Trainer Brad Cox has a Kentucky Derby hopeful in his barn, dressed up but perhaps with nowhere to go.
Dazzling Gem's chances of running in Saturday's Grade 1 $2 million race at Churchill Downs lessen with each day that none of the projected 20 starters withdraws. Dazzling Gem needs four defections to make the field, ranking 24th with 30 points earned in designated prep races. The Misremembered colt finished third in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, then fourth in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.
Cox said Tuesday that Arkansan Steve Landers' colt, a two-time winner at Oaklawn Park, might enter the Kentucky Derby as an also-eligible when the field is drawn today. Otherwise, Dazzling Gem will be pointed to the Grade 2 Peter Pan May 14 at Belmont Park or the Grade 1 Preakness, middle jewel of the Triple Crowh, May 21 at Pimlico.
"He looks unreal right now," Cox said. "He's not going to get in, but he's looking good right now. I'll talk it over with Mr. Landers and see what he wants to do as far as entering."
Discreetness, Oaklawn's Smarty Jones winner in January, is in the same predicament, 26th on the leaderboard and needing six defections from horses under consideration for the race to make the field.
"It looks like we have no chance to get in," said trainer Jinks Fires. "It is a shame because the owner (Dwight Pruett, of Texarkana) wants to run."
Fires has mentioned Saturday's Grade 3 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs as Plan B for Discreetness, Remington Park's Springboard Mile winner in December before coming to Oaklawn.
Meanwhile, the top three finishers from the April 16 Arkansas Derby -- the last prep race worth 100 points to the winner -- remain on schedule for Saturday's classic.
Creator , with Ricardo Santana Jr. aboard, and Louisiana Derby winner Gun Runner represent seven-time Oaklawn training champion Steve Asmussen. Suddenbreakingnews, Oaklawn's Grade 3 Southwest winner, keeps Luis Quinonez Jr. in the first Kentucky Derby for trainer Donnie Von Hemel since 1989. Whitmore obtains his fourth different rider of the year, although Victor Espinoza has won the Derby three times and can become the first jockey to win the race three years in a row.
"I remain very confident," said Ron Moquett, trainer and co-owner of Whitmore, an early-season Oaklawn winner at six furlongs and second or third in three subsequent stakes races over the track. "I know just how much ground he covered in his last two races and how inefficiently he ran. All he needs in the Derby is a clean trip."
Suddenbreakingnews, one of many closers in the projected field, moved up to No. 3 in the final "Derby Dozen" by Bloodhorse.com correspondent Steve Haskin released Tuesday. The Mineshaft gelding ranks behind unbeaten champion and likely Derby favorite Nyquist and last-out Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby winner Exaggerator on Haskin's poll.
Von Hemel remains convinced that Suddenbreakingnews will not be affected by noise or other distractions from the more than 100,000 who annually fill Churchill Downs on Derby Day. Suddenbreakingnews will wear a shadow roll for the first time Saturday, an equipment change that paid off on in the 1992 Derby for winner Lil E. Tee, like himself an Arkansas Derby runner-up.
"He's handled things really well," Von Hemel said. "He schooled well (Monday in the paddock). If you've been here for a while, you have the advantage of being able to get used to the craziness little by little."
Santana and Geroux make ideal companions for his Derby starters, said Asmussen, whose 13 previous entrants finished no better than second (Nehro in 2011). Santana comes off his fourth consecutive Oaklawn championship, riding Creator in his maiden victory and when third in the Grade 2 Rebel before the Tapit colt won the Arkansas Derby with a last-to-first move.
The Kentucky Derby is a mile and a quarter, a furlong longer than the Arkansas Derby and father than any in the field has ever run. All starters carry 126 pounds.
"Ricardo had a very strong belief in (Creator) last fall," Asmussen said. "I think we got a little off track this winter in New Orleans with the horse. And then, reuniting him with Ricardo and the strong belief Ricardo's had in the horse the whole time, we've been rewarded for it. ... (Santana) knows Creator, and it's quite obvious Creator has responded for him. That's what we're looking for. We're trying to win the Derby with Creator. You're working with the tools you have, and that's what the match is here."
Sports on 05/04/2016