There is so much to say about Saturday’s San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita that it’s difficult to know where to begin. So, let’s begin at the end, with the controversial decision by the stewards to disqualify McKinzie and award the win to Bolt d’Oro.
ARCADIA, Calif. – McKinzie and Bolt d’Oro delivered on the hype Saturday at Santa Anita, where they produced one of the most thrilling Derby preps of 2018.
Who won the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes? That depends on whom you ask. McKinzie finished a head in front of Bolt d’Oro, but after an 11-minute inquiry, stewards disqualified McKinzie for interference in deep stretch and awarded Bolt d’Oro the victory.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Enticed erased the memories of a disappointing 3-year-old debut and likely earned his way back to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby with a solid 2 3/4-length victory over longshot Old Time Revival in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.
Old Time Revival, the pace-setting longest shot on the board at 35-1, held second by four lengths over Free Drop Billy, the 8-5 favorite. It was another 2 1/2 lengths back to Firenze Fire, the multiple graded stakes winner, in fourth.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – An outsider named Quip ran himself right into the Kentucky Derby picture Saturday when getting a perfect trip under Florent Geroux in a 19-1 upset of the Grade 2, $355,000 Tampa Bay Derby, the annual signature event at Tampa Bay Downs.
Quip earned 50 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby and thereby gives WinStar Farm and their partners yet another hopeful for the May 5 classic.
“I needed this,” trainer Rodolphe Brisset told WinStar president Elliott Walden in the joyful aftermath of the Tampa Bay Derby. “This is big.”
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Mendelssohn made a winning return to the races Friday night at Dundalk Racecourse in Ireland, capturing the listed Patton Stakes over his stablemate Threeandfourpence by about three-quarters of a length in his 3-year-old debut.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Justify can support the hype surrounding his brilliant debut if he wins his first start around two turns Sunday at Santa Anita.
A win in the allowance race with a $75,000 claiming option at a mile would vault Justify into the spring preps for the Kentucky Derby.
“We’ll see what he does around two turns,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “There are a lot of unanswered questions.”
Santa Anita | Race 6 | Post Time 2:30 p.m. (PT) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs
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Tampa Bay Downs | Race 11 | Post Time 5:20 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs
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There might be a richer race at Santa Anita on Saturday, and there might be better races to come in the 3-year-old ranks this spring as Kentucky Derby Day nears, but it’s hard to argue that the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes is not the race of the day and the biggest Derby prep run to date, owing to the presence of the colt who has become the leader of the division, and the one who was atop the leaderboard heading into the Breeders’ Cup.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Todd Pletcher can self-deprecate with the best of them. Ask him to talk about how he has won the Tampa Bay Derby five times, and he quickly downplays his domination.
“I think I’ve been second in it more times than I’ve won it,” he said.
It’s true. On eight occasions, from 2000 to 2016, Pletcher has been represented by the Tampa Bay Derby runner-up, a historical footnote that underscores his familiarity with the annual signature race at Tampa Bay Downs.
