©2018 Calvin L.
Carter. All rights reserved.
The
last race for two-year-olds on the American Road
to the Kentucky Derby takes us to Oklahoma this Sunday where EPIC DREAMER has
been tabbed as the 8-5 morning line favorite in the $400,000 Remington
Springboard Mile at Remington Park. Post time is 8:52 p.m. ET.
Epic
Dreamer comes into this race off a maiden win for trainer Kelly Breen and he’s
currently 1-1-0 in two starts. Here’s the video
and chart
call of his win:
EPIC DREAMER got
set up in the two path after the field had been off and running, set the
splits, well rated, remained under confident handling kicking away to his
largest lead during the final half of the stretch run, then continued as much
the best, best described as handily in the eighth.
Epic
Dreamer took the early lead and never trailed to break his maiden by 2½ lengths.
Much the best, Epic Dreamer’s time of 1:36.42 for the mile split is what I like
to see young colts run on the Kentucky Derby Trail.
Orb, the sire of Epic
Dreamer, was a multiple graded stakes winner and Classic Champion Thoroughbred
that compiled a 5-0-3 record in 12 starts with $2,612,516 in career earnings.
As
a two-year-old, Orb was 1-0-1 in four starts in maiden special weight company.
At
the age of three, Orb won the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and
the Besilu Stables Florida Derby (G1) en route to a first-place finish in the
2013 Kentucky Derby (G1). He also finished third in the Belmont Stakes (G1) and
Travers Stakes (G1).
Epic
Dreamer has a B Classic Champion Thoroughbred Profile®
and a string of three bullet work outs could have him ready to run another good
race.
A
long shot I like is DUNPH (10-1)
and he comes into this race for trainer Michael Maker with a 2-0-0 record in
three starts including a ninth-place finish over a sloppy track in the Kentucky
Jockey Club Stakes (G2). Here’s the video
and chart
call of that race:
DUNPH chased the
pace early, fanned into the five path in the far turn and faded in the stretch.
Dunph
had been previously undefeated in two starts by a combined win margin of 16¼
lengths, so may not have liked the sloppy track and I’m willing to give him
another chance. Time will tell if he wants to go a route of ground.
Temple City, the sire of Dunph, was a graded
stakes winner that compiled a 4-2-4 record in 15 starts.
Unraced
as a two-year-old, Temple City won his only start as a three-year-old and
followed that with a third-place finish in the Del Mar Handicap at the age of
four.
Temple
City earned graded stakes honors as a five-year-old with a win in the Cougar II
Handicap (G3) and second-place finishes in both the American Handicap (G2) and
the Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes (G1).
Dunph
was a yearling (Hip 114)
we profiled at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Sale but he was not in my
blog write up of A and A+ yearlings because he has a B Classic Champion
Thoroughbred Profile®.
Dunph
has the breeding to win this race and if he returns to his previous form I look
for him to run a good race.
SIX SHOOTER (8-1) has never been out of the
money and he comes into this race with a 2-0-3 record in five starts. Here’s
the video
and chart
call of his last race:
SIX SHOOTER stalked
the pace early, shifted into the four path in the turn, made a bid down the
lane, drove past the leaders and cleared the field in the final stages.
Six
Shooter looked good winning the one-mile allowance race in the final time of
1:36.89. That’s the kind of time I like to see young colts run on the Kentucky
Derby Trail.
Trappe Shot, the sire of Six Shooter, raced
mostly in sprints from the age of two to four, compiling a 6-2-0 record in 12
starts with $703,884 in career earnings. His best stakes victories were in the
six furlongs Waldoboro Stakes, True North Handicap (G2) and he did stretch out
to win the 8½ furlong Long Branch Stakes. In other route races, Trappe Shot
finished second in the nine-furlong Izod Haskell Invitational (G1) and ninth in
the Travers Stakes (G1).
To
date, Trappe Shot’s best runners on the Kentucky Derby Trail have been Wild Shot
and My
Man Sam. As a two-year-old, Wild Shot finished second in the 2016
Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) and third in the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity
Stales (G1). As a three-year-old, My Man Sam finished second in the nine
furlongs 2016 Toyota Blue Grass (G1) stakes.
