Street Sense Remains Derby Pick
Top Ten Derby List Shuffles before Santa Anita, Wood Memorial Runs
Cobalt Blue and Chelokee moved into the Derby Top Ten List, while Street Sense continues as the No.1 pick. Scat Daddy, Notional, Circular Quay are headed for Kentucky.
With Circular Quay removed from this Saturday's Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. l) at New York City's Aqueduct track, Stormello and King of the Roxy dropping under the radar, and Michael Matz trained Chelokee and Merv Griffin owned Cobalt Blue picking up steam, the Kentucky Derby Top Ten contender list shuffled considerably.
Street Sense still Galloping High
Rated No.2, No.3, and No.8, respectively, Circular Quay, Scat Daddy, and Notional are already pointed to Louisville to compete in the May 5 Kentucky Derby. Sitting at No.1is Street Sense, who goes to the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland course in Lexington, Kentucky April 14.
Street Sense has held the top rated spot for several weeks as others come and go and resettle themselves below him. No.4 is Great Hunter, himself a No.1 in early March. Any Given Saturday is No.6, and Hard Spun has moved to No.7.
These four will meet April 14 in the Toyota Blue Grass. That race will shake something loose for the Triple Crown races beginning next month.
Trainer Todd Pletcher returned this week from World Cup racing in Dubai. He decided Circular Quay wasn't ready to run in Saturday's Wood Memorial. Instead, the colt will train up to the Derby. The Quay won his last race on March 10 in the Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds.
Notional is Explosive
No.8 on the Top Ten Derby list is Notional, who just ran second to Scat Daddy in the Florida Derby March 31. Although Notional was a length away, the colt's trainer, Doug O'Neill, liked the effort, calling it "dynamite". Notional ran to victories earlier this season in the January San Rafael Stakes and the Risen Star Stakes February 10.
Trainer O'Neill will have one entry in Saturday's 1-1/8 mile Illinois Derby, Cobalt Blue, and one on the west coast in the Santa Anita Derby prep, Liquidity. In the beginning of the season, Liquidity got high marks, but he ran without gaining respect, to sixth, in the Louisiana Derby March 10. Cowtown Cat, another Pletcher trainee, is also entered at Illinois. He won The Gotham at Aqueduct March 10.
Cobalt Blue won the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita March 17. He's rated No.9.
Pletcher's King of the Roxy will challenge Liquidity in the 1-1/8 mile Santa Anita Derby. He last won the Hutcheson Stakes on March 3. Neither colt made the latest top ten list. In early March, Roxy rated No.9.
Bwana Bull, winner of the El Camino Real Derby in March and the California Derby in February, and Sam P, a fourth Pletcher charge for Saturday's cards, will also post.
No Santa Anita Derby winner has gone on to win the Kentucky Derby since Sunday Silence in 1989. Affirmed, thelast Triple Crown titleist, accomplished the duo win in 1978.
Presently, Chelokee, rated No.10 this week, is not pointed to another contest. Trainer Matz is undecided on the colt's future as he awaits the Kentucky Derby graded stakes entry results that may eliminate the colt from Derby contention.
Several Colts have led Season
Great Hunter and Street Sense have enjoyed the most weeks on the top ten list, with Street Sense having the most weekly reigns. Scat Daddy, Notional, and Nobiz Like Shobiz have been consistently high. Any Given Saturday has made the most notable progress, moving from the No.10 spot to a solid No.6.
There it is: a new week; a new countdown to the rated in the race to the roses; and new thoughts on the prospects. With a month to go, the Derby picture will become progressively clearer.
