Led by Eclipse Award winner Uncle Mo and Remsen Stakes winner To Honor and Serve, a total of 364 3-year-olds have been made early nominees to the three Triple Crown races, it was announced late Saturday night by the Triple Crown racetracks, Churchill Downs, Pimlico, and Belmont Park.
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DRF Past Performances
ALBANY, Calif. – Racing fortunes can change quickly, and they did for trainer Steve Asmussen on Saturday when Silver Medallion won the 30th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields.
Barely 90 minutes earlier, Tapizar, the top 3-year-old in Asmussen’s barn, was fifth as the odds-on favorite in the Grade 2 Robert Lewis at Santa Anita. Anthony’s Cross, the winner of the Lewis, was cross-entered in the El Camino Real but scratched.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Anthony’s Cross outlasted Riveting Reason to win the Grade 2, $250,000 Robert Lewis Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, a race in which heavily favored Tapizar faded to finish fifth, triggering outsized show payoffs.
The inevitable comparisons between reigning Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and his baby brother Brethren will continue. Brethren remained undefeated on Saturday with a convincing four-length victory over the 31-1 Too Experience in the $225,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
J P’s Gusto, one of the nation’s top 3-year-olds, galloped over the Oaklawn surface for the first time Saturday morning and is scheduled to breeze for the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest on either Monday or Tuesday, said his trainer, Joe Petalino.
J P’s Gusto was transferred to Petalino last week after being based with trainer David Hofmans in Southern California. The Southwest is Feb. 21.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mucho Macho Man will sport a new look when he runs Saturday in the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds. No blinkers!
Mucho Macho Man launched his 3-year-old campaign by finishing fourth as the favorite in the Grade 3 Holy Bull here earlier this month, racing close to a fast pace before faltering in late stretch. Trainer Kathy Ritvo said she had been contemplating removing the blinkers from Mucho Macho Man even as a 2-year-old and has decided now is the right time to finally make the move.
Racing officials at Fair Grounds are expecting a terrific field for their next big race on the Triple Crown trail, the Risen Star Stakes, with two major hopefuls scheduled to ship in from south Florida to make their 3-year-old debuts in the Grade 2, $300,000 race.
Rogue Romance, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and Santiva, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, are among the six to eight known prospects for the Risen Star, which will be run Saturday, Feb. 19, at the New Orleans track.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Perfect after four starts in sprints, including a sharp win in an optional claimer on Friday, Bench Points is through with one-turn races for the rest of the winter.
Bench Points won his first start since September in a six-furlong optional claimer on Friday, closing from last in a field of four to beat Da Ruler, the 3-10 favorite. The victory led trainer Tim Yakteen to mention the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on March 12 for Bench Points’s next start. The San Felipe Stakes is a key prep for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
Who's hot
Todd Pletcher, who won last year’s Kentucky Derby, is the only trainer to land two horses on the inaugural top 20 of this year’s Derby Watch. Heading his duo is the unbeaten Uncle Mo, last year’s Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old, who is the 7-2 favorite on the current Derby line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper. Otherwise, the wealth is spread, with 18 other trainers represented.
Who's not