Kentucky Derby prep guide: 12 test Turfway in the Battaglia
The road to the Kentucky Derby makes its first stop at Turfway Park on Saturday for the 1 1/16-mile John Battaglia Memorial Stakes. It is the first of two U.S. preps on synthetic, both at Turfway. This year's edition of the Battaglia has drawn an overflow field of 12 and one also-eligible to run for the 20-10-6-4-2 points offered to the first five finishers.
The Battaglia was added to the Derby points trail in 2021. The very next year, Rich Strike, who finished fourth in the Battaglia, won the Kentucky Derby at enormous odds after drawing in off the also-eligibles list. So far, he is the only starter of the Battaglia to win the Derby.
Will the Battaglia winner, or top five finisher, make a statement in the Derby? These up-and-coming youngsters will make the first step toward that goal here.
Leonatus Stakes winner Street Beast looks to continue on his successful stakes run for trainer Ben Colebrook. The son of Street Sense was fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in October, but before that, he began his career with a win second-out at Kentucky Downs, then turned around 10 days later to win the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile. Sire Street Sense has had only one Kentucky Derby starter, Ocho Ocho Ocho in 2015. His dam is by Duke of Marmalade, notably the runner-up in the 2008 synthetic Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita.
Brad Cox's Fulleffort was second in the Leonatus behind Street Beast. This son of Liam's Map is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Power Squeeze, though that filly's specialty is dirt. Fulleffort broke his maiden at Kentucky Downs and followed it up with an allowance victory on turf at Keeneland in October. Off until January, he made his comeback in the Leonatus, where he was bumped and forced to run wide before rallying in deep stretch to miss by just one length. With a cleaner trip, he could close the gap here.
Attfield, a colt sired by Vekoma, is a stakes winner on turf, taking the Central Park stakes at Aqueduct in November. Trainer Thomas Morely brings him back for the first time as a 3-year-old here. In a three-race career, Attfield is Grade 3-placed, running behind another Breeders' Cup runner, Intricate Spirit, in the Futurity Stakes.
Another stakes-winning entrant to note is Aces Honor, winner of the Texas Turf Mile at Sam Houston in January. The son of Honor Code has won two of four lifetime starts. Aces Honor is trained by Ethan West, who brought Chunk of Gold through Turfway to a ninth-place Kentucky Derby finish last year. Chunk of Gold did not start in the Battaglia, but he did earn his way into the field in the next stop, the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3).
The Battaglia is race 9, post time 9:55 p.m. EST. TV coverage of the race will be on FanDuel TV.
Free past performances for the Battaglia are courtesy of Brisnet.
Here are the top lifetime speed figures for the Battaglia entrants.
| No. | Horse | Beyer* | TFUS* | Brisnet | HRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Street Beast | 81 | 100 | 90 | 136 |
| 2 | Steel Imperium | na | 90 | 80 | 100 |
| 3 | Maximus Prime | 59 | 92 | 82 | 101 |
| 4 | Kilo Tango | 55 | 88 | 78 | 94 |
| 5 | Baytown Dreamer | 68 | 98 | 88 | 101 |
| 6 | Time for Money | 65 | 89 | 79 | 98 |
| 7 | Attfield | 76 | 102 | 92 | 115 |
| 8 | Great White | 75 | 98 | 88 | 110 |
| 9 | Stop the Car | 80 | 105 | 95 | 116 |
| 10 | Aces Honor | 57 | 106 | 96 | 118 |
| 11 | Fulleffort | 82 | 108 | 98 | 117 |
| 12 | Two Out Hero | 81 | 99 | 89 | 121 |
| 13-AE | Small Town | na | 97 | 87 | 110 |
*Beyer and TimeformUS speed figures are provided courtesy of Daily Racing Form.
HRN handicappers
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