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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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Jones Loaded With Street Band, Istan Council In Sunday’s Groupie Doll Stakes

Street Band was one of the country's top 3-year-old fillies last year. Trainer Larry Jones, also her co-owner and co-breeder, is still trying to see how that translates into her stature as a 4-year-old.

Just matching last year is a lofty standard, with Street Band earning more than $1 million in 2019, including victories in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks, Grade 3 Indiana Oaks and Parx's Grade 1 Cotillion, where her 2 1/4-length triumph remains the sensational filly Guarana's only defeat.

Street Band should get some relief in the ferocity of competition when she runs in Sunday's $100,000 Groupie Doll Stakes at Ellis Park, one of five stakes on the RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby card. Street Band is 0 for 3 in 2020, all against top-flight company: a very close third in the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic, a fading fourth in the Grade 2 Azeri Stakes and a rallying fourth in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom in April in her last start.

“I think she had reached her peak early fall last year, late summer,” Jones said. “She was really doing well. She's doing just as well now, but she just has not looked like (she's) doing better. She looks like maybe she matured early, and we have not been as busy with her, and some of it due to the COVID.”

Street Band drew post 12 as the Groupie Doll attracted 15 fillies and mares, with the three “also-eligibles” requiring defections in order to make the capacity field of 12. The Groupie Doll goes off as race 9 on the 10-race card capped by the RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby. The sensational betting card is dominated by full fields, with TVG providing live on-site coverage.

Jones is hoping the Groupie Doll is a steppingstone to Keeneland's Grade 1 Spinster. With the Breeders' Cup also at Keeneland this year, the major objective is getting Street Band back into the $2 million Distaff, a race in which she was eighth last year.

“We've only had three starts,” Jones said of 2020. “The Houston Ladies Classic, she had a wide trip, and I thought that was a really good race for her. In the Azeri, the track was really sloppy and I didn't think she ran her best race by any means. (Kentucky Oaks winner) Serengeti Empress got on an easy lead and just kept going. She's running good. I don't know if she's any better at 4 than she was at 3.”

Jones is known for being forthright anyway. But he also can speak candidly about Street Band as a co-owner with wife Cindy, Ray Francis of Henderson and with minority interests owned by Medallion Racing and MyRaceHorse Stable.

“I have as much on the line as they do,” Jones said. “So my partners have been very agreeable to do what we're doing. So it's worked out well.

“… The Groupie Doll is the premier race here,” the long-time Henderson resident continued. “Not knowing two months ago how the COVID was going to be doing, we just decided to stay home, try not to do a lot of outside traveling and maybe getting ourselves and our barn in jeopardy of getting quarantined. This is always a race we have on our radar for our fillies. I've run some Grade 1 winners in this race. It's a good race, and I love racing at Ellis Park on their track.”

Indeed, after finishing second in the 2012 Groupie Doll (then known as the Gardenia), Jones sent Joyous Victory to California, where she was second in the Grade 1 Zenyatta before the next spring returning for victory in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita. Groupie Doll herself finished third in the 2013 Gardenia before winning her second straight Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint and female sprint championship. (Groupie Doll also won the 2011 Gardenia as a 3-year-old.)

Jockey Sophie Doyle, who has ridden Street Band for the past 13 of her 16 career starts, comes in from Iowa's Prairie Meadows to ride. She says she sees the signs that Street Band at 4 is the same as Street Band at 3. One thing that is different this year is that Doyle switched circuits and hasn't been able to be on the filly in most of her timed workouts.

“She's always been performing and trying hard,” Doyle said of the Street Band, the jockey's first Grade 1 winner. “… Street Band is just incredible. I've been so fortunate and blessed to come across a filly like her. We've been together from the very beginning. The past two years, it's been a development with each race we've gone into. I think it's been an important key for both of us that we've been able to progress together so well. She's highlighted my career in so many ways.”

Jones has another Groupie Doll contender in Istan Council, who last year defeated older horses by 10 3/4 lengths to win an Ellis Park allowance race.

“She really does well on this track,” Jones said. “And I love the fact that going a mile here is not a two-turn race. It's maybe a turn and three-quarters. We know she wants to go a little bit longer than the six furlongs we've been able to find to keep her at the one-turn. We haven't been able to find a true one-turn mile race for her. But she's coming into this race very well.”

