Cezanne

Curlin – Achieving, by Bernardini

Bred in Kentucky by Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings and St. Elias Stables ($3.65 million Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream 2-year-old purchase by M.V. Magnier)

The pricey Cezanne, who won his highly anticipated career debut last weekend at Santa Anita, sports the definition of a classic pedigree. The colt’s sire and broodmare sire both won the Preakness Stakes; his sire is already represented by a pair of American classic winners; and he is from the extended family of a pair of Belmont Stakes winners.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Maxfield, one of the top contenders for the 146th Kentucky Derby, has been declared out of the Sept. 5 race after exiting a Wednesday breeze at Keeneland with a condylar fracture of his right front cannon bone.

Future plans for Kentucky Derby hopefuls Sole Volante, Ete Indien, and Shivaree should come into sharper focus after the trio of highly regarded 3-year-olds square off at a mile in Wednesday’s $55,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. The race is the penultimate leg of a Rainbow 6 sequence that offers a guaranteed jackpot of $2.3 million. First post for the 10-race card is noon.

The top two finishers from the Santa Anita Derby – Honor A. P. and Authentic – both came out of the race in good order, and both remain on the trail to the Kentucky Derby, but how both get there is uncertain owing to the new path all 3-year-olds must navigate toward the delayed Sept. 5 Derby this year.

The postponed Derby does, though, offer a chance for glory for the maiden winner Cezanne, who was an impressive winner on debut on the undercard Saturday, five weeks after the Derby would have been run.

Grade 1, $401,000 Santa Anita Derby, 1 1/8 miles, Santa Anita, June 6, 2020
(100 Derby qualifying points for a win, 40 for second, 20 for third, 10 for fourth)
Winner: Honor A. P., by Honor Code
Trainer: John Shirreffs
Jockey: Mike Smith
Owner: C R K Stable LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 102

Time – and distance – were on the side of Honor A. P. on Saturday in the Santa Anita Derby in his rivalry with Authentic.

Honor A. P. came up short of catching Authentic in the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe Stakes back in March, but when they went 1 1/8 miles three months later, it was Honor A. P. who was the superior animal. He powered clear to a 2 3/4-length victory in the Grade 1, $401,000 race while looking like the one who will be more appreciative of even more distance, and more time. His sights are clearly set on the Kentucky Derby.

Charlatan, who has crossed the finish line first in all three of his starts including a division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, will not make the Belmont Stakes on June 20 or the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 due to an ankle injury, trainer Bob Baffert said Saturday.

“He came up with an issue,” Baffert said. “We saw that he had a tiny aggravation there, I wouldn’t call it a chip. They’ll clear it up. It will take him out of the Derby picture. He’ll be back by the fall.”

Three of the top 16 point earners for this year’s Kentucky Derby will be squaring off against one another Wednesday, not in a graded stakes at Belmont Park or Churchill Downs, but for a mere $55,000 purse going one mile under allowance conditions at Gulfstream Park.

:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2020: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more

Led by Tampa Bay Derby winner King Guillermo, such highly regarded runners as Pneumatic and Shooters Shoot, as well as the filly Swiss Skydiver and the high-priced auction buy Cezanne, a total of 22 3-year-olds were made eligible to the Triple Crown at the second deadline, which closed Wednesday after being postponed from March.

The list was released on Thursday by Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby.

:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2020: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more

On the day that the Triple Crown would have been concluding in New York, a race will be run in California that serves as a prep for a Kentucky Derby that is three months away instead of the usual gap of one month. So just add that to the lengthy list of “what else is new?” for 2020, as the Santa Anita Derby finally is held two months after its intended date.