BELMONT: Make that a field of 8 expected..
 

5/7: Kentucky Derby - Churchill (10f)

1. Epicenter (Not This Time) 164 (Asmussen/Rosario)
2. Zandon (Upstart) 114 (C. Brown/Prat)
3. White Abarrio (Race Day) 112 (Joseph/Gallalione)
4. Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) 112 (Pletcher/I. Ortiz)
5. Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) 110 (McPeek/B. Hernandez)
6. Cyberknife (Gun Runner) 100 (Cox/Geroux)
7. Crown Pride-JPN (Reach the Crown) 100 (Shintani/Lemaire)
8. Taiba (Gun Runner) 100 (Yakteen/Smith)
9. Simplification (Not This Time) 74 (Sano/J. Ortiz)
10. Smile Happy (Runhappy) 70 (McPeek/Lanerie)
11. Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) 66 (Lynch/Leparoux)
12. Tawny Port (Pioneerof The Nile) 60 (Cox/Santana)
13. Barber Road (Race Day) 58 (J. Ortiz/R. Gutierrez)
14. Messier (Empire Maker) 40 (Yakteen/J. Velazquez)
15. Zozos (Munnings) 40 (Cox/M. Franco)
16. Summer Is Tomorrow (Summer Front) 40 (Seemar/Barzalona)
17. Charge It (Tapit) 40 (Pletcher/Saez)
18. Happy Jack (Oxbow) 30 (O'Neill/Bejarano)
19. Pioneer of Medina 25 (Pletcher/Bravo)
20. Ethereal Road 21 (Lukas/Contreras)
21. Rich Strike 21 (Reed/Leon)
-----------------------------------------
AE/22. Rattle N Roll 20 (McPeek/Graham)



5/21: Preakness - Pimlico (9.5f)

Epicenter (Asmussen)
Secret Oath (Lukas)
Simplification (Sano)
Early Voting (C. Brown)
Creative Minister (McPeek)
Armagnac (Yakteen)
Skippylongstocking (Joseph)
Fenwick (McKathan)
Happy Jack (O'Neill)


6/11: Belmont Stakes - Belmont (12f)

We the People (Brisset)
Rich Strike (Reed)
Barber Road (Ortiz)
Mo Donegal (Pletcher)
Nest (Pletcher)
Golden Glider (Casse)
Creative Minister (McPeek)
Skippylongstocking (Joseph)

Barese is pointing ( I said pointing, not winning ) to the Wood

3/26: Louisiana Derby - Fair Grounds (9.5f) 100-40-20-10

1 Silent Power (Gelner/Melancon) 50-1
2 Zosos (Cox/Geroux) 8-1
3 Call Me Midnight (Desormeaux/Graham) 6-1
4 Curly Tail (Stewart/C. Hernandez) 30-1
5 Kupuna (Calhoun/R. Gutierrez) 8-1
6 Epicenter (Asmussen/Rosario) 7-5
7 Pioneer of Medina (Pletcher/Gaffalione) 5-1
8 Galt (Mott/Alvarado) 8-1
9 Rattle n Roll (McPeek/B. Hernandez) 6-1



3/27: Sunland Derby - Sunland (9f) 50-20-10-5

1 Costa Terra (Negron/Asmussen)
2 Classic Moment (Rosario/Asmussen)
3 Fowler Blue (Maldonado/Mendez)
4 Slow Down Andy (Gutierrez/O'Neill)
5 Bye Bye Bobby (Chirinos/Fincher)
6 Pepper Spray (Valenzuela/Kereluk)
7 Chrome King (Garcia/Hernandez)
8 Straight Up (Gonzalez/Baltas)

High Oak not 100% from Fountain spill (ankle) and will bypass Wood in favor of Pat Day Mile as target.

Baffert refugee plans: Blackadder (Jeff Ruby or Blue Grass); Messier/McLaren Vale (Santa Anita Derby); Doppelganger (AR Derby)..

