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‘Improving’ Known Agenda Records Final Florida Work Before Shipping To Churchill Downs

Known Agenda recorded his first workout since the Florida Derby this Friday, breezing a half-mile in :50.37 in company with Pegasus Turf Winner Colonel Liam at Palm Beach Downs. According to the Daily Racing Form, trainer Todd Pletcher was pleased with what he saw from the 3-year-old son of Curlin.

The St. Elias Stable homebred has been a different horse since the addition of blinkers in a Feb. 26 allowance race at Gulfstream Park, which he won by 11 lengths. In his next start, the Florida Derby, Known Agenda post a 2 3/4-length upset at odds of 5-1.

“I think he's a horse who is improving, and the blinkers have kept him a little more focused and a little more engaged in the race,” Pletcher told DRF. “I think without the blinkers in the Florida Derby he might have been a little intimidated with the position he was in and he might not have made the progress he made from the five-eighths pole to the half-mile pole without them. But experience has also helped him. Time has helped him. The mile and an eighth certainly doesn't bother him. And I believe the added distance in the Derby is something we feel good about for all our horses.”

Pletcher's quartet of Kentucky Derby contenders and Longines Kentucky Oaks runner are scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs over the course of Sunday afternoon.

Pletcher is scheduled to have his Keeneland-based horses van from Lexington to Churchill Downs Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. and arrive just past noon. His South Florida-based runners are scheduled to arrive later in the afternoon along with his New York-based horses, according to Senior Director of the Stable Area Steve Hargrave.

Among the horses Pletcher is scheduled to send to Churchill Downs are Derby contenders Bourbonic, Dynamic One, Known Agenda and Sainthood and Oaks runner Malathaat.

Weekend Lineup: Final Preps Offer Last Chances To Earn Derby Points

Final chances for horses to earn qualifying points into the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve will be on the line on Saturday (April 10) headlined by Oaklawn Park's Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and Keeneland's Grade 3 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes.

Grade 2 Rebel Stakes winner Concert Tour, the No. 2-ranked horse on the latest top NTRA 3-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll, is the morning-line favorite for the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby. The race awards Kentucky Derby points to the top four finishers on a 100-40-20-10 basis. At Keeneland, Proxy is favored in the 1 1/16-mile Stonestreet Lexington Stakes. The Lexington awards Kentucky Derby points to the top four finishers on a 20-8-4-2 basis. The Kentucky Derby field is limited to 20 starters.

The Arkansas Derby will be televised by NBC Sports as part of their “Road to the Kentucky Derby” series during a one-hour program airing on NBCSN and beginning at 7 p.m. ET. The telecast will also include highlights of the much anticipated rematch of the nation's top sprinters – CZ Rocket and Whitmore – in Oaklawn's Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap.

TVG will be broadcasting every race, every day with expanded coverage of Keeneland's Spring Meet, which runs through April 23. In addition to racing from Keeneland, Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, TVG will feature racing from Oaklawn Park, Aqueduct and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app, which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

“America's Day at the Races” will also be live on Saturday from 1-3 p.m. ET on FS1 and from 3-8 p.m. ET on FS2; and on Sunday from 1-4 p.m. ET on FS2 and from 4-6:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

Friday, April 9

5:30 p.m. ― $300,000 Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Peter Brant's 6-year-old Raging Bull (FR), who finished third by a neck in last year's Maker's Mark Mile, makes his 2021 debut in this year's renewal on the Keenland turf, leading the nine-horse field as the 7-2 morning-line favorite. Trained by Chad Brown, Raging Bull, ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., is a two-time Grade 1 winner. Another Brown starter, the 6-year-old Sacred Life (FR), fourth in last September's Grade 1 Old Forrester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, also will be making his 2021 debut. A formidable invader from California is the Dan Blacker-trained 4-year-old Hit the Road, who's on a four-race win streak capped by a strong-closing neck victory in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on March 6 at Santa Anita. Maker's Mark is celebrating its 25th year as title sponsor of the race.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE040921USA-EQB.html#RACE9

