LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs officials on Tuesday released the stakes schedule for their 2016 spring meet, with the most notable change being the renaming of the former Firecracker Handicap in honor of Wise Dan, the Horse of the Year in 2012 and 2013.
The Wise Dan remains a Grade 2, $200,000 race for 3-year-olds and upward on the turf, with its distance now lengthened from a mile to 1 1/16 miles. It has been moved from closing weekend of the meet to the June 18 Stephen Foster card.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Path of David, who won Thursday’s $79,250 Eddie Logan Stakes on turf at Santa Anita, is being pointed for the $150,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on the main track here Feb. 6, trainer Kristin Mulhall said. The 1 1/16-mile Lewis for 3-year-olds is a prep race for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
“We wanted to see how he came out of it, and so far, he looks good,” Mulhall said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – With several 3-year-olds of 2016 in his barn, trainer Chad Brown has the luxury of spotting them judiciously. According to the company he’s kept, Flexibility looks well spotted to kick off his 3-year-old campaign successfully in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.
As I was getting ready to check out Saturday’s Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, I was expecting a B- or C-level race. That is not what we have here. There are four horses who hit 90 on the Beyer Speed Figure scale late in their 2-year-old seasons, suggesting that this is a race that deserves more than casual attention.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though entered in Friday’s $125,000 Lost in the Fog Stakes at six furlongs, Condo King is likely to scratch from that spot and attempt two turns in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.
The Jerome is the first of four races on this circuit for 3-year-olds with Kentucky Derby aspirations. The Jerome, at a mile and 70 yards, awards 17 qualifying points (10-4-2-1) to the top four finishers to the May 7 Derby.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Blane Servis didn’t accompany his father to Aqueduct on Jan. 3, 2004, when the John Servis-trained Smarty Jones won the Count Fleet Stakes, kicking off a 3-year-old campaign that would include victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness but a kick-in-the-gut one-length defeat in the Belmont Stakes.
Back then, there were other things more appealing for a 16-year-old kid to do than spend a day at the Big A.
Nyquist and Songbird – both undefeated, both Breeders’ Cup winners, and both undoubtedly to be named Eclipse Award winners – are the marquee names among the 3-year-olds of 2016 based this winter at Santa Anita, the track where three of the last four Kentucky Derby winners have trained during winter months.
Grade 1, $350,500 Los Alamitos Futurity, 1 1/16 miles, Los Alamitos, Dec. 19, 2015
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Mor Spirit (sire: Eskendereya)
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Gary Stevens
Owner: Michael Lund Petersen
Beyer Speed Figure: 88
CYPRESS, Calif. – It can’t be easy to replace a Triple Crown winner, but trainer Bob Baffert is doing his best to stock up anew on Kentucky Derby prospects.
Mor Spirit on Saturday stamped himself as a potential serious contender for the 2016 Derby by running down stablemate Toews On Ice to win the Grade 1, $350,000 Los Alamitos Futurity, a race Baffert won last year with Dortmund.
Grade 3, $150,000 Iroquois Stakes; 1 1/16 miles; Churchill Downs; Sept. 12, 2015
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Cocked and Loaded (Sire: Colonel John)
Trainer: Larry Rivelli
Jockey: Manny Esquivel
Owner: Richard Ravin and Patricia’s Hope LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 82
