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.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Spring finally arrived at Santa Anita, where the disruptions during a wet winter were matched by instability among Santa Anita Derby and Kentucky Derby aspirants.
More than 34 inches of rain this season led to the cancellation or rescheduling of eight racing programs since opening day on Dec. 26, as horsemen juggled workouts and races around the weather. The chaos filtered into the California 3-year-old division.
Hit Show, the Grade 3 Withers winner, drew the extreme outside in a bulky field of 13 3-year-olds entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
The Wood’s top five finishers earn qualifying points (100-40-30-20-10) to the May 6 Kentucky Derby.
Brave Emperor, who holds a berth for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6 through the European qualifying series, is unlikely to be sent to the United States.
Tom Palin, the racing manager for the Middleham Park Racing syndicate that owns the gelding, said on Wednesday that high costs of entry fees and traveling from Great Britain was the primary reason to pass on the Kentucky Derby.
Palin said there was an outside chance Brave Emperor could be sent to Churchill Downs if the gelding was sold in coming weeks.
Trainer Tim Yakteen is back on the Kentucky Derby trail, and this year it’s not all about Bob.
A year ago at this time, with trainer Bob Baffert on suspension owing to the medication positive incurred by Medina Spirit in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, Yakteen deputized over the development of 3-year-olds Taiba and Messier. Those two horses ran one-two in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, qualifying both for the Kentucky Derby, where Taiba finished 12th and Messier 15th as the second and fourth choices, respectively.
Trainer Kenny McPeek comes into Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes under the radar despite being expected to enter three in the Grade 1, $1 million race. Hayes Strike, last-out winner of the Private Terms Stakes at Laurel, headlines the trio, while McPeek also planned to saddle graded stakes-placed Sun Thunder and the unbeaten but lightly raced Mendelssohns March.
