After 37 races spread over 210 days, everyone with designs on the Kentucky Derby knows where they sit. For those in the top 20 on points, they’re in, holding their breath that nothing untoward bubbles forth. For those just outside the top 20, they’re hoping a spot opens before the race is run at Churchill Downs May 7. The door isn’t quite shut. Yes, we’re saying there’s a chance.
Rafael Bejarano will ride Happy Jack in the Kentucky Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs, trainer Doug O'Neill said Tuesday, reuniting a trainer and jockey team that had terrific success in Southern California before Bejarano returned to the Kentucky circuit.
Happy Jack, a Calumet Farm homebred colt by Oxbow, secured enough points to run in the Derby by finishing a distant third in his most recent start, the Santa Anita Derby, behind Taiba and Messier. He also finished third in his prior start, the San Felipe Stakes.
Grade 3, $398,750 Lexington Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Keeneland, April 16, 2022
(20 Derby qualifying points for first, 8 for second, 4 for third, 2 for fourth)
Winner: Tawny Port, by Pioneerof the Nile
Trainer: Brad Cox
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Owner: Peachtree Stable
Beyer Speed Figure: 89
LEXINGTON, Ky. – In Due Time, third as the favorite Saturday in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, remains a prospect for the Kentucky Derby, although trainer Kelly Breen said Monday he and the owners of the Not This Time colt need more time to determine whether they actually want to run in the May 7 classic at Churchill Downs.
A precious few each year get to say they bred a Kentucky Derby runner. With thousands of Thoroughbreds born each year, it’s a longshot – especially for smaller programs outside of Kentucky that raise a relative handful of foals.
But for Ohio-based Bruce Ryan, who bred Santa Anita Derby winner Taiba, it’s a longshot that he’s around to enjoy this spring at all.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Holiday or not, it was back to some serious business for White Abarrio on Easter Sunday at Gulfstream Park. The $1 million Florida Derby winner turned in the first of his three scheduled works leading up to the May 7 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs with an easy three furlongs in 34.49 followed by a very impressive-looking gallop out.
Un Ojo is bound for the Kentucky Derby after a Saturday morning work that satisfied his trainer, Ricky Courville. The drill came at the horse’s Copper Crowne training center base near Lafayette, La.
Un Ojo worked five furlongs in 1:03.15 on a fast track, Courville said. The horse went by himself. Un Ojo is the one-eyed winner of the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel at Oaklawn; the 50 points he earned in the February race secured his spot in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Slow Down Andy has been withdrawn from consideration for the Kentucky Derby after recently spiking a temperature at Keeneland, trainer Doug O’Neill confirmed Saturday morning.
Slow Down Andy had made the 20-horse cutoff for the May 7 Derby by winning the March 27 Sunland Derby, but the Nyquist colt missed a scheduled workout here this weekend after taking ill. The news was first reported by Horse Racing Nation.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Charge It and Simplification, the second and third finishers respectively in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on April 2 at Gulfstream Park, each turned in the first of their three scheduled works prior to the Kentucky Derby approximately 30 minutes and 40 miles apart early Friday morning in South Florida.
Taiba
Gun Runner – Needmore Flattery, by Flatter
Bred in Kentucky by Bruce C. Young ($140,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling purchase by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds; $1.7 million Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream 2-year-old purchase by Gary Young, agent for Zedan Racing)
Gun Runner has emerged from prep season for the spring classics with an embarrassment of riches. The record-setting young sire added Taiba to his Kentucky Derby candidates last weekend and could wind up with multiple entrants in both the Derby and Kentucky Oaks.
