LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Victor Lebron has four young daughters, all of whom will be attending the Kentucky Derby in a very traditional way Saturday.
“I got them all their Derby hats,” said a beaming Lebron.
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LOUISVILLE − For those A-listers, oligarchs, and monarchs who are sick and tired of slumming it on Millionaire’s Row, Churchill Downs finally has an answer: the Mansion, a posh new invitation-only amphitheater of excess six floors over the track’s finish line.
Priceless Feature will be returning to the distance of his biggest career win Saturday night at Remington Park in the $100,000 Sooner State at 400 yards. The restricted Grade 1 race for Quarter Horses goes with a field of 10, including defending champ A Toss Up.
Priceless Feature won the Grade 2 Heritage Place Derby at 400 yards last year at Remington. The Sooner State, which is restricted to 3-year-olds and up bred in Oklahoma, will be his second start off a layoff. Jimmy Brooks has the mount for Ed Melzer and trainer Eddie Willis.
Texas Air is just two races removed from a run-in with Master Rick and the company line points him out as the one to beat in Saturday’s third race at Lone Star Park. The second-level optional $40,000 claimer is for 3-year-olds and up at a mile.
Texas Air was fourth to Master Rick at a similar level Feb. 28 at Oaklawn. Following that race, Master Rick won the Grade 3, $200,000 Texas Mile at Lone Star with a Beyer Speed Figure of 105, while Texas Air was second in the track’s $50,000 Premiere.
Miss Addison will be shortening up to the distance that produced her best recent finish for Saturday’s ninth race at Louisiana Downs. A first-level allowance at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf, it drew nine fillies and mares, including the multiple stakes-placed Sashabye.
Miss Addison last raced at a mile and finished fifth in a Fair Grounds allowance March 29. One start prior, she was second in another allowance at the track, over 7 1/2 furlongs Dec. 9. For the effort, Miss Addison earned her best recent Beyer Speed Figure, a 79.
Gary Stevens, who will be riding in his first Kentucky Derby since 2005, said he felt a bit of déjà vu this week when visiting the NBC compound at Churchill Downs, where he has spent the last several Derby Days working as an analyst.
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“It’s a bit like when I was retired from riding, walking up to the jocks’ room . . . it kind of felt funny,” he said.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The Kentucky Derby is not the end of the line.
Occasionally, the first Saturday in May is a mere glitch. For some horses, the best is still ahead.
Proof is offered Saturday at Betfair Hollywood Park, where survivors from the 2011 and 2012 Derby fields resume campaigns as leading contenders in two stakes.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With reigning champ Groupie Doll still on the sidelines, the filly and mare sprint division remains wide open and begging for someone to step up and take control – at least until the queen returns to reclaim her throne later this season.
On Saturday, nine hopefuls will look to fill Groupie Doll’s very big shoes when squaring off in the $300,000 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs. Groupie Doll dominated the 2012 Humana Distaff, using her victory in the Grade 1 dash as a springboard to her championship campaign.
Out of respect to the connections, if nothing else, the highest that Churchill linemaker Mike Battaglia will list a horse on his Derby line is 50-1. There are six such horses in this renewal: Black Onyx, Golden Soul, Giant Finish, Falling Sky, Frac Daddy, and the lone also-eligible, Fear the Kitten.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As warm-up acts go, they don’t come any better than the race preceding the Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs – the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodford Reserve, a race that drew reigning Horse of the Year Wise Dan and Point of Entry, a four-time Grade 1 winner on turf.
The Woodford Reserve could not be run at a fairer distance for this duo. The 1 1/8 miles of the Woodford on the Matt Winn turf course is the farthest Wise Dan has ever raced, and the minimum distance Point of Entry runs effectively.