Saturday, April 10

4:24 p.m. ― $150,000 Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Steve Landers Racing's 5-year-old Night Ops is slated to face four rivals in the 90th running of the Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland. Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Javier Castellano, Night Ops will seek to improve off his third-place finish in a tough Essex Handicap on March 13 at Oaklawn. Tom Durant's 7-year-old gelding Silver Dust was third in last September's Grade 3 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs for trainer Bret Calhoun.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE041021USA-EQB.html#RACE7

5:30 p.m.― $200,000 Grade 3 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Twenty Kentucky Derby qualifying points go to the winner of the Grade 3, $200,000 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes, and a win by Godolphin's Proxy or Reddam Racing's Hockey Dad would put that horse into the starting gate at Churchill Downs. Godolphin's Proxy, trained by Mike Stidham, is the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the 10-horse field. The bay son of Tapit comes to Keeneland off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby. California-bred Hockey Dad is a son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, and races for his sire's same connections of Paul Reddam, trainer Doug O'Neill and jockey Mario Gutierrez. Hockey Dad won three races at Santa Anita before finishing third in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park on March 27. Another intriguing starter is the Bob Baffert-trained Bezos. Highly touted and heavily wagered in the Derby futures, Bezos faltered at 3-5 in his debut at Santa Anita on Feb. 7, finishing seventh of nine. However, the son of Empire Maker rebounded in a one-mile maiden special weight at Santa Anita on March 26 with a sparkling 4 ½-length win.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE041021USA9-EQB.html

5:49 p.m.― $400,000 Oaklawn Mile at Oaklawn Park on TVG

Nine are slated to go in the Oaklawn Mile led by Allied Racing Stable's and Spendthrift Farm's By My Standards, a winner of three Grade 2 stakes races in 2020, and with career earnings of more than $1.8 million. Trained by Bret Calhoun and ridden by Gabriel Saez, the 5-year-old By My Standards won last year's Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap. Florida-bred Rushie, winner of last September's Grade 2 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs for trainer Michael McCarthy, and the Brad Cox-trained 4-year-old Wells Bayou, figure to be in the wagering picture. Wells Bayou, who won last year's Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, finished third in the Grade 3 Louisiana Stakes at the Fair Grounds in his first start of 2021.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/OP041021USA-EQB.html#RACE9

6:03 p.m. ― $300,000 Grade 1 Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Trainer Chad Brown is shooting for his fourth consecutive Grade 1 Coolmore Jenny Wiley for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. The four-time Eclipse Award winner sends out Peter Brant, Mrs. M.V. Magnier and Mrs. Paul Shanahan's Etoile (FR), and Swift Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables' Tamahere (FR). Etoile will be making her first start since winning the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine in October. Tamahere, winner of the Grade 2 Sands Point at Belmont Park in her U.S. debut in October, will be making her first start since finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar. Etoile and Tamahere will take on the challenge of race favorite Micheline, owned by Godolphin and trained by Mike Stidham, who opened the season with a win in the Grade 2 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs, and finished second in last October's Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE041021USA-EQB.html#RACE10

7:05 p.m. ―$500,000 Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn Park on TVG

Saturday's six-furlong Count Fleet Sprint pits the nation's top sprinters – Whitmore and C Z Rocket – in their third consecutive confrontation. Robert LaPenta, Southern Springs Stables and Head of Plains Partners' 8-year-old gelding Whitmore defeated C Z Rocket, owned by Madaket Stables, Gary Barber and Tom Kagele, and trained by Peter Miller, in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland last November. Whitmore, who is co-owned and trained by Ron Moquett, was subsequently voted the Eclipse Award male sprinter trophy. The 7-year-old gelding C Z Rocket turned the tables on Whitmore in the six-furlong Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn on March 13, coming from last to overtake his rival by a neck. Seven will go to the post in the Count Fleet. The 9-5 Whitmore will be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., and Florent Geroux will ride the 2-1 C Z Rocket.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/OP041021USA-EQB.html#RACE11

7:41 p.m. ―$1 million Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on NBCSN and TVG

