Tag: Kentucky Derby

Museum of Racing Hosts Derby Preview Panel

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will host its annual Kentucky Derby preview panel, as well as a book and memorabilia sale, Apr. 27.

Racing experts Tom Amello and Jeff Carle will be on hand to offer analysis and predictions for the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby and answer questions from the audience about the upcoming Triple Crown series.

Admission to the program and book sale is free. The book and memorabilia sale will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the museum lobby and the Kentucky Derby program will begin at 12 p.m. in the Hall of Fame.

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Report: CDI Files Motion To Dismiss Zedan’s Derby Lawsuit

Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) filed a motion Apr. 8 to dismiss a lawsuit by Zedan Racing Stables, Inc., that seeks to lift a CDI-imposed ban against horses trained by Bob Baffert in the GI Kentucky Derby.

Jason Frakes of the Louisville Courier Journal was among the first to report on the motion, which was filed in Kentucky the same morning as a Jefferson County Circuit Court hearing was held on the matter.

That Monday hearing put off until at least Apr. 15 a decision on owner Amr Zedan's request for an injunction or on CDI's motion to dismiss.

“Everybody involved in horse racing is watching this issue, I'm sure,” Judge Mitch Perry was quoted in the Courier Journal.

Zedan owns the GI Arkansas Derby winner Muth (Good Magic), who would be among the Derby favorites if allowed to race.

It is unclear if a ruling in favor of Zedan would allow other Baffert trainees owned by different entities to also participate in the Derby, or if any lifting of the ban would also permit Baffert's trainees to enter the GI Kentucky Oaks.

According to the Courier Journal, CDI's motion stated that “The demand for a last-minute judicial takeover of the world's most storied horse race…is baseless, outrageous and should be immediately rejected.”

After Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone in the 2021 Derby, Baffert was banned from CDI's properties for two years. A federal judge in February 2023 denied Baffert a preliminary injunction that the Hall-of-Fame trainer had sought to be eligible to race in the Derby. Last July CDI extended the ban at least through 2024.

Baffert is not a party to this latest lawsuit filed by Zedan in a Kentucky state court.

“CDI's spurious, illegal extension of the suspension does not withstand scrutiny and imperils a host of interested stakeholders,” Zedan's Apr. 3 complaint stated.

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Irad Ortiz, Jr. Picks Up Derby Mount On Domestic Product

Chad Brown has selected Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride his GIII Tampa Bay Derby winner Domestic Product (Practical Joke) in this year's GI Kentucky Derby.

The mount opened up when Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) won Saturday's GI Blue Grass S. with Tyler Gaffalione aboard. Gaffalione, also the regular rider of Domestic Product, will stick with the highly regarded Sierra Leone, who could be the second choice in the Derby.

“We were lucky enough to pick up Irad Ortiz on (Domestic Product). So he's going to ride him in the Derby, which is great,” Brown said.

Ortiz has had seven mounts in the Derby and has yet to hit the board with any. Brown is also 0-for-7 in the race.

While Sierra Leone may be his main gun, Brown thinks highly of Domestic Product.

“That horse is an under-the-radar real contender in the Derby,” Brown said. “He has a really fast figure at a mile-and-an-eighth as a two-year-old to keep working off of.”

Gaffalione is also a fan of Domestic Product.

“Tyler said to me, 'he's not that far behind (Sierra Leone).,” Brown said. “'Trust me, the horse goes a mile and a quarter. There's not as much separating these horses as you think. That's what he told me.'”

Domestic Product broke his maiden in his second career start last fall at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet. After a poor effort in the GII Remsen S. he was second in the GIII Holy Bull S. He then won the Tampa Bay Derby by a neck over No More Time (Not This Time).

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Stronghold Captures Imagination In Santa Anita Derby

Sent off as the 11-5 second choice, Rick and Sharon Waller's Stronghold (Ghostzapper) outbattled even-money favorite Imagination (Into Mischief) through the final eighth of a mile to take Saturday's GI Santa Anita Derby, earning 100 points towards the GI Kentucky Derby.

The last-out winner of the GIII Sunland Derby, the homebred was beaten for speed and settled just off the pace in fourth as Tapalo (Tapiture) set the pace from Imagination and E J Won the Cup (Omaha Beach). Content to allow those up front to do the dirty work as they went a good gallop, Stronghold was held together on the turn by Antonio Fresu, who went for his mount in earnest at the quarter pole and split horses in upper stretch. As E J Won the Cup and Tapalo began to back out of it, Imagination and Stronghold were left to settle it, and though neither gave an inch, Stronghold surged by in the shadow of the wire.

