Road to the Kentucky Derby: Last 3 major preps will provide clarity to Derby field

By Al BernsteinApr 5, 2022, 11:29 AM EDT

The parallels between the NCAA basketball tournament and the Kentucky Derby prep season are unmistakable. We always expect powerhouses like Duke and Kansas to make it to the Final Four, as they did again this year. They have the most touted recruits and most experienced coaches, so it is no surprise when they advance in the tournament.

They are the basketball equivalent of a high-priced 3-year-old from one of the most powerful barns in thoroughbred racing. We expect such horses to advance through the preliminaries and make it into the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

But almost every year there is a Cinderella team, as St. Peter’s was this year, and every year unexpected horses make it into the gate in Louisville. How else can you explain White Abarrio, who was originally a $7,500 purchase (later sold for $40,000 as a 2-year-old) and kept on impressing in the preps, leading to his victory on Saturday in the Florida Derby?

Just as St. Peter’s had a young, relatively unknown coach on the rise, White Abarrio is trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr. Trainers of Kentucky Derby contenders are expected to come from traditional racing hotbeds, unlike Mr. Joseph, whose foundation in racing was from his native home of Barbados.

Just as basketball fans closely follow the conference tournaments and the hoopla of selection day for the tournament, horse racing fans will look forward to this Saturday, when the Derby point totals will be pretty much locked in and we will end up with more clarity regarding who will be the final 20 and who will be on the outside looking in. The prep season will reach its climax on NBC this Saturday beginning at 4:30 pm ET with the running of the Wood Memorial, the Blue Grass Stakes, and the Santa Anita Derby.

Kentucky Derby Preview — *Trainer Chad Brown will saddle Zandon in Keeneland’s Blue Grass Stakes and Early Voting in Aqueduct’s Wood Memorial*

Since 1980, these three races have produced 366 Kentucky Derby starters and 25 winners. Each race, however, presents its own unique set of variables and has been subject to trends in the racing world.

Take the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct as an example. At one time, the Wood was arguably the most significant Derby prep. In the 1970s, Secretariat, Foolish Pleasure, Bold Forbes and Seattle Slew all had their final prep races in New York before winning in Louisville.

Since 1980, however, only two winners of the Wood have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby (Pleasant Colony in 1981 and Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000). The last time a horse who ran well in the Wood went on to win the Derby was in 2003, when Funny Cide was 2^nd in the Wood.

This year, however, three of the top trainers in the sport have starters in this race, and they all can emerge as major players. Todd Pletcher has Mo Donegal, who won the Remsen Stakes on this track and at the same distance as a 2-year-old. He was 3^rd in the Holy Bull at Gulfstream, and the experience of that race and a return to Aqueduct give him a license to improve. Chad Brown will have Early Voting, who is undefeated in 2 starts (both at Aqueduct), including a win in the Withers Stakes in his last start.

And then there is the winningest trainer of all time, Steve Asmussen. While Epicenter has risen to the top of the point standings for the Derby, his “second-string” horse, Morello, has been pointed to this race all along.

He is 3-for-3 lifetime, with all 3 races at Aqueduct, and his most recent win coming in the Gotham Stakes. This is a deeper field than the Wood Memorial has presented in quite some time.

The Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland is a race with a complicated history in terms of producing Kentucky Derby winners. Overall, 23 Kentucky Derby winners had their final prep in the Blue Grass, and 11 of them were Blue Grass winners.

Like the Wood Memorial, this race has an unusual history regarding the Derby. The period from 1959 to 1979 produced 8 horses that won both in Lexington and Louisville. Then, there was a gap in dual winners until Strike The Gold won both races in 1991. Also, the last time a horse that ran in the Blue Grass went on to win in Louisville was in 2007, when Street Sense went from a 2^nd place finish in the prep race to winning the Derby.

Horsemen who were prepping Derby horses generally stayed away from the race from 2008 to 2014, when Keeneland had a questionable experience with a synthetic surface that was so tiring that front-runners were at a disadvantage. Since then, some of the top barns have returned to using the Blue Grass as a final prep, and it’s just a matter of time until we have our first dual winner since the Nick Zito-trained Strike The Gold.

This year, the Blue Grass has a deep field with some highly regarded Derby prospects. Notable among this group is the Ken McPeek-trained Smile Happy. Last November, he was the winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs.

In that race, he defeated Classic Causeway and White Abarrio, two horses who are near the top of the Derby point standings. In his only start this year, he was a closing 2^nd to Epicenter in the Risen Star Stakes.

With his experience against the best of the 3-year-old crop, Smile Happy is a major factor in the Blue Grass. His major challenger could be the Chad Brown-trained Zandon, who was 3^rd in the Risen Star. Last November, he lost by a nose to Mo Donegal in the Remsen Stakes over 9 furlongs at Aqueduct. With only 3 starts, he has proven that he can run with the best of his generation.

Finally, there is the unusual case of the Santa Anita Derby. It is unusual because of the man who isn’t there. The now-suspended Bob Baffert has won this race 9 times, and 5 of those wins have been in the last 11 years.

