Excavate Makes 3-Year-Old Debut Thursday

Excavate, one of the future-book favorites for the Kentucky Derby, will make his debut as a 3-year-old on Thursday at Santa Anita, running against five opponents in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance race.

The Sands Resort and Casino lists Fly So Free, the champion 2-year-old colt in 1990, as the Derby favorite at 7-1 and next on the list, at 8-1, are Excavate and Best Pal, both California-based horses.

Excavate worked Tuesday morning in a speedy :33 3/5 for three-eighths of a mile. Winner of his only start as a 2-year-old, he is returning to action after suffering a minor foot injury.

Excavate’s rivals are Avenue of Flags, Shame On Tally, Pillaging, Iron Pleasure and Captain Raj.

With a $562,482 carryover, Santa Anita is required to pay out all but $250,000 of the Pick Nine pool today, providing no bettor picks all nine winners on the card.

If there are tickets with all nine winners, the entire Pick Nine pool will be distributed, and Santa Anita officials are estimating that this could amount to $1 million.

Santa Anita’s Pick Nine rules call for a mandatory payout when the pool reaches $500,000. If no one sweeps the card, 70% of the pool, minus the $250,000 reserve, is paid out to the tickets with the highest number of winners and 15% is paid to two tiers of bettors with the next highest total of winners.

Today’s stake is the Monrovia Handicap. Linda Card, at 118 pounds, is the high weight in a field of 12.