©2016 Calvin L.
Carter. All rights reserved.
The
Road to the Kentucky Derby express will log a lot of
miles this Saturday with qualifying races on the east and west coast. At Santa
Anita Park, Mor Spirit has been tagged as the 2-1
morning line favorite in what could be a very contentious 79th
running of the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes (G2).
Many
of the horses in this race appear to be evenly matched and it’s shaping up to
be one of the most interesting qualifying race, so far, on the trail. Post time
is 6:00 p.m. ET.
Baffert has had
good fortune in the San Felipe, previously winning it a record five times with Dortmund (2015), Pioneerof the Nile (2009), Preachinatthebar (2004), Point Given (2001) and Prime Timber (1999).
Whether Mor
Spirit can bring Baffert more good fortune remains to be seen. He comes into
this race with a 3-2-0 record in five starts, including a second-place finish
to Airoforce in the
Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) and wins in the Los Alamitos Futurity Stakes
(G1) and Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3). Here’s the video and chart call of his last race:
MOR SPIRIT stalked
outside a rival then off the rail on the second turn, came three deep into the
stretch, bid three wide past mid-stretch under some left-handed urging, gained
the advantage in deep stretch and inched away late.
His
finish time of 1:43.21 was okay and the times of his other races have been
slower that what I like to see a young colt run on the Derby trail.
Mor
Spirit has a C Classic Champion Thoroughbred
Profile®,
which makes him competitive on the trail. But, he’s yet to show the same
“spirit” on the racetrack as that of his sire, Eskendereya, who has an A profile rating.
The return of
Hall of Fame Jockey Gary Stevens to the mount is a positive. However, there are
several horses in this race that have good speed and Mor Spirit will need to
pick up the pace in order to secure the win.
Smokey Image (4-1) is
undefeated in six starts and he is one of the more intriguing horses in this
race. In January, with Carla Gaines as his new trainer, Smokey Image romped to
an 8½ length win in the California Cup Derby. Here’s the video
and chart
call of that race:
SMOKEY IMAGE pulled between
horses then along the inside to the early lead, set the pace along the rail,
kicked clear a bit off the fence on the second turn, was mildly ridden along
for several strides to widen in mid-stretch and drew off then remained clear without
further encouragement.
Smokey
Image won with ease and his split time of 1:36.49 is what I like to see a young
colt run on the Derby trail.
Danzing Candy (4-1) comes
into this race with a 2-0-0 record in three starts for trainer Clifford Sise. Here’s
the video
and chart
call of his last race which he won by 5¾ lengths:
DANZING CANDY had speed between
horses then outside a rival, inched away on the backstretch, set the pace a bit
off the rail and drew off in the stretch under a moderate hand ride and a long
hold late.
Like
Smokey Image, Danzing Candy is a fast colt and he won this race with ease. His
time for the mile was 1:36.73 and if he can carry that speed to 8 ½ furlongs,
he’ll be a tough competitor in the San Felipe (G2).
*****
The
winner of San Felipe Stakes (G2) will receive 50 points, the second-place
finisher will receive 20 points, the third-place finisher will receive 10
points and the fourth-place finisher will receive 5 points.
Halfway
through the Championship series, beginning with the UAE Derby (G2) and
Louisiana Derby (G2) on March 26, the points will increase to 100 points for
the winner, 40 points for second place, 20 points for third and 10 points for
fourth place.
Here’s
a look at the current top twenty Derby qualifiers:
2016 KENTUCKY DERBY LEADERBOARD
Rank, Horse, Points, Trainer,
Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings
1. Mohaymen, 70,
Kiaran McLaughlin, $760,350
2. Gun Runner, 51,
Steve Asmussen, $249,200
3. Shagaf, 50,
Chad Brown, $240,000
4. Nyquist, 30,
Doug O’Neill, $1,700,000
5. Mor Spirit,
24, Bob Baffert, $336,800
6. Sunny Ridge,
23, Jason Servis, $505,600
7. Mo Tom, 22,
Tom Amoss $288,326
8. Laoban, 22,
Eric Guillot, $92,000
9. Forevamo, 20,
All Stall, Jr., $210,000
10. Zulu, 20,
Todd Pletcher, $79,200
11. Exaggerator,
16, Keith Desormeaux, $980,000
12. Flexibility,
15, Chad Brown, $232,500
13. Brody’s
Cause, 14, Dale Romans, $500,000
14.
Greenpointcrusader, 14, Dominick Schettino, $369,300
15. Swipe, 12,
Keith Desormeaux, $597,130
16. Fellowship,
12, Stanley Gold, $115,590
17. Adventist,
12, Leah Gyarmati, $65,000
18. Collected,
11, Bob Baffert, $105,000
19. Airoforce,
10, Mark Casse, $444,080
20.
Suddenbreakingnews, 10, Donnie Von Hemel, $410,000
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