San Felipe Stakes Racing Roundup

©2020 Calvin L. Carter. All rights reserved.

The Road to the Kentucky Derby will log a lot of miles this Saturday with three qualifying races from coast-to-coast. On the east coast, the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) post time is 5:32 p.m. ET and the Gotham Stakes (G3) post time is 5:42 p.m. On the west coast, the San Felipe Stakes (G2) post is 6:00 p.m. ET.

Let’s look at the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes (G2) where AUTHENTIC, who’s undefeated in two starts, will go to the starting gate as 6-5 morning-line favorite.

Trainer Bob Baffert brings Authentic into this race off an impressive win in the Sham Stakes (3). Here’s the video and chart call:

AUTHENTIC sped to the early lead inside, set the pace a bit off the rail, was ridden along to widen in upper stretch, ducked inward in mid-stretch and again a sixteenth out and won clear in hand.

Authentic took the lead early and was in control throughout, pulling away in the stretch, though a bit green, to win by 7¾ lengths.

Into Mischief, the sire of Authentic, was a precocious colt and multiple graded stakes winner that compiled a 3-3-0 record in six starts with $597,080 in career earnings.

As a two-year-old, Into Mischief easily won his maiden debut by 2½ lengths at Santa Anita Park on October 21, 2007. He went on to finish second in the Hollywood Prevue Stakes (G3) and followed that with a win in the 8½-furlong CashCall Futurity (G1). His finish time of 1:40.82 was just a few ticks off of the record time of 1:40.74 set by Afternoon Deelites and the second fastest time of 1:40.78 set by Valiant Nature.

In his debut as a three-year-old in February 2008, Into Mischief finished second to Georgie Boy in the San Vicente Stakes (G2). He came out of that race with an injury to his right-hind foot and he was taken off the Triple Crown Trail.

After an extended break, Into Mischief returned to racing in October winning the Damascus Stakes by two lengths. In December, Into Mischief finished his racing season with a second-place finish in the Malibu Stakes (G1).

Into Mischief’s best runners on the Kentucky Derby Trail have been Audible, Goldencents, Practical Joke, Vyjack and Vicar’s in Trouble. Audible won the Holy Bull Stakes (G2) and Florida Derby (G1) en route to a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1). Goldencents won the Santa Anita Derby and finished 17^th in the Kentucky Derby (G1). Practical Joke finished second in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) and fifth in the Derby. Vyjack finished third in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) and 18^th in the Derby. Vicar’s in Trouble won the Louisiana Derby and finished 19^th in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

Harlan’s Holiday, the grandsire of Audible, won the Florida Derby (G1), Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby (G1).

Authentic has a F Classic Champion Thoroughbred Profile® and his Behavior Index makes him competitive in this race. He’s been training nicely since the Sham and two bullet work outs could have him ready to take another step forward in his second start of the season.

A long shot I like is FORT MCHENRY (20-1) who’s making his debut for new trainer Doug O’Neil. Fort McHenry comes into this race with a 1-1-1 record in five starts for trainer Todd Pletcher including a third-place finish last out. Here’s the chart call of that race:

FORT MCHENRY stumbled at the start recovering outwards into TIGER ROAD, showed the way in hand three to four wide down the backstretch, tucked to the two path half a mile from home, came under coaxing near the quarter pole, cut the corner into upper stretch, dug in coming under threat and lugged in towards the rail scraping the paint and unwilling to switch to the correct lead while under off sided stick work, clung to the front until displaced seventy yards from home, came under a near sided stick and drifted out late bobbling as he switched leads in the last jumps to the wire.

Fort McHenry led from the start but faded in the stretch to relinquish the lead and finish just 1¼ lengths shy of victory.

Tapit, the sire of Fort McHenry, was a multiple graded stakes winner that compiled a 3-0-0 record in six starts with $557,300 in career earnings.

As a two-year-old, Tapit was undefeated in two starts including a win in the Laurel Futurity (G3).  Tapit was troubled by a lung infection for much of his three-year-old season but he did win the nine-furlong Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) in route to a ninth-place finish in the 2004 Kentucky Derby.

At stud, Tapit has sired numerous graded stakes winners including the Belmont Stakes (G1) champions Tapwrit (2017), Creator (2016) and Tonalist (2014). Other runners on the Derby trail include Frosted, Enforceable, Hansen, Cupid, Ring Weekend, Constitution, Mohaymen and Hofburg.

A half-brother to California Chrome, Fort McHenry has an A Classic Champion Thoroughbred Profile® and he’s a colt we profiled as a yearling (Hip 141) at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Fort McHenry gets the blinkers off for new trainer O’Neil. He has room to improve in his second start of the season, and the breeding to win, but he’ll have to improve his game to earn graded stakes honors.

HONOR A.P. (4-1) comes into this race with a 1-1-0 record in two starts for trainer John Shirreffs including a maiden win last out. Here’s the chart call:

HONOR A. P. had speed inside to set a pressured pace, inched away on the second turn and drew clear in the final furlong under a couple backhanded taps of the whip and steady handling then a hold late.

Honor A.P. led from the start and pulled away in the stretch to win by an easy 5¼ lengths.

Honor Code, the sire of Honor A.P., was a multiple graded stakes winner that compiled a 6-2-2 record in 11 starts with $2,518,260 in career earnings.

As a two-year-old, Honor Code was 2-1-0 in three starts with wins in the Foxwoods Champagne Stakes (G1) and Remsen Stakes (G2).

Honor Code finished third in his season debut as a three-year-old, but an injury knocked him off the Kentucky Derby Trail.

