Catalano says Uncontested ready to fire best shot

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Wayne Catalano is sitting in the catbird seat with his 3-yearolds. Not only does the 60-yearold trainer have one of the top Kentucky Oaks prospects in Farrell, but he also has Uncontested training lights-out for the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

The Rebel offers 85 eligibility points for the Kentucky Derby, to be divided among its first four finishers 50-20-10-5. Uncontested was part of an 11-horse field when entries for the 1 1/16mile race were taken Wednesday. He will break from post 2 under Channing Hill.

Catalano said he is looking forward to what is a key prep for Uncontested.

“Farrell, she’s running in the Fair Grounds Oaks, then she should be on her way to the Kentucky Oaks,” Catalano said. “Now, we’ve got to get him to the [Kentucky] Derby, and we’re good!”

Catalano finds himself balancing 3-year-olds on the Oaks and Derby trails in the same year for the first time in his career. Uncontested came into the Oaklawn meet with a reputation as being one of the best 3-year-olds on the grounds, and he promptly proved himself when he won the $150,000 Smarty Jones in stakes-record time Jan. 16. The effort sent him to post as the favorite in the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes last month at Oaklawn, but after taking the field through six furlongs in 1:10.80, he ended up sixth to One Liner.

“We had a lot of things going against us that day,” said Catalano. “We got them all corrected.”

Uncontested spotted each of his rivals weight in the Southwest, and he did not have as strong a final work for the race as Catalano intended due to poor weather. But that work became a distant memory after Uncontested cruised five-eighths by himself in 58.80 seconds in his final Rebel prep last Friday at Oaklawn. Uncontested galloped out six furlongs in 1:10.80. He was outfitted with a new bit and a tongue tie, equipment he will race with for the first time in the Rebel.

“I think we’re on the right track,” Catalano said. “Everything is well. If he is what we always thought he was, we’re going to see it come Saturday. We’ve got no excuses. The ones we had, we got fixed, I think, and I think his workout proved us right. That’s kind of what I’m thinking.”

Catalano said Uncontested came out of the drill in excellent condition and has even put on weight in the weeks since the Southwest. Uncontested is a son of Tiz Wonderful who races for Bob LaPenta and Arkansas resident Harry Rosenblum.

“The horse has got a lot of sense,” Catalano said. “He’s very sensible, kind of laid-back. He’s a very smart horse, and that goes a long way.”

Catalano won Oaklawn’s biggest prize for 3-year-olds in 1997, when he captured the Arkansas Derby with Crypto Star. He set up a division at Oaklawn about three years ago and also has a stable at Fair Grounds. Following the Oaklawn meet, Catalano will take horses to Kentucky and to Arlington Park near Chicago.

The Rebel field, from the rail with riders: Silver Bullion, Ramon Vazquez; Uncontested, Channing Hill; Sonneteer, Richard Eramia; Petrov, Jose Ortiz; Untrapped, Irad Ortiz Jr.; Malagacy, Javier Castellano; American Anthem, Mike Smith; Silver Dust, Corey Lanerie; Appalachian Gem, Gary Stevens; Royal Mo, Victor Espinoza; and Lookin At Lee, Ricardo Santana Jr.

Desormeaux sends maiden

Preakness-winning trainer Keith Desormeaux has taken down a few stakes with maidens, among them the Summer Juvenile Championship at Los Alamitos with Swipe and the Landaluce at Santa Anita with Right There. He would love to pull off the feat again Saturday with Sonneteer in the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel at Oaklawn.

Sonneteer will enter off a runner-up finish in a Santa Anita maiden special weight race won by Kimbear, who could be headed to the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby.

Desormeaux, who won last year’s Preakness with Exaggerator, said it takes a certain kind of horse to warrant a shot in a stakes as a maiden.

“If a young horse shows some class, shows some ability, why not give him a chance?” he said. “It’s about proving a horse, and some races have a lot of influence on pedigree. There’s plenty of maidens that got beat with bad trips that maybe missed the stakes. You can’t do it with everyone, but if they show you class and ability and soundness and a stable mind ...

“He seems like he’s getting better. He’s a big, rangy, growthy 3-year-old, and I know not only from experience, but it’s just fact, that these horses change a lot this time of year, and he seems like he’s in that state. He’s run second to some real nice horses, had some interesting trips. If my calculations are correct, if he gets a good trip, I think he’ll be competitive. If he doesn’t do well, just chalk it up to me having a case of Derby Fever.”

Sonneteer, a Calumet homebred by Midnight Lute and out of the mare Ours, has run second to a pair of Grade 3 winners in Term of Art and Royal Mo. Royal Mo is set to start as a top contender in the Rebel.