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Arkansas Derby Wrap: Super Stock ‘Fantastic’, Baffert Noncommittal On Derby for Concert Tour

Super Stock (Dialed In) emerged in “fantastic” shape from his victory in Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn, Steve Asmussen, the colt's Hall of Fame trainer, said Sunday morning. The bay is scheduled to be flown early this week to Kentucky, Asmussen said, where the colt will join the trainer's string at Churchill Downs to begin preparing for the GI Kentucky Derby May 1.

Bought for $70,000 as a Keeneland September yearling, Super Stock gave Asmussen his fifth Arkansas Derby victory and is co-owned by Asmussen's 79-year-old father Keith. The colt received his early schooling at the family's famed El Primero Training Center near Laredo, TX and gave Steve Asmussen's oldest son Keith his first stakes win as a jockey in August's Texas Thoroughbred Futurity at Lone Star Park. Asmussen has yet to win the Kentucky Derby with 21 starters.

In addition to his father, mother, wife and three sons, Asmussen said his mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law were among those present to cheer the family horse Saturday.

“Can't even remember the last time we were all at the same race,” an emotional Asmussen said following his record 95th career Oaklawn stakes victory. “Meant to be.”

Bob Baffert was noncommittal after the race about a trip to Louisville for Arkansas Derby third finisher Concert Tour (Street Sense), who suffered his first loss in four career starts.

“We'll see how he works back,” Baffert said. “Churchill, I don't like to run there unless they're going to be really live. We'll see how he comes out of this race and see how he trains forward. I didn't really want a hard race out of it, but we still wanted to win. I've won Derbies off of losses. You learn about your horse and see if there is improvement to be made. The horse will tell us.”

Caddo River came out of the Arkansas Derby in “great shape,” Jorgito Abrego, who oversees trainer Brad Cox's Oaklawn division, said Sunday morning. Cox said immediately following the Arkansas Derby that he would consult with John Ed Anthony, Caddo River's owner/breeder, before making a decision regarding the Kentucky Derby.

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McPeek Pointing Lexington Winner King Fury to Derby Or Preakness

Trainer Kenny McPeek said Fern Circle Stables and Three Chimney Farm's King Fury (Curlin) will be pointed to the GI Kentucky Derby or the GI Preakness S. after winning the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. Saturday at Keeneland. The chestnut returned last night to McPeek's division at Churchill Downs, where he has two wins including the Street Sense S.

With the 20 points he earned in the Lexington, King Fury ranks 28th on the Derby points leaderboard and would need several defections to draw into the May 1 Run for the Roses, which is limited to 20 starters.

“All good; we are real proud of him,” McPeek said. “If his points get him in to the Kentucky Derby, we will probably run. It is his home track and he has won there. If he doesn't get in the Derby, he will run in the [May 15] Preakness. He seems like a horse that is ready to do all that. We will have to see how that ball bounces. It is out of our control, but we will keep his work schedule the same.”

At Aqueduct, trainer Danny Velazquez reported that his graded stakes winner Brooklyn Strong (Wicked Strong) will also aim for the Preakness after his fifth-place run in the GII Wood Memorial S. Winner of the GII Remsen S. as a 2-year-old, the gelding will also likely use the Apr. 24 Federico Tesio S. at Laurel as further prep for the Triple Crown's middle jewel.

“He came out of the Wood really good. It was a good tightener for him and a learning curve for me,” said Velazquez. “I went in there 100% believing in my horse but at the end of the day, going into those big races you need a big race. My horse showed up and he showed me that he belongs there. He was beat less than five lengths off a long layoff. He impressed me. I think we're going to try the Preakness. We'll look at the Tesio as a target race for him and to keep him fit.”

Velazquez said Brooklyn Strong had a difficult trip in the Wood Memorial when finishing 4 3/4 lengths back of longshot winner Bourbonic (Bernardini).

“I've watched the replay a dozen times and he never really got a break down the back side,” said Velazquez. “He was steadied behind traffic and that takes energy. When he finally found a hole he got banged around again. The mile and an eighth was a little hard on him off the layoff.”

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Sunday’s OBS Breeze Show Cancelled Due to Weather

The first session of the under tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2021 Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds was cancelled, according to a press release Sunday morning from the sales company. “With severe impending weather approaching it has been determined that cancellation is the best and safest course of action for both horses and people,” read the release.

Sunday's weather in Ocala called for thunderstorms, some potentially severe, and heavy rain with more than an inch of rainfall predicted.

The under tack show will now be scheduled over six sessions beginning Monday, April 12 and continuing through Saturday, April 17, with all sessions starting at 8:00 a.m.

Hips 1- 203 are scheduled to breeze Monday; 204-406 Tuesday; 407-608 Wednesday; 609-811 Thursday; 812-1014 Friday, and 1015-1217 Saturday.

The Spring Sale is scheduled to run from Tuesday, April 20 through Friday, April 23 with each session beginning at 10:00 a.m.

The under tack shows and the OBS Spring Sale will be streamed live every day on the TDN website.

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California Trainer Neil French Passes Away

Neil French, a licensed trainer since 1971 who was based in Southern California, passed away from heart failure Saturday, Apr. 10, at Arcadia Methodist Hospital near Santa Anita. He was 68.

French grew up with a father who was a farrier at Los Alamitos before switching to training, first Quarter Horses and eventually Thoroughbreds. French rode his father's horses in the mornings and then became a trainer on his own as a teenager. Among French's top horses were SW Pencil Point (Ire) (Sharpen Up), SW & GSP June's Reward (Hail Bold King), and GSP Chocolate Coated (Candy Ride {Arg}). He won a total of 257 races from 2,080 starters, with his runners earning $6,436,620.

Plagued with rheumatoid arthritis for the last decade, French continued training and relied on a golf cart to take him from the backside to the grandstand apron for training.

“The horses were his life,” said his sister, Joy. “The arthritis was very, very hard on him and this time, he had to go to the hospital and his heart gave out. He never got married or had kids; the horses were his life.”

French is survived by his mother, Loretta; three sisters: Joy, Joan, and Sundee; plus a number of nieces and nephews. Services are pending.

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