Gary and Mary West's undefeated Concert Tour is the even-money favorite in the six-horse, Grade 1, 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby, the final Kentucky Derby qualifying points race. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Joel Rosario, Concert Tour went wire to wire in Oaklawn's 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Rebel Stakes on March 13 with an impressive 4¼-length victory. Baffert, who won a division of last year's race with Nadal, and also saddled American Phoroah in 2015 and Bodemeister in 2012 to Arkansas Derby triumphs, also trains the 3-1 second choice, Hozier, who was the Rebel Stakes runner-up. Smarty Jones Stakes winner Caddo River, owned by John Ed Anthony's Shortleaf Stable and trained by Brad Cox, finished fifth as the 6-5 favorite in the Rebel after battling Concert Tour for the lead at the top of the stretch. Gary Barber's Get Her Number, winner of the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita last fall, will try to improve upon his seventh-place finish in the Rebel, which was his seasonal debut for trainer Peter Miller.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/OP041021USA-EQB.html#RACE12

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Oka Sho Goes Through the Comebacking Sodashi

Japanese Classics season gets underway Sunday at Hanshin Racecourse with the running of the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) for which the popular Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune) figures to go favoured in her first start of the year.

A registered white out of the cult hero Buchiko (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), the homebred filly enters the Oka Sho with an unblemished record from four racetrack appearances, including a 1 3/4-length defeat of Kukuna (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) in the G3 Artemis S. last October before just getting the better of Satono Reinas (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) when locking up a championship in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies in December (see below).

“Last week and the week before, we pushed Sodashi hard and I can't even begin to describe how well she has come along,” said trainer Naosuke Sugai. “When she first got back, she was a bit nervous, but she has matured over these two months and I see a marked difference.”

Christophe Lemaire looks to have had a decision to make and the Frenchman sides with Satono Reinas. The full-sister to GSW and Classic-placed colt Satono Flag (Jpn) cost an even ¥100 million (US$902,000) at the 2019 JRHA Select Yearling Sale and won her first two tries in the lower grades before ending up on the losing end of the bobber in the Juvenile Fillies in her most recent run. However, Lemaire will have to work out a trip from the widest alley in the field of 18.

Meikei Yell (Jpn) (Mikki Isle {Jpn}) has had eventful trips in each of her last two starts. She raced very wide from a high draw in the Juvenile Fillies, yet remained in the thick of it deep into the final 200 metres, eventually settling for a close fourth. Drawn the inside for her seasonal debut in the G2 Tulip Sho (1600m) at Hanshin Mar. 6, she pulled furiously, forcing Yutaka Take to send her to the front fully a half-mile from home. She kept on bravely in the stretch and was joined on the line by Elizabeth Tower (GB) (Kingman {GB}) to share the spoils. Meikei Yell drew the middle of the gate in eight for the Oka Sho.

Fine Rouge (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}) dropped her sprint debut in August, but has since won two straight, including a handy defeat of Ho O Ixelles (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) in the G3 Flower Cup Jan. 11. The form of the race was flattered when the latter returned to down Enthusiasm (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G3 Flower Cup Mar. 20.

WATCH: Sodashi locks up a championship in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies

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Laurel Park Adds Seven Thursday Programs To Make Up For Lost Dates

The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and Maryland Jockey Club have agreed to add racing days over the next several months to make up for multiple cancellations in the winter and early spring because of weather conditions and equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) restrictions.

MJC earlier announced that the Spring Stakes Spectacular program originally scheduled for April 17 at Laurel Park has been moved to the following Saturday, April 24. Extra races listed for Thursday, April 15, will move to Saturday, April 17, and racing will not be held April 15. The program slated for Friday, April 16, has been moved to Monday, April 19. So racing will be held April 17-19 instead of April 15-18.

Only horses stabled at Laurel Park are eligible to enter and race through the end of the EHV-1 quarantine April 17. The quarantine at Pimlico Race Course is scheduled to end April 12.

Live racing had been scheduled for three days a week—Friday through Sunday—at Laurel Park in June and July. Seven Thursday programs have been added on June 3, 10, 17 and 24; and July 1, 8 and 15. The summer meet concludes with racing on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule until Aug. 22.

“We're trying to make up days for the world's trifecta—Mother Nature, COVID-19 and the EHV-1 quarantine,” MJC President Sal Sinatra said. “We'll make up the opportunities as the races fill. And hopefully, we'll be back to normal operations with our turf course in June after the Pimlico meet.

The Laurel Park spring meet ends Sunday, May 2. Pimlico will race 15 days from May 5-31. The Laurel summer meet begins Thursday, June 3.

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