Both fillies come into the race without their final scheduled workout, with Jones calling them off Tuesday because of the muddy track.

“We'll have to go into the race just off of gallops,” he said in a text update. “Uncharted waters for both of them.”

In addition to the Groupie Doll and $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby, the other stakes Sunday are the $100,000 RUNHAPPY Juvenile,$100,000 RUNHAPPY Debutante and the $100,000 RUNHAPPY Audubon Oaks.

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TVG Live On Site For Hambletonian, Del Mar Stakes, Ellis Park Derby

TVG, America's horse racing network, will be live on site at racetracks across the country covering a loaded weekend of racing that includes the $1 million Hambletonian, one of harness racing's most prestigious events, alongside major graded stakes races from Del Mar and the Runhappy Ellis Park Derby, a prep race for the Kentucky Derby (GI) in September.

At the Meadowlands, Ramona Hill will go to post as the 5-2 morning line favorite with driver Andrew McCarthy as TVG will provide live, on-site coverage of the first jewel of the Trotting Triple Crown. TVG's Tom Cassidy will be live on-site with analysis and interviews as the track hosts the $600,000 Hambletonian Oaks as well as the 95th renewal of the $1 million Hambletonian. Hypnotic AM has been tabbed as the morning line favorite in the Oaks at odds of 5-2 with driver Brian Sears.

At Del Mar, there will be expert analysis and exclusive interviews on-site by Todd Schrupp, Mike Joyce, Britney Eurton, and Joaquin Jamie while Simon Bray and Christina Blacker will also be contributing to the broadcast. There are four graded stakes races scheduled at Del Mar from Friday through Sunday. Juveniles will be showcased in the $150,000 Sorrento Stakes (GII) for fillies on Friday and in Saturday's $150,000 Best Pal Stakes (GII). The $150,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap (GII) for fillies and mares on the turf is also scheduled for Sunday and the stakes action concludes on Sunday with the $125,000 La Jolla Handicap (GII) for sophomores on the turf.

TVG will also be live on site at Ellis Park on Sunday for the $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby which will offer points towards a berth in the Kentucky Derby (GI) which will be run the first Saturday in September. The race will feature Art Collector, the impressive winner of the Blue Grass Stakes (GII) at Keeneland in July for trainer Tommy Drury. Brian Hernandez, Jr. will be aboard. Scott Hazelton and Gabby Gaudet will be trackside with interviews and analysis for the full card.

In addition to the Meadowlands, Del Mar and Ellis Park, TVG will also be broadcasting racing from Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Monmouth Park and more all weekend.

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Drury ‘Hit The Lottery’ With Ellis Park Derby Favorite Art Collector

When Tommy Drury runs Keeneland's Toyota Blue Grass winner Art Collector in Sunday's $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby, the trainer might be in unchartered water but he's very familiar with the route to get there.

During a training career that began almost 30 years ago, Drury has made the 284-mile round trip from his Oldham County base to Ellis Park countless times. Ditto the 176 miles to and from Cincinnati's Belterra Park, 250 loop up and back from Indiana Grand, 700 miles for West Virginia's Mountaineer Park, 735 round trip from Ohio's Mahoning Valley.

But never has Drury made the trek with a horse who is one of the favorites for the Kentucky Derby, whose four-month COVID-created delay to Sept. 5 made it possible for Ellis Park to stage a prep race for the Derby for the first time in the track's 98-year history.

“Gosh, I think the second horse I ever raced ran at Ellis Park,” the second-generation trainer said. “I've been going there my entire life. Winning the Blue Grass at Keeneland, normally when I go into Keeneland our goal is just to win a race. And for Ellis to have a Derby prep and to be a part of that, it's kind of my people, if you will. These are the tracks that I normally race at. To be able to go to these places and run in their big races, it's a lot of fun.”

Owned by breeder and Louisville businessman Bruce Lunsford, Art Collector already is in the Kentucky Derby, thanks to the 100 qualifying points he earned in winning last month's Grade 2, $600,000 Toyota Blue Grass by 3 1/2 lengths over the impressive filly Swiss Skydiver. The 1 1/8-mile Ellis Park Derby offers 50 points to the winner, but for Art Collector is simply a tool in his preparation to get to the Kentucky Derby in the best condition possible to run 1 1/4 miles. Art Collector's regular rider is Brian Hernandez Jr., the 2012 Ellis Park meet leader.