“We thought we needed a top three performance to get to the Kentucky Derby,” winning trainer Phil D'Amato said. “We were definitely hoping to get on the winning end here. I think this was a great education for him, and a nice test that he's going to need to win a race like the Kentucky Derby.”

The win was the first at Grade I level in America for Antonio Fresu.

“I loved the way Phil D'Amato was training him the last couple of works,” the Italian said. “The horse was getting so much confidence and he was getting so much better than before. Today he proved to be a very good horse. Still, when he hit the front, he didn't want to stay alone, he was waiting for some company. He got the job done and I want to dedicate this to my friend that passed away. I felt like he was there with me today. Stefano Cherchi was an amazing guy and I want to dedicate this to him.”

A maiden winner at second asking going Churchill's one-turn mile Oct. 1, Stronghold was a distant runner-up to 'TDN Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) in the GIII Bob Hope S. at Del Mar Nov. 19 before just getting reeled in late by Wynstock (Solomini) in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 16. Sent to the Land of Enchantment for his sophomore debut, Stronghold proved too strong for his rivals at Sunland Park, taking that track's repositioned Derby by 2 1/2 widening lengths Feb. 18.

Pedigree Notes:

Hill 'n' Dale's Ghostzapper, the veteran son of Awesome Again out of Broodmare of the Year Baby Zip, may be among the elder statesmen in Kentucky's sire ranks, but he still cranks out top horses, among them 55 graded winners and 100 black-type winners worldwide. While Stronghold marks his only stakes winner of 2024 to date, Ghostzapper's other best runners most recently have included 2022-23 Eclipse champion female sprinter Goodnight Olive, 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year Moira, 2021 G1 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide, and triple Grade I winner Guarana. No fewer than nine of Ghostzapper's stakes winners are out of Distorted Humor mares, with GISWs Guarana and Molly Morgan, as well as 2023 GSWs Rhyme Schemes and Two Ghosts, all bred on the same cross as Stronghold, who is the first stakes winner for Distorted Humor's son Jimmy Creed as a broodmare sire. Jimmy Creed stands at Spendthrift.

Stronghold is a fourth-generation homebred for the Waller family. Eric and Sharon Waller lost his dam, Spectator, after she foaled Stronghold–her only produce–in 2021. They had sold her dam, the unraced Diva's Tribute, to Richard Barton Enterprises in 2015 at Keeneland November for just $4,700. After Spectator won the 2017 GII Sorrento S. and placed twice in Grade Is, Diva's Tribute went through Keeneland's ring again in 2022 and hammered for $175,000 to Calvin Nguyen. She produced a Maxfield filly last year for Nguyen and partner Joey Tran before being bred to Idol for 2024. –Jill Williams

 

Saturday, Santa Anita
SANTA ANITA DERBY-GI, $751,500, Santa Anita, 4-6, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:49.98, ft.
1–STRONGHOLD, 124, c, 3, by Ghostzapper
                1st Dam: Spectator (GSW & MGISP, $323,551),
                                by Jimmy Creed
                2nd Dam: Diva's Tribute, by Henny Hughes
                3rd Dam: Swiss Diva, by Swiss Yodeler
1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Eric & Sharon Waller (KY); T-Philip
D'Amato; J-Antonio Fresu. $450,000. Lifetime Record: 6-3-3-0,
$827,200. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Imagination, 124, c, 3, Into Mischief–Magical Feeling,
by Empire Maker. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($1,050,000 Ylg '22
KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables
LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Robert E.
Masterson, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan and
Tom J. Ryan; B-Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Bob
Baffert. $150,000.
3–E J Won the Cup, 124, c, 3, Omaha Beach–Firsthand Report,
by Blame. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1
BLACK TYPE. ($150,000 Wlg '21 KEENOV; $95,000 Ylg '22
KEESEP). O-Superfecta King Stable (Margolis); B-Hoolie Racing
Stable, LLC (KY); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $90,000.
Margins: NK, 3 1/4, 4HF. Odds: 2.20, 1.00, 23.40.
Also Ran: Curlin's Kaos, Tapalo, Wynstock, Mc Vay, Tessuto.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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