A TRICKY ROAD TO DERBY; WITH HORSE OF YEAR ON SIDELINE, OTHERS ARE MAKING UP GROUND.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing By the time Favorite Trick makes his season debut, he might not recognize the Kentucky Derby picture anymore. For one thing, the reigning Horse of the Year might be shocked to learn he's the favorite in name only. Favorite Trick, unbeaten in eight starts at age 2, has been delayed by the switch to trainer Bill Mott and isn't scheduled to race before the March 14 Swale Stakes on the Florida Derby undercard un·der·card n. The event or events coming before and supporting the main event, as of boxing matches. . At best, he would have one more race before the May 2 Kentucky Derby, a lighter schedule than any winner since Sunny's Halo in 1983. While Favorite Trick idles, a nation of 3-year-olds threatens to take the lead on the Derby trail. With 10 Saturdays to go before the first Saturday in May and with things about to heat up at Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park near Miami, here are a dozen names to watch for: Artax: A fast, 5-1/2-length victory over Souvenir Copy in the Santa Catalina made him the leader of the California pack. Trainer Randy Bradshaw and owner Ernie Paragalo are pointing the son of Marquetry marquetry (mär`kətrē), branch of cabinetwork in which a decorative surface of wood or other substance is glued to an object on a single plane. toward the March 14 San Felipe, where he could face Real Quiet, Prosperous Bid and Skeaping. Lil's Lad: Brilliant allowance victories at Gulfstream made him a 6-5 favorite against 8-5 Coronado's Quest, 5-2 Cape Town and 6-1 Halory Hunter for the Fountain of Youth Fountain of Youth legendary fountain of eternal youth. [World Legend: Brewer Dictionary, 432] See : Unattainability on Saturday. The son of Pine Bluff is one of four ``dual qualifiers'' for Derby glory - he, Souvenir Copy, Coronado's Quest and Grand Slam were high-ranked 2-year-olds and look good in the Dosage ratings of stamina in their pedigrees. Coronado's Quest: As soon as trainer Shug McGaughey gets him to behave, the winner of three straight stakes at Aqueduct last fall will zoom to No. 1 on this list. Cape Town: The best of the D. Wayne Lukas-Overbrook Farm nominees ended '97 by winning the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs and opened '98 by winning the Holy Bull at Gulfstream. Kent Desormeaux rides him in the Fountain of Youth. Souvenir Copy: Trainer Bob Baffert's Del Mar Futurity The Del Mar Futurity is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. Beginning in the racing season of 2007, this race has been upgraded by the American Graded Stakes Committee from a Grade II event to a Grade I. and Norfolk winner will face Sea of Secrets in the March 1 San Rafael and should improve with fitness after chasing Artax in the Santa Catalina. Laydown: Owner Jim McIngvale, who thinks the Gulfstream surface is unsafe (he might be the only one), moved this and 13 other horses from Nick Zito's barn to little-known Steve Moyer's in Kentucky on Thursday. Laydown's sire, Cryptoclearance, tied A.P. Indy for the most Derby-nominated sons, eight. Comic Strip: Neil Howard, who also trains Lil's Lad, is sending this late-running colt to the Fair Grounds in New Orleans for the Risen Star on Sunday. He'll face Lukas' Time Limit. Real Quiet: This Baffert charge won the usually productive Hollywood Futurity in December, but his Quiet American-Really Blue breeding raises questions about his suitability for the Derby's 1-1/4 miles, and he finished last in the sloppy-track Golden Gate Derby The Golden Gate Derby is a race for thoroughbred horses run each year at Golden Gate Fields at a distance of one and one sixteenth of a mile and open to three-year-olds. A Grade III event, also known as the California Derby, it offers a purse of $100,000. . Time Limit: Another Lukas-Overbrook production, the gelding gelding castrated male horse. by Gilded Time has been first or second in 9 of 10 starts. Sea of Secrets: Neil Drysdale will have to coax some stamina out of the colt, who is 3 for 3 after winning the 7-furlong San Vicente. Grand Slam: As with Favorite Trick, the question is whether he'll be ready for the Derby after cutting a leg badly in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. . Lukas is aiming for a late-March comeback. Sweetsouthernsaint: The Fountain of Youth was to be his chance to atone for an unlucky third to Cape Town and Comic Strip in the Holy Bull. But trainer Leo Leo, in astronomy Leo [Lat.,=the lion], northern constellation lying S of Ursa Major and on the ecliptic (apparent path of the sun through the heavens) between Cancer and Virgo; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Azpurua said Thursday the colt has