** UPDATE – KENTUCKY OAKS POST POSITIONS:
1 – Forever Unbridled (Fipke)
2 – Shook Up
3- Include Betty
4- Eskenformoney
5- Condo Commando
6- Angela Renee
7 – Lovely Maria
8 – I’m a Chatterbox
9 – Themoney’soncharlotte
10 – Oceanwave
11 – sarah Sis
12 – Stellar Wind
13 – Birdatthewire
14 – Puca
15ae Peace and War
It is KENTUCKY DERBY WEEK and hoards of media landed at Churchill Downs this week and most of the horses are on the grounds.
Canadian racing has horses and horsepeople to cheer for in both the Derby and Friday’s Oaks but it is easily one of the toughest Derby fields in recent memory. AMERICAN PHAROAH and DORTMUND are getting all the press but the 20-horse field has some other very good ones.
DORTMUND upon arriving at Churchill Downs – REED PALMER/CHURCHILL DOWNS
WHAT ODDS WILL YOU GET ON YOUR DERBY HORSE?
from BOVADA Sports Betting – odds on Kentucky Derby starters:
American Pharoah 5/2
Dortmund 4/1
Carpe Diem 15/2
Mubtaahij 10/1
Materiality 12/1
Firing Line 16/1
Frosted 16/1
International Star 18/1
Upstart 20/1
El Kabeir 33/1
Far Right 33/1
Bolo 40/1
Danzig Moon 40/1
Itsaknockout 40/1
Keen Ice 40/1
Mr Z 40/1
Ocho Ocho Ocho 40/1
War Story 40/1
Tencendur 66/1
CANADIAN-BRED DANZIG MOON – 3rd starter for Mark Casse
John Oxley’s Danzig Moon galloped 1 ½ miles under exercise rider William Cano for trainer Mark Casse after the morning renovation break.
Casse arrived in Louisville last night from Ocala where he had been attending sales.
“He looked good this morning,” Casse said. “I have been watching him every morning when the works are streamed online.”
Danzig Moon will be Casse’s third Derby starter. Seaside Retreat finished 10th in 2006 behind Barbaro and Prospective was 18th in 2012 behind I’ll Have Another.
“This is a great Derby with a lot of tough horses,” said Casse, who saw his first Derby in person in 1972 when Riva Ridge got the roses. “But this is home for him and now they have to come play in his house.
“Seaside Retreat actually ran pretty well. He got beat by about 10 lengths but Barbaro won by six. Prospective was kind of an overachiever and he got wiped out at the start by Hansen.”
Casse likes his chances this time around with Danzig Moon, who was second to Carpe Diem in the Blue Grass Stakes (GI) in his most recent start.
“We’ve felt that he is a special horse from Day One,” Casse said. “It has just taken him a long time to prove. It would be nice if he showed it Saturday. In terms of raw talent, he has more than Seaside Retreat and Prospective.”
DANZIG MOON was foaled at Windhaven in Caledon, Ontario, the farm owned by Bill Graham.
The Malibu Moon guy is out of the Danzig mare Leaveminthedust who was expected to have a Giant’s Causeway foal recently.
BOLO is co-owned by the Frank Stronach group Golden Pegasus Racing .
INTERNATIONAL STAR swept all 3 Derby prep races in New Orleans at Fair Grounds – CHURCHILL DOWNS
BREEZE THROUGH SOME OF THE BIG PREP RACE VIDEOS at this site:
KENTUCKY OAKS DRAW TODAY! –
A pair of Canadian owned fillies are expected to be in the entry box today for the KENTUCKY OAKS, the prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies, the ‘filly Derby’ if you will.
Nat Rea’s Regis Racing has the grey gal SHOOK UP in the field, a grey Tapit filly trained by Steve Asmussen. This speed gal had a fast workout at Churchill Downs recently.
