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Preakness Qualifier: Dean Martini, Mischevious Alex Top Nominees To Federico Tesio Stakes

Dean Martini and South Bend, the top two finishers from the Ohio Derby (G3), multiple Grade 3 winner Mischevious Alex and a quartet from seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher are among 20 horses nominated to the $100,000 Federico Tesio Monday, Sept. 7 at Laurel Park.

The 1 1/8-mile Tesio for 3-year-olds, a 'Win and In' event for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1) Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course, is one of nine stakes worth $900,000 in purses to be contested over Laurel's Preakness Prep Weekend that includes four stakes on Kentucky Derby (G1) Day, Saturday, Sept. 5, drawing a total of 218 nominations.

Two starts after being claimed for $50,000, Dean Martini upset the Ohio Derby at odds of 14-1, holding off late-running South Bend by three-quarters of a length. Dean Martini returned to run sixth in the Ellis Park Derby Aug. 9, while South Bend was purchased privately and finished fourth in the 1 ¼-mile Travers (G1) Aug. 8 at Saratoga.

Cash is King and LC Racing's Mischevious Alex won the seven-furlong Swale (G3) at Gulfstream Park and one-mile Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct over the winter but has finished off the board in his two most recent starts, both at seven-eighths – the Woody Stephens (G1) June 20 and H. Allen Jerkens (G1) Aug. 1.

Among Pletcher's nominees are Oaklawn Stakes runner-up Farmington Road, on the Triple Crown trail earlier this year and allowance winner over the Colonial Downs turf last out July 29; Happy Saver, a son of Pletcher's 2010 Derby winner Super Saver that debuted June 20 at Belmont and is unbeaten in two starts; and Money Moves, also unraced at 2 who won suffered his first career loss in a 1 1/8-mile optional claiming allowance July 25 at Saratoga.

Also on the special Labor Day holiday program Sept. 7 is the $100,000 Weber City Miss for 3-year-old fillies going about 1 1/16 miles, a 'Win and In' qualifier for the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) on the Preakness undercard.

A total of 27 horses were nominated to the Weber City Miss led by 2019 Spinaway (G1) winner Perfect Alibi, who finished behind likely Kentucky Oaks (G1) favorite Gamine in each of her last two starts, most recently the Aug. 8 Test (G1) at Saratoga; Project Whiskey, 38-1 winner of the Delaware Oaks (G3) July 4; and Bella Aurora, winner of Laurel's seven-furlong Gin Talking last December.

Three grass stakes, which drew a total of 93 nominations, will also be run Sept. 7. Most popular among horsemen was the $100,000 All Along for fillies and mares 3 and up at 1 1/8 miles with 35 nominees including graded-stakes winners Secret Message, Theodora B. and Varenka and graded-stakes placed Beautiful Lover and Feel Glorious.

Pewter Stable's Dubini is nominated to defend his title in the $100,000 Laurel Dash for 3-year-olds and up sprinting 5 ½ furlongs on the turf and is joined by fellow stakes winners Introduced, Just Might, Regally Irish, Shekky Shebaz, Smooth B, Texas Wedge and Wet Your Whistle along with the 10-year-olds Oak Bluffs, a 21-time career winner trained by Mary Eppler, and 2013 Mr. Prospector (G3) winner Singanothersong.

The $100,000 Henry S. Clark at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds and up drew 32 nominees, among them Isabelle Haskell de Tomaso's defending champion Irish Strait; graded-stakes winners Doctor Mounty, Golden Brown, Monongahela and Olympico; and veterans John Jones and O Dionysus, stakes winners on both turf and dirt.

John Jones and Monongahela are also nominated to the $100,000 Deputed Testamony, a 1 1/16-mile event for 3-year-olds and up on the main track that returns to stakes calendar Sept. 5 for the first time since 2008. Other nominees include multiple stakes winners Cordmaker and Someday Jones, Grade 3 winner Name Changer and impressive recent Laurel allowance winner Top Line Growth.

