Tapalo, 8 others are late nominees for Triple Crown

Tapalo, the El Camino Real Derby runner-up and a contender in Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, leads a cast of nine 3-year-olds who were made eligible to compete in the 2024 Triple Crown with a late $6,000 payment that was due Monday.

Owned by Hronis Racing and trained by John Sadler, Tapalo is expected to enter Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby, the final West Coast stop on the road to the Kentucky Derby.

Eight other horses were late nominees, pending late mail, and are listed with their owners:

Awesome Ruta, Tri Star Racing and Cimarron TTT

Celtic Contender, Lewis Family Racing Stables

D Day Sky, Ten Strike Racing, Four Cornerss Racing, Broadview Stables, Cory Moelis Racing and Jeremy Sussman

Evening News Travin Stables

Le Dom Bro, Vicente Stables

Lonesome Boy, John Parker

Mugatu, Average Joe Racing Stables and Dan Wells

Secret Chat, Gelfenstein Farm

In total, 354 3-year-olds now are eligible to compete in the Triple Crown series, which consists of the $5 million Kentucky Derby, $1.5 million Preakness Stakes and $1.5 million Belmont Stakes.

Any horse not nominated during the early or late phases can become Triple Crown-eligible through a supplemental nomination payment due at the time of entry for each Triple Crown race: Kentucky Derby, $200,000 for all three Triple Crown races or $50,000 for the Kentucky Derby onlyl Preakness, $150,000; and Belmont, $50,000.