Champion American Pharoah recently
returned to the track for the first time since injury forced him to
miss the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The race was won impressively by
Texas Red, a horse that American Pharoah had beaten by nearly five
lengths in the FrontRunner Stakes in September.
Bob Baffert’s Kentucky
Derby favourite covered only three-eighths of a mile with Martin
Garcia aboard but did enough to satisfy connections. The Zayat
Stables homebred is on schedule to make his reappearance in the Group
2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn on March 14th.
Dortmund battles to RB Lewis victory
Dortmund maintained his unbeaten record
with a hard-fought victory over Firing Line in last weekend’s
$150,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa
Anita Park. The son of Big Brown earned a quote of 12-1 for the
Kentucky Derby with the runner-up offered at 33-1 for the first leg
of the American Triple Crown.
Dortmund raced in company with Tizcano
for the first half-mile before locking horns with Firing Line down
the backstretch. Firing Line looked to have taken the measure of
Dortmund when going a length up in the home straight but the chestnut
rallied bravely to get back up on the line. Jockey Martin Garcia felt
that the colt may have been idling and is still learning his trade.
Owner Kaleem Shah is looking at the
Group 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 7th for Dortmund’s next start
and believes that a longer trip will benefit his horse. Baffert
suggested that it may be prudent to wait for the $1million Santa
Anita Derby on April 4th and a final decision will be made in due
course.
Dortmund earned 10 points towards a
starting place in the Kentucky
Derby field on May 2nd with Firing Line collecting four points.
Points are awarded for the Kentucky Derby series in the Prep Season
on a 10-4-2-1 basis to the first four to finish in the relevant
trials.
The pair finished over 20 lengths clear
of Rock Shandy in third and they could turn out to be two very smart
colts. Veteran jockey Gary Stevens regretted that he had not delayed
his challenge a little longer on Firing Line and blamed himself for
the defeat.
Dortmund and Firing Line had clashed
previously in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity in December with
Baffert’s colt winning by a head in a new track record time.
Dortmund was bred in Kentucky by Emilie Gerlinde Fojan and is out of
Grade 3-placed Our Josephina.
Far From Over stuns El Kabeir
The Grade 3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct
was expected to go the way of El Kabeir but the 1-2 favourite was
turned over by Far
From Over.
The Todd Pletcher-trained colt won his
maiden in December and recovered from a sluggish start to readily
outpace El Kabeir and earn a 20-1 quote for the Derby. The son of
Blame was settled on the rail by Manuel Franco and was given plenty
of time to make his way back into the race. He was asked for his
effort in the home straight and responded by sweeping past El Kabeir
and Classy Class to win by a length and three-quarters. Far From Over
was bred by Alexander Groves Matz out of the AP Indy mare Alchemist.
Jockey Chuckie Lopez could offer no
excuses on the runner-up and trainer John Terranova also felt that El
Kabeir had simply been beaten by a better horse on the day. He has
now been pushed out to 40-1 in the Kentucky Derby betting.
Derby scratchings
Leave The Light On and Mawthooq are
both out of the Kentucky Derby. An ankle injury has ruled out Leave
The Light On, winner of the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct. The
injury was discovered after the colt had worked well towards the end
of January. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has been forced to take
Mawthooq
off the Derby trail due to a tendon injury.
Upcoming Trials
Upcoming trials include the El Camino
Real Derby at Golden Gate on February 14th and the Southwest at
Oaklawn Park on February 16th. The Fountain of Youth will take place
at Gulfstream Park on February 21st with the Risen Star at Fair
Grounds on the same day. The Tampa Bay Derby is held on the 7th
March, the same day as the Gotham at Aqueduct. The Spiral Stakes is
on March 21st at Turfway Park followed by the Sunland Derby at
Sunland Park the following day.
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