The road to Kentucky Derby 2017 featured three big prep races on April 8 and Irish War Cry bounced back with a sharp victory in the Wood Memorial from Aqueduct.
Irish
War Cry was content to track post time favorite Battalion Runner and
was always moving sweetly under Rajiv Maragh. He pulled clear in the
stretch and earned a 101 BSF.
It was a two-horse race throughout and Battalion Runner was clearly second best over Cloud Computing.
In a stunning Blue Grass Stakes outcome, longshot Irap earned his maiden win over Practical Joke and McCraken. The winning BSF was 93 and the top three finishes will all move on to the Kentucky Derby.
Gotham winner J Boys Echo and Tampa Bay Derby hero Tapwrit
turned in disappointing efforts in the Blue Grass but both have enough
Derby qualifying points in their connections opt to run on the first
Saturday in May.
The SA Derby (88 BSF with slow final 3/8ths) was a mad 5-horse scramble in the stretch and Gormley got up late over Battle of Midway, Royal Mo, Reach the World, and Iliad. The latter pair do not have the necessary Derby points and Royal Mo is on the bubble.
The
final Derby prep is the Arkansas Derby on April 15 and it figures to
have major implications on the final points standings. I will be back
next week with a video preview of Oaklawn Park’s showcase event. Jarrod Horak’s “Exceptional Eleven" Kentucky Derby 2017 Contenders (Updated 4-9-17) #1 - ALWAYS DREAMING #2 - Gunnevera #3 - McCraken #4 - Irish War Cry #5 - Battalion Runner #6 - Girvin #7 - Practical Joke #8 - Gormley #9 - Classic Empire #10 - One Liner #11 - Irap
The 2017 Santa Anita Derby is a wide open prep race for Kentucky Derby 2017. Iliad is the tepid morning line favorite but there are many other contenders in the 13-horse field.
McCraken moved up on manyKentucky Derby 2017 lists following a sharp off the pace tally in the Sam F. Davis
Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb 11.
McCraken is now 4-for-4 and earned 10 Derby qualifying points in the G2
Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs last fall and another 10
points in Florida last weekend.
I like the fact that McCraken’s trainer Ian Wilkes worked with veteran
conditioner Carl Nafzger during Unbridled’s and Street Sense’s
Derby-winning campaigns. Mr. Wilkes is going old school with a trio of
Derby preps and we already know his promising colt likes Churchill
Downs.
Tapwrit was a decent 2nd in the Davis for Pletcher, followed by State of Honor and Wild Shot. Remsen runner-up No Dozing did not show up in a disappointing effort.
Iliad looked good in the G2 San Vicente (96
BSF) at Santa Anita Park last Sunday. Bob Baffert trained him for his
juvenile campaign and Doug "Neill is the conditioner now for Kaleem
Shah's promising runner. It looks like the San Felipe/SA Derby for this
one.
There are a pair of Derby points races this week beginning with the El
Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Feb 18. Santa Anita Park
shippers Sheer Flattery and Ann Arbor Eddie take on locals More Power to Him and Colonel Samsen in the nine furlong synthetic test. On Presidents’ Day (Monday, Feb 20), Smarty Jones Stakes 1-2-3 finishers Uncontested, Petrov, and Rowdy the Warrior meet again. Jarrod Horak’s “Exceptional Eleven" Kentucky Derby 2017 Contenders (Updated 2-18-17) #1 - MASTERY #2 - McCraken #3 - El Areeb #4 - Gormley #5 - Three Rules #6 - Classic Empire #7 - Practical Joke #8 - Royal Mo #9 - Theory #10 - Battalion Runner #11 - Irish War Cry
The road to Kentucky Derby 2017 had three stops last week and Irish War Cry burst onto the scene with a sharp wire-to-wire win in the G2 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park.
Irish War Cry traveled well throughout, easily defeating G3 Delta Jackpot hero Gunnevera and 2-year-old champion Classic Empire.
The Motion trainee is now 3-for-3 but did have everything his own way
at the Gulf and figures to face a stiffer pace challenge next time.
Gunnevera rallied nicely for the place and Classic Empire
came up empty in his sophomore debut. The latter was short on
conditioning with only four works and came out of the Holy Bull with a
foot abscess.
The G3 Withers was a replay of the Jerome with track condition the only real difference. Once again, El Areeb
made short work of his competition in a solid stalk/pounce victory. He
is expected to skip the Gotham and have his final Derby prep in the Wood
Memorial. We will learn more about El Areeb vs. tougher competition at
nine furlongs.
It was nice to see Royal Mo go all the way
in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita. He has been on my Derby
list for quite some time and the strapping son of Uncle Mo is developing
nicely for John Shirreffs. He is still a bit behind some of the top
tier Derby contenders but possesses raw talent and unlimited potential.
This week’s Derby points race is the G3 Sam F. Davis from Tampa Bay Downs and G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes hero McCraken is the morning line favorite.
Stakes placed colts No Dozing and Wild Shot are both solid threats, and trainer Todd Pletcher goes after his seventh Sam F. Davis victory with Fact Finding and Tapwrit. Jarrod Horak’s “Exceptional Eleven" Kentucky Derby 2017 Contenders (Updated 2-11-17) #1 - MASTERY #2 - McCraken #3 - El Areeb #4 - Gormley #5 - Three Rules #6 - Classic Empire #7 - Practical Joke #8 - Royal Mo #9 - Theory #10 - Battalion Runner #11 - Irish War Cry
Three of my exceptional eleven Kentucky Derby 2017 contenders were in action last weekend including Kentucky Jockey Club hero McCraken.
McCraken
ran his record to 3-for-3 at Churchill Downs and picked up ten Derby
points en route to a 9th-to-1st (1.25 lengths clear) score in the Kentucky
Jockey Club. He ran down game early runner Wild Shot and garnered an 86 BSF. Warrior’s Club headed Uncontested for the show.
At the Big A on Saturday, Mo Town got the jump on No Dozing
(wide throughout from post 9) to take the G2 Remsen by 2.5 lengths (86
BSF). The winner did nothing wrong but the 2-3 finishers might be worth
following. Takaful, 3rd after setting the
pace, was making just his second career start and first around two turns
for McLaughlin. He went fast early, rated kindly on the lead in the
middle, and came up empty in the lane (beaten 6 lengths).
