lexington stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Half-Mile Work for Disarm Monday

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Disarm (Gun Runner) completed his major preparations for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby with a half-mile work in :49.20 (15/30) at Churchill Downs Monday.

With exercise rider Wilson Fabian in the saddle, Disarm was accompanied to the track by assistant trainer Scott Blasi aboard one pony, while trainer Steve Asmussen followed close behind on another.

Disarm completed an opening quarter-mile of :25 and was not asked to gallop out past the wire, which is typical in Asmussen's works less than one week out of a race.

“We've been behind on his training going into the Road to the Kentucky Derby but he's responded well with each task we've asked him to complete,” Asmussen said.

Disarm was second behind Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) in the Mar. 25 GII Louisiana Derby before earning his spot in the Derby starting gate with a third-place effort in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. Apr. 15. He worked five furlongs in a bullet 1:00.00 at Churchill last Wednesday.

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Derby Hopeful Disarm Posts Five-Furlong Work at Churchill

Winchell Thoroughbreds' GII Louisiana Derby runner-up Disarm (Gun Runner), who most recently finished third in the Apr. 15 GIII Lexington S. at Keeneland, worked five furlongs in 1:00 with jockey Joel Rosario aboard for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen at Churchill Downs on Monday morning.

The bay colt broke off about a length behind stablemate Gigante (Not This Time) with Churchill clocker John Nichols catching him in splits of :13.20, :35.40, :36.60 and :48.40 before galloping out the six furlongs in 1:13.20.

“I thought he worked really well this morning coming out of the Lexington,” Rosario said. “He was well within himself the entire work. He looks a lot like his sire. He's built bigger than he is but looking at him they have a lot of the same traits.”

Asmussen was also pleased with the move.

“He's a very durable horse and I think the best is yet to come from him,” Asmussen said. “He's a horse we missed a little time with over the winter and we're behind schedule. The one opportunity for a points race was the Louisiana Derby. He ran solid but needed more points to get in it. He's a horse we definitely didn't want to miss this opportunity with. We were looking for a little sense of direction in his work this morning. I think he's not given us everything to this point and there's more in the tank. I like how he accelerated to the wire and got over the racetrack nicely.”

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‘TDN Rising Star’ First Mission Wins Lexington

Godolphin homebred First Mission, coming off an impressive maiden-breaking score at Fair Grounds last month, made the jump to graded company with aplomb, striding home a determined victor of the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland Saturday. Sent off at 2-1, the dark bay colt sat just off pacesetting Arabian Lion through fractions of :24.12 and :48.01. He cut the corner into the stretch as the pacesetter drifted out into the lane and gamely persevered as that foe drifted back in on him and he was inching clear late.

“This was a tough Lexington S.,” said Godolphin director of bloodstock Michael Banahan. “There were some nice horses in there. So we were very hopeful and confident that if he showed the talent that we thought he had, we had a big, big chance. It's exceptionally nice to see that happen, and especially the experience he needed to get, coming down [the stretch] in tight on the rail. For an inexperienced horse, I think that will hold well for the future with us.”

A debut second behind well-regarded stablemate Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo) while sprinting six furlongs at Fair Grounds Feb. 18, First Mission romped home by 6 3/4 lengths in a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy performance when stretched to 1 1/16 miles in New Orleans last time out Mar. 18.

“[Trainer] Brad [Cox] just got this guy in after Christmas time and had never seen him before, so he wasn't sure where we were going to stable him for the winter time,” Banahan said. “He saw him work one time up at Churchill and he said, 'This horse is going down to Fair Grounds,' where he put all his good horses.

“We've always held him in high regard. He had a few juvenile issues last year, but we were very high on him. He ran a tremendous race first time out, when Brad's other horse beat him going six furlongs, knowing he wanted to stretch out. He won very easily last time.”

Asked if First Mission may make his next start in the GI Preakness S. in five weeks' time, Banahan said, “I think it will be ideal, really. When he ran in his maiden race, we thought, 'OK, let's come back a little quicker in the maiden, a little bit quicker back in here' from what Brad would normally do, to see if he had enough talent to do that. I think he answered a lot of questions today, so we'd certainly look hard at that. I think we have a nice horse for down the road even if he doesn't make one of the Classics.”

