Great Hunter Tops New Derby List
Lewis Stakes gets O'Neill trained Colt to Head of Triple Crown Class
On the board in all eight of his starts, Great Hunter kicked into gear at Santa Anita Park in the R.B. Lewis Stakes. He goes to the Blue Grass Stakes as No.1 contender.
Great Hunter, out of Zenith, by Roy, and sired by Aptitude, boosted himself to a first place roost in the top ten scramble tumbling towards the Kentucky Derby in winning the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (gr. ll) in Arcadia, California. Santa Anita Park hosted the colt with eight other entries on Saturday, March 3.
Renamed R.B. Lewis Stakes
The Robert B. Lewis Stakes, a 1-1/16 miles, $200,000 pay day, is run as an in-state prep race to the well known Santa Anita Derby, scheduled this year for April 1. It is also a beginning Triple Crown prep. The race, previously known as the Santa Catalina Stakes, is renamed in honor of Lewis, popular breeder and horseman, who died in 2005.
Doug O'Neill trains Great Hunter. Never having been in a dash to the Derby situation prior to this season, O'Neill was excited about his colt's win. It's O'Neill's first taste of top ten prospects. Sitting in the catbird seat with the No.1 rated horse for the road to the Kentucky Derby can be fleeting. It generally changes, as prospects glow and fade, rocket and slip into reverse, in the final weeks before the first Saturday in May.
The day's plan for Great Hunter to run at 80 percent in a clear away gallop was realized, as jockey Corey Nakatani kept the colt from going too wide early on. Great Hunter hit an ideal stride clear of traffic at the top of the backstretch. From there, he drew away easily to a 1-1/4 length win over Sam P., and 2-1/4 lengths from Saint Paul, a Bob Baffert trained entry.
Great Hunter's time was 1:42.89. All eight of his starts in two seasons have been on the board. He next heads to the April 14 Blue Grass Stakes in Keeneland, Kentucky, where he will get a little longer test at 1-1/8 miles.
New Top Ten Derby List
Filling out the Derby top ten this week from the Associated Press poll are:
No.2 - Scat Daddy - (Todd Pletcher, trainer; John Velazquez, jockey)
No.3 - Street Sense - (Carl Nafzger, trainer; Calvin Borel, jockey)
No.4 - Stormello - (Bill Currin, trainer; Kent Desormeaux, jockey)
No.5 - Nobiz Like Shobiz - (Barclay Tagg, trainer; Cornelio Velasquez, jockey)
No.6 - Ravel - (Pletcher; Garrett Gomez)
No.7 - Notional - (O'Neill; Nakatani)
No.8 - Circular Quay - (Pletcher; Velazquez)
No.9 - King of the Roxy - (Pletcher; Edgar Prado)
No.10 - Any Given Saturday - (Pletcher; Velazquez)
Five other hopefuls to watch are Liquidity, Hard Spun, Adore the Gold, Chelokee, and Cobalt Blue. J.Paul Reddam owns Notional (No.7), and Liquidity, as well as Great Hunter. Reddam's trainer, O'Neill, has worked with all three prospects, and with Cobalt Blue, owned by Merv Griffin.
Todd Pletcher's five
Pletcher, voted the 2006 Eclipse award as top trainer (his third straight win in that category), has half of this week's top ten Derby rivals in training. Scat Daddy, Ravel, Circular Quay, King of the Roxy, and Any Given Saturday are all under his charge. Scat Daddy and King of the Roxy were March 3 weekend winners in the $350,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. ll), and the $150,000 Hutcheson Stakes (gr. ll), respectively.
Races on tab
Next races for the top ten include: Scat Daddy - the Florida Derby, March 31; Street Sense - the Tampa Bay Derby, March 17, or the Rushaway Stakes, March 24; Stormello - the Santa Anita Derby, April 7; Nobiz Like Shobiz - possibly the Wood Memorial, April 7; Ravel - the Santa Anita Derby; Notional - the Florida Derby; Circular Quay - the Louisiana Derby, March 10; King of the Roxy - undecided; and Any Given Saturday - the Tampa Bay Derby.
There's plenty of head bumping scheduled in the coming weeks, as many of the top ten square off against each other. Some will prevail, and some will fall from the Triple Crown trail before the Kentucky Derby arrives.
The run for the roses will go on with the survivors of the next two months of racing.