Arkansas Derby

1 KAVOD (Murrill/Hartman)
2 CHASING TIME (Lezcano/Asmussen)
3 BARBER ROAD (Gutierrez/J. Ortiz)
4 DOPPELGANGER (Velazquez/Yakteen)
5 UN OJO (Vazquez/Courville)
6 SECRET OATH (Contreras/Lukas)
7 BEN DIESEL (Court/Stewart)
8 CYBERKNIFE (Geroux/Cox)
9 WE THE PEOPLE (Prat/Brisset)

What race is Pappacap pointing for? Working a hole in the wind at the Casse private training center.

Never mind Baffert, it won't be the Derby unless that barn shoehorns one in, even if the only decent race was over 6 months ago. Plus would he be the only representative from that great renewal of the BC Juvenile?

Going forward, when you refer to Pappacap, please call him "Steve Byk's Eclipse Finalist PappaCap."

Thanks in advance.

I don't think you realize how important the Best Pal Stakes is. Neither does the Graded Stakes Committee, because I think they downgraded it for this year...

It has produced 2yo champions Roving Boy, Timber Country, Lookin at Lucky and Nyquist, so it's association with the Eclipse Awards is well established. Furthermore, in my opinion other winners of the race, namely Best Pal, Officer, Dixie Union, and Roman Ruler could have easily been Eclipse champions were it not for racing greats like Wilko, Declan's Moon, and Anees being in the same crops.

The race has also been productive in the near term. 2021runner-up Finneus just placed in the Turf Paradise Derby and the 2020 winner Weston is entered for a $18k claiming tag next week at Santa Anita.

Plus he's the best named horse outta this 3yo crop.

Late TC nominee BYE BYE BOBBY (Fincher) will try to augment 20 points earned in Sunland Derby placement in the Lexington..

Also from the late nominee list, SUMMER IS TOMORROW (Seemar) to take up a slot in the Derby gate off 40 points earned in qualifying race held abroad over the weekend.

Fortunately they have over a month to come to their senses.

With BLACKADDER coming out of the Ruby, here's the 9 probables for the Blue Grass per Marty McGee...

Blackadder
Emmanuel
Ethereal Road
Fenwick
Golden Glider
Grantham
Smile Happy
Volcanic
Zandon

5/7: Kentucky Derby - Churchill (10f)

1. Epicenter 164 (Asmussen)
2. White Abarrio 112 (Joseph)
3. Tiz the Bomb 110 (McPeek)
4. Cyberknife 100 (Cox)
5. Crown Pride-JPN 100 (Shintani)
6. Simplification 74 (Sano)
7. Classic Causeway 66 (Lynch)
8. Slow Down Andy 60 (O'Neill)
9. Barber Road 58 (J. Ortiz)
10. Un Ojo 54 (Courville)
11. Forbidden Kingdom 54 (Mandella) Santa Anita Derby
12. Morello 50 (Asmussen) Wood Memorial
13. Summer Is Tomorrow 40 (Seemar)
14. Zozos 40 (Cox)
15. Charge It 40 (Pletcher)
16. Tawny Port 40 (Cox)
17. Smile Happy 30 (McPeek) Blue Grass
18. Pioneer of Medina 25 (Pletcher)
19. Pappacap 24 (Casse)
20. Grantham 21 (Maker) Blue Grass
-------------------------------------------------------
21. Rich Strike 21 (Reed)
22. f-Secret Oath 20 (Lukas)
23. Rattle N Roll 20 (McPeek)
24. Ethereal Road 20 (Lukas)
25. $-Bye Bye Bobby 20 (Fincher)
26. Island Falcon (IRE) 20 (bin Suroor)
27. In Due Time 20 (Breen)
28. Dean’s List 20 (Pletcher)
29. Zandon 14 (Brown)
30. Mo Donegal 12 (Pletcher)

Tough decision ahead for Ken McPeek...

