Horse racing notes: Lexington Stakes is last shot at Derby qualifying points
SANTA ANITA LEADERS
(Through Thursday)
JOCKEYS / WINS
Flavien Prat / 72
Juan Hernandez / 60
John Velazquez / 32
Tyler Baze / 29
Two tied / 27
TRAINERS / WINS
Philip D’Amato / 33
Doug O’Neill / 32
Bob Baffert / 27
John Sadler / 25
Richard Baltas / 20
DOWN THE STRETCH
• Saturday’s $400,000 Grade III Lexington Stakes at Keeneland offers the connections of 3-year-olds one final chance to earn Kentucky Derby qualifying points three weeks before the Run for the Roses. The 34 points up for grabs in the Lexington could prove vital. The top four finishers in the 1 1/16-mile race earn points on a 20-8-4-2 basis. Heading into the race, only 5-2 morning-line favorite Tawny Port (40 points) has enough points to make the Derby. But Tawny Port is unproven on dirt because his three best efforts all came over Turfway Park’s synthetic Tapeta surface.
• Santa Anita Derby winner Taiba went from unranked to No. 5 in this week’s National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Top 3-Year-Old Rankings. Louisiana Derby winner Epicenter held on to the No. 1 spot, followed by Blue Grass Stakes winner Zandon, who jumped from 11th to second in the poll. Wood Memorial winner Mo Donegal was third, ahead of Florida Derby winner White Abarrio. In the overall thoroughbred rankings, Country Grammer held the top spot, followed by Life Is Good, Letruska, Hot Rod Charlie and Speaker’s Corner.
• Trainer Chad Brown told the Bloodhorse this week he’s still on the fence whether to run Wood Memorial runner-up Early Voting in the Kentucky Derby or wait for the Preakness two weeks later. The Gun Runner colt is currently 14th on the Derby leaderboard. Early Voting set the pace in the Wood but was caught in the final stages by Mo Donegal and lost by a neck. “I want to see how he does this week and how the field comes into shape with any defections and get more of a feel for the horse,” Brown told the publication. “How the pace comes together will play a big part.”
— Art Wilson