Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Pletcher thinking of sending one for Santa Anita Derby
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 1 status of the $1 million Santa Anita Derby, coupled with the defection of Mastery from the potential lineup, has caused trainer Todd Pletcher to consider the race for a couple of his Kentucky Derby prospects, he said on Wednesday.
Pletcher has been critical of the downgrading of the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct to Grade 2 status this year. He is sifting through final Derby preps for Always Dreaming, Battalion Runner, One Liner, and Tapwrit, and while the Wood Memorial and Blue Grass remain options, along with the Grade 1 Florida Derby, the Santa Anita Derby on April 8 is on his radar as he seeks to keep his 3-year-olds from being pitted against one another.
“It’s a bit of a hike,” Pletcher said from the Palm Beach Downs training center in south Florida, where he is based during the winter, “but we are keeping an eye on it.”
Pletcher mentioned Battalion Runner and One Liner as the ones he’s considering for the Santa Anita Derby, though he emphasized that there are “many moving parts” and that nothing will be finalized at least until those colts work on Saturday. Pletcher said Battalion Runner could be entered in the April 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream along with Always Dreaming, but if, for instance, he drew a bad post, the Santa Anita Derby would be an option, along with the Blue Grass and Wood.
One Liner is most likely to head to the Wood, “though there has been talk about California,” Pletcher said.
Tapwrit is likely for the Wood or the Blue Grass. Pletcher said that if a decision is made to go in a Grade 1 for a final Kentucky Derby prep, the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn on April 15 would be a possibility.
The locals pointing for the Santa Anita Derby include Iliad, Term of Art, and Gormley, who finished second through fourth behind Mastery in the San Felipe Stakes on Saturday.
Mastery won the San Felipe but came out of the race with a condylar fracture to his left front leg that required surgery on Monday.
Finest City going long
Finest City, last year’s champion female sprinter, will stretch out to 1 1/8 miles on Saturday in the Grade 1, $400,000 Santa Margarita Stakes, the championship race of the meet for older females.
Finest City won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint here last fall and in her only start since then captured the Grade 2 Santa Monica here on Jan. 21. Both races were at seven furlongs. The Santa Margarita will be her first start at 1 1/8 miles.
Her rivals are expected to include Vale Dori, who has won four straight races, as well as Autumn Flower, Estrechada, Lady Tapit, Show Stealer, Wild at Heart, and possibly Enduring Erin and Perfect Pic.
The Santa Margarita will be supported the spotlight on Saturday by the $100,000 Irish O’Brien Stakes, for older female California-bred sprinters going about 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill turf course. Enola Gray and Smoove It, first and second in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint on Jan. 28, were among those expected, along with Bert’s Melody, Chaulk O Lattey, Desert Steel, Desiresoftheheart, Emmy and I, Late ’n Left, Lily Kai, Roo’s Valentine, and possibly Kiss At Midnight.
The $75,000 Pasadena Stakes on Sunday, for 3-year-olds at one mile on turf, was shaping up as having a large field, including Conquest Farenheit, who won the Baffle Stakes on the downhill course on Feb. 20, and Zakaroff, the upset winner of the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate on Feb. 18. Others expected to pass the entry box on Thursday were Big Sky Logan, Bird Is the Word, Calle Kingpin, Cistron, Colonel Samsen, Ky. Colonel, Reign On, Ritzy A.P., Rockin Rudy, and the unbeaten pair of Taco and Taxman’s Quest, both new to this circuit.