Henry Q established himself as the early favorite for the Grade 3, $600,000 Sunland Park Derby when he obliterated his rivals in Tuesday’s local stepping-stone, the $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby.
Henry Q led at every point of call for a 14 3/4-length victory – and the margin was not the only impressive part of his performance. Henry Q covered 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in a quick 1:41.52, earning a solid 93 Beyer Speed Figure.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey sounded pessimistic about the chances of running General Jim in the Fountain of Youth Stakes after the colt missed a scheduled workout.
“He had a little cough and missed a day of training,” McGaughey said in his Gulfstream stable office Wednesday morning. “He’s back training, but I’m not sure whether we’re running. I’ve just been playing it by the day.”
While John Shirreffs trains West Coast-based Kentucky Derby prospect Skinner, he is intimately familiar with the dam of an emerging Derby prospect in the Midwest. Shirreffs trained Eblouissante, dam of Rebel Stakes winner Confidence Game. Eblouissante was a younger sibling to the mighty Zenyatta.
“I do remember Eblouissante, very well,” Shirreffs said, reciting her race record from memory. “Eblouissante won two races, she broke her maiden and won an allowance, and then I ran her at Saratoga.”
Though he won the 2021 Preakness with his first Preakness starter, Rombauer, it is a reach to suggest trainer Michael McCarthy can win the Kentucky Derby with his first Derby starter. And yet, neither Lugan Knight nor Genius Jimmy can be ruled out yet.
Lugan Knight runs Saturday in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, where a good effort may lead to the Grade 1 Blue Grass on April 8 at Keeneland. Lugan Knight, who might be a sprinter, won his maiden at Keeneland last fall.
Blazing Sevens
Good Magic –Trophy Girl, by Warrior’s Reward
Bred in Kentucky by Tracy Farmer ($140,000 Keeneland January yearling purchase by Chestnut Valley Farm; $225,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase by Rodeo Creek Racing)
This weekend, Chad Brown figures to learn more about his prospects for this year’s Kentucky Derby. Not only as a trainer, but as a breeder.
On Saturday, Brown, the trainer, will send out Grade 1 winner Blazing Sevens in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park and the maiden winner Uncorrelated in the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham at Aqueduct.
Brown, the breeder, will be represented by Practical Move in the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe at Santa Anita.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – As a horse owner and avid horseplayer, Al Gold can sometimes be at odds with himself.
As the owner of Instant Coffee, Gold has a 3-year-old whose prospects for the Kentucky Derby appear to strengthen weekly as horses that Instant Coffee has beaten have come back to win. Most notably, Confidence Game, third behind Instant Coffee in the Lecomte on Jan. 21, came back to win last Saturday’s Grade 2 Rebel. Denington, fourth in the Lecomte, came back to win a Fair Grounds allowance on Feb. 18.
$1,000,000 Rebel Stakes, Feb. 25, 2023
(50 qualifying points for first, 20 for second, 15 for third, 10 for fourth, and 5 for fifth)
Winner: Confidence Game, by Candy Ride
Trainer: Keith Desormeaux
Jockey: James Graham
Owner: Don’t Tell My Wife Stable
Distance / time: 1 1/16 miles / 1:44.21 (sloppy, sealed)
Win margin: 1 length
Beyer: 94
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Confidence Game’s next stop on the Road to the Kentucky Derby is to be determined, but the winner of the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel at Oaklawn Park on Saturday could return to Arkansas or run back at his home track of Fair Grounds, trainer Keith Desormeaux said on Sunday.
