HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Angel of Empire will head to Churchill Downs on Tuesday to begin preparations for the Kentucky Derby, trainer Brad Cox said Sunday, a day after the horse won his second straight qualifying points race in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Arkansas Derby.
Angel of Empire, who also captured the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds, has compiled 154 points for the Kentucky Derby, second on the list behind champion Forte with 190.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Angel of Empire’s dominant win in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Arkansas Derby put an exclamation point on a perfect afternoon of stakes racing for trainer Brad Cox on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.
Cox won the three stakes in which he had starters, with Wet Paint notching 100 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks in the Grade 3, $600,000 Fantasy and Eyeing Clover becoming a stakes winner in the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes.
The wins came before an estimated ontrack crowd of 65,000.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – He only won by a length, but owner Vinnie Viola may have summed up Forte’s eye-catching victory over Mage in Saturday’s $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park best in the post-race press conference when saying “All things given, the horse was not supposed to win that race.”
It was a statement any knowledgeable racing fan would find hard to dispute.
The sixth and final pool in the 2023 Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed Saturday evening with Forte as a 5-2 favorite – and that was before the champion colt closed with a flourish to win the Florida Derby.
In a twist on the usual format used by Churchill Downs wherein all or most Derby preps are run before a futures pool closes, wagering into Pool 6 was cut off at 6 p.m. Eastern Saturday – or about 45 minutes before the Florida Derby was run at Gulfstream Park. The Arkansas Derby also was run Saturday after Pool 6 was closed.
Bold Act won his fourth consecutive race and first start of 2023 in the $123,800 Cardinal Condition Stakes at Chelmsford City Racecourse near London, the final race in the European qualifying series for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6.
Bold Act, a well-regarded colt from the powerful Godolphin stable, won the Cardinal Stakes at a mile on a synthetic track by a half-length over Brave Emperor, who ranks first in the European qualifying standings for the Kentucky Derby.
Kazushi Kimura, the leading rider at Woodbine the last two years who has spent recent months at Santa Anita, has been booked to ride the Japanese import Mandarin Hero in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 8.
Brave Emperor currently ranks in a tie for the lead in the European qualifying series for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6.
To clinch the single berth available from the series, Brave Emperor will need the best race of his already accomplished career when he starts in Saturday’s $123,800 Cardinal Condition Stakes at a mile on the synthetic track at Chelmsford City Racecourse near London.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – A final push for Kentucky Derby qualifying points has brought horses from California, Florida, and Louisiana to Oaklawn Park on Saturday for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Arkansas Derby.
Daily Racing Form Derby Watch members Reincarnate, in from Santa Anita, Rocket Can, a regular at Gulfstream Park, Angel of Empire, who made his last start at Fair Grounds, and Red Route One, the leader of the local division, will be in the thick of the hunt for points.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Todd Pletcher has won the Grade 1 Florida Derby a record six times, including five of the last nine renewals. But none of those promising youngsters, even eventual Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming in 2017, came into the race with expectations for victory as high as Forte, who will go postward an overwhelming favorite despite facing 11 rivals and breaking from a disadvantageous outside post.
There may be a runner in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6 who has never raced beyond a mile or appeared in a group or graded stakes.
Brave Emperor, a winner of 5 of 7 starts in Britain and France, is the current co-leader in the European qualifying series that offers one invitation to the runner with the most points.
Brave Emperor is one of two Triple Crown nominees in Saturday’s $123,000 Cardinal Condition Stakes at a mile on the synthetic surface at Chelmsford City Racecourse northeast of London, the final race in the European qualifying series.
