It’s a double Derby weekend! Louisiana has one, New Mexico has one and in just over a month, Kentucky has the Derby to top all derbies! We are really entering the final stretch as two of the last 10 KY Derby prep races take place this weekend. Derby, Derby, everywhere a Derby!
The 144th running of the KY Derby is May 5th. The top two Thoroughbreds on the KY Derby leaderboard, Bolt d’ Oro and Enticed, hold 64 points and 63 points respectively. They gathered those points over the course of the long KY Derby prep racing season which kicked off last September. However, there are still ten races and a whole lot of points up for grabs before we will find out which horses qualify for the 20 posts in the KY Derby field.
Today, Saturday 3/24/18, there are 170 points to be won by the top four winners. The TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby awards 100-40-20-10 points as listed to the first four finishers of one of this track’s biggest races of the year. The 105th Louisiana Derby is currently hosted at Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots in New Orleans, LA. It is America’s third oldest racing track. The stakes race has been held at two former tracks over its long history. The LA Derby was inaugurated in 1894. This LA Derby will be the third KY Derby prep race hosted at Fair Grounds in 2018. The former were the Lecomte and the Risen Star. The LA Derby is the first of only 7 prep races, for the 2018 KY Derby, to offer as many as 170 collective points. Two former LA Derby winners went on to sweep the KY Derby. Those champs were Black Gold in 1924 and Grindstone in 1996. Girvin won the LA Derby in 2017. The Louisiana Derby is a Grade II race with a purse of $1 million dollars and a dirt track of 1 and 1/8miles (9 furlongs) for 3 year-old thoroughbreds. The race will post at 6:21 P.M. EDT (which is 5:21 CDT in LA) as race 11 on a card of 14.
The 2018 field is as follows by post/horse/jockey/trainer/owner/and morning-line odds:
- Bravazo/Gary L. Stevens/D. Wayne Lukas/Calumet Farm/7-2
- Noble Indy/John R. Velazquez/Todd A. Pletcher/WinStar Farm LLC. and Repole Stable/7-2
- Marmello/Jack Gilligan/Mikhail Yanakov/Olympia Star, Inc./50-1
- Givemeaminit/Javier CastellanoDallas Stewart/Valene Farms/20-1
- Retirement Fund/Shaun Bridmohan/Steven M. Asmussen/L and N Racing, LLC./12-1
- Hyndford/Joe Bravo/Todd A. Pletcher/Donegal Racing/8-1
- Snapper Sinclair/Jose L. Ortiz/Steven M. Asmusen/Bloom Racing Stable, LLC./9-2
- Lone Sailor/James Gragam/Thomas M. Amoss/GMB Racing/20-1
- My Boy Jack/Kent J. Desormeaux/J. Keith Desormeaux/Don;t Tell My Wife Stables and Monomoy Stables, LLC./5-2
- Dark Templer/Florent Geroux/Brenden P. Walsch/Newtown Anner Stud/12-1
Before the dust settles from the track in LA, Sunday 3/25/18, the 15th running of the Sunland Derby fires off. The Sunland Derby is held at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino in Sunland, New Mexico. This is the only KY Derby prep race held at Sunland annually and it is this tracks biggest race of the year. This Grade III stakes holds a purse of $800,000 and is raced on 1 and 1/8th miles (9 furlongs) on the dirt. The race awards 50-20-10-5 points to the top 4 finishers. No winner from the Sunland Derby has ever gone on to win the KY Derby however, overall contenders from the Sunland have gone on to participate and do well in the KY Derby. Mine That Bird raced in the Sunland in 2009 and then won the KY Derby. In 2017 the Sunland was won by Hence. The Sunland Derby will post at 7:15 P.M. EDT (5:15 in NM) as race 11 on a card of 12.
The 2018 Sunland Derby field is as follows:
- All Out Blitz/Martin Garcia/Simon Callaghan/Kaleem Shah, Inc./4-1
- Dark Vader/Stewart Elliott/Peter Eurton/S. Alesia, Burns Racing, LLC. and R. Ciaglia/15-1
- New York Central/Ricardo Santana, Jr./Steven M. Asmussen/WinStar Farm, LLC., China Horse Club International and SF Racing, LLC./9-2
- Hollywood Star/Robby Albarado/Dale L. Romans/Albaugh Family Stables, LLC./6-1
- Peace/Drayden Van Dyke/Richard E. Mandella/Spendthrift Farm, LLC. and Town and Country Racing, LLC./12-1
- Shane Zain/Terry J. Thompson/Doug F. O’Neill/Zedan Racing Stables, LLC./15-1
- Prince Lucky/John R. Velazquez/Todd A. Pletcher/Daniel McConnell/6-1
- Seven Trumpets/Luis Contreras/Dale L. Romans/West Point Thoroughbreds/6-1
- Choo Choo/Mario Gutierrez/Jerry Hollendorfer/Calumet Farms/8-1
- Dream Baby Dream/A;lfredo J. Juarez, Jr./Steven M. Asmussen/Dream Baby Dream Racing Stable/10-1
- Runaway Ghost/Tracy J. Herbert/Todd W. Fincher/Joe Peacock/8-1
- Fortified Effort/Ry Eikleberry/Kevin Eikleberry/J. Lloyd Yother, Kevin Eikleberry, William Matthews and Marvin Fleming/20-1
For Fortified Effort it’s a family effort. His owner, trainer and jockey include a father and son duo. I had the great pleasure of meeting trainer and owner Kevin Eikleberry the day after this past Thanksgiving. It was a family affair for me as I had my whole family (parents, brother and sister-in-law) at the track. We went to Turf Paradise for a beautiful day of racing in sunny Phoenix, Arizona. A friend and horseman from Lexington arranged for me to meet Kevin Eikleberry, at his home track. While we watched one of his top horses, Peppy Miller, in the paddock, he told me a bit about his jockey son, Ry. Ry Eikleberry has had nearly 12,000 career starts. His father, Kevin, has had over half as many starts. Each are over 20% in wins for 2018. Among the eclectic mix of contenders and their connections in this Sunland Derby, I would love to see the Eikleberrys in the KY Derby!
Best wishes to all of the entries in the KY Derby preps this weekend. Who will nab the 100 points to go straight to the top of the leaderboard? Will I finally choose my KY Derby favorite following this weekends events? Stay tuned for more Derby info as well as posts on all things Thoroughbred racing related.
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