for second, 20 for third, 10 for fourth)
Winner: Authentic, by Into Mischief
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Mike Smith
Owner: Spendthrift Farm, My Racehorse, Madaket Stable, and Starlight Racing
Beyer Speed Figure: 100
Authentic accomplished what he needed to accomplish on Saturday, earning his first Grade 1 victory in the $1 million Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, and succeeding at 1 1/8 miles.
But the performance continued to leave doubt as to his ability to go farther, the nagging concern that has followed him throughout the year as he has progressed towards the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 and its 1 1/4-mile distance that looks like it will be a big hurdle.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Heather Smullen had not sat on the back of Tiz the Law for about three months. It took less than a minute for her to realize how much the 3-year-old colt has changed in a short period of time.
Smullen guided Tiz the Law through a five-furlong workout in 59.63 seconds on Saturday morning over Saratoga’s main track. Working by himself, Tiz the Law went in fractions of 12.80, 24.41, 35.63, and got his final quarter in 24.00. He then proceeded to gallop out six furlongs in 1:12.84 and seven furlongs 1:26.20.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Country Grammer rallied along the rail to defeat Caracaro by a neck to capture the $100,000 Peter Pan in front of a silent, empty grandstand on what winning trainer Chad Brown called a “bittersweet day” Thursday at Saratoga.
The Grade 3 Peter Pan highlighted opening day of the 40-day Saratoga meeting that at the moment, and perhaps for the duration, will be run spectator-free.
Bob Baffert has won the Kentucky Derby five times, and the Haskell Invitational a record eight times. American Pharoah, the 2015 Triple Crown winner, and War Emblem are the only two of his who have won both. Authentic will be the latest to give it a try, but the first to do so in reverse order from the norm, which is becoming the norm in this abnormal year.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Seven new names are among the 22 separately listed interests in Pool 6 of the 2020 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday at noon Eastern.
Pool 6 coincides with a second futures pool toward the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, with an Oaks-Derby double future wager also being offered again.
Tiz the Law, winner of the June 20 Belmont Stakes, is listed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite in Pool 6, followed by Art Collector at 9-2 and Honor A. P. at 5-1. Tiz the Law closed as the 2-1 favorite in Pool 5, which ran June 26-28.
WHO’S HOT
There are five newcomers to the Derby Watch top 20, but the most significant move was made by Art Collector, whose Blue Grass victory last Saturday propelled him to the third choice, at 5-1, on the Kentucky Derby line of Marty McGee of Daily Racing Form. Art Collector was 30-1 a week ago. New to the list are Rushie, who is 30-1, and a quartet of 50-1 shots – Dean Martini, Major Fed, Mystic Guide, and Shared Sense – not all of whom are certain to even run in the Derby, raising the possibility that there might not be a full field of 20 this year.
Art Collector
Bernardini – Distorted Legacy, by Distorted Humor
Bred in Kentucky by W. Bruce Lunsford
Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector had more than enough skill to paint himself into this year’s classics picture, as his pedigree is rife with stamina influences on both sides of the frame.
