Code of Honor, Hidden Scroll lead Florida Derby field

Associated PressMar 29, 2019, 3:25 PM EDT

AP Photo

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey fondly remembers how the majority of the betting public and handicappers overlooked Orb six years ago, all the way to the Kentucky Derby.

If it happens again with Code of Honor, he won’t complain.

Code of Honor, the winner of the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park, returns to that same track Saturday for the $1 million Florida Derby – one of the last major prep races on the road to the Triple Crown season. A field of 11 horses is entered, and Hidden Scroll is the likely favorite even after getting beaten by Code of Honor four weeks ago.

“He was pretty overlooked in the Fountain of Youth too and, you know, I think that if that’s the way it is this Saturday I think that he will probably make some people feel kind of funny,” McGaughey said of his horse, which will be ridden again by John Velazquez. “But that’s the public’s opinion and the media’s opinion. I mean, I’ve liked what I’ve seen and I wouldn’t trade places with any of the horses that are in there.”

Orb won the Fountain of Youth for McGaughey six years ago, then the Florida Derby, then the Kentucky Derby.

So far, Code of Honor is on the same path.

“I was very impressed with his race in the Fountain of Youth,” McGaughey said. “I felt that, you know, really, he was kind of an easy winner.”

The Kentucky Derby field is based on points that horses earn by their finishes in various prep races. Winning the Fountain of Youth assures Code of Honor enough points to get into the May 4 race at Churchill Downs, assuming he’s healthy. And while the $600,000 winner’s share of the Florida Derby pot is obviously enticing, he won’t need points on Saturday.

That’s not the case for Hidden Scroll. He was installed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite, just ahead of 3-1 Code of Honor.

At minimum, just to have a shot at reaching the Kentucky Derby, he’ll need to finish no worse than third Saturday. Hidden Scroll didn’t race as a 2-year-old, broke his maiden at Gulfstream in January in a staggering 14-lengths win and was the 6-5 favorite in the Fountain of Youth on March 2 – he went to the lead but ran out of gas down the stretch, fading to fourth.

That race was 1 1/16 miles, and the Florida Derby is 1 1/8 miles. The added half-furlong wouldn’t typically seem to help a horse that tired at the shorter distance, but trainer Bill Mott thinks some tweaks to the game plan is all that’s required.

“We’re going into a race that’s only his third race,” Mott said. “We certainly don’t know everything about him. I think it’s still going to be a little bit of a learning experience. I’m extremely high on the horse. I think he’s got a tremendous amount of ability.”

Bourbon War is the 7-2 third choice in the morning line for the Florida Derby.

UAE DERBY

The other Kentucky Derby point-providing race Saturday is the $2.5 million UAE Derby in Dubai. Like the Florida Derby, it provides 100 points to the winner, 40 points for second, 20 points for third and 10 points for fourth.

The morning-line favorite is Divine Image, a filly who has three wins and a second-place showing in her four career starts. But even if she prevails Saturday, she may not get pointed to run against males in the Kentucky Derby – and instead, perhaps, to the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill the day before the Derby.

Forte works out, waits for Belmont Stakes clearance

Associated PressMay 27, 2023, 3:14 PM EDT

Matt Stone/USA TODAY NETWORK

NEW YORK — Forte, the early Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched on the day of the race, worked out in preparation for a possible start in the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

Under regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr., Forte worked five-eighths of a mile for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. It was the colt’s second workout since being scratched from the Derby on May 6.

“It seems like he’s maintained his fitness level,” Pletcher said. “It seems like everything is in good order.”

Forte was placed on a mandatory 14-day veterinary list after being scratched from the Derby because of a bruised right front foot. In order to be removed from the list, the colt had to work in front of a state veterinarian and give a blood sample afterward, the results of which take five days.

“There’s protocols in place and we had to adhere to those and we’re happy that everything went smoothly,” Pletcher said. “We felt confident the horse was in good order or we wouldn’t have been out there twice in the last six days, but you still want to make sure everything went smoothly and we’re happy everything did go well.”

Pletcher said Kingsbarns, who finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby, will miss the Belmont. The colt is showing signs of colic, although he is fine, the trainer said.

Another Pletcher-trained horse, Prove Worthy, is under consideration for the Belmont. He also has Tapit Trice, who finished seventh in the Derby, being pointed toward the Belmont.

Judge grants Churchill Downs’ request for summary judgment to dismiss Bob Baffert’s lawsuit

Associated PressMay 25, 2023, 9:36 PM EDT

Abbey Cutrer/USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has granted Churchill Downs’ motion for summary judgment that dismisses Bob Baffert’s claim the track breached due process by suspending the Hall of Fame trainer for two years.

Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert in June 2021 after his now-deceased colt, Medina Spirit, failed a postrace drug test after crossing the finish line first in the 147th Kentucky Derby. The trainer’s request to lift the discipline was denied in February, keeping him out of the Derby for a second consecutive May.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled in a 12-page opinion issued Wednesday that Churchill Downs’ suspension of Baffert did not devalue his Kentucky trainer’s license. It cited his purse winnings exceeding $1 million at Keeneland in Lexington and stated that his argument “amounts to a false analogy that distorts caselaw.”

Jennings denied CDI’s motion to stay discovery as moot.

The decision comes less than a week after Baffert-trained colt National Treasure won the Preakness in his first Triple Crown race in two years. His record eighth win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown came hours after another of his horses, Havnameltdown, was euthanized following an injury at Pimlico.

Churchill Downs said in a statement that it was pleased with the court’s favorable ruling as in Baffert’s other cases.

It added, “While he may choose to file baseless appeals, this completes the seemingly endless, arduous and unnecessary litigation proceedings instigated by Mr. Baffert.”

Baffert’s suspension is scheduled to end on June 2, but the track’s release noted its right to extend it “and will communicate our decision” at its conclusion.