Kentucky Derby 2023: Blazing Sevens is out; Jace’s Road is in

Blazing Sevens, who finished third this month in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes, will skip Kentucky Derby 2023 and be pointed instead toward the Preakness Stakes on May 20, his co-owner said Sunday afternoon.

“The horse trained well, but I think we’re looking at the Preakness with a little more of a training window between his last race and the next race,” John Capek of Rodeo Creek Racing said in a telephone interview with Horse Racing Nation. “Give him an extra two weeks of training, and we think the Preakness will put him in a better position to be a top contender there.”

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This first defection since the final points prep was run last Saturday opened the door for Jace’s Road, who was at the top of the waiting list, to move into the Derby field. The colt, who finished third in the Louisiana Derby (G2), will give trainer Brad Cox his fourth would-be starter May 6.

“Oh, yeah. We’re going. Absolutely,” said Jason Loutsch, racing manager for Albaugh Family Stables, which owns Jace’s Road in partnership with West Point Thoroughbreds. “Brad will have four now and two with us. … There’s a lack of speed in the race. He’ll bring that, and we’re excited about that.”

Cox said Friday that Florent Géroux would ride Jace’s Road if the Derby berth materialized.

The Albaugh family also owns Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Angel of Empire, who has been a top five betting choice in the Las Vegas futures market for the Derby.

Blazing Sevens will follow the path that his trainer Chad Brown established last year when he diverted Wood Memorial (G2) runner-up Early Voting from the Derby. That move proved successful two weeks later with a win in the Preakness.

“Sometimes you go with the formula that works,” Capek said. “But I also think that just the specifics for Blazing Sevens, he did much better in his last race than he did (finishing eighth) in the Fountain of Youth (G2), which was just a tough race for him. Probably with a little more training and being better prepared for the Preakness, he’ll start turning around here in the next few weeks than running in the Derby.”

Capek said instead of being trailered from Keeneland to Churchill Downs, Blazing Sevens will be shipped to Belmont Park in the next 24 hours to train up to the Preakness.

“If all was going well with the horse and getting on the bus, so to speak, he would be moving to Belmont today,” Capek said. “If not today, then tomorrow.”

Skinner, who finished third in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), moved up to the first place in the standby line after the defection of Blazing Sevens. Cyclone Mischief, who was third in the Florida Derby and also is owned by the Albaugh family, would be next.

The field for the Kentucky Derby will be entered next Monday with 20 horses in the main draw and up to four also-eligibles.