Oaklawn Park – Arkansas Derby
Keeneland – Blue Grass
Charles Town – Charles Town Classic
Santa Anita – Las Cienegas Handicap
Thoroughbred Racing Action
Oaklawn Park – Arkansas Derby
Baffert’s Dynamic Duo Headlines the Field
There are three graded stake races on the Saturday card at Oaklawn Park with the $1,000,000 Grade 1 Arkansas Derby the feature. A field of eleven will line up for the nine-furlong race with the Bob Baffert uncoupled entry of Secret Circle and Bodemeister the ones to beat.
Of the two Baffert trained horses Secret Circle is the more accomplished. The Eddington colt has run six times in his career with five wins and a second. His only loss was in the Grade 3 Sham in early January at Santa Anita.
After the Sham, Baffert shipped his top three-year-old east to Oaklawn Park to run in the Grade 3 Southwest, which he won, and the Grade 2 Rebel, which he also won. The concern for Secret Circle going into those races was distance, but he proved everyone wrong. The nine furlongs of the Arkansas Derby may be secondary on the concern-list come Saturday. First may be his stablemate.
Bodemeister has only run three times in his brief career, but the three races have been outstanding. He was second in his debut to a loose on the lead winner going five and one-half furlongs then stretched out to a mile and dominated the eight-horse field. After that win he was thrown to the wolves and was game in defeat in the Grade 2 San Felipe at Santa Anita. The horse that beat him, Creative Cause, came right back to be a good second in the Santa Anita Derby and is expected to be one of the favorites for this year’s Derby.
Both Bodemeister and Secret Circle have their eye on a run in the Kentucky Derby, but Bodemeister must finish first or second if he is to jump up inside the top 20 on the graded earnings list.
An interesting aspect about the race is both colts have early speed. Secret Circle has learned to rate in his last two races, but is now drawn inside of Bodemeister, who drew post eleven. Also the blinkers go off of Bodemeister and new pilot Mike Smith takes the call.
Should the two create a fast pace, and they could be joined by the Todd Pletcher-trained Stat or the New Mexico shipper Isn’t He Clever, then look out for Najjaar and Optimizer, who both finished behind Secret Circle in the Rebel.
Optimizer finished second and Najjaar finished sixth, but let’s start with Najjaar. By Jazil, the colt is bred to run all day long and he came into the Rebel off of back-to-back wins at Oaklawn, but was hopelessly left and trailed the field by twenty lengths during the early stages. Jockey Calvin Borel just waited and waited then turned him loose and he made an eye-catching run on the outside to finish sixth. The gallop out was awesome and the extra sixteenth of a mile will suit him very well.
Optimizer also ran on late in the Rebel and that was the first good race he had ever run on the dirt in five previous starts. Could the two late-running horses have looked better because everyone else was fading or are they legitimate threats to the Baffert horses? That will be a tough question to answer when handicapping the race.
Rounding out the field are Cozzetti, Jake Mo, Atigun, Sabercat and Raconteur. Sabercat is still a top prospect and will run in the Kentucky Derby, but his run in the Rebel was atrocious. Yes it was a prep race, but how cranked will he be when the goal is the next race?
Post time for the Arkansas Derby on Saturday is 6:45 ET.
Keeneland – Blue Grass
Hansen Morning Line Favorite
Keeneland’s Saturday card is one of the best cards one can find this weekend across the country with the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley, Grade 2 Commonweath, Grade 3 Shakertown and the feature of the day, the Grade 1 Blue Grass for three-year-olds.
All eyes in Lexington and throughout the world will be on the flashy nearly-white colt breaking from post four. Hansen has done little wrong in his career with four wins and a second in five career starts. His only loss came on a sloppy, sealed track at Gulfstream Park in late January to Algorithms.
Hansen will be returning to a synthetic surface, which he ran on at Turfway Park en route to a maiden win by over twelve then a stakes win by over thirteen. The one-time front-runner showed a new dimension in his last race, the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct, when he stalked the early pace from the outside.
Hansen didn’t get any help with the draw for the Blue Grass with post four, but there are a couple of horses inside of him that could gun for the lead. Heavy Breathing drew the rail and is coming off a third place finish in the Grade 3 Spiral at Turfway Park after winning his first two starts at Gulfstream Park.
