Kentucky Derby Watch List – Volume 2
February 13th, 2011By Jude T. Feld
Uncle Mo is still on everyone’s mind.BUCK JACKSON PHOTO
We are now in the thick of Derby season. While a couple of major players’ hopes were dashed in the Robert B. Lewis (G2) and El Camino Real Derby (G3), Brethren and Dialed In have stamped themselves as legit seekers of the roses. Here is my updated list as we head into Risen Star (G2) week with Rogue Romance, Santiva and Machen scheduled to compete at Fair Grounds and Jaycito on track to make his 2011 debut in the San Vicente (G2) at Santa Anita. Monday’s Southwest (G3) at Oaklawn could also be factor in our next update.
UNCLE MO (Indian Charlie 2.20 Pletcher)
Annointed by some as, “the next coming of Seattle Slew,†trainer Todd Pletcher is pointing him for the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) on March 12. Already a star, the son of Indian Charlie, enthusiastically owned by Mike Repole, has the feel of a very special horse. He returned to training with an easy 3/8 work that many pundits deemed “too slow.†Uncle Mo came back with a respectable :49 and change half-mile to answer the geniuses and :47 3/5 getting more serious on Sunday. His camp is happy with his progress, so we should be too.
TO HONOR AND SERVE (Bernardini 2.38 Mott)
When you win the Nashua (G2) and the Remsen (G2) by open lengths, you must have more ability than most of your peers. Hall of Fame trainer Billy Mott has indicated that his talented colt will make his three-year-old debut in the Fountain of Youth (G2) on February 26 at Gulfstream Park. The son of Bernardini, owned by Live Oak Plantation, worked a bullet five-eighths over the deep track at Payson Park in Florida on February 6, indicating he is nearing his peak fitness.
BRETHREN (Distorted Humor 3.00 Pletcher)
Trainer Todd Pletcher got everything he could have asked from Brethren in his Sam F. Davis (G3) performance – a perfect trip, a visually impressive victory and a move forward toward the Triple Crown. The WinStar Farm colt is undefeated as he heads to his next start and will be a formidable foe wherever he surfaces. A half-brother to last year’s Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver, Brethren has lots to live up to, but he looks like he loves his job in the family business. Check out the ‘Davis:
JAYCITO (Victory Gallop 3.00 Baffert)
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has called an audible with the son of Victory Gallop. Originally being pointed for the Robert B. Lewis (G2), Baffert will now start his new charge in the San Vicente (G2), a seven-furlong affair to be run Sunday, February 20. Impressive winner of the Norfolk (G2) during the Oak Tree at Hollywood Park meeting, the Zayat Stable star looked like the major competition for Uncle Mo in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at Churchill Downs. That race turned out to be a debacle for the son of Victory Gallop, who raced all over the track in a very uncharacteristic performance. Hopefully Baffert has straightened Jaycito out since then.
ROGUE ROMANCE (Smarty Jones 3.00 McPeek)
With enough graded earnings to get in the Kentucky Derby (G1), trainer Kenny McPeek has the luxury of entering Rogue Romance anywhere he wants to start on the road to the Triple Crown. Evidently he has chosen the Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds on February 19. Catesby Clay’s colt had a troubled trip in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), a race that points him out as a top contender on the first Saturday in May.
SANTIVA (Giant’s Causeway 1.67 Kenneally)
Originally scheduled for the Fountain of Youth (G2), Tom Walters’ colt is now penciled-in for the Risen Star (G2). Trainer Eddie Kenneally won the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at Churchill Downs with the son of Giant’s Causeway after he finished second in the Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland for trainer Todd Pletcher. Obviously talented and bred to run all day, Santiva worked 1:00 2/5 on February 12 at Palm Meadows getting ready for his Louisiana invasion.
TOBY’S CORNER (Bellamy Road 1.86 Motion) Dianne Cotter’s homebred looked impressive winning the Whirlaway at Aqueduct. In the care of top trainer H. Graham Motion, the son of Bellamy Road should run all day and into the night. He’s won three of four starts and has a condition edge over many of the more fancied contenders.
DIALED IN (Mineshaft 3.62 Zito)
His Holy Bull (G3) was scintillating to watch and very reminiscent of Silky Sullivan, but it was a one-turn mile that favors closers and his dosage index dangles closer to being a sprinter than a router. That being said, any horse Nick Zito is getting ready for the Triple Crown, that wins a major prep, is an automatic contender in my book. He’ll get the acid test in the Fountain of Youth (G2), his next scheduled start. Here is his Holy Bull (G3):
ON THE RADAR:
WILKINSON (Lemon Drop Kid 1.18 Howard), SOLDAT (War Front 2.47 McLaughlin), MACHEN (Distorted Humor 2.56 Howard), CASPER’S TOUCH (Touch Gold 1.53 Mc Peek), ASTROLOGY (A.P. Indy 3.42 Asmussen), INDIAN WINTER (Indian Charlie 3.00 Hollendorfer) and CAL NATION (Distorted Humor 3.00 Pletcher)
