Cox, Asmussen standouts duel in Kentucky Derby prep

Saturday’s $400,000 Remington Springboard Mile features a match-up between Giant Mischief and Echo Again who are ranked in eighth and ninth position in the latest Kentucky Derby futures released by Circa Sports in Las Vegas.

Interestingly, the Remington Park morning line has Echo Again as the 2-1 favorite and Giant Mischief as the 3-1 second choice, ranking the Steve Asmussen runner ahead of the unbeaten 2-year-old from the barn of Brad Cox.

Here is a full-field analysis for the Remington Springboard Mile with the official track morning line odds. The top five Kentucky Derby-eligible finishers will receive 10-4-3-2-1 points. The Springboard is scheduled as race 12 of 12 on an evening card, with post time set for 11:19 p.m. EST.

1. Echo Again (9-5 – Gun Runner – Steve Asmussen / Ricardo Santana Jr. – 2: 1-0-0 - $60,375) Echo Again was highly touted this summer before his debut victory at Saratoga in August and he lived up to the hype with an almost seven length win on the front-end as the odds-on favorite. He shipped to Churchill Downs for the Iroquois (G3) where he broke slowly and then faded badly while going two turns. Win contender.

2. Gunflash (15-1 – Gun Runner – Karl Broberg / Cristian Torres – 1: 1-0-0 - $19,647) Here is another promising son of Gun Runner who rallied from last to get the lead at the stretch call and pull away in his first career start at Remington Park last month at odds of 8-5 for the prolific winning trainer Karl Broberg. Live longshot.

3. Campfire Creed (5-1 – Jimmy Creed – Danny Pish / Girardo Mora – 4: 2-2-0 - $95,4178) Campfire Creed broke his maiden in his second start and then prepared for the Springboard by winning the Kip Deville and followed by a second just a nose behind in the seven furlong Clever Trevor. His first win was a front-end effort but then he stalked the pace to win the Kip Deville. Use underneath.

4. Lil Sweet Thang (12-1 – Caleb’s Posse – Donnie K. Von Hemel / Luis Quinonez – 3: 2-0-0 - $45,792) This son of Caleb’s Posse broke his maiden at Remington by eight lengths as the 8-5 favorite at first asking. He was fifth in the Clever Trevor but rebounded to take a one-mile allowance last month with a strong closing move. Live longshot.

5. Giant Mischief (3-1 – Into Mischief – Brad Cox / Florent Geroux– 2: 2-0-0 - $113,400) Giant Mischief is unbeaten in two starts for Brad Cox. He won his debut at Hoosier Indiana in September with a closing move as the 6-5 favorite. On Breeders’ Cup weekend at Keeneland he battled against Bob Baffert’s Arabian Lion in a seven furlong allowance. Giant Mischief drew off to win by 3/4 of a length but the two of them finished almost 18 lengths ahead of the rest of the 10 horse field. Top Choice.

6. American Outlaw (15-1 – American Pharoah – Todd Fincher / Jose Alvarez – 2: 1-1-0 - $26,413) American Outlaw is yet another horse in this field that won his debut race. He did it in October at Remington with a five length front-end score as the 9-5 favorite. He was then second in the allowance behind Lil Sweet Thang. Toss.

7. Ghost Hero (15-1 – Shaman Ghost – Jayde Gelner / Floyd Wethey Jr. – 4: 2-1-0 - $108,504) This Oklahoma-bred broke his maiden in a state-bred stakes race at Remington in October and then added another stakes victory last month going a mile on the lead as the odds-on favorite. He will have to battle a fast pace and open company in this strong field. Toss.

8. Money Run (12-1 – Runhappy – Steve Asmussen / Stewart Elliot – 4: 1-0-1 - $46,117) Money Run is the other Asmussen runner and he broke his maiden in a $75,000 claimer at Churchill in October. He then was fifth in the Clever Trevor and most recently was third in the aforementioned allowance against the No. 4 and 5 horses. Toss.

9. Wildatlanticstorm (6-1 – Stormy Atlantic – H. Ray Ashford Jr. / Leandro Goncalves – 5: 3-2-0 - $126,568) Here is an Iowa-bred with three wins from five starts. He is another one that prefers to press the pace which he did to win the Clever Trevor after getting second in the Kip Deville. He will have to stretch out to the mile for the first time. Use underneath.

Summary: The pace projector for the Springboard calls for a fast pace with Echo Again battling on the lead with American Outlaw and Ghost Hero. The morning line favorite will have to be at his best as he was at Saratoga to carry his speed for the mile.

Giant Mischief is the top choice based on his impressive victory in that Keeneland allowance. He should get the right set-up while sitting in a stalking position. If the Remington oddsmaker is correct and Giant Mischief is the second choice that would provide excellent value.