Kentucky Derby 2018 Daily: Contenders line up for next preps

Welcome to Horse Racing Nation’s Kentucky Derby Daily — proudly sponsored by NYRA Bets — which will each day leading up to the May 5 race at Churchill Downs detail all the news and notes related to contenders in one convenient space.

By Jonathan Lintner

Firenze Fire could take the lead on the 2018 Kentucky Derby points leader board and assure himself a spot in the field earliest of any contender in Saturday’s Grade 3 Withers Stakes.

The Daily Racing From reports the recent Jerome Stakes winner will run back faster than expected at Aqueduct after initially declared a candidate for the Grade 3 Gotham later in the meet.

“I knew the Withers was probably not going to be as tough as the Gotham,” trainer Jason Servis told DRF.  “We’re feeling really good about it now.”

Firenze Fire’s 20 points on the Derby trail are second only to the 24 accumulated so far by Good Magic, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and recently named 2-year-old champion. A son of Poseidon’s Warrior, Firenze Fire defeated Good Magic in the Grade 1 Champagne last October going a mile. The Withers will mark his first start around two turns at 1 1/8 miles.

Saturday’s race is also expected to draw Avery Island, the Grade 2 Nashua winner, and $2 million maiden winner Marconi from trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn.

Robert B. Lewis coming up short

Chris Merz, Santa Anita Park’s stakes coordinator, joked that Saturday’s Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes is “coming up as a $150,000 one-other-than.” Merz considers three horses probable for the West Coast’s next stop on the Derby trail.

Peace could go favored as a recent maiden winner for trainer Richard Mandella. He was second in his other two starts, beaten in his debut by eventual Smarty Jones Stakes favorite Mourinho. In his second out, Peace was runner-up to Shivermetimbers, another Robert B. Lewis contender who went on to run fourth in the Grade 3 Sham.

The other known Robert B. Lewis probable is Inscom, who’s stakes placed for trainer Simon Callaghan.

"All of Bob Baffert's big ones are kind of out of the question, it seems like," Merz said.

Nominations out for Holy Bull

Gulfstream Park’s Grade 2 Holy Bull — the other Derby prep next weekend — could come up all kinds of difficult with the top two Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes finishers (Enticed and Tiz Mischief) set for their 3-year-old debuts.

Other notables nominated include Diamond King, a stakes winner recently transferred to Servis’ barn, along with Todd Pletcher allowance winners Noble Indy and Vino Rosso.

The full list of Holy Bull nominations includes 21 horses. Also on the card is the Grade 3 Swale, a sprint that could produce Derby trail starters down the road.

News of the day

We'll touch on this more in Monday's report. But breaking this afternoon via Santa Anita's publicity department, the mount on Bolt d'Oro will belong to Javier Castellano in the Grade 2 San Felipe. Corey Nakatani previously rode the colt, including in Saturday's workout.

“I was disappointed in the Breeders’ Cup," owner and trainer Mick Ruis said, "but I just don’t want to make excuses.”

The works

Choo Choo — A winner of last weekend’s California Derby on Golden Gate’s synthetic, he got right back to work, still stabled at that track. Consider him a top contender for the El Camino Real Derby coming up on Feb. 17. He clocked 4/8 in 50.40 (41/78).

Faversham — California Chrome’s final full brother, second in his debut, isn’t thought to be a Derby contender, but he’ll go in the California Cup Derby, a race Chrome won before going on the trail. So we’ll keep an eye on Faversham, who breezed four furlongs in 48.20 on Sunday.

Good Magic — The champ is back on the work tab with two straight bullets, showing he’s carrying speed into 2018. For trainer Chad Brown, he drilled through four furlongs Sunday in 48.45 (1/37) at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida.

Montauk — It was an easy return to the work tab Sunday for the dominant Belmont Park debut winner, who we updated in a recent Derby Daily report. The starting point was a three-furlong breeze in 37.20 seconds.

Navistar — Unable to go in Oaklawn Park’s Smarty Jones Stakes, this is another Pletcher horse nominated to the Holy Bull. His 4/8 at Palm Beach Downs on Sunday went in 49.33 (3/13).

Promises Fulfilled — Third in the Kentucky Jockey Club behind Enticed and Tiz Mischief, this one trained by Dale Romans also worked for the first time this year on Sunday, going a half mile in 51.13 seconds (65/77).

Shivermetimbers — In his final drill toward the Robert B. Lewis, he put in five furlongs in 1:01.80 (7/15). The heavier lifting came last week, when he traveled the same distance 2/5 of a second faster.

Derby links

• Our latest look at the HRN Kentucky Derby 2018 Top 50 represents the calm before next weekend’s storm, as there were few changes. Keep note of where the contenders are now — and anticipate some big movement following the next round of preps.

• The Kentucky Derby Festival — encompassing all the local events surrounding the race — unveiled its 2018 poster recently, created by the twin sisters who have brought a signature look to the design.

• This doesn’t have to do with the 2018 Derby, but it shows the race’s influence. WAVE3 News, Louisville’s NBC affiliate, has the story of a Zimbabwe man inspired to relocate to Kentucky after attending his first Derby.

In case you missed it…

Saturday’s Derby Daily report included video and analysis of multiple Grade 1 winner Bolt d’Oro’s first timed workout of the year as he approaches the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 10 at Santa Anita Park.

• Catch up with all the latest Derby news by reading past editions of HRN’s Derby Daily report.