Kentucky Derby 2018 Daily: Lukas stands to double up

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.

D. Wayne Lukas locked Bravazo into the 2018 Kentucky Derby with Saturday’s 21-1 upset in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes — and that colt wasn’t even anticipated as the Hall of Fame trainer’s top Triple Crown hopeful.

The Coach can reload Monday when Grade 1 winner Sporting Chance, last seen darting out before the wire in last September’s Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, makes a much-anticipated return in the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

According to Oaklawn’s stable notes, Sporting Chance has trained with a shadow roll designed to keep the horse focused.

“It’s a really small one,” Lukas said. “I thought one morning we were out there, and I thought he was looking around a little bit and I put that on him. It’s almost cosmetic, more than anything.”

Having missed the rest of his 2-year-old season to have a bone chip removed, Sporting Chance, a son of Tiznow, will come back from the layoff with a two-turn debut. He ran twice at 5 1/2 furlongs, with the Hopeful contested at 7/8 of a mile.

“Most of time when they do it for the first time, they run pretty good because they don’t know how far they are going to go,” Lukas said. “After that, they get smart. They figure it out: ‘Well, that’s all the way around there and better do something different.’

“He’s genuine. The question will be whether I’ve got him seasoned enough at this point – whether he’s fit enough. I think he can get two turns.”

In addition to Sporting Chance, at 9-2 on the morning line, Lukas will saddle Kentucky Club, a longshot who scratched from the Risen Star. The Oxbow colt was 0-for-5 before breaking his maiden last out in claiming company.

Southwest handicapping tools

Analysis | Past Performances | Picks

Race history

Recent Southwest Stakes renewals have produced a number of Derby runners, but rarely does a high-level contender graduate from this race. One major exception: Lookin At Lee ran second to Always Dreaming last year at long odds. Going back to 2004, Smarty Jones is the last Southwest winner to go on to win the Kentucky Derby.

Focus on Europe, Japan

Early Sunday morning, Sumahama outlasted the late-running Taiki Ferveur in the one-mile Hyacinth at Tokyo Racecourse in the final race on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. Neither of those horses were nominated early to the Triple Crown series, nor did their connections express an interest in making the trip before Sunday’s race. But third-place finisher Ruggero is nominated and could be Derby-bound. Le Vent Se Leve finished fourth on the Japan leaderboard but is sidelined.

Invitations will be presented to Sumahama, Taiki Ferveur and Ruggero, in that order, with one spot available in the Churchill Downs starting gate from Japan. Invitations will not go to horses that finished outside the top four in points.

Meanwhile, the European Road to the Kentucky Derby will ramp up with the March 1 Kentucky Derby Conditions Race at Kempton Park and the March 2 listed Patton Stakes at Dundalk. According to BloodHorse, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Mendelssohn is under consideration to run in one of those events.

Both the Kentucky Derby Conditions and the Dundalk run at a mile on synthetic surfaces and lead into the March 30 Burradon Stakes, the cap to the European road. As with Japan’s races, one invitation will be extended.

Mendelssohn was also nominated to the UAE Derby set for March 31 at Meydan.

New name emerges

The rich got richer Sunday when trainer Bob Baffert unveiled Justify, an odds-on favorite in Santa Anita’s second race going seven furlongs. This could be another from the barn making a quick ascent to stakes company as, under Drayden Van Dyke, he was fast early and continued rolling when asked on his way to a 9 1/2-length win. The Scat Daddy colt was purchased for $500,000 with the ownership group including WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing. His final time was 1:2186.

The works

Free Drop Billy — Back from a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Holy Bull, and possible to appear March 3 in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, this Dale Romans trainee posted a half-mile breeze Sunday in 48.13 seconds (9/68) at Gulfstream Park.

Impact Player — This Todd Pletcher trainee has won both his starts with blinkers on and appears bound for the Derby trail next out. A race hasn’t been named, but the City Zip colt has drilled three weeks in succession now, with Sunday’s move a bullet 4/8 in 48.89 at Palm Beach Downs.

Tiz Mischief — Another from the Romans barn, he was third in the Holy Bull and could also go in the Fountain of Youth. He’s always sharp in the mornings, getting four furlongs Sunday in 47.40 seconds (3/68).

In case you missed it…

With Bravazo awarded 50 qualifying points for his Risen Star win, Saturday’s Derby Daily report focused on how many it’ll take for other contenders to make it to the starting gate with him.

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