Grade 1, $751,500 Santa Anita Derby, April 8, 2023
(100 qualifying points for first, 40 for second, 30 for third, 20 for fourth, and 10 for fifth)
Winner: Practical Move, by Practical Joke
Trainer: Tim Yakteen
Jockey: Ramon Vazquez
Owner: Leslie Amestoy, Pierre Amestoy, and Roger Beasley
Distance / time: 1 1/8 miles / 1:48.69
Win margin: Nose
Beyer: 100
ARCADIA, Calif. – Practical Move will head to the Kentucky Derby with the top figures in the field, while the two-three finishers he narrowly defeated Saturday in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby need help to crack the Kentucky Derby lineup at Churchill Downs.
Practical Move earned a 100 Beyer defeating the surprising Japan shipper Mandarin Hero by a nose; Skinner finished a half-length back in third and earned a 99 Beyer.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Lord Miles was on his way back to South Florida on Sunday morning and Hit Show was to depart New York for Kentucky on Monday as the one-two finishers from Saturday’s Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct point to the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs.
Lord Miles and Hit Show both survived some bumping in the stretch – and Lord Miles withstood an inquiry and objection – to emerge from their performances unscathed and with enough qualifying points to crack the competitive 20-horse field.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tapit Trice will spend another week at Keeneland before heading over next Sunday (April 16) to Churchill Downs in Louisville, where the Blue Grass Stakes winner will embark on final preparations as one of the favorites for the 149th Kentucky Derby.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - On a day full of surprises at Aqueduct, Lord Miles - at 59-1 the third-longest price in the field of 12 - pulled off the biggest and arguably most important one, outlasting Hit Show and Dreamlike to the wire to win the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial by a nose and earn his way into the Kentucky Derby.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tapit Trice joined his Todd Pletcher stablemates as major contenders for the 149th Kentucky Derby by getting the best of Verifying in an exciting stretch duel Saturday in the Keeneland spring showcase, the Grade 1, $998,125 Blue Grass Stakes.
Racing closer to the pace than he did last month in winning the Tampa Bay Derby, Tapit Trice used another determined stretch run in defeating Verifying by a neck. The winner returned $5.28 as the favorite in a field of 11 when finishing the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:50 over a fast track.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The exciting two-start colt Geaux Rocket Ride is off the Kentucky Derby trail after he spiked a temperature Saturday that necessitated his scratch from the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby.
Richard Mandella trains Geaux Rocket Ride, who followed his debut sprint romp with an outstanding runner-up finish behind Practical Move in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth. The Santa Anita Derby on Saturday would have been his third start.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns on Friday took his first step on the final road to the Kentucky Derby, breezing four furlongs in 49.74 seconds in company with stablemate Major Dude at Palm Beach Downs.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said he was very pleased with the work and the subsequent gallop-out for both 3-year-olds. They worked five furlongs in 1:02.99, up six furlongs in 1:16.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – He already has Forte as the Kentucky Derby favorite, with Kingsbarns as a backup. Next up for Todd Pletcher is putting the finishing touches on another hot prospect, Tapit Trice, in lining up the troops for the first Saturday in May.
