Kentucky Derby 2020 Radar: Scabbard 'fits in with this group'
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Reflecting on Scabbard’s 2-year-old season, trainer Eddie Kenneally sees runner-up finishes to “very nice horses” such as Green Light Go in the Saratoga Special (G2) and Dennis’ Moment in the Iroquois Stakes (G3).
“He fits in with this group nicely,” said Kenneally, who on Friday began turning the page to Scabbard’s 3-year-old season and a run down the 2020 Kentucky Derby trail.
The 2-year-old by More Than Ready, campaigned by Joseph W. Sutton, returned to the work tab with a half-mile breeze in 49.45 seconds at the Palm Meadows training center, his first move since a fourth-place finish in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
“We just freshened him up -- gave him a little easy time the rest of November,” Kenneally said. “He’s been back here galloping real well at Palm Meadows and had his first breeze today.”
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Scabbard, after beaten 3 ¾ lengths by Green Light Go and 1 ¾ lengths by Dennis’ Moment, went into the Juvenile as an off-the-pace type who may have been disadvantaged by the deep, tiring track at Santa Anita.
“He didn’t run a bad race, but he certainly didn’t run his best race,” said Kenneally, who added that Scabbard came out of the race “perfectly.”
Now, the trainer’s narrowing down where Scabbard could resurface early next year, with Scabbard nominated to stakes at Fair Grounds, Oaklawn Park, Tampa Bay Downs and Gulfstream Park.
“As we get a little bit closer we’ll be able to decide which one we should start out in,” Kenneally said. “We haven’t nailed anything down yet,” but he named the Jan. 18 Lecomte Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds as “a possibility.”
The race, extended this year from a mile and 70 yards to 1 1/16 miles, awards Derby qualifying points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to its Top 4 finishers. It leads into other local preps, the Risen Star (G2) and Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds.
Scabbard, who broke his maiden on debut last June at Churchill Downs, is 1-2-0 in his four starts with earnings of $232,000.
Looking ahead to the spring, “It’s a wide open group,” Kenneally said of the current 2-year-old crop. “I don’t think there’s any real sensation in the group. They’ve all been defeated, so it’s not like we have any horse that is dominating over the others. I think they are evenly matched.”
Kenneally, a native of Ireland, has saddled one previous Derby starter. Santiva finished sixth in 2011 after winning Churchill’s Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at age 2, then prepping at Fair Grounds and Keeneland.
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