Last Kentucky Derby Prep Races and Latest Point Standings

Omaha Beach won by a length over a sloppy track in yesterday's Arkansas Derby.  The final time for the 1 and 1/8 mile race was 1:49.91.  Jockey Mike Smith gave his usual masterful ride on the Dick Mandella trained colt to beat Improbable, who was 5 3/4 lengths ahead of third place Country House.  Laughing Fox followed a length behind Country House to finish fourth.
   Owendale surprised most folks by winning the Lexington Stakes in a time of 1:44.14 over the 1 and 1/16 miles race.  Owendale finished 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Anothertwistafate, who was 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Sueno.  Knicks Go crossed the finish line 5 lengths behind Sueno for fourth place.
  Then, too, the Ben Ali had a surprise winner in Bourbon Resolution, who bested Nun the Less by 4 1/2 lengths, covering the 1 1/8 mile course in 1:38.45.  Nun the Less was 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Third Day, who finished 3/4 length ahead of Just Whistle.

   Omaha Beach wins the Arkansas Derby:

Owendale wins the Lexington Stakes:

Bourbon Resolution wins the Ben Ali:

Depending on which owners and trainers decide to run in the Kentucky Derby, several jockeys will have to make difficult decisions.  A lot of jockeys are the regular riders of two or more of the colts who have qualified for the Run for the Roses on May 4.  It will interesting to see which jockeys pick which of their regular mounts to ride....

Yesterday's two races, the Lexington Stakes and the Arkansas Derby were the last two races in which horses could win points to enter, and run in, the Derby.  This is the order of point standings after those two races:

   1.   Tacitus

   2.   Omaha Beach

   3.   Vekoma

   4.   Plus Que Parfait

   5.   Roadster

   6.   By My Standards

   7.   Maximum Security

   8.   Game Winner

   9.   Code of Honor

  10.  Haikal

  11.  Improbable

  12.  War of Will

  13.  Long Range Toddy

  14.  Tax

  15.  Cutting Humor

  16.  Win Win Win

  17.  Country House

  18.  Gray Magician

  19.  Spinoff

  20.  Master Fencer (JPN)

  21.  Bodexpress

  22.  Signalman

  23.  Anothertwistafate

  24.  Sueno

  25.  Bourbon Way

  26.  Instagrand

  27.  Mucho Gusto

  28.  Knicks Go

  29.  Owendale

  30.  Outshine

 Remember that only 20 entries are allowed in the Kentucky Derby - as we draw closer to the first Saturday in May, trainers and owners will be watching their horses carefully, and deciding whether or not they believe their colts will be able to put in a good race over 10 furlongs, which none of them have done before.  May the gods of racing look kindly upon this bunch of young thoroughbreds!

Saturday's Last Two Kentucky Derby Prep Races & the Fourth Foal

The Kentucky derby will be run on May 4th, but the last two prep races for the Derby will be run Saturday.  Most eyes will be on the Arkansas Derby, which will have the greatest number of points to award, but the Lexington Stakes is also interesting for horses "on the bubble" to earn a few more points.
   First, though, Somelikeithotbrown is off the Derby trail with sesamoid chips in one of his hinds.  He was holding the number 20 spot in the points race when his injury was discovered and announced.

The post position draws for both the Arkansas Derby and the Lexington Stakes were held this morning.    Following is the race information, followed by post position, the entry's name, the weight the horse will carry in pounds, and the morning line odds.
The Arkansas Derby   1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs)   Purse: $1 million
   1.   Improbable           122       8 to 5
   2.   Six Shooter           122      30 to 1
   3.   Omaha Beach       122       2 to 1
   4.   Tikhvin Flew        118       30 to 1
   5.   Laughing Fox       118       20 to 1
   6.   Gray Attempt        122       8 to 1
   7.   Galilean                 122      10 to 1
   8.   Country House      118       12 to 1
   9.   One Flew South    118       50 to 1
  10.  Jersey Agenda       118       30 to 1
  11.  Long Range Toddy   122     5 to 1

The Lexington Stakes    1 1/16 miles  (8.5 furlongs)   Purse: $220,000
   1.   Shang                     120       15 to 1
   2.   Hawaiian Noises    118       15 to 1
   3.   Sueno                     118        7 to 2
   4.   Anothertwistafate    120      8 to 5
   5.   Harvey Wallbanger  123      8 to 1
   6.   Chase the Ghost      118       20 to 1
   7.   Knicks Go               123       12 to 1
   8.   Owendale                118       20 to 1
   9.   Zenden                    118        8 to 1
  10.  Roiland                    118       12 to 1

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And I think I've twisted some tails on Chincoteague, about the ponies and pedigrees.  I really didn't mean to upset anyone on the Facebook pages....   Several people were/are very excited about "the first Misty family baby" born in the wild on Assateague.  They are referring to the fourth foal that arrived on 8 April - a very cute pinto sired by Don Leonard Stud II and out of the donated mare Winter Moon.
  Back in March of 2018, it was announced that seven Chincoteague ponies had been returned to the CVFC by an anonymous donor.  All of the press release statements included this: "All the donated ponies have the Chincoteague bloodline and three are from Misty's bloodline."  One of the ponies, a cremello stallion named Winter, did not handle the transition well and was taken back to Pennsylvania.  The others, all female, have been integrated into the herds on Assateague. People have been doing research and have found the partial pedigrees of five of the six females - and all were sired by Walnut Hill Nightwind, a direct Misty descendant.  The one mare whose pedigree has not been found is Winter Moon...
  It might be reasonable to assume that since all the other donated ponies have WH Nighwind as their sire, that he is Moon's sire also.  But it is not proven.   One lady that I hold dear, the author and Chincoteague pony owner, Lois Szymanski, stated that the CVFD says that all of those ponies are Misty descendants.  But there is no proof.  Matt DesJardins, who tracked down most of the pedigrees, says that WH Nightwind is probably the sire.
   I guess I been burned too many times making assumptions.  And, from doing human genealogy, I know that saying isn't proof.   Until I see proof, in print, that Winter Moon is a Misty descendant, I'll say she "might be," but I won't say that she is.