Does he prep for the Derby Stakes in the Kentucky Derby or the 2000 Guineas?

I would go with the latter. If he doesn't then the horse has no shot at the English Triple Crown...

Pretty tough not to go to the Kentucky Derby after that effort today.

Who called the Jeff Ruby Steaks on the NBC telecast?

Loved his style. I think his approach is basically: 1) Call the correct horse on the lead and 2) never let on that you have no idea who the other horses are or what position they are in...

He even winged it on the name of the race right before the start. Pretty sure he called it the Jeffery Stakes.

5/6 (CD): Kentucky Oaks

1. Kathleen O. 150 (McGaughey)
2. Echo Zulu 130 (Asmussen)
3. Yuugiri 114 (Brisset)
4. Secret Oath 80 (Lukas)
5. Goddess of Fire 62 (Pletcher)
6. Turnerloose 60 (Cox)
7. Hidden Connection 57 (Calhoun)
8. Venti Valentine 54 (Abreu)
– +Candy Raid 51 (Desormeaux)
– +Cleopatras Charge 50 (Cross)
9. Shahama 50 (Pletcher)
– +Beguine 40 (Peitz)
10. Bubble Rock 30 (Cox)
11. Magic Circle 23 (Asmussen)
12. Shotgun Hottie 21 (Morey)
13. Nest 20 (Pletcher)
14. Ain’t Easy 20 (D’Amato)

– +Ali Alley 20 (Summers)
– Ice Orchid 20 (Ortiz)
15. Favor 20 (Pletcher)
16. Classy Edition 20 (Pletcher)

ASHLAND (G1) 100-40-20-10

Nest 20 (Todd Pletcher)
Awake At Midnyte 14 (Doug O’Neill)
Cocktail Moments 12 (Kenny McPeek)
Miss Mattie B 2 (Bob Hess Jr.)
Happy Soul 0 (Wesley Ward)
Interstatedaydream 0 (Brad Cox)


GAZELLE (G2) 100-40-20-10

Venti Valentine 54 (Jorge Abreu)
Shotgun Hottie 21 (Bill Morey)
Classy Edition 20 (Todd Pletcher)
Morning Matcha 4 (Butch Reid)
Nostalgic 1 (Bill Mott)
Caragate 0 (Mitch Friedman)
Greatitude 0 (Todd Pletcher)
Divine Huntress 0 (Graham Motion)


SANTA ANITA OAKS (G1) 100-40-20-10

Adare Manor 0 (Tim Yakteen)


BEAUMONT (G1) 10-4-2-1

ARMAGNAC (Yakteen) added to SA Derby field..

He is going to the Kentucky Derby

Saw that.

Going against the grain since the horse already proved himself over a European-style turf course at Kentucky Downs but has gotten brow beat in his only 2 dirt starts...

My bad. I guess he won an off-the-turf at Ellis Park.

Guess they'll do a rain dance.

The good news is they don't need to worry about a lead pony for the time being.

He has 5 wins in his last 5 starts in Kentucky, including 4 stakes wins. I’m not sure what else you could ask for. His maiden win was by 14 lengths on the dirt, wasn’t it?

Ah. I should have kept reading.

Personally, I wouldn't be confident in his ability to handle the dirt based on that Ellis Park race. It was off-the-turf which presumably means most entered in that race were looking to run on the turf. Sure enough, the subsequent performances of the horses behind Tiz the Bomb in that race have been nothing to write home about.

He probably should have won by 31 lengths...

His Holy Bull effort was atrocious.

He's a throw out in the Derby. Makes the race easier.