He has now turned over the best 3-year-old in his barn, Messier, to trainer Tim Yakteen. In order to win, however, Messier will have to get past the Richard Mandella-trained Forbidden Kingdom, who has won the San Vicente Stakes and the San Felipe Stakes in his two starts this year. The combination of these two powerhouses should result in a smaller field but an incredible matchup.

The bottom line is that after Saturday, we should know most of the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is the Derby starting gate. If horses have enough points to get into the Derby, then their trainers have 4 weeks to do their magic and get their prospects to peak on the first Saturday in May. The action will be fast and furious as these three “100-points-to-the-winner” races help to define the ultimate makeup of the Derby field.

Al Bernstein has worked as a statistician on NBC’s horse racing telecasts since the inaugural Breeders’ Cup in 1984.

Preakness winner National Treasure has final workout for Belmont Stakes

Associated PressJun 5, 2023, 2:01 PM EDT

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK — Preakness winner National Treasure breezed five furlongs in his final workout for the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes this weekend.

Working on the main track at Belmont Park with exercise rider Erick Garcia aboard, National Treasure was timed in 59.55 seconds and galloped out six furlongs in 1:11.20 and seven furlongs in 1:25.20. It was the second workout on the track for the Bob Baffert-trained colt.

“He worked very well this morning,” said Jimmy Barnes, Baffert’s top assistant. “It’s a big track and you can find yourself lost out there. Erick did an excellent job working him and now we’re just waiting for the race.”

National Treasure was fourth in the Santa Anita Derby before the Preakness on May 20.

Trainer Steve Asmussen’s Red Route One also posted his final work for the final jewel of the Triple Crown, breezing a half-mile in 50.20 seconds over Belmont Park’s dirt training track.

“I thought he went beautiful,” said Toby Sheets, Asmussen’s Belmont-based assistant. “It was nice and fluid and he came back with good energy. I’m very happy with him. We wanted to be out on the track before it got really busy.”

Red Route One finished fourth in the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course, almost five lengths behind National Treasure.

Kentucky Derby winner Mage is not running in the Belmont Stakes.

Churchill Downs moves meet to Ellis Park to examine protocols following 12 horse deaths

Associated PressJun 2, 2023, 6:39 PM EDT

Michael Clevenger and Erik Mohn/USA TODAY NETWORK

Churchill Downs will suspend racing and move the remainder of its spring meet to Ellis Park in order to conduct a “top-to-bottom” review of safety and surface protocols in the wake of 12 horse fatalities the past month at the home of the Kentucky Derby.

No single factor has been identified as a potential cause for the fatalities or pattern detected, according to a release, but the decision was made to relocate the meet “in an abundance of caution.”

“What has happened at our track is deeply upsetting and absolutely unacceptable,” Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said in Friday’s release. “We need to take more time to conduct a top-to-bottom review of all of the details and circumstances so that we can further strengthen our surface, safety and integrity protocols.”

Racing will continue at Churchill Downs through Sunday before shifting to the CDI-owned racing and gaming facility in Henderson, Kentucky. Ellis Park’s meet was scheduled to start July 7 and run through Aug. 27 but will now expand with Friday’s announcement.

Ellis Park will resume racing on June 10.

The move comes a day after track superintendent Dennis Moore conducted a second independent analysis of Churchill Downs’ racing and training surfaces as part of an emergency summit called this week by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) with the track and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Meetings took place in Lexington, Kentucky, and at the Louisville track.

The head of the federally created oversight agency suggested ahead of the summit that it could recommend pausing the meet and that Churchill Downs would accept that recommendation.

Churchill Downs’ release stated that expert testing raised no concerns and concluded that the surface was consistent with the track’s prior measurements. Even so, it chose to relocate “in alignment” with HISA’s recommendation to suspend the meet to allow more time for additional investigation.

“We appreciate their thoughtfulness and cooperation through these challenging moments,” HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said in a statement. “We will continue to seek answers and work with everyone involved to ensure that horses are running safely at Churchill Downs again in the near future.”

Carstanjen insisted that relocating the remainder of the spring meet to Ellis Park would maintain the industry ecosystem with minor disruption. He also said he was grateful to Kentucky horsemen for their support as they work to find answers.

Rick Hiles, the president of Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, questioned the move, especially since there’s no conclusive evidence that Churchill Downs’ surface is the problem.

“We all want to find solutions that will improve safety for horses,” Hiles said in a statement. “However, we need to discuss allowing trainers and veterinarians to use therapeutic medications that greatly lessen the risk of breakdowns.

“Drastic steps, such as relocating an active race meet, should only be considered when it is certain to make a difference.”

The latest development comes a day after Churchill Downs and HISA each implemented safety and performance standards to address the spate of deaths.

HISA will conduct additional post-entry screening of horses to identify those at increased risk for injury. Its Integrity and Welfare Unit also will collect blood and hair samples for all fatalities for use while investigating a cause.

Churchill Downs announced it would immediately limit horses to four starts during a rolling eight-week period and impose ineligibility standards for poor performers. The track is also pausing incentives, such as trainer start bonuses and limiting purse payouts to the top five finishers instead of every finisher.