LEXINGTON, Ky. -- McCraken, undefeated but unraced since Feb. 11, is the 7-5 morning line favorite in the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass, a race he must run well in to earn a spot in the May 6 Kentucky Derby.
The winner earns 100 points toward the Kentucky Derby on May 6, with the next three finishers getting 40, 20 and 10 points, respectively.
McCraken, who has 20 points on the Derby leaderboard, needs a top-three finish to guarantee himself a spot in the 20-horse Derby gate. He is currently 17th.
McCraken, trained by Ian Wilkes, leads a seven-horse field that includes 5-2 second choice Tapwrit, trained by Todd Pletcher, who seeks his second Blue Grass victory in three years and record fourth overall. Tapwrit was second to McCraken in the Davis but won the Tampa Bay Derby and has 54 Derby points.
Practical Joke, a two-time Grade 1 winner, is the 7-2 third choice and has 34 points.
SANTA ANITA DERBY
It's anybody's race
ARCADIA, Calif. -- Top trainers Doug O'Neill and Bob Baffert possess 7 of the 13 entrants scheduled to go to post in today's wide-open $1 million Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park, but that doesn't mean they are going to win.
Iliad, the morning-line favorite at 7-2, will be breaking from the No. 9 post. O'Neill also has Term of Art (post No. 1, 12-1 odds), So Conflated (No. 5, 15-1) and Milton Freewater (No. 10, 30-1).
Iliad finished second in the San Felipe Stakes, a race convincingly won by Mastery, but that colt suffered a non-life-threatening fracture of his left front leg seconds after the race.
Baffert entered three in Saturday's race.
American Anthem, at 5-1 and breaking from the No. 6 post, seems to be Baffert's best remaining chance to make it to Louisville. He is coming off a 10th-place finish (in an 11-horse field) in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. Baffert also has Reach the World (post No. 2, 5-1) and Irish Freedom (No. 11, 20-1) as his other horses.
Gormley, 9-2 on the morning line, will break from the No. 8 post. Gormley finished a beaten fourth in his last race, the San Felipe.
Trainer John Shirreffs also has Royal Mo (13, 10-1), who finished ninth in the Rebel Stakes.
WOOD MEMORIAL
Vying for Derby points
OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- Mo Town and Irish War Cry, the only two graded stakes winners in the eight-horse field, will try to redeem themselves and earn the necessary points to qualify for the May 6 Kentucky Derby.
But Mo Town and Irish War Cry are coming off dismal performances in their most recent starts.
Battalion Runner is making his stakes debut after winning twice at Gulfstream since returning from a layoff and looks to give trainer Todd Pletcher his fifth Wood Memorial victory. Cloud Computing will try to improve one notch from his second-place finish in last month's Grade III Gotham, which was just his second career start.
Mo Town returns to the track and distance of his most significant victory, last November's Grade 2 Remsen, a race he won by 2½ lengths. In his 3-year-old debut, however, Mo Town finished fifth, 10¼ lengths behind Girvin, in the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds.
Javier Castellano will ride Mo Town from post 2 as Velazquez will be on Battalion Runner.
Irish War Cry dominated the Grade II Holy Bull, beating Gunnevera and Classic Empire. In the Fountain of Youth, he chased the pace and faded to seventh. Trainer Graham Motion said he would have preferred to see Joel Rosario take Irish War Cry a little farther back in the race so that he would have learned something more about his horse.
Rajiv Maragh rides Irish War Cry as Rosario is riding Practical Joke in the Blue Grass.
Saturday's Derby preps
WOOD MEMORIAL
• Purse $750,000, 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct for 3-year-olds. Points awarded to the Kentucky Derby on a 100-40-20-10 basis. Post time, 4:52 p.m.
PP HORSE;JOCKEY;ODDS
1 Glenrichment;Carmouche;15-1
2 Mo Town;Castellano;6-1
3 Battalion Runner;Velazquez;2-1
4 Bonus Points;Saez;20-1
5 True Timber;Lopez;12-1
6 Stretch's Stone;Franco;15-1
7 Cloud Computing;Ortiz;5-2
8 Irish War Cry;Maragh;7-2
BLUE GRASS STAKES
• Purse $1 million, 1 1/8 miles at Keeneland for 3-year-olds. Points awarded for the Kentucky Derby on a 100-40-20-10 basis. Post time 5:17 p.m.
PP HORSE;JOCKEY;ODDS
1 It's Your Nickel;Graham;20-1
2 McCracken;Hernandez;7-5
3 J Boys Echo;Albarado;4-1
4 Tapwrit;Ortiz;5-2
5 Wild Shot;Lanerie;15-1
6 Irap;Leparoux;20-1
7 Practical Joke;Rosario;7-2
SANTA ANITA DERBY
• $1 million, 1 1/18 miles at Santa Anita Park for 3-year-olds. Points awarded for the Kentucky Derby on a 100-40-20-10 basis. Post time 5:30 p.m.
PP HORSE;JOCKEY;ODDS
1 Term of Art;Baze;12-1
2 Reach the World;Baffert;5-1
3 Battle of Midway;Nakatani;5-1
4 Comma Sister;Ocampo;50-1
5 So Conflated;Gutierrez;15-1
6 American Anthem;Garcia;5-1
7 Kmbear;Talamo;12-1
8 Gormley;Espinoza;9-2
9 Illiad;Prat;7-2
10 Milton Freewater;Pereira;30-1
11 Irish Freedom;Bejarano;20-1
12 Midnight Pleasure;Theriot;30-1
Sports on 04/08/2017