Kentucky Derby 2018 Daily: Takeaways from the final preps
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.
Todd Pletcher, who received plenty of credit this week for his ability to place horses in Triple Crown preps, has hit a new peak.
The trainer will head into the 2018 Kentucky Derby with four of the top five contenders on the points leader board with Magnum Moon having taken the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday.
Pletcher also won the Louisiana Derby (Noble Indy), the Florida Derby (Audible) and the Wood Memorial (Vino Rosso). So that’s four of the six 100-point preps, with the other two — the UAE Derby and Santa Anita Derby — races in which he didn’t enter a horse.
So, as for Magnum Moon: Add him to the list of contenders who fit the prototypical Derby mold. He makes his own trip and, thus, his own luck. Last out in the Rebel Stakes (G2) the horse pressed the pace. This weekend, he set it.
It was perhaps a reminder that he hadn’t run at age 2 — another test of the so-called “curse of Apollo” — when Magnum Moon drifted out in the stretch. Jockey Luis Saez said the colt was looking at marks left in the dirt by the starting gate. But Magnum Moon exhibited similar behavior in the Rebel.
It’s something to watch. But also, Magnum Moon kept on trucking in both races despite running diagonally when Saez would rather have him straight.
• Check out a full Arkansas Derby recap.
My Boy Jack earns his trip
Consider this writer less bullish on My Boy Jack exiting his win in the Grade 3, $200,000 Lexington Stakes.
The Creative Cause colt sat second-last early, then engaged when eventual third-place finisher Pony Up passed him up the back stretch. To add, jockey Kent Desormeaux navigated My Boy Jack inward in the stretch toward runner-up Telekinesis.
My Boy Jack looked prime to go on by, but he never did. Is this one more interested in running in a pack than away from his rivals? In the age of Derby winners with a more front-running, smooth-striding, speed-carrying style, this one will be up against it at Churchill Downs.
For his credit, Desormeaux said this about the Kentucky Derby: “I think it will (suit him) probably even better. We always tend to get a true, honest pace in the Kentucky Derby and I think he’ll enjoy that.”
• Check out a full Lexington Stakes recap.
Derby links
• In news that broke after Saturday's Derby preps, BloodHorse reports that Runaway Ghost, the Grade 3 Sunland Derby winner, will not move on to Churchill Downs after trainer Todd Fincher discovered an injury following the colt's work earlier in the day.
• Victor Espinoza’s agent, Brian Beach, likened Bolt d’Oro to some other top horses the jockey has ridden recently. “He feels like he fits him very well,” Beach said. “That’s his kind of horse, tactical with a lot of heart.”
• The Daily Racing Form reports that Steve Krajcir, agent for Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel, has “put in a couple of calls” regarding lining up a mount for the Derby-winning rider. Borel is still plugging away after coming out of retirement.
• Trainer Dale Romans had Promises Fulfilled back on the work tab Saturday. Now at Churchill Downs, the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth winner will be looking to rebound from a last-place effort in the Florida Derby. Said Romans: “We’re regrouping.”
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