inflamation in his right foreleg and will aim instead for the Florida Derby. Others to follow: Halory Hunter, Zito's remaining hope, owned by Rick Pitino; Post a Note, Dixie Dot Com, Clover Hunter, Event of the Year and Hunter's Glory, the Bay Area horses; Availability, Commitisize, Orville N Wilbur's, Pleasant Drive, Prosperous Bid and Skeaping; and Cowboy Dan, Dawson's Legacy, Indian Charlie, Old Topper Topper house he purchases is haunted by the young couple who owned it previously and their dog. [Am. Lit., Cin., TV: Topper in Halliwell, 718] See : Ghost Topper Hopalong Cassidy’s faithful horse. , Old Trieste and Tahoe Prospector, all set back by physical problems. The calendar: The 1998 schedule of major 3-year-old races: $750,000 Florida Derby, Gulfstream Park, March 14; $500,000 Louisiana Derby, the Fair Grounds, March 15; $600,000 Jim Beam Stakes, Turfway Park, March 28; $750,000 Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $750,000. , April 4; $700,000 Blue Grass Stakes The Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. , Keeneland, April 11; $500,000 Arkansas Derby, Oaklawn Park, April 11; $500,000 Wood Memorial, Belmont Park, April 11; $1 million Kentucky Derby, May 2; $1 million Preakness Stakes, Pimlico, May 16; $1 million Belmont Stakes, Belmont Park, June 6. A WEEK AT THE RACES At The Races is a British television channel, originally co-founded with Channel 4, but now owned by a partnership between British Sky Broadcasting, Arena Leisure PLC and 28 (out of the 59) UK racecourses. Santa Anita standings: Jockeys: Kent Desormeaux, 40 winners; Gary Stevens, 35; Corey Nakatani and Alex Solis, 29; David Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the , 21; Chris McCarron, 19. Trainers: Bob Baffert, 24; Ron McAnally, 13; Neil Drysdale, 12; Randy Bradshaw, 10. Handicapper hand·i·cap·per n. Sports & Games 1. One who assigns handicaps. 2. One who predicts the winners in a horserace, especially one who publishes such predictions as a guide for bettors. Noun 1. helper: Which are the strongest trainer-jockey combinations at Santa Anita? Mike Mitchell is winning 44.4 percent with Nakatani but only 13.5 percent with other riders, by Daily Racing Form The Daily Racing Form, LLC (DRF) is a broadsheet newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States. statistics. Drysdale is winning 43.8 percent with Desormeaux, 20 percent with other riders. Upcoming: At Santa Anita: $75,000 San Marino Handicap, 1-1/4 miles on turf, and $100,000 Boo La Boo Stakes, 6 furlongs, for California-bred 3-year-old fillies, Saturday; $125,000 Las Flores Handicap The Las Flores Handicap is a race for thoroughbred race horses run each year at Santa Anita Park. It is open to fillies and mares, four years old and upwards, willing to race six furlongs on the dirt. The race is a Grade III event with a purse of $100,000. , 6 furlongs, for fillies and mares, Sunday. At Gulfstream Park: $200,000 Fountain of Youth, 1-1/16 miles, for 3-year-olds, Saturday; $100,000 Davona Dale, 1 miles 70 yards, for 3-year-old fillies, Sunday. At the Fair Grounds: $125,000 Risen Star, 1 1/16 miles, for 3-year-olds, Sunday. Mileposts: Picking up the ball that California dropped, Oaklawn Park in Arkansas announced it will give $1 million to the Oaklawn Handicap if Gentlemen, Silver Charm and Skip Away all run in the April 4 race. The second- through fifth-place awards would remain in line with the usual $750,000 purse. The bonus money would come from the track. . . . Ed Allred, who was the 75 percent owner of Los Alamitos, has purchased the other 25 percent from Christo Bardis. The Orange County track is open for harness racing; a quarter-horse meet begins April 17. . . . Rick Baedeker, the Hollywood Park vice president for marketing whose planning made the Breeders' Cup a success in November, was named to a similar post with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is the main governing body of Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States. They are also the main governing body of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. . . . . Popular Canadian jockey Sandy Hawley said he will retire this spring or summer. Hawley, 48, has been in California to receive his annual treatment for melanoma, which he has battled for years. . . . The Jockeys' Guild announced plans to open a school of race riding in Kentucky and name it for the late Eddie Arcaro. . . . Gary Biszantz, one of California's leading owners, bought a 40-acre farm in Tehachapi where the United Pegasus Foundation can keep retired racehorses. . . . Retirements: 3-year-old filly Vivid Angel, and mares Radu Cool and Chile Chatte. - Kevin Modesti CAPTION(S): Box Box: A WEEK AT THE RACES (See Text) |
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