Rea has raced a few horses since he burst onto the scene in 2013 with a litany of big-money purchases. As Regis Racing, the stats from Equibase show Rea has won 18 races from 105 starts and just over $1.2 million in purses. The stable has won a graded stakes race – the Grade 2 Santa Ynez this spring with Canadian-bred Seduire.
Charles Fipke’s Forever Unbridled may draw into the race (which has a maximum of 14 starters) with the deletion of a couple of fillies from the Bob Baffert Stables.
Oaks probables by points
Rank Horse Points Owner(s) Trainer Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings
1. Condo Commando 161 Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stables & The Elkstone Group Rudy Rodriguez $715,000
2. I’m a Chatterbox 161 Grayson Farm (Fletcher & Carolyn Gray) Larry Jones $430,714
3. Stellar Wind 150 Hronis Racing (Kostra Hronis) John Sadler $300,000
4. Birdatthewire 130 Forum Racing (Tom Camp et al) Dale Romans $303,710
5. Lovely Maria 120 Brereton C. Jones Larry Jones $341,000
6. Include Betty 100 Brereton C. Jones & Timothy C. Thornton Tom Proctor $274,500
7. Oceanwave 60 Gary & Mary West Wayne Catalano $110,000
8. Angela Renee 57 Siena Farm LLC (Anthony Manganaro, Patino & Pope) Todd Pletcher $402,000
9. Sarah Sis 54 Joe Ragsdale Ingrid Mason $161,600
10. Eskenformoney 50 StarLadies Racing (Laurie Wolf) Todd Pletcher $66,900
11. Puca 45 Donegal Racing (Jerry Crawford) Bill Mott $69,200
12. Shook Up 40 Regis Racing (Nat Rea) Steve Asmussen $83,500
13. Forever Unbridled 34 Charles E. Fipke Dallas Stewart $82,500
14 Achiever’s Legacy 27 G. Campbell, M. Cellucci, D. Horowitz, R. Robertson, et al. Jerry Hollendorfer $149,500
KENTUCKY DERBY STUFF
141st Kentucky Derby
What: First leg of Thoroughbred Triple Crown
Post time: 6:33 p.m. Saturday, Churchill Downs, Louisville, Ky.
TV: NBCSN — Wednesday, Derby draw (5:30-6 p.m.), Thursday, Derby access (4-6 p.m.), Friday, Kentucky Oaks, etc. (12:30-6 p.m.), Saturday, Derby prep (12-4 p.m.);
NBC — Kentucky Derby (4-7:30 p.m.)
Purse: $2 million
Distance: 11/4 miles
BOB EHALT COLUMN – ESPN.COM
“A DERBY LIKE NO OTHER”
“Going back to 1955, this is the only Derby to have as many as five U.S.-based entrants who are undefeated at 3 years old.”
http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/blog/_/name/ehalt_bob/id/12777386/a-kentucky-derby-no-other
AP FEATURE – AHMED ZAYAT – 3 horses in Kentucky Derby
BETH HARRIS – ASSOCIATED PRESS
Louisville, Ky. — Ahmed Zayat can’t contain his enthusiasm at having three horses running in the Kentucky Derby. The fast-talking Egyptian businessman is alternately nervous, hopeful and tickled pink.
“Hyper” is how trainer Bob Baffert describes his client, whose American Pharoah is expected to be the early favorite for Saturday’s 141st Run for the Roses.
Listening to Zayat’s bubbly chatter, there’s no hint of the run of bad luck he’s endured at the Derby. Three times his horses have finished second behind long shots.
In 2009, 50-1 Mine That Bird sneaked up along the rail and beat Pioneerof the Nile. In 2011, Nehro was defeated by 20-1 Animal Kingdom. A year later, 15-1 I’ll Have Another beat Bodemeister.
Baffert can count two of those losses among his Derby defeats, having trained Pioneerof the Nile and Bodemeister.
“Luckily they run the Derby every year,” he said.
KENTUCKY DERBY HISTORY
How about this wild Derby result from 1971 when Venezulan champ but mystery horse Canonero II came from 18th to win going away as part of the mutuel field.
