ARCADIA, Calif. - Lord Nelson, fourth in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 7, will skip the $800,000 Sunland Park Derby in New Mexico on Sunday, trainer Bob Baffert said Thursday.
Baffert said Lord Nelson will be held out of the Grade 3 Sunland Park Derby in favor of a stakes in coming weeks, but did not name an alternative race. He said he made the decision on Thursday morning after returning from a 2-year-olds in-training sale in Florida earlier in the week.
Royal Son
Tiznow – Mama Nadine, by A.P. Indy
(Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm)
Royal Son broke through with an upset win in last month’s John Battaglia Memorial Stakes on Turfway Park’s synthetic surface, the local prep for the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes this Saturday. The Tiznow colt will get a class test in the days and weeks ahead but does bring a classic-type pedigree to his upcoming challenges.
So, did American Pharoah earn a 100 Beyer Speed Figure in the Rebel Stakes because he was the lone speed and the fractions were so slow or because he ran so fast at the end of the race? Probably both.
Trainer Steve Asmussen is hoping a change in surface will help bring out the best in Tiznow R J. He believes the horse, coming off a rare off-the-board finish, is a talented individual, and Tiznow R J will get a shot to prove it Sunday in the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Park Derby.
Tiznow R J was one of eight runners entered Wednesday in the 1 1/8-mile race, which along with the $200,000 Sunland Oaks will anchor the richest program of the meet at Sunland Park in New Mexico.
On a day when Turfway Park held a press conference and post-position draw for Saturday’s Grade 3, $550,000 Spiral Stakes, the big news was that Imperia, who had been expected to be one of the favorites, would be scratched from the race, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin confirmed Wednesday.
In his absence, John Battaglia Memorial winner Royal Son and Metaboss should vie for favoritism in a field of 11, with Royal Son tabbed as the 7-2 morning-line choice and Metaboss at 4-1. Imperia was assigned odds of 4-1 without having been scratched before the draw.
It’s about that time of year when Kentucky Derby nostalgia starts to surface. Carl Nafzger already is drawing inquiries about the 25th anniversary of Unbridled winning both the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby on his way to winning the Eclipse Award for top 3-year-old male of 1990.
“That was a pretty good year, wasn’t it?” a smiling Nafzger said between races here this week.
This year also marks the 30th anniversary of Spend a Buck winning the 1985 Kentucky Derby for trainer Cam Gambolati, whose stable is based here at Gulfstream.
ARCADIA, Calif. – There might not have been a tougher beat along the Kentucky Derby trail this year than Firing Line’s in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 7 here at Santa Anita. Firing Line earned the fastest Beyer Speed Figure of his career and finished more than 21 lengths in front of the field, with one notable exception – the big head of Dortmund.
Rodney Prescott has ridden 3,237 winners in his 22-year career. He rode 340 winners in 2005, finishing second among all North American riders that year to Hall-of-Famer Russell Baze, and he has long been highly regarded by his peers. He was selected as one of five finalists for the 2013 George Woolf Memorial Award, won by Mario Pino.
In a career with many highs, one of the few things the 41-year-old Prescott hasn’t done is win a graded stakes race. According to Daily Racing Form statistics, he is 0 for 9 in such races, with his best finishes being a pair of thirds.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gulfstream Park racing officials are hoping to get a sizable field for the March 28 Florida Derby, although it looks like Upstart and two Todd Pletcher horses will tower over an otherwise undistinguished group of 3-year-olds.
Gulfstream vice president of racing P.J. Campo said he is looking for at least eight horses, and “hopefully a couple more,” to run in the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby, which helps kick off the final round of Kentucky Derby preps worth 100 eligibility points to the winner.
