©2019 Calvin L.
Carter. All rights reserved.
The
Road
to the Kentucky Derby takes us this Friday to Oaklawn Park in Hot
Springs, Arkansas where GRAY ATTEMPT will go to the starting gate as the 5-2
morning-line favorite in the 12th running of the $150,000 Smarty
Jones Stakes. Post time is 4:52 p.m. ET.
Gray
Attempt comes into this race for trainer William Fires with a 2-0-0 record in
three starts including a win in the Sugar Bowl Stakes. Here’s the video
and chart
call of that race:
GRAY ATTEMPT sprinted
clear at once, saved ground while setting the pace, responded when set down for
the drive and held sway to the wire.
Gray
Attempt led from gate to wire and showed good speed in winning his first stakes
race.
Graydar, the sire of Gray Attempt, was a
multiple graded-stakes winner that compiled a 5-0-1 record in six starts with
$841,560 in career earnings.
Graydar did not race until he was
three years old and he was 2-0-1 in three starts.
At the age of four, Graydar was
undefeated in three starts with wins in the Donn Handicap (G1), New Orleans
Handicap (G2) and Kelso Handicap (G2).
Gray
Attempt has an E Classic Champion Thoroughbred
Profile® ranking but his Behavior
Index could, potentially, move him up to be competitive in the
stretch out to a mile.
SUPER STEED (9-2) comes into this race for
trainer Larry Jones with a 1-1-0 record in three starts including a
fourth-place finish to Gray Attempt in the Sugar Bowl Stakes. Super Steed is
much better than his run in the Sugar Bowl and in the race before that he broke
his maiden in impressive fashion. Here’s the video
and chart
call of his maiden win:
SUPER STEED was
bumped around and bothered after the start, raced back early on, fanned into
the seven path into the turn, rallied into the lane, took over command and drew
off late under a steady drive.
Super
Steed raced toward the back of the herd until the far turn when he made a wide
sweeping move on the outside and pulled away to win by an impressive seven
lengths.
Super Saver,
the sire of Super Steed, was a multiple graded stakes winner and Classic
Champion Thoroughbred that compiled a 3-2-1 record in 10 starts with $1,889,766
in career earnings. In addition, he was my pick
to win the 2010 Kentucky Derby.
As a two year old, Super Saver
was 2-1-0 in four starts and finished his racing season with a win in the
Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) making him, along with Street Sense
and Nyquist,
among a select
group of two year olds to win a major
end-of-year prep race that went on to victory in the Derby.
As a three year old, Super Saver
compiled a 1-1-1 record in six starts with a third-place finish in the Tampa
Bay Derby (G3) and a gutsy second-place finish to Line of David in the Arkansas
Derby (G1) in route to victory in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
As a stallion, Super Saver’s
top-five, leading runners include Runhappy,
Inside
Straight, Competitive
Edge, Embellish
the Lace and Hedge Fund.
Super Steed has a B Classic
Champion Thoroughbred Profile® and I look for him to take another step forward
in this first start of the three-year-old season.
A
long shot I like is FORLOVEOFCOUNTRY (12-1) who comes into this race for
trainer James DiVito with a 2-0-1 record in five starts including a nice win
last out at Churchill Downs. Here’s the video
and chart
call:
FORLOVEOFCOUNTRY
tracked the pace early, was on the inside into the lane, took over and inched
clear down the lane and held sway in the final stages.
I
like the way Forloveofcountry edged through along the rail and got up to win
his last race of the two-year-old season in a decent time of 1:37.30.
Sky Mesa, the sire of Forloveofcountry,
was a multiple graded-stakes winner that compiled a 3-1-1 record in six starts
with $633,076 in career earnings.
As
a two-year-old, Sky Mesa was undefeated in three starts with stakes wins in the
Hopeful Stakes (G1) and Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (G2).
At
the age of three, Sky Mesa compiled an 0-1-1 record in three stars with a
second-place finish in the Haskell Invitational Handicap (G2) and third-place
in the Dwyer Stakes (G2).
As
a stallion Sky Mesa’s top-five, leading runners worldwide include General
Quarters, Dynamic Sky, Thiskyhasnolimit,
Ami’s
Mesa and Highland Sky.
Forloveofcountry
has a D Classic Champion Thoroughbred Profile® but his Behavior Index makes
him, potentially, competitive in this race.
He’s
been training well at Oaklawn Park and he could be ready to take another step
forward in his first start of the three-year-old season.
Trained
by Paul Holtus, SIX SHOOTER
(6-1) comes into this race with a 3-0-3 record in seven starts including a win
in the Big Drama Stakes. Here’s the video
and chart
call:
SIX SHOOTER
restrained early while racing in the second flight and saving ground, eased out
and moved a bit closer between horses and in some traffic late backstretch,
continued to stalk the leaders into the stretch, dropped back to the inside
under clever handling when straightened for home, slipped through along the
rail to challenge a sixteenth out, proved best under brisk handling late.
In
the first start of his three-year-old season, Six Shooter looked good slipping
through on the rail to get up and win his first stakes race.
Trappe Shot, the sire of Flip the Coin Jan,
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 horse in this herd of runners.
He’s
been training well at Oaklawn Park and a recent bullet work out could have him
ready to take another step forward in his second start of the season.
Honorable
mention goes to Long Range Toddy
(4-1) and Bankit (7-2) who ran
one, two last out in the Remington Springboard Mile Stakes.
*****
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.
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. Gunmetal Gray, 14, Jerry Hollendorfer, $180,000
5. Long Range Toddy, 10, Steve Asmussen, $300,000
6. Mind Control, 10, George Sacco, $295,000
7. Complexity, 10,
Chad Brown, $275,000
8. Improbable, 10,
Bob Baffert, $239,520
9. War of Will, 10,
Mark Casse, $200,840
10. Maximus Mischief,
10, “Butch” Reid, Jr., $137,500
11. Mucho Gusto, 4, Bob Baffert, $120,000
12. Our Braintrust, 4, Cathal Lynch, $117,000
13. Code of Honor, 4, Shug McGaughey, $100,000
14. Network Effect, 4, Chad Brown, $90,000
15. Bankit, 4, Steve Asmussen, $80,000
16. Tight Ten, 4, Steve Asmussen, $67,900
17. Sueno, 4, Keith Desormeaux, $65,000
18. Hog Creek Hustle, 4, Vickie Foley, $49,000
19. Plus Que Parfait, 4, Brendan Walsh, $40,000
20. Call Paul, 2, Jason Servis, $194,000
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.
Nova Lenda (JPN), 20, Takashi Saito, $446,285
2.
f-Make Happy, 12, Koichi Shinkai, $184,181
3.
Derma Louvre (JPN), 8, Hirofumi Toda, $447,672
4.
Gal Vihara, 4, Kiyoshi Hagiwara, $216,271
2.
Kingen (JPN), 4, Kunihide Matsuda, $97,867
3.
Johaan (JPN), 2, Yasuyuki Takahashi, $72,900
4.
Romantico (JPN), 1, Kazuo Fujisawa, $91,245
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