JC / Railbird

Kentucky Derby

Big Field for Holy Bull

Although some trainers plan to send their top Derby hopefuls elsewhere to avoid Gulfstream’s problematic three-year-old stakes series …
The Holy Bull is the first major two-turn race for three-year-olds on the Derby Trail at Gulfstream, but when the field is drawn on Thursday several well-regarded prospects will be conspicuously missing. Todd Pletcher is planning to send Bluegrass Cat to Tampa for the Sam F. Davis, Nick Zito is considering the same for allowance winner Hesanoldsalt, and Frank Brother’s First Samurai will race in the seven and a half furlong Hutcheson instead, all because the Holy Bull distance of nine furlongs is the same distance as the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby:

Pletcher said that if Bluegrass Cat runs in the Sam F. Davis, he would very likely run in the Tampa Bay Derby a month later. “If we go in the Sam Davis we’re kind of committed to Tampa all the way and he probably won’t run at Gulfstream this winter.”
Among the possible starters for the Holy Bull are Aventura winner Doctor Decherd, Zito’s Little Cliff and Hemingway’s Key, Pletcher’s My Golden Song and Saint Augustus, and the intriguing Barbaro, who’s undefeated in three starts on the turf and making his dirt debut. “I just feel that right now we have to try the dirt,” said trainer Michael Matz. “We know we have an excellent horse on the turf. I feel for the owner’s sake and the horse’s sake, we have to try the dirt.”

Posted in Racing on January 31, 2006 / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Comments Off on Big Field for Holy Bull

Another Contender Emerges

Before the El Camino Real on Sunday, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was modest about the prospect of his colt, Cause to Believe, running in the Kentucky Derby. “I’m pleased they think that much of him to put him in there,” Hollendorfer said of the [Daily Racing Form list of early Derby contenders]. “But I don’t have a certain path for him, because my owner isn’t real serious about the Derby trail.” But then Cause to Believe won the El Camino Real with a late run, finishing three-quarters of a length ahead of pace-setting Objective. “I’ve had confidence in this horse all along,” said Hollendorfer after the race. “We have a lot of options with this horse … And with luck, maybe we can get into the [Kentucky] Derby.” Northern California horses swept the first three places; Bold Chieftain was third.
A.P. Warrior, a $1.3 million yearling purchase and the heavy favorite in the El Camino Real, finished fourth, eight and three-quarters lengths behind Cause to Believe and only a head in front of fifth-place finisher Wanna Runner. “That was very disappointing,” said jockey Alex Solis. “He didn’t show up today. I was laying in good position, and we had some pace to run at. I got him outside at the five-sixteenths, and he didn’t fire.”
Both A.P. Warrior and Wanna Runner have been competitive against Brother Derek and Stevie Wonderboy in previous starts, which makes me wonder — have both tailed off in their development after showing flashes of talent as two-year-olds? Or is the northern contingent just that much better?
Steve Haskin is done wondering about A.P. Warrior: “Whatever the case with A.P. Warrior, he has not been a happy horse and has thrown in too many clunkers to be considered a top Derby candidate any longer.” But he’s high on Cause to Believe: “He’s all heart and is as consistent as they come.”
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Trainer Steve Asmussen’s top Derby prospect, Private Vow, worked this morning for the first time in several weeks, going four furlongs in :51 at Palm Meadows. Several other Derby hopefuls have hit the track in the past couple of days, including Bluegrass Cat and Barbaro.

Posted in Racing on January 30, 2006 / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Comments Off on Another Contender Emerges

Saturday’s Stakes, Briefly

A small field of six is entered in the San Rafael Stakes, but the race is really a two horse affair … Saint Augustus is the “tepid” Risen Star morning line favorite … the undefeated filly French Park returns in the Silverbulletday.

Posted in Racing on January 13, 2006 / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Comments Off on Saturday’s Stakes, Briefly

Early Derby Picks

Looking for Derby news and picks? Visit the 2006 Derby Watch page.
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I was going to wait until after the Remsen at Aqueduct and the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill on November 26 before putting together any kind of list of potential 2006 Kentucky Derby contenders, but in the past week a surprising number of visitors have come to the site searching for variations of “2006 Derby picks” and “Early Kentucky Derby picks,” so I think I’ll start one now …
The super-early Railbird top 10 Kentucky Derby prospects:
1. Stevie Wonderboy
2. First Samurai
3. Henny Hughes
4. Private Vow
5. Sorceror’s Stone
6. Catcominacha
7. Flanders Fields
8. Dawn of War
9. Brother Derek
10. Superfly
List to be updated and expanded later — perhaps in December sometime, when a couple of new dazzling two-year-olds have emerged even as a couple of others have fallen off the Derby trail before they’re really on it.
Related: Steve Haskin couldn’t wait either. (Flashback to last year: Haskin kicks off Derby season with a look at the new road ahead).

Posted in Racing on November 14, 2005 / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Comments Off on Early Derby Picks