4 key races – so far – on the 2018 Kentucky Derby trail
Since the Road to Kentucky Derby 2018 began in September, 13 official points races have been contested, and four of them standout as the best preps run thus far.
• Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 7, 2017
• Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Nov. 4, 2017
• Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity at Los Alamitos on Dec. 9, 2017
• Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds on January 13, 2018
These four stakes had the highest quality fields, with the earliest three proving already to be key races for runners moving forward. The Lecomte joined them as producing horses highly ranked in many of the experts’ Derby lists.
From early on the Derby trail, the Champagne emerged as a key race. The top three finishers in that one-turn mile were Firenze Fire, Good Magic, and Enticed, and all moved on to score important victories. Firenze Fire won the Jerome at Aqueduct and is entered in this weekend’s Withers. A victory there would give the Jason Servis trainee 30 Derby qualifying points, making him likely the first horse to lock up a spot in the gate on the First Saturday in May. Good Magic won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in his next start. He is preparing to make his 2018 debut in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on March 3. In his next start after the Champagne, Enticed topped a competitive field in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has entered him in Saturday's Grade 2 Holy Bull, where he will face Tiz Mischief, the horse he beat in a photo back at Churchill Downs.
Good Magic won the Juvenile as a maiden, beating Solomini and the division leader at that time in Bolt d’Oro. Solomini has since returned to the races crossing the finish line first in the Los Alamitos Futurity. Bolt d’Oro is being prepped for his first race of this year in the Grade 2 San Felipe on March 10 at Santa Anita. Good Magic and Bolt d’Oro were the top two in votes for the Eclipse Award in the juvenile division.
The Futurity included a controversial stretch drive featuring Solomini, McKinzie, and Instilled Regard in which the stewards ultimately decided the outcome of the race. Regardless of how you felt about the official decision, those three have moved to the top of the Derby lists across the country. Instilled Regard went on the beat twelve others in the Lecomte (G3) at Fair Grounds and McKinzie toyed with the field in the Sham (G3) to stay unbeaten.
Instilled Regard and Principe Guilherme strengthened their resumes, as both are currently ranked in the HRN Top 20 Kentucky Derby contenders, by running 1-2 in the Lecomte. In addition to the second-place finisher Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen also took third and fourth with Snapper Sinclair and Zing Zang. The top two are expected to continue on Fair Grounds' road to the Derby with a rematch slated for the Grade 2 Risen Star on Feb.17.