Combatant, Snapper Sinclair move to Kentucky Derby bubble

Entering Saturday’s final round of 2018 Kentucky Derby preps, trainer Steve Asmussen had a trio of contenders in the Arkansas Derby that could have made the May 5 field at Churchill Downs with the right finish. So it ended up, Combatant hit the wire a head behind Solomini searching for a crucial third-place result.

The barn’s hopes of saddling a horse the first Saturday in May, however, have not been dashed.

Leaving the weekend, Combatant is 21st on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with Snapper Sinclair 22nd. They are the first horses in line should any of the current Top 20 defect over the next three weeks.

David Fiske, racing manager for Combatant’s co-owner, Winchell Thoroughbreds, said Sunday morning that he had not yet discussed plans with Asmussen moving forward. Jeff Bloom, whose Bloom Racing Stable campaigns Snapper Sinclair, said he noticed the colt was now just two spots out of the field and though, “Huh, that’s interesting.”

“Even before the points breakdown was sort of up in the air, we had decided we would most likely skip the Derby path and focus on one of the undercard races,” Bloom said.

That would be either the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile on dirt or the Grade 3 American Turf.

“You never know for sure, but we’d kind of refocused our efforts on those,” said Bloom, who planned to speak with Asmussen in the coming days.

Derby fever, however, is tough to cure.

Snapper Sinclair earned the bulk of his points with a nose second to Bravazo back on Feb. 17, in Fair Grounds’ Grade 2 Risen Star. The son of City Zip put his other top effort in over the lawn when he won last September’s Fasig-Tipton Turf Showcase Juvenile Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Combatant ran second in three straight minor Derby qualifiers over the winer, was third in Oaklawn Park’s Rebel Stakes (G2) and then fourth in the Arkansas Derby. He’s a son of Scat Daddy, whose other progeny, Justify and Mendelssohn, could represent the Kentucky Derby’s top betting choices.

Asmussen also trains the Nos. 23 (Reride) and 24 (Dream Baby Dream) horses on the current leaderboard.