It was sunny and brisk at Turfway Park on Saturday as Bless the Broken won the Bourbonette Oaks to punch her ticket to the Kentucky Oaks, but trainer Will Walden will be doing a rain dance on the first Friday in May.
“She’s really, really taken to that,” Walden said. “She ran really good in the slop. She’s always kind of shown an affinity for it. We’re kind of hoping for that, but we’ll run either way. She’s done nothing wrong, and she’s shown up every single time.”
Final Gambit wasn’t necessarily nominated to Turfway Park’s marquee card last Saturday with the intention of earning a Kentucky Derby berth.
Juddmonte general manager Garrett O’Rourke said trainer Brad Cox felt the homebred colt, who had made his three prior starts at a mile, would appreciate the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby, a Kentucky Derby prep. If he did not get into what was expected to be a full field, they would reroute to the Rushaway Stakes – a race that does not offer Derby points – at 1 1/16 miles.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Sovereignty, the 8-5 morning-line favorite, will have to overcome the disadvantage of breaking from the extreme outside in a field of 10 drawn for Saturday’s $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. The Grade 1 fixture and important Kentucky Derby prep will be the final event on a 14-race card that features nine other stakes, four of them graded, including the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks. Post time for the headliner is 6:42 p.m. Eastern.
When Zeus’ War finished fourth by a half-length in an allowance race on turf on Jan. 25, jockey Assael Espinoza was left encouraged.
The allowance race was the first career start on turf for Zeus’ War, who was stakes-placed on dirt at Pleasanton last November.
“I always knew he would run good on the grass,” Espinoza recalled on Friday. “He’s got that stride. He gave me a good run down the lane.”
Decision time is looming on where to race Express Train in the next month.
Express Train, who races for Lee and Susan Searing and trainer John Shirreffs, finished second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 1. An 8-year-old, Express Train had his first work since the Big Cap on Friday, officially going five furlongs in 1:02.40.
Trainer John Shirreffs said the official time included a one-furlong gallop out and that Express Train worked a half-mile in 49 seconds. Jockey Hector Berrios was aboard.
Taxed is under serious consideration for the Grade 1, $1 million Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs, said trainer Randy Morse. The seven-furlong race for fillies and mares will be run May 3.
Taxed won an Oaklawn allowance over six furlongs in her most recent start on March 9, closing from more than 15 lengths off the pace for a neck win.
“She got it done,” Morse said. “I might try the Grade 1 at Churchill going seven-eighths. We’ll kind of just play it by ear and we’ll see.”
A Grade 2 winner, Taxed is nearing career earnings of $900,000.
Booth has emerged as the fastest horse at Oaklawn based on Beyer Speed Figures, earning a 107 for his win in the Grade 3, $250,000 Whitmore last Saturday and a 105 for his victory in an overnight stakes, the Commodore. The numbers are the top two Beyers put up this meet.
“We’re extremely proud of how good Booth’s running right now,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “It was great to have him win his first graded stakes. I think he definitely has benefited from time and he’s obviously faster now than he’s ever been.”
Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope said he’s hoping for a field of nine to 12 horses for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby next Saturday. Entries for the 1 1/8-mile race will be drawn Sunday.
Arkansas Derby probables include Coal Battle and Speed King, who have won the meet’s first three preps for the Kentucky Derby, as well as Sandman and Bestfriend Rocket.
The Arkansas Derby will be showcased on a 13- or 14-race card, Pope said Friday. All of the races will be either stakes, overnight stakes, allowances, or maiden special weight races.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Disarm is poised to return to graded-stakes company after opening his 5-year-old season with a sharp allowance win at Oaklawn Park.
Trainer Steve Asmussen said Disarm’s next race will likely come in either the Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on April 19 or the Grade 2, $750,000 Alysheba at 1 1/16 miles on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
In hopes of getting both horses qualified for the Kentucky Derby, trainer Chad Brown said that he is leaning toward running multiple Grade 1 winner Chancer McPatrick in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland while sending Hill Road to the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Both races are on April 5.
Chancer McPatrick and Hill Road finished second and third, respectively, in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 8, the 3-year-old debut for both.
