Last weekend, Quality Road punched his ticket to the Kentucky Derby with his much the best victory in the Florida Derby . The Todd Pletcher trainee; Dunkirk got second money, but needs help to get into the field on the earnings side. Both Regal Ransom and Desert Party ran one/two in the UAE Derby , so both of them have enough earnings to make the field and will come from the desert. These four horses earned spots, while Louisiana Derby winner; Friesan Fire will just train up to the big race and come there on a three race win streak. Today we should get more contenders for the “Run for the Roses” with prep races in the Illinois Derby , Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and Santa Anita Derby .
The grade II – Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Park drew a field of 11 runners, but the Todd Pletcher trainee; Lord Justice will scratch from this spot and run in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct instead. The mile and an eighth race places two Derby contenders in the field; Giant Oak and Musket Man. Giant Oak comes into the race off of two sub-par efforts at the Fairgrounds. Once thought of a force in the prep races after his runner-up spot last fall in the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs, he has to either win or show a good in-the-money effort today to continue on the Derby trail. Musket Man recently won the Tampa Bay Derby and has finished in the top three in all five career starts. I’ll be going with the Nick Zito runner on top; Nowhere to Hide (#1) who had a wide trip last time out in the Tampa Bay Derby . For second, Todd Pletcher has entered a very obscure and new horse to the Derby trail named; Al Khali who recently won an allowance test at Gulfstream Park . Underneath those two in the exotics, I’ll be using; Musket Man, Perfect Song and Giant Oak.
The grade I – Wood Memorial at Aqueduct has a field of eight runners with seven betting interest (Atomic Rain and West Side Bernie entry). I Want Revenge comes off a huge victory in the Gotham Stakes with Imperial Council running a distant second. These two runners out class the rest of the field and this time out Imperial Council turns the tables on I Want Revenge for victory. Lord Justice will race here instead of the softer spot in the Illinois Derby and will be my third choice to round out the exotics. Lime Rickey could be a “wild card” in the race first time on a dirt surface.
Maybe the most intriguing race of the three preps will be contended on the artificial “pro-ride” surface in the Santa Anita Derby . It’s a showdown between Pioneer of the Nile and The Pamplemousse; a classic match up between speed and the closer. But, I’ll be looking in another direction in this field of ten runners. In the Sham Stakes run at the same mile and an eighth distance, The Pamplemousse set an uncontested pace and won much the best. The third place finisher; Mr. Hot Stuff rallied for third and galloped out well past the wire. This full brother to Colonel John gets my top selection in this race. The Pamplemousse should hold on for second, while Pioneer of the Nile and Take Points will battle for the show spot. Even if Pioneer of the Nile is victorious, I won’t be convinced he can win the Kentucky Derby racing on dirt for the first time in his career. Next week we have the last two major prep races (Arkansas Derby & Blue Grass Stakes) and hopefully the Kentucky Derby field will be decided.
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