Arkansas Derby Winner Gayego and 2-3 Finishers Will Be Flown To Kentucky
Arkansas Derby winner Gayego as well as 2nd and 3rd place finishers Z Fortune and Tres Borraches will be flown to Louisville, Kentucky on Monday morning to prepare for the 2008 Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs.
Also going to Loisville on Monday are King’s Silver Son, My Pal Charlie, Liberty Bull, Blackberry Road and Jazz in the Park.
Gayego, who earned the $600,000 first prize, and Z Fortune, who got $200,000 for second, have sufficient graded stakes-earnings to make the 2008 Kentucky Derby field. However, Tres Borrachos, whose 3rd-place finish was worth $100,000, needs some luck to make the cut as one of the Kentucky Derby contenders.
Gayego, who made the successful transition from the California synthetic surfaces to Oaklawn Park‘s standard dirt strip, came out of the Arkansas Derby in fine shape.
“He’s doing good,” assistant trainer Martin Morales said Sunday morning, “…and he’s ready for the next one.”
Paulo Lobo, now a career one-for-one at Oaklawn Park, caught a pre-dawn flight out of Little Rock to California, and will re-unite with Gayago this week at Churchill Downs.
Z Fortune likewise came out of his strong second in the Arkansas Derby in good shape, said assistant trainer Kristin Crawford, who will remain at Oaklawn Park for two more weeks to care for trainer Steve Asmussen’s Arkansas division.
None of the nine horses who finished behind the top four in the Arkansas Derby have the graded-stakes earnings to make the Kentucky Derby entries list and will look for softer spots.
Gayego, named by his owners, Cuban immigrants Carlos Juelle, a California-based accountant and Jose Prieto, for a region in northern Spain, was the 5th straight favorite to win the Arkansas Derby. The previous four champions were Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, Lawyer Ron and Curlin, Preakness winner and 2007 Horse of the Year.
www.oaklawn.com
"Arkansas Derby Winner Gayego and 2-3 Finishers Will Be Flown To Kentucky" was posted on 13 April 2008 10:17 PM under Horse Racing News, Horses, Special Features
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