Grade 3 winners Bellera, Golden Award and Horologist and stakes winners Another Broad, Artful Splatter, Gotham Gala, Meadow Dance and Tasting the Stars are among nominees to the Deputed Testamony's female counterpart, the $100,000 Twixt, won in 2019 by retired 2019 Barbara Fritchie (G3) winner Late Night Pow Wow.

The Sept. 5 stakes are rounded out by a pair of six-furlong dirt sprints, the $100,000 Polynesian for 3-year-olds and up led by stakes-winning stablemates Laki and Taco Supream, and $100,000 Alma North for fillies and mares 3 and older, topped by 12-time stakes winner Anna's Bandit and fellow multiple stakes winner Hello Beautiful.

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‘Really Strong Favorite’ Art Collector Draws Post Four Of Full Field For Ellis Park Derby

The field was set Thursday for Sunday's first-ever Kentucky Derby prep staged at Ellis Park, with Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass winner Art Collector heading the thirteen 3-year-old colts and geldings entered in the $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby.

“It's Art Collector and all the rest,” said trainer Tom Amoss, who will try to pull off the upset with Grade 3 Ohio Derby victor Dean Martini. “You've got a really strong favorite in this race, and I think everyone will measure the quality of their horse with how they perform against him.”

The Ellis Park Derby, which was instituted in 2018 as a mile race, anchors a five-stakes program that also includes the $100,000 RUNHAPPY Audubon Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, which offers 10 points to its winner toward qualifying for the Kentucky Oaks; $100,000 Groupie Doll Stakes for older fillies and mares; $100,000 RUNHAPPY Juvenile for 2-year-olds; and $100,000 RUNHAPPY Debutante for 2-year-old fillies.

The 1 1/8-mile Ellis Park Derby carries 50 points to the winner toward qualifying for the COVID-delayed Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5. Also earning qualifying points will be the runner-up (20), third place (10) and fourth (5).

Art Collector drew post 4 as he seeks to go to 4 for 4 since being turned over to trainer Tommy Drury this year. Thanks to the Blue Grass' 100 points, owner-breeder Bruce Lunsford's colt already has enough points to ensure a spot in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field, with Drury using the Ellis Park Derby as a conditioning tool rather than training the eight weeks up to America's most important race.

“His first couple of wins, he just ran off the screen both times, certainly didn't have to overexert himself,” Drury said of Art Collector. “The Blue Grass, he had to earn it; that filly (Swiss Skydiver) made him work for it. Watching that race and evaluating the race afterward, I felt one more was going to be beneficial to him. I'm just really thankful that spot at Ellis is available. We were late getting to the party and we've needed every little thing to fall in place to get him to this point. For Ellis to have a Derby prep this year was a lifesaver to us.”

Other leading contenders include Grade 3 Indiana Derby winner Shared Sense (post 12); Anneau d'Or (post 2), the Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up and most recently fourth in the Santa Anita Derby; Grand Prairie Derby winner Little Menace (post 6), and last year's Ellis Park Juvenile winner Rowdy Yates (post 8).

Shared Sense could be on the Derby qualifying bubble points-wise, collecting 20 for winning the Grade 3 Indiana Derby in his graded-stakes debut. Godolphin's son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense faced Art Collector two races back, when Art Collector controlled the speed for a dominant win over Shared Sense in a four-horse Churchill Downs allowance field.

“First time we ran against him here, we were at the back of the pack, there was no pace,” said Brad Cox, Shared Sense's trainer. “I was pleased with the effort. They almost broke the track record; the track was quick. Honestly, we were the second-best horse that day. He bounced out of it in good shape. We turned our attention to the Indiana Derby and it worked out extremely well. Obviously the other horse went on to pick off a Grade 2 at Keeneland very impressively. Both horses seem to be going the right way right now, and I'm excited about Sunday.”

Saturday's $1 million, Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga, where Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law looms as the big favorite, also was a possibility for Shared Sense.

“If we're dreaming about the Derby, I think with my horse I would be comfortable trying to get a nice mile-and-an-eighth race into him four weeks before the Derby as opposed to a mile and a quarter at Saratoga,” Cox said. “That's a pretty demanding course, and that's a big ask four weeks before you're hopefully going to run the biggest race of your life.”

