NEW ORLEANS - Bob Baffert for months had watched his Kentucky Derby crop of 2004 disappoint. Several well-regarded 2-year-olds from last year never developed. Many more, some with expensive price tags, were complete busts. Baffert became so desperate that he bought a couple of runners privately, perhaps hoping to emulate the success he had two years ago with War Emblem. But those horses did not amount to much, either.
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DRF Past Performances
ARCADIA, Calif. - Only minutes after Lion Heart won the Hollywood Futurity, trainer Patrick Biancone said the colt would be rested until the San Rafael Stakes, then would move on to the Santa Anita Derby before the Kentucky Derby.
The 2 1/2 months since the Hollywood Futurity have flown past. Most top 3-year-olds have already raced this year, so Lion Heart largely has been out of sight, and out of mind. But now it's time to get down to serious business.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Kentucky Derby trail claimed another victim Thursday when X-rays revealed that Silver Wagon had chips in the upper joint of his left knee. Silver Wagon, who finished third in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, had been pointing for the $1 million Florida Derby on March 13.
Minister Eric always has played the understudy in the barn of trainer Richard Mandella. He was second to stablemate Siphonizer in the Del Mar Futurity. He was second to stablemate Action This Day in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. And he will be the second of those horses to make his 2004 debut, when he begins his quest for the May 1 Kentucky Derby in Saturday's Baldwin Stakes at Santa Anita.
WHO'S HOT
There were no changes to the horses on the Derby Watch's top 25, but a couple of odds adjustments were made on the future line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form's national handicapper. He lowered Gradepoint, the Risen Star Stakes winner, to 15-1 from last week's 20-1.
WHO'S NOT
Gradepoint's price went down because Watchmaker raised The Cliff's Edge from 15-1 to 25-1 following his loss in last week's Sam Davis Stakes.
ON THE BUBBLE
Trainers with multiple prospects for the Kentucky Derby, and jockeys sifting through various mounts, have both exciting and stressful choices to make as the May 1 Kentucky Derby draws closer. So it was on Wednesday, when decisions made by trainers Rick Violette and Todd Pletcher helped start the dominoes falling.
Violette said Read the Footnotes, the winner of the Fountain of Youth Stakes, had recovered well from Saturday's furious finish and would return in the Florida Derby on March 13. Jerry Bailey has been riding Read the Footnotes, and is expected to stick with him.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Read the Footnotes and Second of June looked like the leaders of the pack on the road to the Kentucky Derby with their thrilling duel in Saturday's Fountain of Youth Stakes, but only the victorious Read the Footnotes will head to the next stop.
Second of June's quest came to an abrupt end on Saturday. He came out of the Fountain of Youth with a fractured cannon bone, and thus became the first significant casualty of this year's Derby chase.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The mutuel field was the 9-5 favorite over the 23 other betting options when Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed Sunday.
Eurosilver closed as the distant second choice at 11-1, followed by his Nick Zito-trained stablemate Birdstone at 12-1. Three horses followed at 14-1: Action This Day, Lion Heart, and Read the Footnotes. Results of the Future Wager are predicated on the 130th Derby, to be run May 1 at Churchill Downs.