O’Neill has four Derby hopefuls

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Doug O’Neill could have as many as four runners in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8.

Iliad, Milton Freewater, So Conflated, and Term of Art are under consideration for the $1 million race at 1 1/8 miles, the top California prep race for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6.

Iliad was second to Mastery in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 11. Mastery was pulled up with a leg injury immediately after the San Felipe, a circumstance that leaves Iliad a leading contender for the Santa Anita Derby.

O’Neill said that by having so many runners in the Santa Anita Derby, he can gauge their development before the Triple Crown.

“They’re all like late teenagers now,” O’Neill said. “They can jump up the ladder so quickly. They’re all talented horses.”

Iliad, owned by Kaleem Shah, won the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs on Feb. 12 in his first start of the year.

Milton Freewater will be a longshot in the Santa Anita Derby. A California-bred, Milton Freewater was second in an optional claimer at 6 1/2 furlongs last Sunday in his first start of the year. In 2016, Milton Freewater was third in three stakes for California-breds.

So Conflated won the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Jan. 21 but was sixth in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct on March 4. Term of Art was a well-beaten third in the San Felipe.

Other candidates for the Santa Anita Derby include Battle of Midway, Gormley, and Midnight Pleasure. Battalion Runner, American Anthem, and Reach the World are possible.

Songbird cleared to train

Songbird has been given the green light to resume serious training at Santa Anita, where the two-time champion filly is stabled with Jerry Hollendorfer.

Fox Hill Farms owner Rick Porter announced this week on Facebook that Songbird resumed galloping; she galloped 1 1/2 miles Wednesday and Thursday.

According to Porter’s post, Songbird’s training was delayed due to a “recent incident that we think occurred by kicking her stall wall.” Porter added that Songbird “had some bone bruising at the end of her last campaign … there was a little area in the bone that was being stubborn to heal. That is fully healed, as has the slight inflammation from kicking the wall, so now it’s full steam ahead.”

Songbird, whose 12 starts produced 11 wins, $3.71 million in earnings, and two championships, is likely to have her first breeze early next month. Neither Hollendorfer nor Porter specified a comeback target for Songbird, although the renamed Grade 1 Beholder Mile (previously known as the Vanity) on June 3 would be an option.