ARCADIA, Calif. – Creative Cause and Bodemeister, the one-two finishers in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, are expected to meet again in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, with the trainers of both colts saying that’s where they are headed.
“This horse will run back in the Santa Anita Derby,” said Mike Harrington, the trainer of Creative Cause.
Brother Francis, stakes-placed twice last fall, will be pointed to the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 7, after finishing third in a one-mile maiden race on turf in his 3-year-old debut on Saturday at Santa Anita.
Ridden by Victor Espinoza, Brother Francis finished a head and a nose behind Achilles ($14.80) and No Silent. Brother Francis led briefly in the stretch before being caught. The maiden race was his first start since a third in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park last December.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Creative Cause, back at the same distance and over the same track at which he won the Norfolk Stakes last fall, cemented his position as the West Coast’s leading contender for the May 5 Kentucky Derby with a determined victory over Bodemeister in the Grade 2, $300,000 San Felipe Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.
Prospective rebounded from a second-place finish in last month’s Sam F. Davis Stakes and put himself on the Kentucky Derby trail with a three-quarter-length victory over Golden Ticket in Saturday’s Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby.
Equipped with blinkers for the first time, Prospective made a big move into contention around the turn and then battled back in the stretch after being passed briefly by Golden Ticket, who finished second by three lengths over Cozzetti.
At Gulfstream, Currency Swap made a strong appearance working six furlongs from the gate in 1:11.55 with jockey Rajiv Maragh aboard. Currency Swap, idle since winning the Grade 1 Hopeful six months earlier, completed his opening quarter in a leisurely 25 seconds after leaving the gate with a pair of workmates. He then picked up the pace with each successive eighth, posting splits of 47.84 seconds for a half and 59.47 for five furlongs while easily pulling away from his company under only mild encouragement from Maragh.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Animal Kingdom, the reigning Kentucky Derby champion, and Union Rags, currently the favorite to win this year’s Derby, both turned in easy maintenance works at Palm Meadows on Saturday morning.
Union Rags hit the track at his customary time before 7 a.m. and breezed an easy half-mile in 50.76 seconds under regular exercise rider Peter Brett. Union Rags broke off approximately four lengths behind a stablemate, according to Palm Meadows clocker Bryan Walls, and finished a length in front while in hand to the wire. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:04.40.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The undefeated Gemologist is closing in on his 3-year-old debut, which will come next Saturday in the Grade 2, $500,000 Rebel at Oaklawn Park. Trainer Todd Pletcher said the horse is scheduled to work Sunday at Palm Meadows training center in south Florida, then fly into Arkansas on Wednesday. Javier Castellano has the mount in the Rebel, which as of Friday was looking like it could have a maximum gate of 14.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Pat Byrne confirmed Friday that he would scratch Take Charge Indy from Saturday’s Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby to await the $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on March 31.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Florida Derby is not the only important Kentucky Derby prep left on the local racing schedule this winter. The $150,000 Palm Beach Stakes may be carded on the grass, but it could well have Derby implications with both Dullahan and Howe Great among the six 3-year-olds set to go 1 1/8 miles Sunday at Gulfstream Park.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hansen was scheduled to ship early Saturday from Turfway Park to Louisville in time to train over the Trackside training center, where the champion colt will be based until making his next start, likely in the April 7 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
Mike Maker, the trainer of Hansen, said Friday that he is consolidating many of his horses back to Trackside, located just a few miles away from Churchill Downs. Both Trackside and Churchill reopened Friday after the customary winter maintenance break of about 10 weeks.
