Ethereal Road | Horse Racing Free Tips

Derby Scratch Ethereal Road Romps in Sir Barton

Ethereal Road (Quality Road) will always be remembered as the horse removed from the 2022 GI Kentucky Derby at the last moment of scratch time, paving the way for an 80-1 longshot to upset America's biggest race. However, on GI Preakness S. Day, he signified he might have something else to say about the 3-year-old picture this year. With stablemate Secret Oath (Arrogate) Preakness-bound after her GI Kentucky Oaks win, Ethereal Road was routed to the undercard Sir Barton S. at Pimlico and looked like a world-beater as he dodged traffic to win going away by 4 3/4 lengths.

Breaking from the rail as the 3-2 choice, Ethereal Road wasn't quick out of the gate and settled comfortably near the back. With just one horse beaten at both the :23.70 first quarter and :47.26 half, he tipped out five wide on the turn to circle horses, quickly took command, and surged to the lead with obvious confidence to post a facile daylight win.

“That's what we expected,” said legendary winning trainer and Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. “That's his style. It was a picture-perfect ride from Luis [Saez]. We probably should have left him in the Derby, but that's hindsight. He got a good trip. The fractions are realistic. We can definitely build off this.”

Ethereal Road broke his maiden in January at Oaklawn in his fourth career try, then jumped into the deep end and responded with a runner-up finish to Un Ojo (Laoban) in the GII Rebel S. in February. The Sir Barton was his first start following off-the-board finishes in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. and the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S., both at Keeneland in April. Saturday was Saez's first time on the colt in the afternoon. Saez had won the Oaks in his first time aboard Secret Oath and retained that mount for the Preakness.

“He ran pretty nice,” said Saez. “The pace was perfect for him. It's the style he likes to run–break and make one move. He finished really strong.”

Ethereal Road's dam, Sustained, was second in the 2012 GIII Miss Grillo S. for Paul Pompa, Jr., who bred Ethereal Road and sold him for $90,000 at Keeneland September a month before he passed away in 2020. Sustained was sold at the 2021 Keeneland January sale for $320,000 to Determined Stud while in foal to Connect, whom Pompa also campaigned. The mare produced colts by that Pompa-raced stallion in both 2020 and 2021.

SIR BARTON S. SPONSORED BY BRANDON AND DIANNAH PERRY TO BENEFIT THE THOROUGHBRED AFTERCARE ALLIANCE, $100,000, Pimlico, 5-21, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.20, ft.
1–ETHEREAL ROAD, 118, c, 3, by Quality Road
               1st Dam: Sustained (GSP, $184,629), by War Front
               2nd Dam: Sweetstorm Amy, by Lemon Drop Kid
               3rd Dam: Hurricane Amy, by Storm Cat
($90,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Aaron
Sones; B-Paul Pompa (KY); T-D. Wayne Lukas; J-Luis Saez.
$60,000. Lifetime Record: GSP, 8-2-1-1, $354,545. *1/2 to
Turned Aside (American Pharoah), GSW-USA, GSP-Can,
$292,164.
2–B Dawk, 118, c, 3, Gormley–Mott N Hester, by Super
Saver. ($77,000 Ylg '20 KEEJAN; $140,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP;
$425,000 2yo '21 EASMAY; $500,000 RNA 3yo '22 KEEAPR).
1ST BLACK TYPE. O-West Point Thoroughbreds & Joseph
E. Besecker; B-Small Batch Thoroughbreds & Robert Fetkin
(KY); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $20,000.
3–Mr Jefferson, 118, c, 3, Constitution–Clockstrucktwelve, by
Malibu Moon. O/B-R. Larry Johnson (MD); T-Michael J.
Trombetta. $10,000.
Margins: 4 3/4, 2 1/4, HF. Odds: 1.50, 3.50, 6.10.
Also Ran: Ruggs, Good Skate, Unikee, Goldenize, Writeitontheice. Scratched: Brooklyn Diamonds, The Addison Pour.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Oaks Finishers All Well on Saturday; Preakness Next for Oath?

More than 12 hours after winning his fifth GI Kentucky Oaks with Briland Farm's Secret Oath (Arrogate), Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas was back on his pony leading his horses out to train Saturday morning at 5:15 a.m. He reported that his star filly came out of the race well and now has several options ahead of her, including the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. and the GI Preakness Stakes May 20 and 21, respectively at Pimlico.

