Eurosilver was declared out of the May 1 Kentucky Derby after trainer Nick Zito said Friday that a lingering illness has become too much to overcome.
"The horse has just missed too much time," Zito said at Keeneland. "It's sad, but what are you going to do? You can't just work him a time or two and then put him in the Derby. That's not right."
Only four betting interests were being held at less than 10-1 after the first few hours of wagering into the third and final pool of the 2004 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opened its four-day run Thursday at noon Eastern.
As of 5:15 p.m., after $17,434 had been bet, Smarty Jones was the lukewarm 6-1 favorite in Derby Pool 3, followed by Lion Heart, Wimbledon, and the mutuel field, all at 9-1. Twelve more of the remaining 20 separately listed interests were holding at 25-1 or lower.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Jim McIngvale likes people to laugh at the commercials he makes for his Houston furniture store because people remember them. When he first got into the horse racing business eight years ago, people laughed at him, too. But not for the right reasons.
McIngvale sank considerable capital into his operation, then tried to micromanage the business, driving away or firing a series of trainers. Starting with Nick Zito, McIngvale went through trainers as quickly as the stock that flies out of his Gallery Furniture showroom.
WHO'S HOT
With no races of significance last weekend, there figured to be very little movement among the top 25 of Derby Watch from one week ago. The only addition is Minister Eric, who moves onto the list because of the defection of Gradepoint. Minister Eric, who was second in an allowance race on Saturday at Santa Anita, is best known for finishing second in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile to his Richard Mandella-trained stablemate, Action This Day. He is 40-1 on the future line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form's national handicapper.
WHO'S NOT
A bill allowing for the establishment of an account-wagering hub in Kentucky was sent to a Senate conference committee on Tuesday after failing in the House of Representatives.
The conference committee is expected to take up the bill during a final two-day legislative session April 12-13. The Kentucky Legislature recessed on Tuesday for a two-week break.
Madcap Escapade, an undefeated 3-year-old filly whose first career start was on Jan. 4, was among 15 horses nominated to the Triple Crown by the final deadline last Saturday, officials for the three-race series announced Tuesday.
Madcap Escapade, who is owned by Bruce Lunsford and trained by Frank Brothers, won her first start by 10 lengths and then easily took the Old Hat Stakes at Gulfstream on Feb. 14 and the Grade 2 Forward Gal Stakes on March 13. She has yet to run beyond seven furlongs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With the outlook for the 130th Kentucky Derby still remarkably unclear, the third and final pool in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager opens Thursday at noon Eastern for its customary four-day run at outlets throughout the United States.
The highly unsettled nature of the Derby picture has led Daily Racing Form national handicapper Mike Watchmaker to make an 8-1 favorite on his morning line: Lion Heart, the speedy California-based colt who runs next in the April 10 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
Gradepoint, who won the Risen Star Stakes but then finished eighth in the Louisiana Derby, has suffered a serious knee injury that will keep him from racing for at least the rest of the year and might necessitate his retirement, trainer Neil Howard said Tuesday.
Eurosilver, one of the top contenders for the May 1 Kentucky Derby, will have to miss the April 10 Blue Grass Stakes because of a neck infection of undetermined origin, trainer Nick Zito said at Keeneland Friday. The ailment could put Eurosilver's participation in the Kentucky Derby in jeopardy.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Mike Mitchell has been training for more than 30 years and has won numerous training titles at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, and Del Mar. Yet in all that time, he has never won a Grade 1 stakes race, which makes the April 3 Santa Anita Derby - in which he will send out Quintons Gold Rush - more than just a Kentucky Derby prep race for Mitchell.
