The arduous Derby trail claimed another contender with the injury
announcement of Stephanoatsee. Last year’s Kentucky Derby winning trainer
Graham Motion said “It’s disappointing. I was starting to get a little
excited”. The Count Fleet
runner-up and half-brother to Preakness winner Shackleford should be back in
training in 2 months// Union Rags seems to be rounding into form quickly. His third move since the layoff was a
snappy 1 minute and 4/5 seconds for five furlongs. The bullet went to another CTD Contender
Take Charge Indy who was more than a full second quicker// It was confirmed
that San Pedro Stakes winner Midnight Transfer will stretch out next in the San
Felipe (G2) in early March, a race which should also draw Sham (G3) winner Out
of Bounds. Bob Baffert blamed a
bad ride for Drill’s poor effort in the San Pedro, which is not unusual for the
trainer to do. I don’t think it
mattered, as the colt has clearly not shown any gameness down the stretch in
his last four races// Jeff Bonde confirmed Majestic Stride will try the
two-turn Southwest (G3) next. He
believes the son of Trippi can handle the added distance, while many believe
pedigree says no// The Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs always draws some
sneaky horses just below the radar- often ones with trainers that want to avoid
the tough Gulfstream circuit. The
race is less than two weeks away, but there haven’t been many indications of
who will make the field… until now.
Neck n’ Neck and Chief Energy, two maiden winners, are pointing for the
race along with Grade 3 winner Prospective// I’m always a sucker for Kentucky
Derby trends, and Jeff Scott at the Saratogian reveals 4 of the past 5 winners
started their sophomore campaigns in March. They are among a group of only 18 Kentucky Derby entries in
the past 5 years to do so, with the other 82 entries starting in January or
February. Looking even further back, famous Derby winners Secretariat, Seattle
Slew, Affirmed, Alysheba, and Sunday Silence all started their 3-year-old
campaigns in March as well. Makes
you wonder about the January and February graded stakes we pay so much
attention to…
Articles
Dan Illman:
Midnight Transfer thoughts (DRF Blog)
Derby
trail’s late starters (The Saratogian)
3-year-olds
to watch 1/24 (In The Money Blog)
Mr. Bowling game in
LeComte Stakes [pedigree profile] (Iron Maidens Thoroughbreds]
Rankings
Works:
Optimizer- OP- 5F-
1.03:20- B- 10/12
Ancient Rome- PMM- 4F- 49:88-
B- 16/31
Union Rags- PMM- 5F- 1.00:82-
B- 2/28
Take Charge Indy- PMM- 5F- 59:78-
B- 1/28
Hakama- FH- 5F- 1.01:00- B- 2/4
Speed Figures*
Winning 3yo Beyers last
week: Castaway-89; Midnight Transfer-93; Pulpit's Express-86; Prayer
Meeting-87; King and Crusader-86
Top winning 3yo BRIS
figs last week: Castaway-102; Midnight Transfer-101; Pulpit's Express-100;
Prayer Meeting-99; King and Crusader-97
