New York’s 2016 Kentucky Derby Contenders (The Juveniles)

Welcome to New York State of Racing ’s coverage of our contenders for the 2016 Kentucky Derby. Horses that are in the barn of a New York based trainer; spend part of the year at a NYRA track, most likely to be Saratoga; or have won a race at Aqueduct, Saratoga, or Belmont, may be considered to be part of my NY Derby Trail coverage.

This first installment comes after the running of the Remsen (G2) and will look at our New York contenders as juveniles. In 2016, the list will be updated after each of the Derby prep races are run at Aqueduct.

Greenpointcrusader was the first horse to win 10 Road to the Kentucky Derby points in New York when he rallied from far off the pace to win Champagne Stakes (G1) on a very wet and sloppy Belmont Park track. He finished a disappointing seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile after coming out of that race with an eye injury from the kickback.

Mohaymen stayed perfect in three career starts, backing up his win in the Nashua (G2) with a determined hard-fought victory in the Remsen. His Beyer Speed Figures have gotten better with each start and the 94 figure for the Remsen is better than last year’s race which produced the Kentucky Derby fourth and seventh place finishers. Mohaymen, which means ‘the protector’ in Arabic, comes from the same connections and sire as Frosted. Even as a yearling, Mohaymen was very well regarded when he sold at the Keeneland September 2014 sale for $2.2 million. No doubt that this gray son of Tapit will be very high on most people’s Kentucky Derby contender lists.

Last year’s Remsen turned out to have had an impressive field with Frosted and Keen Ice as the second and third place finishers behind Leave the Light On. Frosted would go on to finish fourth in the Kentucky Derby, while Keen Ice got seventh in the Derby and later handed American Pharoah his only loss of the year in the Travers.

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Clearly, it is very difficult to do Derby rankings with these juveniles. No doubt there are contenders that we have yet to see on the track, but for now here is my ranking of the New York contenders.

1) Mohaymen

2) Greenpointcrusader

3) Gift Box

4) Sunny Ridge

5) Sail Ahoy

6) Annual Report

7) Flexibility

8) Seymourdini

9) Matt King Coal

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In other news on the Derby Trail, Annual Report lost for the first time on a wet Churchill Downs racetrack in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2). Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said, "We went to Churchill with Annual Report to see how he'd like the track, but we can't learn anything from that. It was under water, there was so much rain. He was wide and didn't get beat that bad, but Joe Bravo rode him and said he kept slipping, because he would go and stop. It was kind of a funny race, we'll just draw a line through it." ••• The day after the Remsen, McLaughlin was pleased with Mohaymen, "It was great. It was a mile and an eighth and he finished strong. He's a really nice horse." ••• Trainer Chad Brown also commented about his Remsen runners, "Flexibility [2^nd place] and Gift Box [3^rd place], I think, both ran very well. Flexibility had a really good trip, while Gift Box had to overcome a seven-week layoff, which might have been too much for him." ••• Even before Sunny Ridge finished second in the Delta Jackpot (G3), owner Dennis Drazin, who is a Monmouth Park executive, said that they did not have Kentucky Derby plans for their runner from the last crop of Holy Bull and that their goal is instead the Haskell. ••• Bernardini is the sire of three horses on this Derby Contender List. ••• Mohaymen (11-1) closed as the second choice amongst in the individual horses listed in Kentucky Derby Futures Pool #1. ••• The early closing date for Triple Crown nominations is Jan. 17. Last year there were 438 early nominations.

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Below you can find all kinds of information about each of the nine New York contenders. They are arranged in order by the number of Derby qualifying points earned.

I have not included Exaggerator, who won the Saratoga Special (G2) and spent the summer at the Spa, and Ralis, who won the Hopeful (G1), in the list because I feel that neither one of them is likely to race at Aqueduct in the Spring. If that changes then they will be included.

Greenpointcrusader (Bernardini) KY

KEESEP14 $575,000

4: 2-1-0 $366,400

Owner: St. Elias Stable and MeB Racing Stables

Trainer: Dominick Schettino

Jockey: Joe Bravo

7^th Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) – BSF 82

1^st Champagne (G1) – BSF 94

1^st MSW Saratoga – BSF 82

2^nd MSW Saratoga – BSF 80

10 Road to Kentucky Derby Points

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1: 28-1

Mohaymen (Tapit) KY

KEESEP14 $2,200,000

3: 3-0-0 $345,000

Owner: Shadwell Stable

Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin

Jockey: Junior Alvarado

1^st Remsen (G2) – BSF 94

1^st Nashua (G2) – BSF 89

1^st MSW Belmont – BSF 87

10 Road to Kentucky Derby Points

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1: 11-1

Sunny Ridge (Holy Bull) NJ

5: 2-2-0 $374,752

Owner: Dennis Drazin

Trainer: Jason Servis

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

2^nd Delta Jackpot (G3) – BSF 93

2^nd Champagne (G1) – BSF 96

1^st Sapling – BSF 76

7^th Sanford (G3) – BSF 67

1^st Md40000 – BSF 62

8 Road to Kentucky Derby Points

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1: 83-1

Flexibility (Bluegrass Cat) NY

FTFMAR15 $185,000

3: 1-2-0 $133,000

Owner: Klaravich Stables Inc. and William Lawrence

Trainer: Chad Brown

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

2^nd Remsen (G2)

2^nd Nashua (G2) – BSF 86

1^st MSW (NY) Belmont – BSF 74

4 Road to Kentucky Derby Points

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1: 71-1

Sail Ahoy (Bernardini) KY

5: 1-0-2 $114,300

Owner: Phipps Stable

Trainer: Shug McGaughey

Jockey: Joel Rosario

4^th Remsen (G2)

3^rd Nashua (G2) – BSF 85

4^th Champagne (G1) – BSF 81

1^st MSW Belmont – BSF 73

3^rd MSW Saratoga – BSF 61

2 Road to Kentucky Derby Points

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1: 45-1

Gift Box (Twirling Candy) KY

FTKNOV13 $135,000

3: 1-0-2 $89,300

Owner: WS Farish

Trainer: Chad Brown

Jockey: Javier Castellano

3^rd Remsen (G2)

1^st MSW Belmont – BSF 93

3^rd MSW Saratoga – BSF 66

2 Road to Kentucky Derby Points

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1: 47-1

Annual Report (Harlan’s Holiday) KY

FTFMAR15 $600,000

3: 2-1-0 $175,600

Owner: Godolphin

Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin

Jockey: Joe Bravo

5^th Kentucky Jockey Club (G2)

1^st Belmont Futurity (G2) – BSF 89

1^st MSW Parx – BSF 58

0 Road to Kentucky Derby Points

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1: 64-1

Matt King Coal (Cool Coal Man) - FLA

OBSMAR15 $250,000

3: 1-1-1 $70,300

Owner: Lady Sheila Stable

Trainer: Linda Rice

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

1^st MSW Belmont– BSF 96

2^nd MSW Belmont – BSF 93

3^rd MSW Saratoga TURF - 67

0 Road to Kentucky Derby Points

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1: 87-1

Seymourdini (Bernardini) KY

OBSAPR15 $900,000

3: 1-2-0 $66,000

Owner: Lady Sheila Stable

Trainer: Linda Rice

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

1^st MSW Aqueduct

2^nd MSW Belmont

2^nd MSW Belmont

0 Road to Kentucky Derby Points

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1: Mutuel Field 3-5