Kentucky Derby 2019 Daily: It’s getting busy at the top

Welcome to Horse Racing Nation’s Kentucky Derby Daily, which will each day leading up to the May 4 race at Churchill Downs detail all the news and notes related to contenders in one convenient space.

In the coming weeks the big horses from trainer Bob Baffert’s barn, Game Winner and Improbable, could restore order to a prep season that originally leaned in favor of the Hall of Fame trainer collecting his record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby victory.

In the meantime, however, Baffert isn’t looking like the only trainer with a stacked deck leaving last weekend.

Jerry Hollendorfer, who also conditions graded stakes winners Gunmetal Gray and Instagrand, will look for a points qualifier next for Galilean, the easy winner of Monday’s California Cup Derby at Santa Anita Park.

“We have a whole bunch of options,” Hollendorfer said, then echoed about Galilean what he’s often said about Instagrand’s next race spot. “There are a lot of races everywhere for him and we’re nominated everywhere, so we’ll try to make a good decision as to where to run next.”

Galilean has made all four of his starts in Cal-bred stakes company. It appears he’ll get two shots to qualify for the Derby, first in a points prep paying 50 to the winner, then a 100-pointer such as the Santa Anita Derby (G1).

Brisnet's Ed DeRosa is fully on board with the son of Uncle Mo, a $600,000 purchase for West Point Thoroughbreds, placing Galilean atop his early Derby Top 10 list.

As for another No. 1 to consider outside of the Baffert duo?

“The Super Screener’s early Kentucky Derby pick, War of Will, ran one heck of a race here,” said Mike Shutty, author of Horse Racing Nation’s handicapping system, coming out of Saturday’s Risen Star (G2).

Given the victory, Mark Casse’s another trainer whose chances of winning the Debry have improved dramatically in recent weeks. Along with War of Will, he trains Tampa Bay Derby (G2) contender Dream Maker, an eye-catching allowance winner in his 3-year-old debut, and expects to saddle Our Braintrust in the upcoming Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park.

“It doesn’t matter how good you are in December or January,” Casse said. “It’s how good you are in May, so you want to continue to get better and better. You want your horse to thrive through racing.”

Casse said he’d never seen War of Will looking better than he did on Risen Star day. On to the Louisiana Derby (G2) — and by then, he may have more to prove with the Baffert runners back to the races.

Screener says…

Shutty, whose Super Screener liked War of Will in the Risen Star, described Super Steed’s 62-1 Southwest Stakes (G3) upset as a head-scratcher.

Risen Star thoughts: “Note that the next four finishers behind War of Will were the last four horses in the field during the early going, indicating that this was a pace collapse race. Yet, War of Will pressed and won easily. Country House, once again, broke slow and then failed to keep a straight line while coming on strong in the stretch, requiring Luis Saez to yank him to the right, straighten him and lose precious ground. Tons of talent — just needs to pull it all together.”

Southwest thoughts: “Cannot make sense out of this finish at all,” Shutty said. “The only expected outcome that came through was the fact that Gray Attempt would falter as one of the favorites and he, indeed, finished last. Otherwise, nothing else made sense in this race, and it was certainly the chaos race that was anticipated — just not the upset players that the Super Screener had isolated.”

In case you missed it…

Monday’s Derby Daily report examines whether Justify was an anomaly, or a horse whose late run onto the Triple Crown scene signified a change in necessary foundation to go 1 1/4 miles on the first Saturday in May.