Because he wasn't nominated earlier in the year, Godolphin would have to pay $45,000 to make Shared Sense a supplemental nominee to the Kentucky Derby, on top of entry fees.

The same is true for Dean Martini, who was claimed by his owners Raise the BAR Racing out of a $50,000 maiden-claiming race May 17. The gelding actually started his career with a second at Ellis Park but needed seven more attempts to win, albeit while accumulating three seconds and three thirds. Dean Martini won the Ohio Derby in his second start for his new connections.

“We need to know if he can validate his Ohio Derby performance,” Amoss said. “It was a very good race, but is he consistently the kind of horse who can put in those kinds of performances? We need to find out, and we're going to do that on Sunday. Obviously with a horse like Art Collector in there, it will validate one way or the other where we need to head for our next race.”

If the Ellis Park Derby is a first for the racetrack as far as being a Kentucky Derby prep race, count Cox among those hoping that it's also the last.

“Unless we start running at Ellis earlier in the year,” he joked. “I hate to say it, but hopefully it's a one-time thing. I like the Derby in May, not September. “

Still, Cox believes the 2020 running is a great start in entrenching the Ellis Park Derby among the regional Derbys that populate racing after what normally is the Triple Crown.

“West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma — There are a lot of Derbys out there,” he said. “There's definitely a spot on the calendar where Kentucky could have a nice 3-year-old race like the Ellis Park Derby and it become a graded event. Hopefully this is the start of something bigger and better for the Ellis Park Derby.”

RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby
Purse: $200,000. Post time: Sunday at 5:10 p.m. CT (10th race). Distance: 1 1/8 miles. Division: 3-year-olds.
PP horse (weight) trainer/jockey

Trident Hit (118) Brendan Walsh/Corey Lanerie
Anneau d'Or (118) Blaine Wright/Tyler Baze
Sprawl (118) Bill Mott/Julien Leparoux
Art Collector (122) Tommy Drury/Brian Hernandez Jr.
Necker Island (118) Chris Hartman/Mitchell Murrill
Little Menace (120) Steve Asmussen/ Martin Garcia
Truculent (118) Jack Sisterson/Adam Beschizza
Rowdy Yates (118) Steve Asmussen/Shaun Bridgmohan
Dean Martini (122) Tom Amoss/James Graham
Attachment Rate (118) Dale Romans/Joe Talamo
Winning Impressions (118) Dallas Stewart/Joe Rocco
Shared Sense (122) Brad Cox/Florent Geroux
(AE) Rogue Element (118) Dale Romans/Miguel Mena
**(AE) Also eligible – needs scratch to run

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Tiz The Law Expected Favorite For Pool 6 Of Kentucky Derby Future Wager

Sackatoga Stable's multiple Grade I winner Tiz the Law has been at the top of the Kentucky Derby standings for nearly 10 months and is the expected favorite in Pool 6 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (“KDFW”), which will run Friday to Sunday.

Pool 6 of the KDFW will run concurrently with Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager. In addition to Win and Exacta betting, an Oaks/Derby Future Double is part of the wagering menu. The wagers will open Friday at noon (all times Eastern) and the KDFW will close Sunday at 6 p.m. while the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will close 30 minutes later at 6:30 p.m.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both the $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI) and $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (GI) were postponed to the first Friday and Saturday in September, respectively. This weekend's Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will be the final opportunity to wager on the race prior to the Sept. 4 Kentucky Oaks while the KDFW will offer an additional pool on Aug. 7-9.

Veteran odds maker Mike Battaglia has installed Tiz the Law as the 5-2 morning line favorite out of 24 betting interests in Pool 6 of the KDFW. Trained by Barclay Tagg, Tiz the Law has been one of the top individual betting favorites in each of the first five pools of the KDFW. So far, the highest odds that Tiz the Law offered was 11-1 in Pool 1. In the last four pools, he closed at odds of 8-1, 7-1, 7-1 and 2-1, respectively. Tiz the Law is expected to have one additional prep race prior to the Kentucky Derby in the $1 million Travers Stakes (GI) on Aug. 8 at Saratoga.

