Roman Centurian, second in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 30, was scheduled to be withdrawn from Saturday’s Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby after trainer Simon Callaghan said he was unhappy with the colt’s training on Friday.
A battery of tests will be conducted before race plans are finalized, Callaghan said.
:: DRF's Santa Anita Derby Day headquarters – Previews, past performances, picks, and more
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Risk Taking is the proven one, a two-time winner at 1 1/8 miles over Aqueduct’s main track, including a graded stakes victory. Prevalence is the flashy one, a visually-impressive winner of his two starts, both this past winter in one-turn races at Gulfstream Park.
The two provide each other with a good test in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, a race that could lead either one or both to the Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Essential Quality will be carrying more than just his 123-pound assignment Saturday in the 97th Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
The homebred gray also will shoulder the fervent hopes of his owner, Godolphin, in taking a final step toward favoritism in the Kentucky Derby, a race the worldwide powerhouse stable has yet to win. He’ll also be trying to restore lost pride in the Blue Grass itself, a race that once produced Derby winners with regularity but has seen its stature diminish over the last 30 years.
ARCADIA, Calif. – What a difference a horse makes. What a difference a year makes. What a difference this Runhappy Santa Anita Derby will be compared to what was expected as recently as last month, and compared to what it was last year.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – By virtue of his victory in the Gotham Stakes four weeks ago, Weyburn earned enough qualifying points to secure his spot in the Kentucky Derby on May 1. His connections, however, do not necessarily have a case of Derby fever.
In 84 runnings of the Santa Anita Derby, only two jockeys have won the race in three consecutive years – Gary Stevens from 1993 to 1995, and Mike Smith in the last three seasons.
Smith, 55, looked poised for another win in Saturday’s Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on the two-time stakes winner Life Is Good until the colt was sidelined with an injury on March 20.
Chad Brown likens the approach he and owner Seth Klarman take to building Klarman’s Klaravich Stables to drafting a team, looking for prospects at every position. Potential contenders for the spring classics – the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont – are an important part of the roster, to be sure, but so is finding horses like Bricks and Mortar, their 2019 Horse of the Year. They want horses who can run short or long, on turf and dirt, be it colts or fillies.
Helium, who won the Tampa Bay Derby in his last start and is scheduled to go straight to the Kentucky Derby on May 1, and Weyburn, who won the Gotham in his last start and is scheduled to run in the Wood Memorial on Saturday, are two of the nine 3-year-olds announced on Wednesday as late nominees to the Triple Crown.
