Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Dean Martini to Ellis Derby
Nearly three weeks after his first meaningful victory, the June 27 Ohio Derby, Dean Martini has cracked both Daily Racing Form’s Derby Watch Top 20 and the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 6 roster of 22 individual betting interests.
Don’t read too deep into that, said trainer Tom Amoss. “He’s going to have to run extremely well in his next race for us to consider moving on to the Derby.”
With the trio of Tiz the Law, Honor A. P., and Art Collector having established themselves as clear-cut favorites for the rescheduled Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5, the scramble is on for other spots in the 20-horse lineup. Dean Martini is one of numerous “bubble” prospects whose connections are waiting to see whether their horse deserves a Derby berth by way of an encouraging final prep.
Dean Martini is being pointed to the $200,000 Ellis Park Derby, an Aug. 9 race that already is looking like an important prep. It will be the first time in the 98-year existence of the western Kentucky track that it has held a Derby prep of note – and it’s probably a one-and-done, given the unusual nature of the 2020 racing schedule due to the ongoing global pandemic. Ellis Park always runs in the summer, after the Kentucky Derby is run in May.
The 1 1/8-mile Ellis Park Derby is an 85-point qualifier (50-20-10-5), so the winner most likely will make the Derby field. Notable 3-year-olds already known to be under consideration are Shared Sense and Major Fed, the one-two finishers in the July 8 Indiana Derby, as well as Sole Volante and South Bend. Trainer Tommy Drury also has mentioned the Ellis Derby as an outside possibility for Art Collector if he feels he needs to get an interim race into the Blue Grass Stakes winner leading into the Kentucky Derby.
Dean Martini was not nominated to the Triple Crown, so the gelding would have to be supplemented for $45,000 (1.5 percent of the $3 million Derby purse). That’s in addition to fees for entering ($25,000) and starting ($25,000).
Dean Martini is owned by Raise the BAR Racing, a fiveperson, Louisville-based syndicate managed by Brad Rives. The son of Cairo Prince was claimed May 17 from his eighth career start, a $50,000 maidenclaiming romp at Churchill Downs, prior to earning a career-high 95 Beyer Speed Figure in a 14-1 upset of the Ohio Derby at Thistledown two starts later.
“The owners claimed him just as a horse they could hopefully have some fun with,” Amoss said. “We honestly didn’t expect all this.”
Dean Martini breezed a halfmile in 48.80 seconds early Wednesday at Churchill in his second work since the Ohio
Derby. Amoss said he will maintain a regular work schedule up to the Ellis Derby. Ricardo Mejias rode Dean Martini in the Ohio Derby, but Amoss said he will have a new rider at Ellis.
Meanwhile, South Bend is only an Ellis Derby prospect after it was announced Tuesday by Mountaineer officials that the Aug. 1 West Virginia Derby has been canceled because of coronavirus concerns. South Bend, an Algorithms colt owned by the Sagamore Farm of Kevin Plank, was a late-closing second in the Ohio Derby after making his five previous starts on turf.
“We were kind of thinking West Virginia, and if we backed into a Derby spot with him doing great, we would consider it,” Sagamore president Hunter Rankin said. “Now we’re evaluating,” with the Ellis Derby and the Aug. 8 Travers at Saratoga the main options.
Shared Sense also has the Travers or Ellis Derby as his next start, trainer Brad Cox said.
Pneumatic, currently in New York after finishing fourth behind Tiz the Law in the June 20 Belmont Stakes, also was supposed to run in the West Virginia Derby. David Fiske, racing manager for owner Winchell Thoroughbreds, said Wednesday, “We’re recalculating. I suppose [the Ellis Derby] could be a possibility.”
The Ellis Derby will anchor the richest card of the 25-day Ellis meet, and its $200,000 purse will equal the largest in track history. The track’s traditional showcase race, the Groupie Doll, was worth $200,000 from 1992 to 2004, when still known as the Gardenia Stakes.
◗ Racing resumes following a 12-day break Friday at Ellis with tighter coronavirusrelated restrictions for jockeys following a spate of positive tests in the national riding colony. Spectators are still permitted, but only by seating requests in advance through ellisparkracing.com. Masks are mandatory.
First post for a nine-race card is 12:50 p.m. Central. Two allowances (races 5 and 8) serve as co-features. The next stakes is the $50,000 Good Lord on July 26. Three-day weekends will be run at Ellis through Aug. 30.
◗ Kentucky Downs officials announced this week they also will permit on-site spectators during a six-day meet at the turf-only track beginning Sept. 7, but also only in the same manner as Ellis. Ticket requests can be made through kentuckydowns.com.
◗ Carlos Tinajero, an employee of trainers Carl Nafzger and Ian Wilkes for more than 30 years, died Sunday of a heart ailment, Wilkes said. Tinajero, a native of Mexico City, was 65. His remains were cremated Wednesday.
“It’s been very difficult for us,” Wilkes said.