Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Saez headed to N.Y. after Kentucky Derby
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Things have gone so well for Luis Saez this spring in Kentucky that the star jockey seriously considered sticking around beyond the Kentucky Derby.
Upon further review, however, Saez and his agent, Kiaran McLaughlin, have decided to return to Belmont Park in New York, where the 28-year-old jockey has made his primary base since 2013.
“We did talk about riding the Churchill Downs meet after the Derby, but no, we’re going back to New York,” McLaughlin said. “We do really like the way it’s gone here this month, though.”
As well they should. Saez has been “in the zone,” as they say, winning races in bunches at the Keeneland spring meet that began April 2. Through 12 of 15 days, Saez already has virtually clinched his first Keeneland riding title by winning 27 races, 11 more than Joel Rosario, his closest pursuer atop the jockey standings.
Saez has a combined 17 mounts on the final three cards of the meet (Wednesday through Friday), meaning it’s highly unlikely he’ll approach the spring-meet record of 38 winners set in 2013 by Rosario. Pat Day owns the all-time single-meet record at Keeneland with 45 wins at the 1991 fall meet.
Still, these are unforgettable times for Saez, a Panama native who burst onto the American racing scene in 2009 in Florida as a teenage phenom. He’s the rider of Essential Quality, the favorite for the May 1 Derby, and among his blockbuster wins already this year is the $12 million Dubai World Cup with Mystic Guide on March 27. He enjoyed a terrific winter at Gulfstream Park, riding 85 winners, and this month alone, he and Rosario have accounted
for the majority of the Keeneland stakes schedule – Saez won four of the 17 run so far, including the April 3 Blue Grass and the Elkhorn last Saturday, while Rosario won six of them.
“The horsemen have been very good to me, and my agent has done a great job,” Saez said last week.
Purse levels at Churchill are comparable to those at Belmont, with maiden-specials going for $91,000 and allowances starting at $93,000, including sizable bonuses for registered Kentucky-breds. The Churchill meet will begin and end with night cards, opening Saturday and running through June 26.
“The money and the people are great in Kentucky,” said McLaughlin, a Lexington native who had stable earnings of more than $120 million while training for 25 years prior to switching careers a little more than a year ago. “We’re blessed with the opportunities we have.”
Final 3-day stretch begins
The final three-day stretch of the Keeneland spring meet begins Wednesday with an eight-race card featuring a pair of $81,000, first-level turf allowances.
Race 7 occupies the traditional feature slot, with no more than seven 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles. Viburnum, adding blinkers and Luis Saez, will be looking to improve off a seventh-place finish earlier in the meet when wheeling back in 12 days for trainer Kelsey Danner as one of the top contenders. In all, nine are entered, but two are maintrack-only designates.
Viburnum, bred and owned by Dede McGehee, had earned a check in every start of a four-race winter campaign in Florida before being part of a deep field in her Keeneland debut April 9. Her top challengers figure to include Reina Del Sol, a maiden-special winner of the nightcap on the Tampa Bay Derby card, and Girl’s On Fire, a two-back winner whose trainer, Kelly Rubley, won her first race of the meet Sunday.
The day will start in unusual fashion when older horses go three turns in the 1:05 p.m. Eastern opener. The 1 1/2-mile race drew six geldings and one ridgling, Winners Club, a Mark Casse trainee, will be among the core of favorites following a last-out score at Fair Grounds. Yamato and High Tide also are in good form and figure prominently.
Another lengthy stretch of dry weather is in the local forecast, meaning grass racing surely will proceed as scheduled – a pair of turf miles (races 3 and 5), both with oversubscribed fields of 3-yearold maidens, are among the other Wednesday offerings. It’s supposed to be unseasonably chilly, though, with the meteorologists calling for an afternoon high of just 46.
Friday is closing day of the 15-day meet, with a field of 12 fillies and mares going 1 1/2 miles on turf in the Grade 3 Bewitch. Churchill Downs starts its spring meet Saturday.
◗ Rafael Bejarano missed Saturday at Keeneland because of a spill at Churchill earlier that morning but was back in action Sunday. The 38-year-old jockey jammed a finger on his left hand, but subsequent X-rays were negative. Bejarano has the mount on Hidden Stash in the Derby.