“She bounced back very quickly last night and she's very sharp here this morning,” Lukas said. “Looks very good. We're tickled to see her come out of that tough race and to be bouncing around here this morning. She's excellent.

“I'm going to let a few days go by and then I'll get with (owner) Rob Mitchell. I'll let him have an opinion. The Preakness is an option, but so is the Black-Eyed Susan. The big difference is a million dollars and a Grade I. Would be nice to get her a second Grade I.

“She ran a picture-perfect race, a beautiful trip. It kind of went the way we had mapped it out. When Luis moved into position down the backstretch, I told (my wife) Laurie that we were going to be okay.”

Lukas scratched his Kentucky Derby entry Ethereal Road (Quality Road) on Friday and said the Preakness might also be a possibility for him.

“I thought if I ran him today (in the Derby), I'd have no shot of going on with him,” Lukas said. “I have run him a lot between Oaklawn and Keeneland. I didn't think he'd win, so I took him out and now we have the option of the Preakness.”

Pletcher Trio In Good Form

The Todd Pletcher trio of second-placed Nest (Curlin), sixth-placed 'TDN Rising Star' Shahama (Munnings) and the 11th-placed Goddess of Fire (Mineshaft) all came back in good form, Pletcher said Saturday morning, and will most likely all head to his Belmont Park base.

“They're all likely to be headed up to New York,” said Pletcher. “We've got to do some checking on flight schedules, but they'll be headed out in the next little while.”

Third-Place Desert Dawn Eats Up

Exercise rider Roman Cecher was overseeing business at 5:15 Saturday morning at Barn 43 where H and E Ranch's Arizona-bred Desert Dawn (Cupid) had set up shop this past week in anticipation of her start in the Oaks.

Trainer Phil D'Amato said he was exhilarated after his filly's third-place finish, worth $113,750 to her connections. She finished 2 1/2 lengths behind winner Secret Oath and just a half-length back of second-place Nest.

“She came back from the race really well,” Cecher said. “She ate everything up last night. The filly ran huge for us and we thought she was going to get second. Everybody was very pleased.” He said that plans for Desert Dawn were still to be decided.

The connections of all of the other Oaks runners reported no problems with their fillies Saturday morning.

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Ethereal Road Out, Rich Strike In

The feel-good story of Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas adding another GI Kentucky Derby win to his repertoire this year is not to be, as his GII Rebel S. runner-up Ethereal Road (Quality Road) has been scratched from Saturday's race, as first reported by Daily Racing Form's Marty McGee. The defection of Ethereal Road at scratch time for the Derby permitted also-eligible Rich Strike (Keen Ice), most recently third in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S. at Turfway, into the field. Bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm, Rich Strike is owned by Richard Dawson's RED TR-Racing, LLC and is trained by Eric Reed. Sonny Leon has been tabbed to ride.

GI Breeders' Futurity winner Rattle N Roll (Connect) was behind Rich Strike on the also-eligible list and was also scratched.

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Un Ojo Defection Allows Ethereal Road to Draw Into Derby

According to a tweet from Churchill Downs' Senior Director of Communications and Media Services Darren Rogers, Un Ojo (Laoban), who registered a 75-1 upset in the GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn Park Feb. 26, was not entered for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby. The Wayne Lukas-trained Ethereal Road (Quality Road), who missed by a half-length in the Rebel and exits a fourth in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland Apr. 16, will take the 20th spot in the field when entries are drawn Monday afternoon.

“It's a little bit unexpected,” said Lukas. “Going into the week I was a little apprehensive about even putting him on the also-eligible [list] because I didn't think there was a big chance, but it seems like as we go through this process every year, something happens or somebody decides that it's not the place for them. I'm happy for the owners. I've been there, sung 'My Old Kentucky Home,' watched it all happen and everything, but they're new clients, very enthused about everything and so they're tickled to death. I'm happy for them.”

He added, “He's going to have to have a pace up front, but there will always be one in the Derby. These guys who are worried about pace up front can quit worrying about it because it's always fast. He'll be closing. He has to improve. We're not sitting here with grandiose ideas that we're going to go in and beat everybody. We have to improve. Our numbers are not as good as some of the others, but we're in the race and it's a large purse with great prestige so we'll take our best shot.”

According to Rogers's tweet, Rich Strike (Keen Ice) and Rattle N Roll (Connect) are expected to be the also-eligibles in the race.

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