Kentucky Derby 2020 Radar: Soros to get a longer assignment
When recent private purchase Soros returns to the races in a 2020 Kentucky Derby prep, he’ll be wearing the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners colors and figures to stretch out beyond a mile, his winning distance in the Nov. 30 Smooth Air Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Gustavo Delgado Jr., assistant trainer for his father, said the Commissioner colt will bypass the local Mucho Macho Man Stakes on Jan. 4. That makes the Feb. 1 Holy Bull (G3) a possible target, but connections won’t be afraid to ship out.
This season, Fair Grounds’ Risen Star (G2) — which renews on Feb. 15 — will run 1/16 of a mile longer than in previous years at nine furlongs.
“That sounds pretty good,” Delgado Jr. said, “especially because we think he might do better over a different kind of track. Gulfstream always helps the speed. I’m not saying he doesn’t have speed, but we think he likes to go behind the pace. That might be an option, too.”
Soros, who ran second on debut behind California Chrome’s 2-year-old half-brother, Fort McHenry, at Gulfstream Park West turned the tables in the Smooth Air, rallying wide from sixth through the turn and kicking on for an easy victory.
Afterward, trainer Gustavo Delgado mentioned the colt was for sale. In the transaction with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, he maintained a minority share as well as the colt’s conditioning.
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Plans were scrapped to work Soros last weekend in favor of a light freshening before hitting the Derby trail.
“We’re in no rush,” Delgado Jr. said. “We already know what we have.”
As far as that race decision, “We’re just going to play it by ear.
“We were thinking about a mile and an eighth for his next race, wherever that might be,” Delgado Jr. said. “We’ll start thinking about getting points into the Kentucky Derby.”
The Venezuelan legend Delgado, a four-time Triple Crown winner in his native country, has saddled two Kentucky Derby starters since relocating his operation to Florida: Majesto (18, 2016) and Bodexpress (13th, 2019).
To get back to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, “That’s what we want,” Delgado Jr. said. “We’re all Derby dreaming here.”