Spend a Buck Has a Fast Workout in the Mud

Spend a Buck worked a half-mile in a blazing :45 1/5 on a muddy track Friday, then drew the No. 5 post position out of nine horses who’ll run Monday in the $1-million Jersey Derby at Garden State Park.

No matter who wins, first place is worth $600,000, but it would be a $2.6-million payday for Spend a Buck, who is eligible for a $2 million bonus offered by Garden State after winning the Cherry Hill Mile, the Garden State Stakes and the Kentucky Derby.

Spend a Buck will be ridden for the first time in a race by Laffit Pincay, who flew here to work the 3-year-old colt, then left immediately afterward to catch a plane so he could ride Friday afternoon at Hollywood Park.

The Jersey Derby field, in order of post position and with jockey’s names in parentheses:

Creme Fraiche (Eddie Maple), Bolting Holme (Herb McCauley), Skip Trial (Chris Antley), Purple Mountain (Tony Graell), Spend a Buck (Pincay), I Am the Game (Donnie Miller), Ah So Tony (Declan Murphy), El Basco (Robbie Davis) and Huddle Up (Darrel McHargue).

The Garden State linemaker has installed Spend a Buck as a 3-5 favorite, followed by the entry of Purple Mountain and El Basco at 4-1, and Creme Fraiche at 5-1. Clear weather is forecast for the Memorial Day weekend, and a fast track is likely Monday.