Last week it looked as if a couple of dozen 3-year-olds would be entered for the Kentucky Derby and that the field would have to be scaled down to the maximum 20 starters based on their earnings in graded stakes.
But now it looks like the Derby might not reach the limit. First, the filly Surfside, who was on the bubble between the
Derby and the Kentucky Oaks the day before, underwent surgery to remove bone chips in both front ankles. Then Mighty, winner of the Louisiana Derby but a dismal seventh in the Blue Grass, was withdrawn because of a minor leg injury.
Finally, it looks like only one Derby starter emerged from Saturday’s two final preps, the Lexington at Keeneland and the Lone Star Derby in Texas.
The 1 1/16-mile Lexington (won last year by eventual Derby-Preakness winner Charismatic) went to Unshaded, who was making his first stakes appearance. A lookalike son of 1990 Derby winner Unbridled, from the barn of Unbridled’s trainer Carl Nafzger, Unshaded came from far back, circling the field five wide and drawing clear in the stretch, an eye-catching rally that immediately made him look like a Derby threat.
But Unshaded, who is a gelding (no gelding has won the Derby since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929), isn’t nominated to the Triple Crown, and owner James Tafel would have to supplement him for $150,000. It’s likely he’ll pass.
Runner-up Globalize, who won the Turfway Spiral Stakes in March, also is doubtful for the Derby. Another Lexington starter who won’t go is fifth-place Rollin With Nolan, meaning his trainer, two-time Derby winner Nick Zito, won’t run for the roses for the first time in seven years.
“We’ve got nothing,” Zito said. “We can’t go on from here.”
Commendable – from Charismatic’s connections, owners Bob and Beverly Lewis and trainer D. Wayne Lukas – is still Derby-bound despite finishing fourth.
“He was in a convoy the whole way around,” Lukas said. “This horse doesn’t have the experience that some of our other horses have, but he learned how to cope with adversity [Saturday]. He closed up a lot of ground in the last 100 yards.”
Although Lone Star Park outside Dallas offers a $1 million bonus to the Lone Star Derby winner if he goes on to win any of the Triple Crown races, trainer Ralph Ziadie said Tahkodha Hills, who beat odds-on favorite Big Numbers, won’t make the trip to Louisville. Instead, he’ll point for the Belmont Stakes.
The Godolphin Stable, owned by Sheikh Mohammend of Dubai, is taking another shot at the Derby with at least two horses.
Last year, Godolphin, which has dominated classic racing in Europe for a decade, sent over Worldly Manner and Aljabr for the Derby. Aljabr was a late scratch, but Worldly Manner ran a strong seventh, taking the lead in the stretch before tiring in the last furlong.
This go-round, Gololphin has China Visit and Chief Seattle.
China Visit, a Kentucky-bred son of Red Ransom, won his only start as a 2-year-old last August in France by eight lengths. In two starts this year, both at the sheikh’s private Nad al Sheba course in Dubai, he won the 11/8-mile United Emirates Derby by 41/4 lengths, then galloped in a 1 1/16-mile trial race last Friday.
Chief Seattle was a top 2-year-old in the U.S. last year when he finished second in the Champagne and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile for trainer John Kimmel.
Sold privately to Godolphin over the winter, the son of Seattle Slew has had just one start as a 3-year-old, finishing fourth to China Visit last week.