Irad Ortiz Jr. and Dr Post both made up for lost time Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
Ortiz, on his first day riding in five weeks, guided the 3-year-old Dr Post to a 1 1/2-length victory over Attachment Rate in Saturday’s $75,000 Unbridled Stakes for 3-year-olds. It was one of four victories on the card for Ortiz, the two-time reigning Eclipse Award winner, who hadn’t ridden since March 19 owing to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Steve Asmussen has a pair of graded stakes winners on deck for the Arkansas Derby next Saturday in Basin and Silver Prospector.
Basin won last year’s Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, and Silver Prospector has captured both the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs and the Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn.
When the Kentucky Derby was postponed from May 2 to Sept. 5 due to the coronavirus pandemic, it gave some trainers the luxury of taking their time to find out if they have a horse worthy of pointing to that race.
Trainer Mark Hennig decided to take advantage by not rushing Americanus into the Grade 1 Florida Derby last month and opting for a different path. Saturday, Americanus takes the path of least resistance on a possible road to the Derby when he runs in the $75,000 Unbridled Stakes for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park.
Turns out there will be a Kentucky Derby run this year on the first Saturday of May after all. And it will be star-studded.
Churchill Downs announced Thursday that NBC will broadcast a virtual Kentucky Derby on May 2 featuring all 13 winners of the Triple Crown. The computer-simulated race will be shown during a three-hour broadcast on NBC from 3-6 p.m. Eastern, in a window traditionally reserved for the running of the real Kentucky Derby, which this year has been postponed to Sept. 5 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Entries for the May 2 Arkansas Derby will be taken Sunday at Oaklawn Park, and there will be plenty of scoreboard watching, because the number of horses who enter the race will impact whether it is split into two divisions. If it’s not, Charlatan, one of the most highly ranked 3-year-olds in the country, is in danger of not getting in based on the race conditions.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With the postponement of the Kentucky Derby from the first Saturday in May until the first Saturday in September, the opportunity has arisen for late-developing 3-year-olds to insert themselves in the Derby picture in the months ahead.
After briefly considering a trip to Oaklawn Park for the Grade 1, $750,000 Arkansas Derby on May 2, the connections of Max Player have decided to pass that race and wait for something closer to home in New York.
“I spoke to [owner] George Hall and we’ve decided that it’s too far to go,” Rice said by phone Friday from Belmont Park. “It’s going to be a pretty strong race and it’s a long way to travel so we’re going to stay here and hope that we reopen and have something that’s immediately in front of us.”
WHO’S HOT
Mr. Big News, who won the Oaklawn Stakes on Saturday, and Shooters Shoot, who captured an allowance race earlier on that card, are the two newcomers to the Derby Watch top 20. Both are 50-1 shots on the future line set by Marty McGee of Daily Racing Form for the Kentucky Derby, now scheduled for Sept. 5. Tiz the Law remains McGee’s favorite, at 3-1. McGee tweaked a couple of prices since the list was last updated. Charlatan remains his fourth choice, but he’s down to 6-1 after being 10-1 two weeks ago.
After several days of rain that forced postponement of workouts, three California-based runners with designs on the Arkansas Derby all got in significant drills Wednesday morning at Santa Anita.
Charlatan went six furlongs in 1:12.20, while five-furlong works were recorded by Nadal (59.80 seconds) and champion Storm the Court (1:00.60). All three are pointing to the Grade 1, $750,000 Arkansas Derby on May 2 at Oaklawn Park, a race that offers 170 points overall, with 100 to the winner, for the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.
Mr. Big News
Giant’s Causeway – Unappeased, by Galileo
Bred in Kentucky by Don Alberto Corp. ($95,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling purchase by Allied Racing Stable)
For all of his accomplishments, European Horse of the Year and internationally successful stallion Giant’s Causeway has never sired the winner of an American classic race. But the stallion, who died in 2018, may get another chance this season with Mr. Big News, a newcomer to this week’s Derby Watch as the long road to the Kentucky Derby marches on.
