Tom and Sandy McKenna, the owners of Conquest Mo Money, announced on Tuesday that they will not put up a $200,000 supplementary fee to run Conquest Mo Money in the Kentucky Derby on May 6 and will instead await the Preakness Stakes two weeks later. The supplementary fee for the Preakness is $150,000, which also makes the horse eligible for the Belmont Stakes.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – McCraken, one of the favorites for the 143rd Kentucky Derby, had his first breeze since incurring his first career defeat in the Blue Grass Stakes, working a sharp half-mile early Tuesday over a fast track at Churchill Downs.
With regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard, McCraken was timed in 47.80 seconds by Churchill clocker John Nichols, with out times of 1:00 for five furlongs and 1:13.40 for six furlongs.
Trainer Chad Brown on Monday said he is “leaning towards passing” the Kentucky Derby with Cloud Computing, a decision that has implications regarding the potential field for the May 6 Derby at Churchill Downs.
Cloud Computing currently sits 20th on the Derby points list, pending a decision by the connections of Conquest Mo Money as to whether to supplement for $200,000 and run.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Classic Empire won the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday like a horse that wants 1 1/4 miles, and that’s what he will get next month at Churchill Downs. Trainer Mark Casse said Sunday that Classic Empire emerged from his stretch-running effort at Oaklawn in good order and will fly Monday to Churchill.
Casse welcomes the added distance for Classic Empire, the champion 2-year-old male of 2016 who shares the same sire as Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Both are sons of Pioneereof the Nile.
Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby, 1 1/8 miles, Oaklawn Park, April 15, 2017
(100 Derby qualifying points for a win, 40 for second, 20 for third, 10 for fourth)
Winner: Classic Empire, by Pioneerof the Nile
Trainer: Mark Casse
Jockey: Julien Leparoux
Owner: John Oxley
Beyer Speed Figure: 94
In a Kentucky Derby prep-race season that has taken some weird and uninspiring turns even by Kentucky Derby prep-season standards – which says a lot – Saturday’s Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn was an entirely fitting coda.
At the top, it was good for the Derby and good for the game that Classic Empire won the Arkansas Derby. Classic Empire was last year’s unanimous 2-year-old male champion, and a 3-year-old with credentials like that should absolutely be in the Kentucky Derby field, as long as he is ambulatory.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Relief.
That's the emotion that first rushed over trainer Mark Casse when champion Classic Empire crossed the wire first in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn.
Classic Empire and Casse had been through a range of developments this season, as the horse who closed out his 2-year-old season with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile could manage just a distant third in his first start of the year in the Grade 2 Holy Bull at Gulfstream.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Girvin, the winner of the Louisiana Derby, and Fast and Accurate, the Spiral Stakes winner, breezed Saturday at the Churchill Downs Trackside facility in preparation for the May 6 Kentucky Derby.
Fast and Accurate was the first of the two Derby prospects to breeze after the track-renovation break, going five furlongs in 59.60 seconds in company with On John, a maiden. Trackside clocker Richard McCreery caught him in splits of 12 seconds, 24, 35.80, and 47.60 and timed him galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.80.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Always Dreaming, the potential favorite for the Kentucky Derby, turned in the first of his three scheduled breezes leading up to the big event, going an easy half-mile in 49.90 seconds with jockey John Velazquez aboard shortly after dawn Friday at Palm Beach Downs.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Classic Empire has a chance to shake things up at the top of the 3-year-old charts with the right kind of performance Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.
But to do that, the champion, who is looking to rebound from a third-place finish in the Holy Bull at Gulfstream, must overcome 11 rivals. They include fellow Daily Racing Form Derby Watch members Malagacy, the winner of last month’s Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel at Oaklawn, and Untrapped, who has been knocking on the door in preps at Fair Grounds and Oaklawn.
