Premier Pegasus Strong Preliminary Favorite
Premier Pegasus, a 7 3/4-length winner of Santa Anita’s Grade II San Felipe Stakes, will be a strong favorite on Jon White’s morning line for the Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9 based on the current expected field.
“In making a preliminary line based on the eight horses considered probable for the race at this time, I have Premier Pegasus as a 6-5 morning line favorite,” White said. “He was so dominant in the San Felipe that I don’t think there is any question he will be a strong Santa Anita Derby favorite, especially since the San Felipe had what was considered to be the best field of any of the graded stakes races for the age group in California so far this year.
“Premier Pegasus has lost only once in five career starts. And even the one time he lost, when he ran third in the San Vicente, that doesn’t look all that bad considering he hadn’t raced in three months. Plus, the San Vicente looks even stronger now in that The Factor won it and then took the Rebel at Oaklawn Park by a big margin (6 ¼ lengths).”
White said that as it stands at this time, Silver Medallion, winner of Santa Anita’s Eddie Logan Stakes on the turf and Golden Gate’s Grade III El Camino Real Derby, would be the second choice on the Santa Anita Derby morning line.
“I have Silver Medallion at 9-2 on my preliminary line,” White said. “The only reason I don’t have him lower than that is he’s never won or even raced on the dirt. But those wins in the Eddie Logan and El Camino Real Derby are an indication that he’s a pretty talented colt.”
Probable for the Santa Anita Derby: Anthony’s Cross; Bench Points; Comma to the Top, Corey Nakatani; Indian Winter; Mr. Commons, Mike Smith; Offlee Wild Boys; Premier Pegasus, Alonso Quinonez; and Silver Medallion, Garrett Gomez.
At Hollywood Park Sunday, Celestic Night worked six furlongs in 1:13.60 under Joe Talamo, after which trainer Mike Mitchell said the son of Vindication is possible for the Santa Anita Derby, depending on how he fares after one more workout. “We claimed him for grass races at Hollywood, but with the Will Rogers and Cinema gone, we thought we’d take a look at the Derby here,” Mitchell said.