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Pletcher Barn Suddenly Flooded With Quartet Of Kentucky Derby Prospects

Calumet Farm homebred Bourbonic, trained by Todd Pletcher and piloted by Kendrick Carmouche, garnered an 89 Beyer Speed Figure and 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for his dramatic head score over stablemate Dynamic One in Saturday's Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

The victory capped a sensational day for the Pletcher barn, which successfully debuted promising New York-bred maiden Great Workout on the Wood Memorial undercard and also included a closing second from Haikal in the Grade 3 Excelsior.

Bourbonic, a dark bay Bernardini colt, was sent to post as the longest shot on the board at 72-1 and topped an unlikely exacta over 15-1 stablemate Dynamic One that returned $453 for a $1 wager.

Patiently handled by Carmouche, Bourbonic closed from last of nine runners to edge Dynamic One, who had made the lead at top of the lane after tracking the early foot of the prominent Grade 3 Gotham-winner Weyburn.

“It was a very patient ride,” said Byron Hughes, the New York-based assistant for Pletcher. “That track often plays to frontrunners or horses closer to the pace. Yesterday, it was playing fair and there were some closers. He waited as long as he could and made one run and it paid off.”

A late bloomer, Bourbonic graduated at third asking in a $50,000 maiden claiming mile in December at the Big A and followed with a score against winners in January traveling a one-turn mile at Aqueduct. He entered the Wood Memorial from a runner-up effort in a mile and 70 yards optional-claiming tilt at Parx in February.

While many of the Pletcher-trained Kentucky Derby hopefuls wintered at Palm Beach Downs in Florida, Bourbonic remained with Hughes in New York. He said the added distance was beneficial for the improving dark bay.

“We always thought he wanted more distance and two turns is something he needed,” said Hughes. “It was a good day for the team. He's been a forward training horse here. He loves to train and it's been great to have him up here this winter.”

Repole Stable, Phipps Stable, and St. Elias Stable's Dynamic One earned 40 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for his runner-up effort under Jose Ortiz. The Union Rags chestnut was piloted to a nine-furlong maiden victory in March by Carmouche at Aqueduct.

“He ran a game race,” said Hughes. “I was looking at the Trakus this morning and he actually ran 43 feet more than Bourbonic did. It was a game race and we were happy with his effort.”

Hughes said he was pleased with how both horses came out of the race.

“They both look good. They both ate up last night and are walking around here this morning with a purpose,” said Hughes.

Pletcher also enjoyed a successful Saturday at Keeneland with Kentucky Oaks hopeful Malathaat remaining undefeated after taking the Grade 1 Ashland. Also victorious at the Lexington oval were 3-year-old turf filly Jouster in the Grade 2 Appalachian and well-regarded sophomore colt Ghazaaly, who graduated in the day's opening race.

“It was a big day for us at Keeneland, too. Malathaat is undefeated and looked great doing it,” said Hughes.

Hughes said the barn is excited at their prospects for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby slated for May 1 at Churchill Downs. They currently have four contenders on the leaderboard, including Florida Derby-winner Known Agenda [102 points], Bourbonic [100], Dynamic One [40] and Sainthood [40].

“It's exciting. We went from not having any to having four in two weekends,” said Hughes. “These last shots paid off and the barn is excited for the Derby. All the hard work getting here at 4:30 in the morning, it pays off for everybody.”

Kentucky Derby Leaderboard

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‘A Small Step Of 70 Years’: Mike Shanley Excited About Budding Star Nova Rags

His biggest success stories in parts of five decades owning and breeding Thoroughbreds have come on the grass, but Mike Shanley has a budding dirt star on his hands that just may well be the best horse he's had in nearly 20 years. Maybe ever.

“I hope so,” Shanley said. “We'll see more on Saturday.”

Shanley's stakes-winning homebred Nova Rags, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, will face the biggest test of his young career in the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa at Gulfstream Park.

The 1 1/8-mile Derby for 3-year-olds headlines a blockbuster program featuring 10 stakes, six graded, worth $1.85 million in purses. In its first 69 runnings, the Derby has produced a remarkable 60 Triple Crown race winners, the most recent being 2020 Belmont (G1) hero Tiz the Law.

Shanley would like to add Nova Rags' name to that list but, in keeping with a career spent in law as a real estate attorney and judge as well as his long association with racing, he matches that optimism with an equal dose of reality. He has never run a horse in the Triple Crown.

“We're obviously very excited with what he's done so far and looking forward to the Florida Derby. It's certainly a big step up, but Bill Mott feels comfortable with it and that's how we're going into it,” Shanley said. “Really all the credit goes to Bill and [son and assistant] Riley and the Mott team for bringing him along to this point.”

Nova Rags was a maiden special weight winner in his debut last October at Belmont Park, then ran fourth as the third choice in a field of seven in the Nashua (G3) at Aqueduct to cap his juvenile campaign.

By 2012 Belmont winner Union Rags out of the Smart Strike mare Wishful Splendor, Nova Rags has run twice at 3, both at Tampa Bay Downs, winning the seven-furlong Pasco Jan. 16 and finishing second by a length to stablemate Candy Man Rocket in the Sam F. Davis (G3) Feb. 6.