Drury has been around a lot of top-caliber horses, but mostly he was getting 2-year-olds ready or bringing horses back off layoffs for other trainers. The Blue Grass was Drury's first victory in a graded stakes, those designated as America's best races. In fact, he's only even run in 12 other graded stakes. Drury, shipping around from his base at the Skylight training center in Goshen, has run in a slew of non-graded stakes, with 13 wins. While the Ellis Park Derby is not graded, it would be his second-most lucrative race to win.

The lifelong Louisvillian is determined to not only enjoy the ride but to make sure his crew at Skylight and Churchill Downs enjoy it as well.

“We've always been the guys behind the scenes,” Drury said Wednesday after Art Collector trained at Skylight. “A lot of the Grade 1 winners we've had here, a lot of people don't know we were ever associated with them. And that's our job, that's what we do. We're certainly happy to do that. Now all of a sudden it's our name, and we get to be the ones to lead one over there and we get to kind of be involved at this level. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun for all of us. These guys work really hard, and they deserve a lot of credit for our success.”

Among the horses Drury had before they went to more high-profile trainers are Lunsford's Grade 1-winning millionaire Madcap Escapade (trained by Frank Brothers), current leading older horse Tom's d'Etat (Al Stall Jr.), Grade 1 winner Lea (Bill Mott) and 2-year-old champion Hansen (Mike Maker).

“It's nice to be able to play the game at that level, even if it's for a short period of time,” Drury said. “Just the education of having horses like that, all of a sudden Art Collector comes into my life and I felt that I've got a pretty good handle of what I need to be doing on a day-to-day basis to have him compete at this level.”

Art Collector started his career last year racing on grass (getting his first win at Kentucky Downs) before sprinting on dirt, going to Drury in January to get back in shape after some time off. The plan was for Art Collector to go another trainer for his 3-year-old season. However because of the havoc the pandemic was having on racetracks, Lunsford asked Drury — insulated at Skylight with uninterrupted training — to go on and prepare Art Collector for his return to racing in May. After he won an allowance race for keeps at seven-eighths of a mile, Lunsford simply kept the horse with Drury. He's now 3-for-3 with Art Collector, including a 6 1/2-length second-level allowance victory at 1 1/16 miles over Indiana Derby winner Shared Sense, whom he'll meet again Sunday.

“Bruce was kind enough to leave him with us and give us an opportunity of a lifetime,” Drury said. “It's certainly not something that's taken for granted. We know how we got the horse, and we just want to make the most of it and try to remember to enjoy it while we're here.”

If not for COVID, Drury wouldn't have the horse, and even if he did, Art Collector wouldn't have been in the Kentucky Derby on its original May 2 date.

“I was joking with someone the other day; this horse was a 'half-mile fit' the first Saturday in May,” Drury said. “There was zero chance. You couldn't even consider the Derby if it had been on its normal schedule. Even with the Derby being pushed back, we were still in a situation where we absolutely needed everything to go just our way. In horse racing, more often than not, that doesn't happen. It's kind of been, 'Gosh, this horse could maybe get us there' but in the back of your mind, you're always thinking 'how often does everything go perfect?'

“I think that's taken a little bit of the pressure off. I knew the water was going to get deep in the Blue Grass. He passed that test and then you immediately work backward from the Derby. You need that next race; you need that next start. You look up, and here's the Ellis race. Hopefully we can just ride this out a little longer and keep things falling into place the way they have. It's almost like the stars aligned for us.”

Now he just has to hope the stars stay that way for another four weeks. Especially for a lifelong Louisvillian, this happy turn of events is a bit mind-boggling, with Drury acknowledging a lot of nights lying awake “staring at the ceiling.”

He says at age 28, “you're thinking about winning Kentucky Derbys and Breeders' Cups every day.” By the time he reached 48, Drury knew the hard reality probably was that something would “have to fall between the cracks” to even get a shot.

“I compare it to hitting the lottery,” he said. “You think about what it would be like to hit the lottery, and you think about how you would react and what you would do. For me, growing up in Louisville, you look at the Kentucky Derby the same way. You watch it from afar every year and you're a fan of horse racing. The horses and the people who are involved, to all of a sudden see your horse in your name and that race being mentioned, gosh, you just can't find the words to describe it. It's a dream come true.”

Entries will be taken and post positions drawn for the Ellis Park Derby on Thursday.

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