HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Uno Ojo put in his final work for the Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park, as the number of rivals the Rebel winner will face is starting to grow.
The Grade 1, $1.25 million Arkansas Derby is set for next Saturday, April 2. Entries will be taken on Sunday.
The Skipper Too, who was second to unbeaten We the People in a recent allowance at Oaklawn, is headed for the Arkansas Derby, his new trainer, John Ortiz, said on Saturday.
The undefeated filly Delicada won Saturday’s $280,580 Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse in Japan to secure a place in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7, if she is nominated to the American Triple Crown as soon as Monday and the race is deemed a goal.
It was not immediately clear if Delicada would be sent to Kentucky. She was not nominated to the Triple Crown earlier this year. A $6,000 supplemental entry is due on Monday.
Slow Down Andy could move into the fast lane on the road to the Kentucky Derby with the right kind of performance in Sunday’s Grade 3, $500,000 Sunland Park Derby.
The Southern California shipper figures to start as the favorite in the 1 1/8-mile race, which awards the first four finishers Kentucky Derby points on a scale of 50-20-10-5.
The Sunland Derby is the centerpiece of a card that boasts seven stakes worth a cumulative $1.6 million. It’s the richest afternoon of the meet, and includes the $300,000 Sunland Park Oaks.
Forbidden Kingdom, unbeaten in two graded stakes this year, was pronounced on schedule for the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 9 on Friday, a day after working six furlongs in 1:14 at Santa Anita.
The workout was the first for Forbidden Kingdom since a win in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on March 5. Forbidden Kingdom missed a workout last week because of an elevated temperature.
“I think I’m in good shape,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “I don’t think I lost anything.”
Four top Kentucky Derby prospects heretofore trained by Bob Baffert, including the highly regarded Messier, have been moved in advance of upcoming stakes, with the hope they can earn enough points in their next starts to run in the Derby on May 7, according to Tom Ryan, who oversees the wide-ranging partnership that owns the colts.
NEW ORLEANS – Hurricanes and, early this week, tornadoes, can befall this city. Late Saturday afternoon, if form holds, it’ll be an earthquake. Predictive analysis shows that Fair Grounds, just to the north and west of the French Quarter, will be the Epicenter.
With a career-best 98 on the Richter – er, Beyer – scale last time out, Epicenter heads into the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby on Saturday as the unquestioned horse to beat among nine 3-year-olds looking to move on to the Kentucky Derby May 7 at Churchill Downs.
Jasper Great, 10th of 11 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar last November, is a projected starter in Saturday’s $280,580 Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse in Japan, the final qualifying race in that nation’s series for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7.
One berth in the 20-horse field for the Kentucky Derby is available to a Japanese-based runner through a four-race qualifying series that began last fall. None of the runners who earned points in the first three races are among the nominees for the Fukuryu Stakes, which is run at 1 1/8 miles.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – An ankle issue, presumably the result of an incident that occurred in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, will keep High Oak from running in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 9 and eliminate any hope of him making the Kentucky Derby, part-owner Lee Einsidler said Wednesday.
NEW ORLEANS – Kenny McPeek thinks big. The veteran trainer has private facilities in both Kentucky and Florida, isn’t shy about running in Europe, or placing fillies against males, or heading down to South America to buy imports. Couple that with his well-known knack for picking out young horses at moderate prices, Curlin being the best of that long list, and he’s a force to be reckoned with wherever one turns at the track or the sales ring.
