Kentucky Derby 2017: Calumet Farm Under The Radar, Poised to Strike

There is one name that epitomizes all of Kentucky horse racing - excellence on the track, in the breeding shed, and on the landscape - Calumet Farm.

The iconic white fences and devil's red gates held generations of champions and hall of famers, both human and equine. Calumet bred and owned a record 8 Kentucky Derby winners between 1941 and 1968, two of them Triple Crown winners. The farm was home to the epochal sire, Bull Lea, whose progeny included Citation, 1948 Triple Crown winner and leading money-winning racehorse of the era.

It has been a long time since the farm's heyday, and the hallowed property has changed hands a few times in the intervening years. Its current master is Brad Kelly, whose stated goal is to bring the farm back to its former, Triple-Crown-winning, glory. He took the first step toward that in 2013, when Oxbow shocked the Preakness at 15-1. 

In 2017, he might just do it again. Yet, despite the history and romance of the Calumet name, his runners are seriously under the radar on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Since the Kentucky Derby 2017 points series began, 6 Calumet horses have earned points. All of them boast top pedigrees, and though the old Calumet stuck with the father-son team of Ben & Jimmy Jones, the new generation has placed horses with trainers who seem best suited to that horse's physical and mental makeup.

Here they are.

Hence - 50pts - Sunland Derby winner - Trainer: Steve Asmussen - Hence broke his mdn in Jan. @ OP. The bright chestnut with a crooked blaze then took on stakes company in his next try in the Southwest Stakes. He put in a strong move on the final turn in that race and finished up out of the money, but it seems that the son of Street Boss was only getting experience out of that effort. In the Sunland Derby, Hence started off slowly and followed the field through the first quarter, then began moving up through the backstretch. By the final turn, he was bearing down on pacesetter Hedge Fund and drew away with authority to win by 3 lengths.

Patch - 40pts - 2nd in LA Derby - Trainer: Todd Pletcher - This one-eyed son of Belmont Stakes winner, Union Rags, ran a courageous second in the Louisiana Derby, sweeping the rail from the one post until making his big move, right alongside eventual winner, Girvin. While Girvin got the outside trip, Patch had a little more to do, diving back to the inside, where he rallied to finish a narrowing length in second. Patch's biggest hurdle is he didn't race @ 2 - not the first of Pletcher's trainees to face that jinx this year.

Sonneteer - 20pts - 2nd in Rebel - This late-runner resembles his sire, Midnight Lute, in both size (he's big), color (he's dark), and in running style (he likes to come from way out of it). Where he differs from that 2-time Breeders' Cup Sprint champion is that Sonneteer has shown he can route. In the Rebel, he picked his way from near-last through the 13-horse field, dodging tiring frontrunners and nosing out fellow closer, Untrapped. Keith Desormeaux trains, and it is possible that his brother, 3-time Derby winning rider, Keith Desormeaux, could be in the irons on Derby day. Sonneteer's biggest hurdle is that he is still a maiden - though he could remedy that in a big way in Saturday's Arkansas Derby!

Wild Shot - 17pts - Trainer: George Arnold - Trappe Shot (Tapit) - Speedy type that has only run in stakes since breaking his maiden last summer, has hit the board in all of them except Blue Grass.

True Timber - 16pts - Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin - Mineshaft son out of a Tiznow mare, competitive in all 4 NY preps despite not getting a win.

Term of Art - 11pts - Trainer: Doug O'Neil - Midpack type sired by Tiznow who has shown flashes of talent but hasn't lived up to it yet.

Knocking on the door - Calumet has so many well-bred 3-year-olds, with a variety of trainers, that even if they do not make it to the Derby, their charges will be dangerous heading into the summer stakes season. Maiden - but with stakes experience - Dilettante is one to watch, as this son of Unbridled's Song is steadily putting things together, and he could jump up with a win at the right time. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas will give him every opportunity. Sonic Mule, sharp winner of the Swale Stakes, could be a force in the sprint division for Pletcher. Silver Bullion ran ok in the Rebel for Lukas and has a routing pedigree.

Perhaps Calumet will add a millennial chapter to its 90+ year legacy.

-- Candice C. Curtis (@skipaway2000)