Derby Picture Clouded After Preps

The road to the 125th Kentucky Derby is as congested as ever after the final three important prep races were run Saturday. The results--a longshot winning at Keeneland, a maiden winning at Oaklawn Park and trainer Nick Zito’s third string winning at Aqueduct--are not likely to scare many horses away from Churchill Downs on May 1.

In about an hour’s time, hopes soared and dipped. At Keeneland, jockey Pat Day, turning down two other horses that seemed to have better chances, won the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes with Menifee while the Florida Derby winner, Vicar, settled for third place. At Oaklawn, Dallas Keen, who disbanded his California stable less than two years ago, won the $500,000 Arkansas Derby with Valhol, who had been winless in two starts. At Aqueduct, Adonis shook off a dull Florida Derby effort to win the $600,000 Wood Memorial, making the glass half-filled for Zito, who stayed at Keeneland to watch favored Wondertross finish a disappointing sixth.

At Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert watched these Derby preliminaries with a special interest. Baffert will ship his 1-2 finishers in the Santa Anita Derby to Churchill Downs Tuesday, with either General Challenge or stablemate Prime Timber likely to be favored in the Kentucky Derby.

“I don’t want to be favored,” Baffert said. “That was the method to my madness the last two years, sneaking in the back door. I think the favorite will be the trainer who does the most talking between now and post time.”

Baffert, hoping to become the first trainer to win the Derby three consecutive years, has won with Silver Charm and Real Quiet, who were second in the Santa Anita Derby. Another reason to run away from the favorite’s role is that the public choice hasn’t won a Derby since Spectacular Bid in 1979.

Baffert is still not closing the door on running his filly, Silverbulletday, in the Derby. His other choice with her is the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill the day before the Derby.

“We’ll get there and see what happens,” Baffert said. “The races have been run, but a lot can still happen, training-wise, the next few weeks. She sure loves Churchill. But I think for me to run her, one of her jockeys--Jerry Bailey or Gary Stevens--would have to step up and say it’s a good idea.”

Baffert might be in the minority in thinking that this Derby will draw less than a capacity field of 20 horses.

“I don’t think there’ll be that many,” he said. “I think a lot of Derby fever temperatures went down after [Saturday].”

Sidelined for six months while a knee chip mended, Menifee made his debut as a 3-year-old three weeks ago and finished second at 2-5 to Pineaff in the Tampa Bay Derby.

“I twisted [Day’s] arm on the way home from Florida and he stayed with the horse,” trainer Elliott Walden said after Menifee’s late-running, 1 1/4-length win over Cat Thief in the Blue Grass. Vicar was third, beaten by less than two lengths. Prado’s Landing, who came from Dubai to run in his first official race this year, was close to the leaders early before finishing last in the eight-horse field.

Prado’s Landing had finished far behind two stablemates, Worldly Manner and Aljabr, in a trial race in Dubai several weeks ago. Worldly Manner and Aljabr are still Derby candidates, but Michael Osborne, a spokesman for the Maktoum family’s Goldolpin Stable, seemed generally downcast after the Blue Grass.

“This sets us back for sure,” Osborne said. “Luckily, our other two horses back there are better. But you subtract the lengths they beat Prado’s Landing in the trial and the lengths (21 1/4) he finished behind the winner [Saturday], and you can see it’s not even close. The other two are fit enough, although Aljabr needs more work than Worldly Manner right now. The question is whether they’re good enough.”

One of Menifee’s owners is the colt’s breeder, Arthur B. Hancock III, who has won the Derby with Gato Del Sol and Sunday Silence. Menifee’s time for 1 1/8 miles was 1:48 3/5. He paid $17.40 as the fifth choice.

Day’s other options were Cat Thief and Answer Lively, who was fifth under Alex Solis as the second choice in the Arkansas Derby.

“I thought this colt had more room for improvement than the others I’ve been riding,” Day said. “I thought maybe the others had already peaked.”

The loudest groans after Valhol’s $62.80 win in Arkansas came from Barry Irwin and Jeff Siegel of the Team Valor outfit, which turned down a chance to buy the son of Diazo, the 1994 Strub Stakes winner, a few weeks ago. The asking price for Valhol was $350,000, but Team Valor passed because X-rays showed that the colt had a chip in one of his knees.

Before Saturday, Valhol’s only starts, both at the Fair Grounds, produced a second-place finish against maidens and a fourth in the Louisiana Derby. Under Billy Patin, Valhol was second until he opened up on the far turn. He beat Certain by 4 1/2 lengths in 1:49 1/5, with Torrid Sand, at 36-1, running third and favored Ecton Park finishing fourth.

Zito, who has won the Derby twice, will probably have three starters at Churchill. He said Wondertross deserves another chance, and Adonis will be joined by Stephen Got Even, winner of the Gallery Furniture Stakes at Turfway Park.

Ridden by Jorge Chavez, Adonis ran with blinkers for the first time and hit the wire in 1:47 2/5, two-fifths of a second off the Aqueduct record, but over a track that had already produced two time records earlier on the card. Adonis, paying $8.40, finished two lengths ahead of Best Of Luck, who won’t run in the Derby. Cliquot, the pacesetter from California, was third, beaten by 3 3/4 lengths, and favored Badge ran fourth.

This was Adonis’ third win--and his first in a stake--in six starts.

“Horses run differently on different tracks,” Baffert said. “So you don’t know who’ll show up the next time. They can run great today, but you never know about tomorrow.”

Horse Racing Notes

At Santa Anita, Fighting Falcon, next to last in the San Felipe, returned to grass and won the La Puente Stakes. . . . Eddie Delahoussaye won a race on a day that he was honored with a winner’s-circle ceremony. . . . Kelly Kip won Aqueduct’s Bold Ruler Handicap, running six furlongs in 1:07 2/5 as he broke the record he set in the same stake last year.