Today's photos of the foal born to Winter Moon and Don Leonard Stud II.

Photos copyrighted by DSC Photography  (see www.dscphotography.net  to purchase)

American Pharoah Rolls; Many Clouds Flies

American Pharoah opened some eyes today as he won the Arkansas Derby by eight lengths.  Far Right just edged past Mr. Z for second, while Madefromlucky finished in fourth place.  Victor Espinoza was in the irons of the son of Pioneerof the Nile, and they finished the 1 and1/8 miles slowing down on a fast track in 1:48:52.   Bridget's Big Luvy set the pace until the final turn, when American Pharoah  put himself in another gear and never looked back.  It was an impressive win for the former 2-year-old champion, If nothing happens to the colt, he's assured to be the betting favorite for the Kentucky Derby on 2 May.

American Pharoah winning the Arkansas Derby

   In the Lexington Stakes in Kentucky, Divining Rod won nicely; while Danworth nosed out Fame and Power for second place.
   The Grand National at Aintree, was, as usual, a wide open event.  Thirty-nine horses began the race that covers a course four and a half miles long, with 30 jumps on the course.  Nineteen horses finished the race; three lost their riders, eight horses fell, and nine were pulled up by their jockeys.  Balthazar King fell heavily, and was then run over by another horse; it's reported that he might have three fractured ribs, but, otherwise, all the jockeys and horses were unhurt. Many Clouds, an 8-year-old gelded son of Cloudings (Ire), won the race.  He was carrying one of the highest weights assigned - 11 stone 9 - or 163 pounds.  One British newspaper says that Many Clouds ran as a 33 to 1 shot, but another says he ran at 25 to 1...  I don't know which it was, but the horse is incredible.  Saint Re ran second at 25 to 1, Monbeg Dude finished third at 40 to 1, and Alvarado was fourth at 20 to 1.

Many Clouds crosses the Grand National at Aintree finish line

Happy Easter - And Looking Ahead to the Kentucky Derby

First,  Happy Easter!

   Second, it's also the 15th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre here in Colorado.  There are still a lot of shell-shocked ex-students and parents who are grappling with their memories of this day of blood.

    Third, it's also 4/20 (in the dating style of the US) and that is a counterculture day to celebrate the use of marijuana.  Cannabis use is now legal in the state of Colorado, in the privacy of one's own home, and as long as you, the consumer, has less than one ounce of weed, and you don't share it with anyone under the age of 21.  You can give pot to a friend, but you can't sell it...  And you can grow up to 10 individual cannabis plants in a secure area, that the public cannot access.  People are coming from all over to celebrate 4/20 in both Denver and Boulder - and I'm sure there will be quite a few private parties throughout the state as well.

   On to horses, thoroughbreds, in particular.  Yesterday evening, the Charles Town Classic was run, and the purse this year was $1.5 million.  Game On Dude was the betting favorite,but was pressed early in the race for speed.  He finished second, behind Imperative, and ahead of Moreno.  The Illinois Derby was run yesterday, as was the Lexington Stakes.  Both races used to be (several years ago) last-minute warm-ups for the Kentucky Derby; but most trainers now believe that with the Derby only two weeks away, these two races are no longer to be considered as preparatory races.  The Illinois Derby was won by Dynamic Impact, with betting favorite Midnight Hawk in second, and Irish You Well   finishing third.  In the Coolmore Lexington Stakes, Mr. Speaker defeated Divine Oath, who was a head in front of Supermonic.  Cairo Prince, once considered a top Derby contender, is at Rood & Riddle Hospital, being evaluated by Dr. Larry Bramlage.  He is lame in his left fetlock, but X-rays are clear; it's up to Dr. Larry to work his miracles and decide what's wrong with the colt.  Another promising colt, Bond Holder, was an early entrant on the Derby trail; he has succumbed to laminitis.

  Now that entry into the Kentucky Derby is determined on racing points, we have few horses in the race who do not belong there.  Currently, there are 25 colts with enough points to run the race; 20 points are needed, and the following colts have between 150 and 20 points.  No more than 20 starters are allowed to run in the race since 1975.  Here are the names of the colts:

California Chrome

Vicar's In Trouble

Dance With Fate

Wicked Strong

Samraat

Danza

Hoppertunity

Intense Holiday

Wildcat Red

We Miss Artie

Ride on Curlin

Chitu

Tapiture

Midnight Hawk

Ring Weekend

General a Rod

Medal Count

Candy Boy

Uncle Sigh

Vinceremos

Harry's Holiday

Commanding Curve

Pablo Del Monte

Bayern

Social Inclusion

(I'll be looking into their bloodlines later this week...)