With his third-place finish, Winchell Thoroughbreds' Disarm earned enough points to qualify for a spot in the GI Kentucky Derby.

“It looks like he got enough points to go, so we have the option to go,” Ron Winchell said. “We'll see how he comes out of this race. We've always thought a mile and a quarter [of the Derby] would be fine for him.”

Pedigree Notes:

First Mission is the 39th worldwide graded winner for his sire, Street Sense. His dam Etude produced a full-brother last year and was bred back to Protonico. His second dam is Argentinian champion Forty Marchanta (Arg) (Roar).

Saturday, Keeneland
STONESTREET LEXINGTON S.-GIII, $398,750, Keeneland, 4-15, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.74, ft.
1–FIRST MISSION, 118, c, 3, by Street Sense
                1st Dam: Elude, by Medaglia d'Oro
                2nd Dam: Forty Marchanta (Arg), by Roar
                3rd Dam: Marcha Toss (Arg), by Egg Toss
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Luis
Saez. $232,500. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $276,500.
Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Arabian Lion, 118, c, 3, Justify–Unbound, by Distorted
Humor. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
'TDN Rising Star'. ($600,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Zedan Racing
Stables, Inc.; B-Bonne Chance Farm LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert.
$75,000.
3–Disarm, 118, c, 3, Gun Runner–Easy Tap, by Tapit.
'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY);
T-Steven M. Asmussen. $37,500.
Margins: HF, 4 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 2.19, 3.89, 3.46.
Also Ran: Denington, Demolition Duke, Prairie Hawk, Empirestrikesfast, Baseline Beater, Reinvest, Curly Larry and Mo. Scratched: Transect.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Luis Saez To Ride Pletcher-Trained Unbridled Honor In Preakness

Todd Pletcher, Thoroughbred racing's newest Hall of Fame trainer, will take aim at the May 15 Preakness Stakes (G1) – the only Triple Crown race he has yet to win – with Unbridled Honor.

Pletcher's election to the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. was announced Wednesday. The 53-year-old, who gained entry in his first year of eligibility, holds the record for career-earnings ($405,791,077) and ranks seventh all-time with 5,118 wins, including 708 graded-stakes victories. He has saddled two Kentucky Derby (G1) winners – Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017) – and three Belmont Stakes (G1) champions – filly Rags to Riches (2007), Palace Malice (2013) and Tapwrit (2017).

Unbridled Honor, a gray Whisper Hill Farm homebred son of Honor Code, will be Pletcher's 10th Preakness runner and his first since Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming finished eighth in 2017. His best finish was a third with his first starter, Impeachment, in 2000.

The Preakness will be Unbridled Honor's first start since his runner-up finish in the Lexington (G3) at Keeneland on April 10. The late-running colt was a dozen lengths off the early pace in the Lexington and ended up 2 ¾ lengths behind the winner, King Fury. In his previous start, the Tampa Bay Derby (G2), he was forced to try to close into a slow early pace and finished fourth, seven lengths in back of Helium.

“He's a horse that we've always had high hopes for,” Pletcher said Friday. “He's always trained really well and he's still sort of putting it all together in race situations. We thought he made a move forward in the Tampa Derby when he ran a sneaky-good fourth and was finishing arguably the best of anyone in the field. He came back and was second-best in the Lexington. That was another improving effort.”

Unbridled Honor will have his final Preakness work Saturday morning and is scheduled to ship from Belmont Park to Pimlico on Tuesday. Pletcher said that the Preakness, led by front-running Derby winner Medina Spirit, could provide an ideal scenario for the colt.

“We like the way he's training and if he could get a decent pace up front to run at, we feel that if he can take another step forward he's in the mix,” Pletcher said.

Jockey Luis Saez will replace Julien Leparoux in the saddle for the Preakness, his first mount on the colt.

“We've had a lot of luck with Luis,” Pletcher said. “He's riding great and we're happy to have him.”

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