HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The way racetracks now operate, an event as big as the $1 million Florida Derby on March 28 requires it to be the centerpiece of a multiple-stakes day.
True to form, seven other stakes – all but one of them graded – will be on the undercard of the Grade 1 Florida Derby on a blockbuster 14-race program next Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
He’s the best horse, with the best form, drew the best post, and the horse perceived as his closest rival is scratched. After a pair of tough-luck losses, it appears as though Firing Line has landed an ideal spot to get his first stakes win – and secure a berth in the Kentucky Derby on May 2 – when he starts as the heavy favorite Sunday in the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park.
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.