5/7: Kentucky Derby - Churchill (10f)

1. Epicenter 164 (Asmussen)
2. Zandon 114 (C. Brown)
3. White Abarrio 112 (Joseph)
4. Mo Donegal 112 (Pletcher)
5. Tiz the Bomb 110 (McPeek)
6. Cyberknife 100 (Cox)
7. Crown Pride-JPN 100 (Shintani)
8. Taiba 100 (Yakteen)
9. Simplification 74 (Sano)
10. Smile Happy 70 (McPeek)
11. Slow Down Andy 60 (O'Neill)
12. Barber Road 58 (J. Ortiz)
13. Un Ojo 54 (Courville)
14. Early Voting 50 (C. Brown)
15. Morello 50 (Asmussen)
16. Messier 40 (Yakteen)
17. Zozos 40 (Cox)
18. Summer Is Tomorrow 40 (Seemar)
19. Charge It 40 (Pletcher)
20. Tawny Port 40 (Cox)
------------------------------
21. Happy Jack 30 (O'Neill)
22. Pioneer of Medina 25 (Pletcher)
23. Grantham 21 (Maker)
24. Rich Strike 21 (Reed)
25. Rattle N Roll 20 (McPeek)
26. Ethereal Road 20 (Lukas)
27. $-Bye Bye Bobby 20 (Fincher) Lexington
28. Skippylongstocking 20 (Joseph)
29. In Due Time 20 (Breen) Lexington
30. Golden Glider 15 (Casse)
31. Major General 10 (Pletcher)
32. Dash Attack 10 (McPeek) Lexington
33. Call Me Midnight 10 (Desormeaux) Lexington

Official Derby Grid (with Earnings)

Oaks Grid

Remsen
 

Looks like the Remsen has returned to its rightful place of prominence in the Kentucky Derby picture. The 2 hosses that ran so well today were 1-2 in that race which is a true harbinger of a 2 year old to get 10 furlongs the first Saturday in May.

The 20 horses won't remain the same, but if they did, they'd be trained by 15 different horsemen. Asmussen, Brown, McPeek, Cox Yakteen with 2 each. Would expect that Classic Causeway and Forbidden Kingdom demure which get Charge It and Tawny Port into the field giving Pletcher 2 and Cox 3. Another coming out would give O'Neill a 2nd starter in Happy Jack.

UPDATE (4/10): Classic Causeway, Forbidden Kingdom out; Charge It, Tawny Port in..

Epicenter, Morello (Asmussen)
Zandon, Early Voting (C. Brown)
Tiz the Bomb, Smile Happy (McPeek)
Cyberknife, Zozos, Tawny Port (Cox)
Taiba, Messier (Yakteen)
Mo Donegal, Charge It, (Pletcher) ~ Pioneer of Medina
Slow Down Andy (O'Neill) ~ Happy Jack
White Abarrio (Joseph)
Crown Pride-JPN (Shintani)
Simplification (Sano)
Classic Causeway (Lynch)
Barber Road (J. Ortiz)
Un Ojo (Courville)
Summer Is Tomorrow (Seemar)

Also from the notebook..

Derby has a strong and interesting ownership field with majority (13) being individuals rather than professional partnerships..

The Winchells, Jeff Drown, Al Gold, Amr Zedan, Mr. Yoshida, Tami Bobo, Macklin (Lucky 7), The Reddams, Seth Klarman, The Butzows, Moody/Castille, Bill Simon, O’Keefe/Cooper and current AE's of Mandy Pope, John Fort, Brad Kelly and the Sumaya Guy...

5.5 home breds: Slow Down Andy (Reddam), Zozos (Butzow), Crown Pride (Yoshida/Shadai), Pioneer of Medina (Sumaya/Aboughazale) & Charge It (Pope); Un Ojo (Cypress Creek) is a quasi home bred.

As anticipated, Classic Causeway bypassing Derby. CHARGE IT moves into field..

As anticipated, Forbidden Kingdom bypassing Derby. TAWNY PORT moves into field..

Emmanuel out of Derby consideration..

Yakteen? Get a load of you!

BYE BYE BOBBY, knicked up, not running in Lexington..