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Hitting the Board in Two Major Derby Preps Important
By GREG MELIKOV
It’s not whether you win or lose that counts in two significant Kentucky Derby prep races on April 7, but whether you ran fairly well and at least hit the board. The Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and the Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park
For example, only two of the 10 Wood Memorial winners since Seattle Slew in 1977 scored at Churchill Downs: Pleasant Colony in ’81 and Fusaichi Pegasus in ’00.
However, eight that hit the board in Aqueduct’s showcase race at 1 1/8 miles smelled the roses. The latest: Monarchos in ’01 and Funny Cide in ’03.
The $750,000 2007 Wood Memorial features a pair of Top 5 contenders: Circular Quay, rebounding at Fair Grounds from fifth in the Risen Star to capture the Louisiana Derby March 10 under John Velazquez, and Nobiz Like Showbiz, coming off a disappointing third in Gulfstream’s Fountain of Youth (FOY) Stakes March 3 after taking the Holy Bull.
Todd Pletcher’s Circular Quay has been working well at Gulfstream’s Palm Meadows training center. The son of Thunder Gulch posted a bullet workout March 24, breezing four furlongs in 49 1/5 on a good surface.
Nobiz Like Showbiz dons blinkers after ducking out entering the clubhouse turn in the FOY and lugging in down the stretch. On two successive workouts at five furlongs, the son of Albert the Great breezed 59 4/5, galloping out six furlongs in 1:13 on Sunday under regular rider Cornelio Velasquez.
“I can’t do much more now except get put there and ride him myself,†Tagg said. “He’s done everything I asked.â€
Another contender and Pletcher trainee, Cowtown Cat, emerged victorious in Aqueduct’s 55th Gotham last month. However, the only winner of that race to win the Kentucky Derby was ’73 Triple Crown champ Secretariat after finishing third in the Wood.
Cowtown Cat breezed five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 at Belmont on March 24. “It was sensational,†said Pletcher assistant Seth Benzel. “His energy level’s been high, he looks good and I’m sure his best days are ahead of him.â€
Summer Doldruns, third in the Gotham, will try his luck again in the 83rd Wood. He failed to show the sparkle he displayed romping to victory in the Whirlaway, but an examination revealed mucus in the lungs.
The son of Street Cry breezed six furlongs in 1:15 1/5 on March 23. “We had another horse with him just to keep his attention,†Rusty Myers, assistant to trainer Rick Violette, told the Daily Racing Form. “He went easy enough.†An endoscopic exam following the workout came up clean.
In the 2007 Santa Anita Derby, no winner since Sunday Silence in ’89 triumphed at Churchill Downs, but seven others did dating back to Hill Gail in ’52. They included the last Triple Crown champion, Affirmed in ’78.
Three sophomores that hit the board in the 1 1/8 miles test since ’86 were successful at Louisville, including runners-up Silver Charm in ’97 and Real Quiet in ’98.
The $750,000 Santa Anita Derby is wide open since Pletcher’s Ravel was knocked off the Triple Crown trail. The son of Fusaichi Pegasus fractured his left front cannon bone and will be sidelined at least three months.
Top contenders include King of the Roxy, yet another Pletcher 3-year-old that overcame a slow start to capture the Hutcheson Stakes at 7 ½ furlongs on March 3. The son of Littleexpectations made up for running eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile after winning the Belmont Futurity.
Other challengers with a chance in the 70th renewal are Liquidity, runner-up to Ravel in the Sham Stakes and second to King of the Roxy in the Futurity, but sixth in the Louisiana Derby, and Bwana Bull, winner of the California Derby at Gold Gate Fields and the El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows.
The field likely will include Sam P., second in the Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita; Boutrous; fifth in that race; Level Red; third in the San Felipe; and Black Seventeen, third in only his second start in a Santa Anita allowance contest.
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