Danzing Candy and Mor Spirit, who finished one-two in the Grade 2 San Felipe on Saturday, are likely to meet again April 9 in the Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Derby, the final local prep for the Kentucky Derby on May 7.
Danzing Candy scored a two-length victory over Mor Spirit while earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 100. It was his third straight win, all at this meet, all with Mike Smith aboard.
Grade 2, $400,345 San Felipe Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Santa Anita, March 12, 2016
(50 Derby qualifying points for a win, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)
Winner: Danzing Candy, by Twirling Candy
Trainer: Cliff Sise Jr.
Jockey: Mike Smith
Owner: Halo Farms, and Jim and Diane Bashor
Beyer Speed Figure: 100
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Songbird was the 3-5 favorite for the Kentucky Oaks and Mohaymen the 3-1 favorite for the Kentucky Derby with one more day of wagering still to go in the future wagers being offered this weekend by Churchill Downs.
Surgical Strike earned the first stakes victory of his career in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial on Saturday night at Turfway Park – but more importantly, he earned experience that will serve him well as he steps into the Kentucky Derby hunt.
“He’s still not quite used to getting dirt in his face,” trainer Ben Colebrook said of Surgical Strike ($8.20), who rallied from next-to-last for the win. “He’s run primarily on turf until these last few starts. I think it’s a very good lesson. If everything goes good, we’ll come back in three weeks.”
ARCADIA, Calif. – Every journey begins with a first step, and for Danzing Candy, that first step in his first three starts was not as sharp as it would need to be the closer he got to the Kentucky Derby. But in his stakes debut on Saturday at Santa Anita in the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes, Danzing Candy put his prior gate troubles in the rear-view mirror, and his rivals in the race ended up there, too.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – Destin and Outwork were impressive winners for trainer Todd Pletcher at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 13, with Destin prevailing in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes and Outwork scoring in a first-level optional $75,000 claiming race. They both impressed again here Saturday in the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, but this time, only one could win, and after a thrilling duel that lasted the length of the stretch, it was Destin who scored the biggest victory of his young career.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Songbird was the 1-2 favorite for the Kentucky Oaks and Mohaymen the 3-1 favorite for the Kentucky Derby after the first full day of betting into future wagers this weekend.
After Friday wagering, and on win handle of $42,816, Mohaymen was the lukewarm choice over Nyquist (5-1) in Derby Pool 3. The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, was 8-1, followed by Smokey Image (12-1), Suddenbreakingnews (13-1), and six more horses between 15-1 and 20-1. An additional $16,884 had been bet in exactas.
Cupid, a stylish maiden-race winner Feb. 7 in his third start, worked six furlongs in 1:11.60 on Friday at Santa Anita.
Cupid was entered in Saturday’s $400,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, but trainer Bob Baffert said Cupid would be withdrawn in favor of a likely start in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 19.
There were 243 recorded works Friday in advance of an expected rainstorm later in the day.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Large fields have been the norm for the first pair of preps for 3-year-olds at this Oaklawn meet, and more of the same is expected next Saturday for the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel.
The group of probables for the 1 1/16-mile race includes Ralis, the winner of last year’s Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, and Discreetness and Suddenbreakingnews, who won Oaklawn’s Smarty Jones Stakes and Grade 3 Southwest. Entries will be taken Wednesday.
“I look for 10 and would not be surprised if 11 or 12 showed up,” said Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope.
Picking a Kentucky Derby winner is sometimes as much about bragging rights as it is about winning money. People spend all winter trying to figure out which horse is going to win the race, and handicappers employ a number of different approaches – looking at the major preps, trainers, historical angles, pace scenarios, post position, pedigree, owners, jockeys, or any combination of factors.
