McCraken a Three-Year-Old Champion? It Still Could Happen

Photo: Mary Meek / Eclipse Sportswire

As many upsets as there were on the road to the Kentucky Derby, we should have known that the Triple Crown series would only bring more chaos. It's one thing to have three different winners in each leg, but just to demonstrate how truly muddled the division is, consider this -- Nine different horses finished in the top three spots in the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. If ever there was a season where America's glamour division was completely up for grabs after the Triple Crown, this is the year. 


Tapwrit announced himself as a serious contender to the throne with his decisive victory on Saturday. Combined with an earlier impressive win in the Tampa Bay Derby, and it is easy to say that the $1.2 million yearling purchase is among the leaders for an Eclipse Award, but obviously, so are several others. In fact, the door remains wide open for just about anyone who can take the proverbial bull by the horns. One horse I expect to make a second-half charge to sit atop the division is the same horse I picked to win the Kentucky Derby. His name is McCraken.


I was not alone in liking the racy son of Ghostzapper. Four strong, rallying wins to begin his career made him one of the favorites back in February. A minor physical setback, followed by a third-place finish in the Blue Grass and a painful eighth-place run in the Kentucky Derby, and the Janis Whitham owned bay has become somewhat of a forgotten name. McCraken will have his chance to bounce back from obscurity when he returns in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes on Saturday evening at Churchill Downs.


If Tapwrit is the 'now horse' in the division after his Belmont win, consider that McCraken has defeated the son of Tapit the first two times they raced. A winner of two stakes races at Churchill Downs to finish his juvenile season, including the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, this was the good McCraken facing Tapwrit in the Sam F. Davis Stakes earlier this year at Tampa Bay Downs ...



Showing his readiness to put the Kentucky Derby result behind him, McCraken, with his trusty pilot, Brian Hernandez Jr., in tow, breezed a sharp five furlongs yesterday morning. The move, in 1:00.20, not only pleased his veteran trainer, but it also gives strong indication that the talented homebred is healthy again after exiting the sloppy Run for the Roses both defeated and bloodied.

“He’s been doing great,” said his trainer, Ian Wilkes. “It was very frustrating with the cut he suffered in the Derby. It took a long time to heal and get him back to where he’s comfortable. It’s still not completely healed but it doesn’t bother him at all to run. We were once at the top of the 3-year-old list but now we need to prove ourselves again.”
Much like the classy Gun Runner did this time last year, I fully expect McCraken to begin his three-year-old season anew with a stylish victory in the Matt Winn. Of course, Gun Runner was not able to parlay his 5 1/4-length romp into a championship, but this year, it is highly unlikely that there will be any horse like Arrogate jumping late onto the three-year-old scene.
The door is wide open in 2017, and McCraken is just the kind of horse ready to run right through. His second-half campaign begins Saturday, under the lights, at Churchill Downs.

Read More

Breeders' Cup Classic watch: Best horse meets the challenge
This is the 17th and final installment of a weekly feature exclusive to Horse Racing Nation tracking the...
Speed figures: Forever Young leads fastest stakes winners
Forever Young earned a sparkling 140 Horse Racing Nation speed figure for his victory in Saturday's Breeders' Cup...
Ted Noffey dam Streak of Luck sells for $6.2 million
The Fasig-Tipton November Sale, held Monday at the Newtown Paddocks in Lexington, Ky., posted sales of more than...
Tuesday works: Owen Almighty leads graded winners on tab
Owen Almighty , the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby winner who most recently placed third in the Perryville...
Half Yours wins Melbourne Cup; Parchment Party finishes 19th
A decade after Michelle Payne became the first woman win Australia's most famous race, Jamie Melham has etched herself...