Top field set for downgraded Bluegrass
It might have been downgraded from Grade 1 to Grade 2 this year, but when it comes to strength of fields, Saturday’s $1 million Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland Race Track in Lexington, Ky., might be No. 1 on the Kentucky Derby prep circuit.
And it could produce the favorite for the May 6 Run for the Roses down the road at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Heading the field for the 93rd running of the 11⁄ 8- mile race is unbeaten and top-ranked 3-year-old McCraken.
Also expected to run: Tampa Bay Derby winner Tapwrit, Gotham Stakes winner J Boys Echo and two-time Grade I winner Practical Joke.
The Bluegrass is one of three big Derby prep races this weekend. The others are the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in New York and the Grade 1 $1 million Santa Anita Derby at San- ta Anita Race Track in Arcadia, Calif.
All three races are worth 100 points toward entry into the Kentucky Derby for the winner.
Stevens might get ride:
Gary Stevens, a record nine-time winner of the Santa Anita Derby, did not have a ride as of Monday in Saturday’s 80th running of the top West Coast prep race.
But the 54-year-old Hall of Famer worked Robert B. Lewis Stakes winner Royal Mo for trainer John Shirreffs on Monday, and if all goes well for the son of Uncle Mo, Stevens will ride the bay colt in the Santa Anita Derby.
“Royal Mo is going to work Monday, and a decision will be made after that. But if he’s OK, we’re considering the Santa Anita Derby,” Shirreffs said Sunday morning before Sham Stakes winner Gormley worked for the Santa Anita Derby. “Stevens will work Royal Mo, and we’ll go from there.”
Gormley finished a disappointing fourth behind Mastery in the San Felipe Stakes on March 11 but has been training lights out since.
“He’s been training super since the San Felipe,” Shirreffs said of Gormley, who, like Royal Mo, is owned by Jerry and Ann Moss.
Stevens, fully recovered from right hip replacement surgery Dec. 21, has been back riding full time since March 9.
His nine Santa Anita Derby victories have come on Winning Colors (1988), Mister Frisky (1990). Personal Hope (1993), Brocco (1994), Larry The Legend (1995), Indian Charlie (1998), General Challenge (1999), Point Given (2001) and Buddy Gil (2003).
Probable for the Santa Anita Derby: American Anthem, Battle of Midway, Gormley, Iliad, Kimbear, Midnight Pleasure, Milton Freewater, Reach the World, So Conflated, Term of Art and West Coast.
El Areeb out:
Kentucky Derby hopeful El Areeb will miss the Grade 2 $750,000 Wood Memorial on Saturday at Aqueduct because of a bone chip in his right front knee, according to trainer Cal Lynch.
“Last night we were looking at him, and he had some heat in his knee,” Lynch said. “We took some pictures, saw the problem and sent them to (our veterinarian).”
El Areeb, who was sitting 12th on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, had surgery Monday and is expected to return to training in a few months.
“It’s not career ending, but it’s definitely a setback,” Lynch said. “It could always be a lot worse. We’ll get him fixed right and do the right thing by him.”