Last Chance to Dance

For many of these horses, this is their last chance to get into the Derby. This week I'm previewing the three Derby preps, along with the Oaklawn Handicap and the Carter Handicap. I'll start with the Derby preps and then move onto the Older horses afterwards.

Going East to West,

Aqueduct,

9th (5:12)
Wood Memorial S. (G1)
1 1/8 Miles | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $750,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 Most Happy Fella Napravnik A R Badgett William Jr 123 L 15-1
2 2 Awesome Act Leparoux J R Noseda Jeremy 123 L 9-2
3 3 Eskendereya Velazquez J R Pletcher Todd A 123 L 4-5
4 4 Schoolyard Dreams Dominguez R A Ryan Derek S 123 L 5-1
5 5 Jackson Bend Borel C H Zito Nicholas P 123 L 4-1
6 6 Carnivore Shepherd J Delozier, III J W 123 L 20-1

This race avoided some contravery when maiden filly Nicky Boy (who has finished last in both of her starts, that's right last), was denied entry in this race (I had a post written up on her, but deleted it after she was denied). The three favorites all need third or better to get into the Derby. Eskendereya is one of the Derby favorites for the Derby, Jackson Bend is a nice horse, but not on Esky's level IMO. Awesome Act though, has a chance. Trained by Jeremy Noseda who upset Afleet Alex in the 04 BC Juvi with Wilko, Awesome Act won the Gotham last time out. I think Schoolyard Dreams will bounce in this race off of his 2nd in the TB Derby. Most Happy Fella was the horse who allowed Nicky Boy to be denied, and actually he might have a good chance here to finish in the top three, not sure if he'll win though.

At Hawthorne,

7th (4:37)
Illinois Derby (G3)
1 1/8 Miles | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $500,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 American Lion Flores D R Harty Eoin 122 Blk-Off L 7-2
2 2 Stephen's Got Hope Garcia J A O'Neill Doug 122 L 8-1
3 3 Boulder Creek Emigh C A Dollase Craig 122 L 10-1
4 4 Yawanna Twist Prado E S Dutrow, Jr. R E 122 L 4-1
5 5 Turf Melody Rose J Motion H Graham 122 L 6-1
6 6 Dave in Dixie Valdivia J Jr Sadler John W 122 L 9-2
7 7 Backtalk Mena M Amoss Thomas 122 L 3-1
8 8 Game Ball Martinez W Casse Mark 122 L 12-1

American Lion makes his dirt debut, however I'm still in the Dave in Dixie corner (who is also making his dirt debut). The big question about Backtalk is, did his fast workout leave cost him. Keep an eye on Game Ball and Stephen's Got Hope.

last, but not least at Santa Anita

6th (2:36)
Santa Anita Derby (G1)
1 1/8 Miles (All Weather Track) | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $750,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 Posse Power Mawing L A Lucarelli Frank 122 L 50-1
2 2 Thomas Baines Rosario J O'Neill Doug 122 L 50-1
3 3 Who's Up Espinoza V Puhich Michael 122 L 20-1
4 4 Sidney's Candy Talamo J Sadler John W 122 L 3-1
5 5 Setsuko Bejarano R Mandella Richard 122 L 20-1
6 6 Caracortado Atkinson P Machowsky Michael 122 L 5-1
7 7 Lookin At Lucky Gomez G K Baffert Bob 122 L 4-5
8 8 Cardiff Giant Santiago Reyes C Puhich Michael 122 L 30-1
9 9 Skipshot Alvarado F T Hollendorfer Jerry 122 L 15-1
10 10 Alphie's Bet Solis A Barba Alexis 122 L 8-1

Lucky returns to Santa Anita for his final tune up for the Derby. Now that he has the dirt start under his belt, he returns to the turf favoring Pro Ride. Dispite being the graded stakes winner out of him and Make Music for Me, I still think Alphie's Best is the second fiddle for his trainer Alexis Barba (is this the year we finally see a winning female Derby trainer, she and Shannon Ritter have good chances to make it happen). Sidney's Candy is a nice horse, but I think he's a horse who needs the front end to win. Setsuko comes out of the Sham, and could be sitting on a big race. Keep an eye on longshot Thomas Baines as well, just a hunch.

That's it for the Derby preps, now to the OakCap and Carter.

At Aqueduct, right after the Wood.

10th (5:45)
Carter H. (G1)
7 Furlongs | Open | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $250,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 2 Digger Luzzi M J Brown Bruce R 114 L 8-1
1A 5 Driven by Success Cohen D Pletcher Todd A 114 L 8-1
2 1 Warrior's Reward Leparoux J R Wilkes Ian R 116 L 9-2
3 3 Elusive Warning Migliore R McLaughlin Kiaran P 114 L 12-1
4 4 Musket Man Dominguez R A Ryan Derek S 118 L 3-1
5 6 Munnings Velazquez J R Pletcher Todd A 119 L 4-5

At last, Digger makes his G1 debut! Musket Man returns to graded stakes action almost a year after his Preakness 3rd place finish. Munnings is the horse the beat, and the key with him is the weather, I personally think if given the chance he can win on a wet track, however he perfers a dry one. This is the perfect distance for him. Warrior's Reward has beaten Munnings, not that thrilled about the jockey choice, but Medaglia d' Oro is due for a male G1 winner in the US (he has 1 G1 winner in Europe and of course Rachel Alexandra and Gabby's Golden Gal for female G1 winners in the US).

And at Oaklawn,

10th (5:31)
Oaklawn H. (G2)
1 1/8 Miles | Open | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $500,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 Duke of Mischief Coa E M Fawkes David 115 L 10-1
2 2 Delightful Kiss Gryder A T Anderson Pete D 115 L 8-1
3 3 Win Willy Berry M C Robertson McLean 117 L 8-5
4 4 Jonesboro Court J K Morse Randy L 114 L 10-1
5 5 Follow the Leader Quinonez L S Whiting Lynn S 114 L 4-1
6 6 Prom Shoes Thompson T J Fires William H 112 L 15-1
7 7 Dakota Phone Garcia M Hollendorfer Jerry 116 L 2-1

This could be the final Oaklawn starts for the old timers Jonesboro and Prom Shoes. I would like nothing to see those two go out with a bang finishing 1-2 (perferbly with Shoes on top and Jones second). Win Willy is certinally the horse to beat, but like Shoes and Delightful Kiss, Willy needs a pace to run at. Duke of Mischief was one of those okay 3yo's last, Follow the Leader is owned by Charles Cella (owner of Oaklawn) and a son of Smarty Jones (who of course outside of Curlin, Alex and Rachel is the best horse to come out of Oaklawn). Dakota Phone will try to emulate his stablemate newly crowned Fantasy Stakes (and Oaks favorite) winner Blind Luck.

So that's it for this weekend, I had planned to do a weekend recap, but because the chat will be tomorrow night there won't be. Remember the Chat begins at 8pm EDT tomorrow and there will not be a chat on Monday because of this. Enjoy your Saturday racing!