Chasing Time could soon be chasing after some qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

The impressive allowance winner is being considered for a start in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest on Jan. 29 at Oaklawn Park, trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday. The 1 1/16-mile race doles out Kentucky Derby points on a scale of 10-4-2-1.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Brian Lynch is eyeing the Feb. 5 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park for his Kentucky Derby hopeful Classic Causeway, who breezed five furlongs in 1:01.60 early Wednesday at the Palm Meadows training center. It was the third work for the Giant’s Causeway colt since he was second as the 7-5 favorite behind Smile Happy in the Nov. 27 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs.

“There are other races we could go for, but right now the Holy Bull is on the radar for him,” said Lynch. “This latest work was really good and has us where we want to be.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Todd Pletcher trains five of the 23 separately listed wagering interests in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which runs this Friday to Sunday. It’s a familiar position for a Hall of Fame trainer, whose 59 Derby starters is a record.

Mo Donegal, a last-out winner of the Dec. 4 Remsen, will be Pletcher’s only starter in the first major Derby prep of the year at Gulfstream Park, the Feb. 5 Holy Bull. The Uncle Mo colt has breezed every weekend at Pletcher’s winter base at Palm Beach Downs since Dec. 24.

The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, has been listed as the 7-5 morning-line favorite for the second of five pools in the 2022 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.

Pool 2 opens Friday at noon Eastern and runs through Sunday at 6 p.m.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Slow Down Andy, upset winner of the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 11, is under consideration for two Grade 3 races in the next month – the $750,000 Southwest Stakes on Jan. 29 at Oaklawn Park or the $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes on Feb. 6 at Santa Anita.

Trainer Doug O’Neill said Friday that Paul Reddam, who owns Slow Down Andy with his wife, Zillah, will make a final determination on a race goal.

The Southwest Stakes is run at a mile, while the Lewis is run at 1 1/16 miles.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It’s a rare winter when trainer Dale Romans doesn’t show up with some promising young faces for the major 3-year-old stakes here later in the season. And this year is no exception.

Romans breezed the talented 3-year-old prospects Giant Game, Howling Time, and Red Knobs over the main track at Gulfstream Park on Tuesday, with his smile getting wider with each successive work.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Derby sleepers are re-emerging. A closing third by Oviatt Class in the Sham Stakes and a runner-up finish in the Bob Hope and subsequent layoff by Forever Kingdom have not dampened expectations for the Santa Anita-based graded stakes-placed colts.

Keith Desormeaux trains late-running Grade 1-placed Oviatt Class, third in the slow-paced Grade 3 Sham Stakes on Jan. 1.

“How do you go 48 and 4 at that level?” Desormeaux said, referring to the half-mile time of wire-to-wire winner Newgrange. “For us to close on them was pretty cool.”

Listed, $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, Oaklawn Park, Jan. 1, 2022
(10 Derby qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Dash Attack, by Munnings
Trainer: Ken McPeek
Jockey: David Cohen
Owner: Catalyst Stable, Magdalena Racing, Kevin Pollard, and Patty Slevin
Beyer Speed Figure: 82

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Led by Courvoisier, the top three finishers from Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes are expected to meet again in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes on Feb. 5 at Aqueduct.

Courvoisier won the Jerome by 1 1/4 lengths over Smarten Up, who finished three-quarters of a length in front of Cooke Creek. The race was run over an extremely sloppy surface, and jockey Jose Ortiz, riding Courvoisier for the first time, hustled the horse into contention as per instructions from trainer Kelly Breen. It wasn’t until the final sixteenth when Courvoisier began to edge clear.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – If Saturday’s New Year’s Day program here was a hockey game, nobody could argue that the top three stars at the end of the day were Simplification, Lightening Larry, and Kathleeen O. The only discussion, perhaps, would be what order to put them in.