Kentucky Derby 2018 Daily: Good Magic ‘didn’t have it’

Welcome to Horse Racing Nation’s Kentucky Derby Daily, 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.

Bob Edwards, whose e Five Racing campaigns champion Good Magic along with Stonestreet Stables, offered a wishlist in the paddock before Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes.

Healthy horse. Happy horse. Happy jockey, trainer and owners, too.

Edwards has a healthy horse after Good Magic returned to the 2018 Kentucky Derby trail with a third-place effort at Gulfstream Park. But the rest will have to wait until at least the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, where connections have said they’ll next point the son of Curlin.

“The latter part of the race, he didn’t have it,” said trainer Chad Brown. “The horses that were 1-2 the whole way just kicked ahead of him. The horse came back a little tired. He was blowing pretty good. It looked like he needed the race. Hopefully, he got what he needed out of it and go on to the next step.”

Promises Fulfilled led the entire way of the 1 1/16-mile race with Strike Power, the previously unbeaten sprinter, stretching out for the first time to stay for second. Good Magic ended up beaten 4 1/2 lengths in his first start in 119 days, since the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

“I sat third in the perfect position — rode him like the best horse,” said jockey Jose Ortiz. “They slowed it down on the backside pretty good, going 23, 48 but my horse was pretty handy getting whatever I wanted to. When I went after them in the three-eighths pole, he didn’t kick very well.

“It’s a speed favoring track with a short stretch, but no excuses. He’s coming off the layoff and I’m sure he will move forward with this race under his belt. Next time we’ll be ok.”

For more on Saturday’s Derby prep, with more comments by winning trainer Dale Romans, check out our Fountain of Youth Stakes recap.

The latest from Europe

With both of this week’s European Road to the Kentucky Derby preps postponed due to the snowstorm sweeping across the continent, it appears Mendelssohn, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner, will go in the rescheduled Patton Stakes at Ireland’s Dundalk Stadium.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien told Racing Post that each of Mendelssohn, Seahenge and Threeandfourpence will be entered in Kempton’s Road to the Kentucky Derby Conditions Stakes set for Wednesday. But it’s likely Mendelssohn will wait until Friday’s Patton to return to the track.

“We’ll see what the weather does over the next few days and if there's a doubt about Kempton going ahead then all three could go to Dundalk,” O’Brien told Racing Post.

Both races next week will pay 20 qualifying points to their winners, with the 30-point Burradon set for March 30 at Newcastle. It awards 30 points to the winner. One horse from the European series will be invited to Churchill Downs.

Another option for Mendelssohn — and one O’Brien has more often used to get horses to the Kentucky Derby — is the March 31 UAE Derby at Meydan.

Other races of note

• Exclamation Point, the debut winner and half brother to champion Classic Empire, continued making the family proud Saturday. The Brad Cox trainee stalked the pace and prevailed in his two-turn debut going a mile at Oaklawn Park. Derby trail start next? He won’t be a secret if so, off at 3-5 in an allowance optional claiming field of eight.

• From another top blood line, Personal Time, full brother to 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb, was left at the start and unable to break his maiden Saturday in Gulfstream Park’s 11th, a $60,000 maiden special weight event. But he did well to rally from fourth off a 48.18-second opening half mile and could be one to watch, continuing well in the stretch going a 1 1/16 miles. Juddmonte Farms’ Hofburg scored at 7-1.

• Navy Armed Guard, a maiden who ran fifth in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis last month, dropped back to facing non-winners with little success Saturday, finishing a distant fourth in Race 9 at Tampa Bay Downs. Ian Wilkes-trained Demolition, a $135,000 purchase, passed Brave Nation late to score going a mile and 40 yards. Perhaps he could pop up in a late season Derby prep.

The works

Audible — In his second work back from an impressive Grade 2 Holy Bull win, the Todd Pletcher trainee breezed a half mile in 49.13 seconds (3/26) toward a start in the March 31 Florida Derby. It appears he’ll have a Saturday work pattern up to the final prep.

Avery Island — Pointed toward the March 24 Louisiana Derby, his first timed work back from a Grade 3 Withers victory went in 48.40 seconds (12/86) at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida.

Ayacara — Trainer Keith Desormeaux never shies away from the slop and sent the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis runner-up out for a three furlong blowout in 37.40 seconds (2/8) over Santa Anita’s training track. The San Felipe is next.

Gleason — A standout maiden winner back on Jan. 20, he has since been scratched from one allowance race at Laurel, then saw another canceled due to weather this week at Aqueduct. He’s still in New York and breezed four furlongs in 50.50 (11/14) over Belmont’s training track for the Pletcher barn.

Magnum Moon — Another debut winner after the New Year for Pletcher, this one has already made two starts and is likely to appear next in the March 17 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn. In the first work back from a Feb. 15 allowance score, he got 4/8 in 49.13 (3/26) at Palm Beach Downs.

My Boy Jack — Desormeaux put the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes winner back on the work tab with a drill similar to that of Ayacara. He logged three furlongs in 39.60 seconds, also over Santa Anita’s training track. A next start hasn’t been determined.

Noble Indy — Third in the Grade 2 Risen Star behind the speed dueling Bravazo and Snapper Sinclair, he too will return in the Louisiana Derby. For now, the Take Charge Indy colt is back in Florida, where he went the half mile Saturday in 49.21 (6/26) for Pletcher.

Tiz Mischief — Third in the Holy Bull, we should see him again on the Derby trail. For trainer Dale Romans, he got 5/8 Saturday in 1:00.68 at Gulfstream Park, continuing to run sharp in the morning. If he duplicates that in the afternoon, watch out.

Untamed Domain — A week out from his dirt debut in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, the turf stakes winner put in a second work over the surface Saturday, getting 5/8 in 1:02.60. The breeze went 2/5 of a second faster than he covered the same distance last week.

Vino Rosso — A late-running third last out in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis, he’ll surely take some money in the Tampa Bay Derby. Works have been consistent since, with a half mile Saturday clocked at 49.58 seconds (12/26) for the Pletcher barn.

In case you missed it…

Friday’s Derby Daily report likened Good Magic’s trail to Churchill Downs to an eventual winner on the first Saturday in May, Street Sense. And, hey, Street Sense was defeated in his final prep...

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