At the age of four, Honor Code was 3-0-2 in six starts with wins in the Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2), NYRA.com Metropolitan Handicap (G1) and Whitney Stakes (G1). He finished third in the Kelso Handicap (G2) and Breeders’ Cup Classic Stakes (G1).

Honor A.P. has an A+ Classic Champion Thorougbred Profile® and he’s the best-bred horse in this herd.

He’s been training well since his last race and time will tell if he can a big step on class to win graded stakes honors.

THOUSAND WORDS (9-5) is also trained by Baffert and he comes into this race, undefeated in three starts, off a win in the $100,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park. Here’s the video and chart call of that race:

THOUSAND WORDS saved ground stalking the pace, came out into the stretch, bid alongside the pacesetter under urging past the eighth pole, took a slim advantage in deep stretch and held between foes late.

Thousand Words tracked the leaders while racing along the rail then made a long, sustained move in the stretch to get up at the wire and win by three-quarters of a length.

Pioneerof the Nile, the sire of Thousand Words, was a pretty good middle-distance runner and multiple graded-stakes winner that compiled a 2-0-1 record as a two-year-old including a win in the CashCall Futurity (G1) and a third-place finish in the Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (G1).

As a three-year-old, Pioneerof the Nile was 3-0-1 in five starts with wins in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2), San Felipe Stakes (G2) and Santa Anita Derby (G1) in route to a second-place finish in the 2009 Kentucky Derby (G1).

As a stallion, his best runners to date on the Kentucky Derby Trail include Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, Classic Empire and Cairo Prince.

Thousand Words has a B Classic Champion Thoroughbred Profile® and that makes him competitive in this race.

Thousand Words has been training well and I look for him to run a good race.

*****

A total of 35 races comprise the Road to the Kentucky Derby. In addition, there are seven races on the European road to the Kentucky Derby and there three races on the Japan road to Derby glory.

2020 KENTUCKY DERBY LEADERBOARD

Ranking, total points, Trainer, Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings

1. Ete Indien, 54, Patrick Biancone, $288,156

2. Modernist, 50, Bill Mott, $240,000

3. +Enforceable, 33, Mark Casse, $344,550

4. Storm the Court, 22, Peter Eurton, $1,136,351

5. Tiz the Law, 22, Barclay Tagg, $456,000

6. Silver Prospector, 21, Steve Asmussen, $654,851

7. Thousand Words, 20, Bob Baffert, $181,000

8. Major Fed, 20, Greg Foley, $80,000

9. Candy Tycoon, 20, Todd Pletcher, $76,000

10. Shotski, 19, Jeremiah O’Dwyer, $212,466

11. Independence Hall, 14, Mike Trombetta, $205,000

12. Silver State, 14, Steve Asmussen, $80,000

13. +Azul Coast, 14, Bob Baffert, $80,000

14. Shoplifted, 13, Steve Asmussen, $388,500

15. Anneau d’Or, 12, Blaine Wright, $385,000

16. Maxfield, 10, Brendan Walsh, $300,000

17. Eight Rings, 10, Bob Baffert, $200,35

18. Sole Volante, 10, Patrick Biancone, $173,510

19. Dennis’ Moment, 10, Dale Romans, $141,800

20. Gold Street, 10, Steve Asmussen, $141,000

21. +Max Player, 10, Linda Rice, $137,500

26. +Scabbard, 6, Eddie Kenneally, $178,000

33. +Wells Bayou, 4, Brad Cox, $150,000

          + = Enforceable (Hip 76), Azul Coast (Hip 1177), Max Player (Hip 929), Scabbard (Hip 802) and Wells Bayou (Hip 3281) were colts we profiled at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

          * Mr. Monomoy, ranked 2^nd with 52 Derby Points, is off the Kentucky Derby Trail due to a minor ankle injury.

Unlike other companies that provide automatic computer-generated pedigree analysis of yearlings at auction, Classic Champion Thoroughbreds LLC personally handpicks from the sales catalog all yearlings to be profiled at auction based upon their breeding.

EUROPEAN ROAD LEADERBOARD

Ranking, total points, Trainer, Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings

1. Chares (GER), 20, Jane Chapple-Hyam, $80,819

2. Crossfirehurricane, 20, Joseph O’Brien, $49,507

3. Kameko, 14, Andrew Balding, $192,894

4. Innisfree (IRE), 14, Aidan O’Brien, $127,856

5. Victor Ludorum, 10, Andre Fabre, $250,958

6. Royal Donarch (IRE), 10, Aidan O’Brien, $115,813

7. Alson (GER), 4, J.P. Carvalho, $135,572

8. Shekhem (IRE), 4, Dermot Weld, $24,068

9. Year of the Tiger (IRE), 3, Aidan O’Brien $36,086

10. Armory (IRE), 2, Aidan O’Brien, $258,793

11. Iberia (IRE), 2, Aidan O’Brien, $25,389

12. Gold Maze (GB), 2, Jessica Harrington, $12,034

13. Mogul (GB), 1, Aidan O’Brien, $111,879

14. Ecrivain (FR), 1, Carlos Laffon-Parias, $69.202

15. Camorra (IRE), 1, Ger Lyons, $3,610

JAPAN ROAD LEADERBOARD

Ranking, total points, Trainer, Non-Restricted Stakes Earnings

1. Café Pharoah, 30, Noriyuki Hori, $234,290

2. Vacation (JPN), 20, Kenichi Takatsuki, $499,874

3. Tango Beauty (JPN), 12, Masato Nishizono, $329,346

4. Dieu du Vin (JPN), 10, Yukihiro Kato, $159,609

5. Yaugau (JPN), 6, Naosuke Sugai, $182,385

6. Longonot (JPN), 3, Mizuki Takayanagi, $158,202