HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – “I have to find the right spot for Spot.”
So says trainer Nick Zito, who is looking at several options for recent acquisition Spot, a 3-year-old son of Pulpit he purchased privately for owner Joseph Moss prior to his upset victory in the Grade 2 Swale on March 1 at Gulfstream Park. Leading the list of options is the March 29 Florida Derby, a race Zito has won three times with High Fly (2005), Ice Box (2010), and Dialed In (2011).
Two of the leading local hopes for the $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 29 had major workouts for the race Monday, and both Albano and Gold Hawk went fast.
Albano, who finished second by a nose in the Feb. 22 Risen Star Stakes, had a five-furlong, in-company workout that was timed in 59.60 seconds, the fastest of 23 works at the distance Monday.
Gold Hawk, third in the Lecomte and fifth in the Risen Star, had a solo drill, going six furlongs in 1:12, a very fast time for Fair Grounds, particularly on a morning when the track surface wasn’t especially glib.
After further review, Wayne Catalano will be running both Solitary Ranger and Poker Player on Saturday in the Grade 3, $550,000 Spiral Stakes, the annual showcase race at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.
Catalano initially was inclined to run only Solitary Ranger, a wire-to-wire winner of the Battaglia Memorial at Turfway, but said Tuesday he also will run Poker Player, who rallied to be second in that same March 1 race.
The problematic foot of Shared Belief is “almost to that perfect point,” and he could finally begin working soon, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Tuesday on a national teleconference.
“I think you’ll see some works in the next couple of weeks,” Hollendorfer said.
Shared Belief was the champion 2-year-old male of last year, when he won all three of his starts, including the CashCall Futurity. But a foot injury has kept him from serious training for the past couple of months and forced him out of the Triple Crown.
Things could hardly be better for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.
He won the Grade 1 Santa Margarita with Let Faith Arise last Saturday and Grade 1 winner Tamarando was to fly to Kentucky on Wednesday with stablemate Swiss Lake Yodeler for Saturday’s $550,000 Spiral Stakes and the $125,000 Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park. Both 3-year-olds are homebreds for Larry and Marianne Williams and will be competing in races offering 50 qualifying points to the winner for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Despite offering a $1 million purse and 170 Kentucky Derby qualifying points and being one of the most prestigious of all the Kentucky Derby preps, the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 29 seems to be lacking interest among horsemen.
Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Oaklawn Park, March 15
(50 Derby eligibility points to the winner, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)
On a rainy Saturday afternoon in Hot Springs, Ark., a veritable rodeo took place during the stretch run of the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. After the wet dust settled, the lightly raced Hoppertunity gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert his fourth Rebel win in five years.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Bob Baffert, the trainer of Hoppertunity, on Sunday morning at Santa Anita said the Rebel winner would run next in either the Santa Anita Derby on April 5, or return to Oaklawn for the Arkansas Derby on April 12. Both are $1 million races at 1 1/8 miles. Hoppertunity earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 100 for his half-length win over Tapiture in the Rebel, a Grade 2, $600,000 race run Saturday.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The Rebel turned out to be a rumble.
Hoppertunity was a half-length winner over Tapiture, and after a lengthy inquiry as well as a jockey’s objection concerning the stretch run, the results stood in a finish that moves the Bob Baffert trainee further down the road to the Kentucky Derby.
Trainers Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher plan to invade New Mexico with two shippers each next Sunday for the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Park Derby. The 1 1/8-mile race could have as many as 10 horses when entries are drawn on Wednesday.
The Sunland Derby carries 85 preference points for the Kentucky Derby, to be divided among the first four finishers on a scale of 50-20-10-5. The Sunland Derby anchors a program of seven stakes worth a cumulative $1.4 million. The program includes the $200,000 Sunland Park Oaks, which offers its first four finishers points toward the Kentucky Oaks.