One of the other horses that is likely take betting interest is Bruce Lunsford's $600,000 Blue Grass (GII) winner Art Collector. Trained by Tommy Drury, Art Collector went off at 20-1 in Pool 5 of the KDFW, which closed three weeks prior to his Blue Grass victory. Art Collector solidified his spot in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby and currently sits at No. 4 on the leaderboard with 100 points.

Other top betting interests in Pool 6 of the KDFW include C R K Stable's $400,000 Santa Anita Derby (GI) hero Honor A.P. (5-1); Karl Watson, Michael Pegram and Paul Weitman's late Triple Crown nominee Uncle Chuck (10-1); and Spendthrift Farm, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables' Santa Anita Derby runner-up Authentic (10-1).

Seven betting interests in Pool 6 of the KDFW were not offered in Pool 5: Attachment Rate (50-1); Dean Martini (50-1); Major Fed (50-1); Modernist (50-1); Shared Sense (30-1); South Bend (50-1); and Storm the Court (50-1). This is the first pool that Attachment Rate, Dean Martini and Shared Sense have been offered and the first time since Pool 1 that South Bend has been offered.

Dean Martini, Rushie and Shared Sense are not currently nominated to the Kentucky Derby but can become eligible with a $45,000 late payment due at the time of entry.

Here's the complete Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 6 field (with morning line odds): #1 Art Collector (9-2); #2 Attachment Rate (50-1); #3 Authentic (10-1); #4 Cezanne (20-1); #5 Dean Martini (50-1); #6 Dr Post (20-1); #7 Enforceable (30-1); #8 Honor A. P. (5-1); #9 King Guillermo (30-1); #10 Major Fed (50-1); #11 Max Player (30-1); #12 Modernist (50-1); #13 Mystic Guide (50-1); #14 Ny Traffic (50-1); #15 Pneumatic (30-1); #16 Rushie (30-1); #17 Shared Sense (30-1); #18 South Bend (50-1); #19 Storm the Court (50-1); #20 Thousand Words (50-1); #21 Tiz the Law (5-2); #22 Uncle Chuck (10-1); #23 “All 3-Year-Old Fillies” (12-1); and #24 “All Other 3-Year-Old Males” (15-1).

In the Oaks Future Wager, top 3-year-old fillies Gamine (9-5) and Swiss Skydiver (3-1) are expected to take much of the betting attention in the field of 24 interests.

Gamine, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and owned by Michael Petersen, scored a dazzling 18 ¾-length victory in the $300,000 Acorn (GI). The undefeated daughter of Into Mischief has been highly regarded since her debut in early March and defeated eventual $400,000 Ashland (GI) winner Speech two starts ago in a first-level allowance event at Oaklawn Park.

Gamine could clash with Peter Callahan's three-time graded stakes winner Swiss Skydiver on the first Friday in September. Trained by Kenny McPeek, Swiss Skydiver was the runner-up behind Art Collector in last weekend's Blue Grass at Keeneland. McPeek reported his plans remain in flux when it came to try Swiss Skydiver once again against males in the Kentucky Derby or point toward the Kentucky Oaks.

Other top fillies expected to take betting attention in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager include Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Madaket Stables' Speech; Kaleem Shah, Mrs John Magnier, Michel Tabor and Derrick Smith's come-backing $100,000 Santa Ysabel (GIII) winner Donna Veloce (12-1); Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, Thomas Reiman, William Dickson and Deborah Easter's $300,000 Rachel Alexandra (GII) victor Finite; and Ciaglia Racing, Highland Yard, River Oak Farm and Dominic Savides' Ashland runner-up Venetian Harbor (12-1).

Pool 2 entrants Altaf (30-1), Mundaye Call (50-1), Paris Lights (50-1) and Project Whiskey (50-1) are not currently nominated to the Kentucky Oaks but can become eligible with a $500 late nomination on Aug. 15. Queen of God (50-1) was not originally nominated to the Oaks but Churchill Downs officials have received her late $500 nomination fee.

