HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- My Boy Jack’s long range target is established – the Kentucky Derby the first Saturday in May.
The path he will take get there is to be determined, trainer Keith Desormeaux said on Tuesday, a day after the horse won the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn. My Boy Jack earned 10 eligibility points for the Kentucky Derby for his4 1/2-length victory, giving him a total of 12.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Trainer D. Wayne Lukas is coming off a big weekend on the Kentucky Derby trail, sending out Bravazo to win the Grade 2 Risen Star on Saturday at Fair Grounds and saddling Sporting Chance to a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes on Monday at Oaklawn.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Combatant has been knocking on the door in Kentucky Derby points races since December, and he will get a shot at another such stakes next month at Oaklawn Park, trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday.
Combatant was second in the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest at the track Monday, the third straight points race in which he has been the runner-up. He also was second in both the $400,000 Springboard Mile in December at Remington Park and the $150,000 Smarty Jones in January at Oaklawn.
Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes; 1 1/16 miles; Oaklawn Park; Feb. 19, 2018
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: My Boy Jack, by Creative Cause
Trainer: Keith Desormeaux
Jockey: Kent Desormeaux
Owner: Don’t Tell My Wife Stables and Monomoy Stables LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 93
$100,900 El Camino Real Derby; 1 1/8 miles (Tapeta); Golden Gate Fields; Feb. 17, 2018
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Paved, by Quality Road
Trainer: Michael McCarthy
Jockey: Drayden Van Dyke
Owner: Ciaglia Racing LLC and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners
Beyer Speed Figure: 86
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Keith Desormeaux sent My Boy Jack to Oaklawn for the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes in part to get a line on how the horse, a stakes winner on turf, might handle dirt. He got an emphatic answer when My Boy Jack roared to 4 ½-length win over Combatant.
Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes; 1 1/16 miles; Fair Grounds; Feb. 17, 2018
(50 Derby qualifying points for a win, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)
Winner: Bravazo, by Awesome Again
Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Jockey: Miguel Mena
Owner: Calumet Farm
Beyer Speed Figure: 93
Nonkono Yume earned a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November, and Sumahama earned a place in the Kentucky Derby on May 5 with their stakes wins at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan on Sunday.
Nonkono Yume (9-1) won the Group 1 February Stakes at a mile for his fifth stakes win. The $2,031,984 February Stakes is the first race in the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth for the BC Classic to the winner.
It’s important to remember that the road to the Kentucky Derby is not linear. We are not going to have a Derby prep season that sequentially builds on what previously transpired in terms of quality and strength. Sure, it would be nice if things were all nice and neat like that, but it doesn’t work that way.
This is a good time to remind oneself of that, on the morning after a head-scratching Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds that threw one of the first big monkey wrenches into a 2018 Kentucky Derby prep season that will almost certainly see a few more.
From older horses in the Grade 1 February Stakes to 3-year-olds in the Hyacinth Stakes, Sunday’s program at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan could have ramifications for the biggest races in the United States this year.
The winner of the $2,031,984 February Stakes at a mile will receive an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3. The $321,730 Hyacinth Stakes is the third and final race in the Japan qualifying division for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 5.