“Bill insists and I agree on proceeding a day at a time. I know it's trite, but proceeding a race at a time,” Shanley said. “If Nova Rags does well on Saturday, then I expect he'll be taking us to the Kentucky Derby. But to think about that now is just one step too far.”

Shanley is a native of upstate New York, growing up in the Binghamton suburb of Vestal in the Southern Tier region. He graduated from Albany Law School in 1972 and stayed in the area where he raised six children with wife, Lyn. “Pretty much retired” in recent years, the Shanleys now live primarily in Florida.

He got his first horse, a pony named Trigger, at the age of 4, but Shanley's introduction to owning Thoroughbreds came as part of a partnership group that purchased Grade 1 winner Ends Well from Greentree Stable in 1985. He and best friend Leonard Leveen were among a triumvirate that owned Turk Passer, winner of the 1995 Turf Classic Invitational now named for late Hall of Fame writer Joe Hirsch.

“It was really just a result of my interest in horses. Initially I got into one of the early racing partnerships and it just developed from there,” Shanley said. “There were three partners in Turk Passer, and I was the managing partner. We had great fun with him. He was our first Grade 1 winner and, believe it or not, Johnny Velazquez's first Grade 1 winner.”

Turk Passer also provided Shanley with his first of two trips to the Breeders' Cup before being retired in 1997 with eight wins and $735,320 in purse earnings. Velazquez has gone on to a Hall of Fame riding career that includes nearly 6,300 wins and a record $431.4 million in purses earned.

Shanley won another Grade 1 in the 2003 Sword Dancer at Saratoga with Whitmore's Conn, a horse he co-owned with his wife and named for both of their mothers. Whitmore's Conn also won the Bowling Green (G3) in 2002 and 2003 and retired with seven wins from 28 starts and a bankroll of $740,426.

“Whitmore is my mother's maiden name and Conn was Lyn's mother's maiden name, so Whitmore's Conn was the choice,” Shanley said. “Lyn's mom passed away a number of years ago at the age of 99 and my mother is still living by herself and taking care of herself in Bradenton at almost 97.”

Other top horses for Shanley have included Stormy Len, second in the Secretariat (G1) and third in the Northern Dancer (G1) in 2013 for he and Leveen; Grade 3-placed Freedom Rings, who ran in the inaugural 2008 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf; 2006 New York-bred stakes winner Peg's Prayer, named after Shanley's late aunt and godmother; and fellow six-figure earners Dubliner and Aussie Prayer.

In 2002, when Leveen dispersed his bloodstock holdings and gave them the mare Dana's Wedding, the Shanleys began making the transition into breeding. They continue to own Wishful Splendor, a Grade 3-placed mare who was retired after winning her final start, the then-ungraded Suwannee River Handicap in 2004 at Gulfstream.

“We really shifted from focusing on the yearling sales and 2-year-old sales to a breeding program. That's what we've been focused on the last number of years. Nova Rags is a product of that program, which takes longer to develop than driving to Keeneland and buying a horse,” Shanley said. “We have a 2-year-old Nyquist filly with Niall Brennan in Ocala and a yearling More Than Ready colt who's with Sarah Sutherland at Indian Creek Farm in Kentucky.

“To me, it's more interesting because you get the opportunity to race or purchase a mare, hopefully with a pedigree that will carry on,” he added. “Then you have decisions every year on how you want to breed the mare. You get the most beautiful colt or filly in the world every spring, which is great fun. You watch them grow up and eventually, hopefully, get to the racetrack and do well.”

Nova Rags was consigned to Keeneland's 2019 September yearling sale but did not meet his $275,000 reserve. The Shanleys plan to be at Gulfstream Saturday to cheer on their young star and continue a lifelong love affair.

“My mother and father bought a horse for me, a riding pony, when I was 4. Since then I've been in love with horses,” Shanley said. “It transitioned from a 4-year-old having a riding pony to the Florida Derby on Saturday. A small step of 70 years.”

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Baffert: Spielberg Has To Get Away From The Gate Well In Florida Derby

A mix of talent, opportunity and timing has produced Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's first venture to Gulfstream Park for the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farm at Xalapa.

Baffert, the most successful trainer in Triple Crown history, will make his debut Saturday in Gulfstream Park's steppingstone to the Kentucky Derby (G1) with Spielberg, a chestnut son of Union Rags. Spielberg, who will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano in the 70th Florida Derby, won the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) on Dec. 19. In his most recent start, Spielberg finished second to Essential Quality, the 2020 2-year-old male champion, in the Southwest (G3) on Feb. 27 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

Based in Southern California, Baffert has recorded some important victories in his 21 starts at Gulfstream Park. Twenty-nine years ago, he picked up his first Breeders' Cup win with Thirty Slews in the Sprint (G1). More recently, he has won two runnings of the Pegasus World Cup (G1).