Six
Shooter has a B Classic Champion Thoroughbred Profile® and he’s the second-best
bred colt in this herd. A recent bullet work out at Oaklawn Park could have him
ready to run a good race.
Several
others look like they could be factors in this race. Honorable mention goes to Bankit (3-1), Long
Range Toddy (12-1) and Tone Broke (15-1).
Both Long Range Toddy and Tone Broke have a B Classic Champion Thoroughbred
Profile®. Bankit has a low F profile but his Behavior
Index could potentially make him competitive.
On
the Japan road to Derby glory, two-year-olds will go to post on December 19 in
the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun race at Kawasaki Racecourse.
*****
A
total of 35 prep races comprise the USA Road to the Kentucky Derby. In
addition, there are seven races on the European road and four races on the
Japan road to Derby glory.
2018/2019 KENTUCKY DERBY
LEADERBOARD
Ranking, total points, Trainer, Non-Restricted
Stakes Earnings
1. Game Winner, 30, Bob Baffert, $1,460,000
2. Knicks Go, 18,
Ben Colebrook, $656,085
3. Signalman, 18, Ken McPeek, $392,840
4. Complexity, 10,
Chad Brown, $275,000
5. Improbable, 10,
Bob Baffert, $239,520
6. Maximus Mischief,
10, “Butch” Reid, Jr., $137,500
7. Cairo Cat, 10, Ken McPeek, $86,490
8. Gunmetal Gray, 4, Jerry Hollendorfer, $120,000
9. Mucho Gusto, 4, Bob Baffert, $120,000
10. Code of Honor, 4, Shug McGaughey, $100,000
11. Network Effect, 4, Chad Brown, $90,000
12. Tight Ten, 4, Steve Asmussen, $67,900
13. Plus Que Parfait, 4, Brendan Walsh, $36,400
14. Call Paul, 2, Jason Servis, $194,000
15. Mr. Money, 2, Bret Calhoun, $100,000
16. Rowayton, 2, Jerry Hollendorfer, $96,000
17.+Standard Deviation, 2, Chad Brown,
$50,000
18. Extra Hope, 2, Richard Mandella, $42,000
19. Tax, 2, Danny Gargan, $30,000
20. Limonite, 2, Steve Asmussen, $18,200
+ = Horses picked as yearlings on our
2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sales list.
EUROPEAN ROAD LEADERBOARD
Ranking, total points, Trainer,
Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings
1.
Royal Marine (IRE), 10, Saeed bin Suroor, $264,968
2. Magna Grecia
(IRE), 10, Aidan O’Brien, $185,000
3. Mohawk (IRE),
10, Aidan O’Brien, $128,702
4.
Japan (GB), 10, Aidan O’Brien, $75,316
5.
Phoenix of Spain (IRE), 4, Charlie Hill, $157,944
6.
Broome (IRE), 4, Aidan O’Brien, $140,871
7.
Sydney Opera House (GB), 4, Aidan O’Brien, $40,956
8.
Mount Everest (IRE), 4, Aidan O’Brien, $24,254
9.
Anodor (FR), 2, Freddie Head, $99,215
10.
Western Australian (IRE), 2, Aidan O’Brien, $43,084
11.
Cape of Good Hope (IRE), 2, Aidan O’Brien, $41,515
12.
Power of Now (IRE), 2, Michael O’Callaghan, $11,489
13.
Boitron (FR), 1, Richard Hannon, $44,917
14.
Victory Command, (IRE), 1, Mark Johnston, $35,108
15.
Circus Maximus (IRE), 1, Aidan O’Brien, $24,368
16.
Sovereign (IRE), 1, Aiden O’Brien, $5,106
JAPAN ROAD LEADERBOARD
Ranking, total points, Trainer,
Earnings
1.
f-Make Happy, 10, Koichi Shinkai, $153,066
2.
Kingen (JPN), 4, Kunihide Matsuda, $97,867
3.
Johaan (JPN), 2, Yasuyuki Takahashi, $72,900
4.
Romantico (JPN), 1, Kazuo Fujisawa, $91,245
