Remember when many Las Vegas sportsbooks offered winter-book wagering on the Kentucky Derby? The list is down to one, as Ceasars is the last Las Vegas sportsbook to offer fixed-odds future wagers on the Kentucky Derby.
Though few 3-year-olds transition successfully from maiden victory to Grade 1, few have as much natural ability and pedigree power as Baeza. The well-bred colt’s dominating maiden route victory Feb. 14 at Santa Anita stamps him as a legitimate contender in the Santa Anita Derby on April 5.
WHO’S HOT
Magnitude was hot, then not. Magnitude crushed the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds by nearly 10 lengths and would have been favored this week on the Daily Racing Form Derby Watch Top 20. But days after his romping victory, Magnitude was off the trail. Trainer Steve Asmussen told DRF reporter Marcus Hersh the colt was to undergo surgery for a bone chip in his left ankle.
The question of whether Magnitude can duplicate his brilliant performance in the Risen Star Stakes will not be answered for a while. Magnitude has been diagnosed with a bone chip in his left ankle and will have surgery to remove the chip Wednesday, trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday morning.
Asmussen said Magnitude was being shipped to Kentucky, where Dr. Larry Bramlage will perform the surgery. A timeframe for Magnitude’s return to action won’t be established until after Bramlage can perform a post-surgical assessment.
Getaway Car picked up 20 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby on Sunday when he came back along the rail to win by a nose over Caldera in the $400,000 Sunland Park Derby. It was another nine lengths back to Touchy in third.
The Sunland Park Derby anchored a program of five stakes that included the $250,000 Sunland Park Oaks, which was won by Runnin N Gunnin ($13.80).
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Cristian Torres has one primary objective with Sandman when the pair starts from post 3 on Sunday in the Grade 2, $1.25 million Rebel at Oaklawn Park.
The Rebel was rescheduled from Saturday due to a winter storm system in the Hot Springs area.
“The main thing we’re looking for this race is to have a better break,” he said last week.
Connections for the Risen Star’s second- and third-place finishers, Chunk of Gold and Built, haven’t set plans for their horses’ next race, but Ethan West, Chunk of Gold’s trainer, narrowed the possibilities to the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds or the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway, both on March 22.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Baeza emerged as an exciting candidate for the Santa Anita Derby with an impressive maiden victory Friday at Santa Anita.
A colt sired by McKinzie and half-brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage and 2024 Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch, Baeza dominated the mile-long maiden race Friday in the third start of his career. He won by 4 3/4 lengths in 1:37.84, a fast clocking over a dirt surface that played decidedly slow.
Vassimo, an aspiring Kentucky Derby candidate trained by Todd Pletcher who has been entered in this weekend’s Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, tested positive for a regulated medication, betamethasone, after winning the first start of his career late last year, according to records posted by the Horseracing Integrity and Wagering Unit (HIWU) on Wednesday afternoon.
Sovereignty, unraced since winning the Street Sense Stakes on Oct. 27 at Churchill Downs, is on schedule to make his 3-year-old debut in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes on March 1, though trainer Bill Mott has concerns about that 1 1/16-mile race.