Again this year, Baffert has a deep lineup of Kentucky Derby prospects vying for qualifying points for the May 1 Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs. He said the Florida Derby, with its 170 qualifying points contested five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, fit his schedule. Though unbeaten San Felipe (G2) winner Life is Good will miss the Triple Crown while recovering from an injury that required surgery, Baffert has San Felipe runner-up Medina Spirit for the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and the first two finishers in the Rebel (G2), Concert Tour and Hozier, for the Arkansas Derby (G1).

He opted to send Spielberg to South Florida, where he will face Greatest Honour, whose three victories over the track include the Fountain of Youth (G2) and the Holy Bull (G3).

“I have all these horses and I'm going to separate them out,” Baffert said. “[Spielberg] ran well at Arkansas. Broke horribly, came on and ran second. He wasn't going to beat the winner. We'll take him down there [to Florida]. See how he ships down there and see how he stacks up. The California horses, I think, are pretty strong. Maybe I can get lucky if I can win or run second. That would be nice. But it's a tough task. We'll give it a try.”

The partnership of SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm LLC and Robert E. Masterson purchased Spielberg for $1 million as a yearling as the 2019 Keeneland September sale. He developed nicely and Baffert sent him out for his first race on Aug. 8 at Del Mar. After that second-place finish, Baffert moved him into Grade 1 company, where he was second in the Del Mar Futurity and third as the favorite in the American Pharoah. He stepped back into a maiden race to capture his first win by a neck and has been in graded stakes since. The Florida Derby will be his ninth career start, the most for any of the horses expected to be entered for the 1 1/8 miles race.

Spielberg had problems at the start of his last two races, which left him far off the early pace and compromised his chances. He was bumped at the start of the Robert Lewis (G3) on Jan. 30 and ended up fourth. In the Southwest under Martin Garcia, he was not prepared when the gates opened.

Repeating his mantra, what he typically offers in his pre-race analysis, Baffert said, “They've got to get away. To me, it's all about getting away. They've got to get away from there.” Baffert did say that Spielberg ran well in the Southwest after the poor start.

Through the years while amassing a record-tying six wins in the Kentucky Derby and a record 16 victories in the Triple Crown, Baffert has won prep races in New York, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas and New Mexico. He selected the Florida Derby for Spielberg because of its place on the calendar five weeks ahead of the Kentucky Derby, rather than four-week options.

Spielberg's sire, Union Rags, was third as the favorite in the 2012 Florida Derby. He went on to capture the Belmont Stakes (G1) and is one of the 60 winners of Triple Crown races who have competed in the Florida Derby.

According to Equibase statistics, Baffert has a 4-4-2 record in his 21 starts, all in stakes races, at Gulfstream Park and has earned $12,362,950 in purse money. Each of the victories was in a Grade 1 race. Baffert won with his first Gulfstream runner, Thirty Slews in the 1992 Breeders' Cup, and with his his most recent starter, Mucho Gusto in the 2020 Pegasus World Cup. He also won the 2001 Donn Handicap with Captain Steve and the inaugural Pegasus World Cup with Arrogate.

Prior to Arrogate's victory in 2017, the trainer's first Gulfstream starter in 10 years, Baffert reflected on Thirty Slews' victory. He said it was “just like a fairy tale race for me,” with the first Thoroughbred he had purchased – for $30,000 – as he transitioned from training Quarter Horses.

“When he hit the wire, I was up there in the box and I thought that I had reached just the pinnacle of my career,” he said, laughing. “I thought, 'Man, this is not going to get any better than this.' I had just won a Breeders' Cup Sprint. I was just jumping up and down.”

Post positions for the Florida Derby will be drawn Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. and can be viewed at GulfstreamPark.com.

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‘See How He Stacks Up’: Baffert Sending Spielberg For Florida Derby

Multiple Grade 1 stakes-placed Spielberg has joined the star cast of scheduled starters for the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farm at Xalapa March 27 at Gulfstream Park.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, the 3-year-old son of Union Rags is scheduled to clash with Holy Bull (G3) and Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G1) winner Greatest Honour in the 1 1/8-mile stakes that has produced the winners of 60 Triple Crown events.

“We'll see how he stacks up,” Baffert said Friday.

Spielberg, who is scheduled to breeze Sunday at Santa Anita before shipping to South Florida, finished second behind Eclipse champion Essential Quality in the Feb. 27 Southwest (G3) at Oaklawn Park following a poor start.

“He's a great-feeling horse,” Baffert said. “He came out of that race in great shape.”

In his 2021 debut, the Kentucky-bred colt stumbled at the start of the Robert B. Lewis (G3) at Santa Anita before finishing fourth behind Baffert-trained winner Medina Spirit.

“He needs to get away from the gate well,” said Baffert of Spielberg's chances of winning the Florida Derby.

Spielberg had a productive six-race juvenile campaign, in which he finished second in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) and third in the American Pharoah (G1) at Santa Anita before breaking is maiden in his fourth start. He went on to win the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) two starts later.

Spielberg was purchased for $1 million at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The colt is owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stable LLC, Golconda Stables, Sienna Farm LLC and Robert Masterson.

In addition to Greatest Honour and Spielberg, the Florida Derby field is likely to include Collaborate, Known Agenda, Nova Rags, Soup and Sandwich, Papetu, Quantum Leap, Jirafales and Siglioso.

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