©2018 Calvin L.
Carter. All rights reserved.
The
European road to Kentucky Derby (G1) glory continues Friday at Dundalk Racecourse in Dundalk County Louth, Ireland. A herd of eight
runners will go to post with MENDELSSOHN tagged as
5-2 Twinspires.com morning line favorite in the all-weather Patton Stakes.
Mendelssohn
comes into this race with a 2-1-0 record in five starts including a win in the
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Stakes (G1) last out. Here’s the video and chart
call of that race:
MENDELSSOHN sent
inside, saved ground stalking the pace, came out a bit in the upper stretch,
bid outside the pacesetter in mid-stretch, gained the advantage nearing the sixteenth
pole, inched clear and held gamely under urging.
Mendelssohn
raced along the rail but moved clear in the stretch to get up for his first stakes
win in a final time of 1:35.97.
Scat
Daddy, the sire
of Mendelssohn, was a multiple graded stakes winner who compiled a 5-1-1 record
in nine starts with $1,334,300 in career earnings.
As
a two-year-old, Scat Daddy was 3-0-1 in five starts with wins in the Sanford
Stakes (G2) and Champagne Stakes (G1), and he finished second in the Hopeful
Stakes (G1).
In
his season debut as a 3-year-old, Scat Daddy finished third in the one-mile
Holy Bull Stakes (G3) and followed up with wins in the 9 furlong Fountain of
Youth Stakes (G2) and Florida Derby (G1) in route to a eighteenth-place finish
in the Derby.
His
best runners on the Derby Trail include Daddy Long Legs, Daddy Nose Best, El
Kabeir, Frac
Daddy, Azar and Dice
Flavor who was
my long shot pick to win the 2013 El Camino Real
Derby (G3).
Mendelssohn
has a low E Classic
Champion Thoroughbred Profile® but his Behavior Index makes him competitive
and I look for him to run a good rac.
A
long shot I like is BLACKGOLD FAIRY (12-1)
who comes into this race off an impressive maiden win at Dundalk on February
23. Here’s the video and
chart
call of that race:
BLACKGOLD FAIRY
soon led, pushed out to assert one furlong out, kept on strongly final furlong,
easily
In
just her second start, Blackgold Fairy looked breaking her maiden to win by an
impressive 6½ lengths.
More Than Ready, the sire of Blackgold Fairy, was a multiple
graded-stakes winner that compiled a 7-4-1 record in 17 starts with $1,026,229
in earnings. He won the WHAS-11 Stakes, Flash Stakes, Tremont Stakes (G3),
Sanford Stakes (G2), Hutcheson Stakes (G2) and finished second in the Louisiana
Derby (G2) and Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) in route to a fourth-place finish
in the 2000 Kentucky Derby (G1).
At
stud, More Than Ready made
quite a mark in Australia with his sons Phelan
Ready and Sebring who were champion 2-year-colts with
over $2 million in career earnings. Some of his best runners in America have
been the turf-sprinter Regally Ready
with over $1 million in career earnings and Pluck, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
Turf Stakes (G2) and Summer Stakes (G3) with $727,290 in career earnings, and
Verrazano.
Blackgold
Fairy has an A+ Classic Champion Thoroughbred Profile® and she has room to
improve in her second start of the season.
THREEANDFOURPENCE (4-1) comes into this race with a
1-1-0 record in three starts including a fourth-place finish in the Darley Dewhurst
Stakes (G1). Here’s the video
and chart
call of that race:
THREEANDFOURPENCE dwelt
in touch, pushed along three furlongs out, ridden over one furlong out, stayed
on to go third inside final furlong until near finish.
Threeandfourpence
came from the back of the herd to narrowly miss third place by a head to Seahenge who is also entered
in the Patton Stakes.
War Front,
the sire of Threeandfourpence, was a graded-stakes winner of the 8½-furlong Princelet
Stakes which he won by 8-lengths in a
final time of 1:41.79. However, most of War Front’s other races were in sprints
where he had a penchant for finishing second. But, he did win the 6-furlong
Alfred G. Vanderbilt Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G2) by 2½-lengths.
At stud, War Front sired Soldat, winner of the 2010 With Anticipation Stakes (G2) and
second-place finisher in the 8-furlong Breeders'
Cup Juvenile Turf Stakes (G2), and 8½-furlong Pilgrim Stakes (G3). Soldat went
on as a three-year-old to win the 9-furlong Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2).
He sired The Factor,
a speedy colt who as a two-year-old won the 7-furlong San Vicente Stakes (G2)
and went on as a three-year-old to win the 8½-furlong Rebel Stakes (G2).
War Front’s lifetime top runners
include: Lines
of Battle, Departing,
Declaration
of War, Warning
Flag,
Lancaster
Bomber,
Summer
Front,
War
Dancer,
Roly
Poly,
Avenge, Jack Milton, Air Force
Blue,
Data
Link
and Hit
it a Bomb.
Threeandfourpence also has an
A+ Classic Champion Thoroughbred Profile® and, despite the layoff, I look for
him to run a good race.
Honorable
mention goes to Ship of Dreams.
*****
This
is the sixth consecutive year for Churchill Downs to use a point system to
determine eligibility to get into the Kentucky Derby starting gate. A total of
36 races comprise the Road to the Kentucky Derby and a significant change to
the schedule is the addition of the Springboard Mile at Remington Park on
December 17.
In
addition to the Japan road to the Derby which features
the Cattleya Sho Stakes (November 25), Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushan Stakes (December
13) and Hayacinth Stakes (February 2018), Churchill Downs has added a European road to Derby glory consisting
of seven races: Juddmonte Beresford (September 24), Juddmonte Royal Lodge
(September 30), Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère (October 1), Racing Post Trophy
(October 28, Road to the Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes (March 1), Patton
(March 2) and the Burradon (March 30).
EUROPEAN ROAD LEADERBOARD
1.
Saxon Warrior (JPN), 20, Aidan O’Brien, $245,017
2. *GRONKOWSKI, 20,
Jeremy Noseda, $43,235
3. Roaring Lion
(USA), 14, John Gosden, $136,807
4.
f-Happily (IRE), 10, Aidan O’Brien, $543,648
5.
Court House (IRE), 8, John Gosden, $12,946
6.
Olmedo (FR), 4, Jean-Claude Rouget, $113,505
7.
Nelson (IRE), 4, Aidan O’Brien, $99,826
8.
Delano Roosevelt (IRE), 4, Aidan O’Brien, $38,074
9.
Fortune’s Pearl (IRE), 4, Andrew Balding, $8,273
10.
Masar (IRE), 2, Aidan O’Brien, $101,264
11.
The Pentagon (IRE), 2, Aidan O’Brien, $71.981
12.
Mildenberger (ENG), 2, Mark Johnston, $64,634
13.
Warm the Voice (IRE), 2, Brendan Duke, $12,904
14.
Verbal Dexterity (IRE), 1, Jim Bolger, $280,269
15.
Kew Gardens (IRE), 1, Aidan O’Brien, $28,605
16.
Woodmax (GER), 1, Nicolas Clement, $23,610
17.
Petrus (IRE), 1, Brian Meehan, $7,182
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