Those looking to beat the favorite will look to Prospective, Dullahan, Holy Candy and Howe Great.
Prospective exits a game win in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby and horses that run well over the Tampa track often out run their odds at Keeneland. He is likely to be taken off the pace by jockey Luis Contreras and will be making his run late.
Howe Great and Dullahan just ran one-two in the Grade 3 Palm Beach over the turf at Gulfstream Park with Howe Great very impressive in victory. Howe Great broke his maiden on the dirt and is three-for-three on the turf so the synethic surface should not pose a problem. Breaking from post ten Howe Great is likely to stalk the early pace and will get first run on the closers.
Dullahan runs for the same connections as Paddy O’Prado and won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity over the Keeneland track last October. The Even the Score colt will need some pace up front, which he should get, as he does his best running late.
Holy Candy is another closer in the race and may have the most potential in the group. It hasn’t been easy to catch front-runners on the Santa Anita track this meet and Holy Candy should know. He tried twice to do just that, but couldn’t. Then in his last start he was behind a slow early pace and was set up to finish second again. Then the Candy Ride colt found a new gear and powered away to win by over three.
Ever So Lucky would be one of the contenders, but is a little behind the eight ball going in to the Blue Grass. The Indian Charlie colt was a dominant winner of his debut then finished second behind Gemologist in the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs last year. Since; however, he has missed some training time and has only made one start, which was a disappointing third in the seven furlong Swale at Gulfstream Park. He needs to win the Blue Grass to even make the Derby field.
Hero of Order deserves a mention after upsetting the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at odds of 109-1. He does have a previous race over the Keeneland surface and has run well on turf. He will be part of the early pace, which is setting up to be very fast.
It certainly will aid the chances of Prospective, Dullahan and Holy Candy.
Gung Ho, Russian Greek, Politicallycorrect, Midnight Crooner and Scatman complete the field.
The Blue Grass goes as race eleven on Saturday with post time at 6:18 ET.
Charles Town – Charles Town Classic
$1-million on the line in West Virginia
The Saturday stakes don’t stop around dinner time they continue through the night with the fourth running of the Charles Town Classic.
The nine-furlong race, which is around three turns, drew a full field of ten with three on the also-eligible list. The Gulfstream Park shipper Tackleberry was installed as the 3-1 morning line favorite.
Tackleberry is no stranger to the bull-ring track at Charles Town after running in the Classic last year. In that race Tackleberry was in front for a half, but could not keep pace and faded to finish fourth. He is back this year off a different schedule, which may be to his benefit. Last year the Classic was near the end of a long stretch of races without a break. This year the Classic will be his second start off the nearly year layoff.
Uh Oh Bango is the second choice on the line at 4-1 off of his third place finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. Prior to that he was third in the Grade 2 San Antonio behind Game On Dude and won the Grade 2 San Pasqual. The outside post does him no favors around the compact track and jockey Aaron Gryder will have to work out a trip from there.
After the top two Tres Borrachos, Pants On Fire and Caixa Electornica are less that 10-1 on the line with Mister Marti Gras, Skipshot, Duke of Mischief, Norvsky and Redding Colliery all at 10-1 or higher.
Tres Borrachose and Pants On Fire drew best with posts one and four. Tres Borrachos just ran fourth behind Nates Mineshaft, who came back to win his next start, at Fair Grounds. Pants On Fire finished behind Nates Mineshaft in that next race. Both horses are expected to race near the front as is stretch-out sprinter Caixa Electronica, who is also entered in a race at Aqueduct on Friday.
Dueke of Mischief won last year’s Charles Town Classic, but has not won a race since then. He will need a big reversal of form to compete on Saturday night.
Norvksy is an interesting runner shipping east from California for trainer Donald Warren. The six-year-old gelding won at nine-furlongs around the bull-ring Fairplex track in California so he should have no troubles navigating the Charles Town turns. He has tactical speed and should get a good pace up front.
Redding Colliery is also entered in the same race as Caixa Electronica is so check the scratches to see if they will run. Redding Colliery was third in the race last year and made the lead coming into the stretch before being run down late. With a more patient ride he may have won.
