LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Only four new names are in the lineup of 23 separately listed wagering interests in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, marking quite possibly the fewest changes since Churchill Downs first began offering parimutuel futures in 1999.
Pool 2, which opens its three-day run Friday at noon Eastern, comes three weeks after Pool 1 was offered Feb. 18-20. Pool 2 coincides with the only futures pool being offered this year on the Kentucky Oaks.
Although Golden Gate Fields is stuck in the middle of a two-month period without stakes racing, the 3-year-old ranks here received a boost from a race halfway across the country. Locally based Positive Response scored a seven-length, wire-to-wire victory in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park as the 2-1 favorite Saturday.
ARCADIA, Calif - Jaycito will make his 3-year-old debut, and first start for trainer Bob Baffert, in Saturday’s $250,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita.
Baffert admits that he has concerns about how Jaycito will behave in the Grade 2 race that is a key prep for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs last November, Jaycito swerved sharply to the outside on the backstretch and eventually finished seventh, 16 lengths behind race winner Uncle Mo.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – ”What’s Todd going to do?”
That simple question has trainers and owners of a number of 3-year-olds in a state of flux as they ponder the status of trainer Todd Pletcher’s 2-year-old champion, Uncle Mo, and his undefeated stablemate, Sam Davis Stakes winner Brethren, for this Saturday’s Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
John Shirreffs’s name will forever be connected to Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year and one of the most popular horses of all time.
It’s a blessing and somewhat of a curse.
While Shirreffs certainly wouldn’t trade his time with Zenyatta for anything, his exploits with the magnificent mare have unfairly surpassed his other excellent training feats.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole’s first choice for Uncle Mo’s 3-year-old debut is Saturday’s $100,000 Timely Writer at Gulfstream Park. The question is can the track’s racing secretary, Dan Bork, find enough 3-year-olds willing to take on the champ to make the race go.
Uncle Mo completed the last of his six workouts in preparation for his 3-year-old debut Sunday at Palm Meadows, breezing an easy half-mile in 48.87 seconds under jockey John Velazquez.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla . - Dialed In lost a battle Sunday at Gulfstream Park, one his trainer Nick Zito hopes will help him win the ultimate war, the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7.
Dialed In finished second, a half-length behind his uncoupled, 4-year-old stablemate Equestrio in Sunday’s fourth race at Gulfstream Park. It was a race Zito desperately wanted as a prep for his next major goal with Dialed In, the $1 million Florida Derby, on April 3.
ARCADIA, Calif.- The Factor, who has won two starts at Santa Anita in electrifying fashion this winter, is being pointed for the $300,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 19, trainer Bob Baffert said on Sunday.
The Factor won the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes over seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Feb. 20. Following that race, Baffert mentioned the $800,000 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park in New Mexico on March 27 as a possibility, but was leaning toward a trip to Oaklawn Park on Sunday.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - Uncle Mo turned in his final work in preparation for his much anticipated 3-year-old debut by breezing an easy half-mile in 48.82 seconds under jockey John Velazquez early Sunday morning at Palm Meadows. The question now remains where Uncle Mo will run, not whe.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