Here is the field for Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager (with morning line odds): #1 Altaf (30-1); #2 Bayerness (50-1); #3 Bonny South (30-1); #4 Donna Veloce (12-1); #5 Dream Marie (50-1); #6 Envoutante (30-1); #7 Finite (12-1); #8 Gamine (9-5); #9 Harvey's Lil Goil (20-1); #10 Impeccable Style (30-1); #11 Mundaye Call (50-1); #12 Paris Lights (50-1); #13 Pleasant Orb (50-1); #14 Project Whiskey (50-1); #15 Queen of God (50-1); #16 Shedaresthedevil (30-1); #17 Speech (8-1); #18 Spice is Nice (20-1); #19 Swiss Skydiver (3-1); #20 Tempers Rising (50-1); #21 Tonalist's Shape (30-1); #22 Venetian Harbor (12-1); #23 Water White (50-1); and #24 “All Other 3-Year-Old Fillies” (20-1).

On March 17, Churchill Downs Incorporated announced the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (GI) would be rescheduled from Saturday, May 2 to Saturday, Sept. 5 amid public health concerns in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks Future Wagers feature $2 Win and Exacta wagering, and provides fans of Thoroughbred racing with opportunities to place bets on possible entrants in the Kentucky Derby at odds that could be far greater than those available on the day of the race. A special Oaks/Derby Double wager also will be offered.

Bets for the KDFW can be placed on TwinSpires.com and other online wagering outlets across North America. There are no refunds in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Should Churchill Downs officials determine during the duration of the three-day pool that one of the wagering interests has experienced an injury, illness or other circumstance that would prevent the horse from participating in the Kentucky Derby, betting on the individual horse will be suspended immediately.

More information and real-time odds are available online at www.kentuckyderby.com/futurewager.

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‘Got Him At The Right Time’: Ohio Derby Winner Dean Martini May Target Ellis Park Derby

Dean Martini made his first start at Ellis Park last Aug. 4, finishing second at 24-1. Now, after winning last Saturday's $500,000 Ohio Derby, Louisville-based Raise the BAR Racing's 3-year-old gelding could be coming back to Henderson for the $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby on Aug. 9.

“It's definitely under consideration,” said trainer Tom Amoss. “Absolutely timing-wise we'll look at the race at Ellis.”

It was Dean Martini's second start for his new owners and Amoss after they claimed him out of a $50,000 maiden-claiming race at Churchill Downs, which made him a winner on his eighth attempt. Yet even in defeat, there was only one race in which Dean Martini did not run well. That was his second start, which came at Del Mar in California.

Dean Martini won by 6 3/4 length the day he was claimed, the only time he was in a claiming race. He returned to finish a good second after breaking from post 12 in an allowance race won by Man in the Can, a strong contender for Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. That encouraged Amoss to go hunting bigger game in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby, whose runner-up was stakes-winner South Bend and whose third-place finisher was 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and Eclipse Award champion Storm the Court.

Amoss is a disciple of the Ragozin handicapping sheets, which chart form cycles by taking into account variables such as ground lost, traffic trouble and how fast or slow the track is playing in assigning a number for each horse's race. The lower the number, the faster the performance, regardless of what the official time might be.

“I liked the fact that he was a horse who looked like on the 'sheets' that he was developing,” Amoss said of the claim. “The day we claimed him, he ran a very big race. In the allowance race, he ran just as well…. I just got lucky. I didn't do anything special with this horse. He came in great shape. I think I got him at the right time. I claimed a horse that was in the process of developing, getting better. I did nothing more than pick up where the old barn left off.”

Raise The BAR Racing's name is a shout out to the first letters of the first names of partners Brad Rives, Annie Jessee and Rick Riney — along with the fact that they're all lawyers, and they might also occasionally have gone to a bar. Diane Jessee, Annie's sister in law, also is a partner.

The Ohio Derby victory fell on the 81st birthday of former Kentucky governor Brereton Jones, who with his son Bret bred Dean Martini, bloodhorse.com noted.

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