Pool 4 in the 2023 Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed Sunday evening following the customary three-day run with the mutuel field once again a clear-cut favorite among 40 wagering options.

The field, the 40th or “all others” option, was a 2-1 choice over reigning divisional champion Forte (8-1) and the only filly in the lineup, Hoosier Philly (11-1), following the customary three-day window of betting. Then came Tapit Trice (15-1), Instant Coffee (22-1), Victory Formation (23-1), and Geaux Rocket Ride (25-1). Thirteen of the 39 individual interests closed at 90-1 or higher.

$101,350 El Camino Real, Feb. 11, 2023
[10 qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 3 for third, 2 for fourth, and 1 for fifth]

Winner: Chase the Chaos, by Astern
Trainer: Ed Moger Jr.
Jockey: Armando Ayuso
Owner: Adam Ference and Bill Dory
Distance / time: 1 1/8 miles Tapeta / 1:51.68
Win margin: 1 1/2 lengths
Beyer: 83

$250,000 Withers Stakes, Feb. 11, 2023
[20 qualifying points for first, 8 for second, 6 for third, 4 for fourth, and 2 for fifth]

Winner: Hit Show, by Candy Ride
Trainer: Brad Cox
Jockey: Manny Franco
Owner: Gary and Mary West
Distance / time: 1 1/8 miles / 1:54.71
Win margin: 5 1/2 lengths
Beyer: 91 

$200,000 Sam Davis Stakes, Feb. 11, 2023
[20 qualifying points for first, 8 for second, 6 for third, 4 for fourth, and 2 for fifth]

Winner: Litigate, by Blame
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: Luis Saez
Owner: Centennial Farms
Distance / time: 1 1/16 miles / 1:44.83
Win margin: 1 1/4
Beyer: 77 

ARCADIA, Calif. – An untimely setback to the improving 3-year-old colt Newgate has knocked the Bob Baffert trainee off the Kentucky Derby trail.

Days after Newgate won the highly rated Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 4 at Santa Anita, racing manager Tom Ryan announced Friday on Twitter that Newgate has been sidelined with a “minor hock issue.”

OLDSMAR, Fla. – You won’t find it anywhere on his Hall of Fame plaque, but Todd Pletcher has won the Sam F. Davis Stakes a record six times. It’s typical of the immense swath Pletcher has cut for himself in a training career made more notable by all his Eclipse Awards and higher-profile success.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Gun Pilot is being considered for a Kentucky Derby points race following his Feb. 4 allowance win at Oaklawn Park.  

Trainer Steve Asmussen said Wednesday that the horse is under consideration for the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel on Feb. 25 at Oaklawn.  

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Folks get tired of the same-old-same-old, which is one reason the Kentucky Derby result last year was so refreshing. The connections of 80-1 winner Rich Strike were unknowns in racing, their stories a welcome change.

One can imagine how Derby fans, through the years, grew weary of hearing about Colonel Bradley, then Calumet Farm and the Jones Boys, then Lukas and Zito, and now Baffert and Pletcher. People do embrace the novelty of a Derby stranger, if only as a diversion from a worn-out script.

None of the projected runners in Saturday’s $100,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields have a Triple Crown pedigree quite like the unbeaten colt Harcyn.

Owned by Jerry Moss, Harcyn is from the family of half-brothers Giacomo, the winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby, and Tiago, who won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in 2007 and was seventh behind Street Sense in the Kentucky Derby.

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