The Classic is race twelve on the thirteen-race card with a post time of 10:30 ET. It is the last leg of the $50,000 guaranteed pool pick-4, which starts with the Webb Snyder stakes and includes the $250,000 inaugural Robert Hilton Memorial and the $200,000 Sugar Maple.
Santa Anita – Las Cienegas Handicap
Mizdirection Takes on Unzip Me
With all the Grade 1’s and million-dollar races going on this weekend the Las Cienegas Handicap at Santa Anita may get overlooked, but it’s one of the best races on Saturday.
The Grade 3 downhill turf race only drew a field of six, but it’s a deep field. The fillies and mares in the race have combined for 46 wins and earnings of over $2.1-million.
Headlining the field is the ultra-race mare Unzip Me, who will be making her twelfth career start on the Santa Anita hillside turf course. In her previous eleven races she has seven wins, one second and one third. She is now six and perhaps not the runner she once was, but she can still compete with the best.
Mizdirection may be headed for Unzip Me like statistics coming into the race off of back-to-back-back victories, two of which came down the hill. Mizdirection has only finished worse than second once in her career, which was in the Grade 2 Raven Run on the Polytrack at Keeneland last year.
The two have run against each other in the past with Mizdirection getting the better of her in the Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes in early January. Mizdirection won that race from off-the-pace under jockey Garrett Gomez, but now David Flores takes the call. Flores is likely to put the Mizzen Mast-filly on the lead and will make Unzip come and catch her.
Broken Dreams has beat Unzip Me in the past and has a win over the course in the Grade 3 Ken Maddy last September. The Las Cienegas will be the second start of her off a four month layoff so expect improvement off the sixth place finish in her last. She is another closer looking for someone to put some pressure on Mizdirection.
Teroda may be the filly to do that with Martin Garcia taking over the mount for jockey Joel Rosario. Teroda has not run since winning an allowance race over the course in mid-February and has two wins in five starts down the hill. She was second, beaten just a half length, to Unzip Me in the Wishing Well in late January.
Saanneen and La Nez round out the field and both are coming off long layoffs. Saanneen has not run since June 2011 and has two wins and two seconds in four starts on the downhill course. La Nez beat Saanneen over the course in the Irish O’Brien in 2011 and has not run since April 2011. She is also entered in a race at Turf Paradise.
Post time for the Las Cienegas on Saturday is 7:07 ET.
Thoroughbred Racing Action
Weekend Stakes Action
Great racing action from across the country this weekend. Watch these races all on BetAmerica.com.
Saturday – April 14
- Oaklawn Park: Arkansas Derby – G1, $1,000,000, 3yo, 9f
- Oaklawn Park: Oaklawn Handicap – G2, $350,000, 4yo & up, 9f
- Oaklawn Park: Count Fleet Sprint Handicap – G3, $200,000, 4yo & up, 6f
- Oaklawn Park: Northern Spur, $100,000, 3yo, 8f
- Keeneland: Toyota Blue Grass – G1, $750,000, 3yo, 9f
- Keeneland: Jenny Wiley – G1, $300,000, 4yo & up f&m, 8.5f turf
- Keeneland: Commonwealth – G2, $175,000, 3yo & up, 7f
- Keeneland: Shakertown – G3, $100,000, 3yo & up, 5.5f turf
- Charles Town: Charles Town Classic – G2, $1,000,000, 4yo & up, 9f
- Charles Town: Robert Hilton Memorial, $250,000, 3yo, 7f
- Charles Town: Sugar Maple Stakes, $200,000, 4yo & up f&m, 7f
- Charles Town: Webb Snyder Stakes, $50,000, 3yo & up, 4.5f
- Calder: Calder Derby, $150,000, 3yo, 8.5f
- Pimlico: Primonetta Stakes, $75,000, 3yo & up f&m, 6f
Sunday – April 15
- Keeneland: Beaumont Stakes – G2, $150,000, 3yo f, 7f
- Sunland Park: Sunland Park Handicap, $100,000, 3yo & up, 9f
- Santa Anita: Santa Lucia Stakes, $70,000, 4yo & up, 8.5f
Posted by Jared Alexander
