It’s Slow Going for Winners of Derby Preps

By any standard, these are not fast horses. They may not even be very good horses. If the prep races are any indication, the slowest dry-track time in Kentucky Derby history, Donau’s 2:06 2/5 in 1910, could be in jeopardy.

There were three more Derby preps Saturday, two more favorites fell, and even the winners were more noted for their warts than their wares. Consequently, vanquished horses, horses who don’t appear to have any business in two-turn races, and horses who might be shy of graded-stakes earnings, are still sticking to the Derby trail, less than three weeks before the race.

Tapit, the winner of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, will be suspect at Churchill Downs on May 1 because he’s has had only four races overall and two this year, not much of a foundation for a gray colt who’ll be asked to scrimmage with 19 rivals over 1 1/4 miles.

The Cliff’s Edge, who finally shook the shadows with a win in the Blue Grass Stakes, has a late-running style that shouldn’t have been conducive to the speed-favoring Keeneland track, and will be even more problematic in a big field at Churchill. To win a Derby, horses such as The Cliff’s Edge need clean trips, never a given in Louisville.

The undefeated Smarty Jones, the only favorite to win Saturday, in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, may wind up the Derby favorite. That’s not a role to be embraced. Only one favorite, Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000, has won the race in the last 24 years.

None of Saturday’s winners ran 1 1/8 miles faster than 1:49 2/5, although Smarty Jones’ speed figure for the Arkansas race will be enhanced because he ran over a rain-splattered track that went from “sloppy” to a slower “muddy” late in the day. Tapit’s Wood was the slowest in nine years, over a track that was generally playing fast, and The Cliff’s Edge’s time was 2 1/5 seconds slower than the Blue Grass record.

These lackluster times are not unlike the clockings for some of the earlier Derby preps. Friends Lake’s Florida Derby time was a glacial 1:51 1/5; Castledale’s 1:49 1/5 in the Santa Anita Derby was more than two seconds slower than the race record.

Trainer Todd Pletcher cautions, however, about dismissing a class of 3-year-olds before the Triple Crown series -- the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes -- has even begun.

“It’s premature to compare any 3-year-old crop this early,” Pletcher said. “It’s better to wait until the fall, to see what they do against older horses. Then you have a better idea.”

Pletcher went into last Saturday with one definite Kentucky Derby starter -- Pollard’s Vision, winner of the Illinois Derby -- and a chance to add three contenders to the list. But now Value Plus, sixth as the favorite in the Wood, won’t run in the Derby, and Pletcher’s other hopes are marginal. Limehouse was third, beaten by 6 1/2 lengths in the Blue Grass, and Purge ran fifth in Arkansas. It seems foolhardy for Pletcher to go to Louisville with anyone besides Pollard’s Vision.

“I thought the early fractions [by Value Plus] were reasonable,” Pletcher said, “and it’s not like that they were going that fast. On the face of it, it doesn’t look like we have an excuse.... He just didn’t have that little extra down the lane.”

If there’s a positive for Master David, who was second, beaten by a half-length, by Tapit in the Wood, it’s that non-winners in New York can favorably transfer to Kentucky. Eight horses who have finished second or third in the Wood have won the Derby, including Funny Cide last year and Monarchos in 2001.

“I thought the horse ran great,” Frankel said of Master David. “I was very happy with his race. He got tired, but he hadn’t raced in two months. He’s still got something left in his tank, and he can improve between now and Kentucky. It’s the kind of year when just about anybody’s got a chance. It’s wide open, and something like post positions might make a difference. If you’re in the gate this year, you’ve got a chance.”

Churchill Downs’ money rule will determine the 20 Derby starters if there’s an overflow at the entry box. Master David was down on the list, with $58,000 in graded-stakes purses before Saturday, but he picked up $150,000 by winning a photo with Eddington for second place in the Wood. Master David’s nose left Eddington with only a $75,000 share of the purse, which means he could be crowded out of the Derby.

There are only two graded preps left before the Derby, Saturday’s $325,000 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland and the $100,000 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs April 24. Horses usually don’t run in both the Derby Trial and the Derby, because of the closeness of the races.

Smarty Jones had no graded earnings before the Arkansas Derby, but the win in the $1-million race funneled $600,000 into his account. His trainer, John Servis, and his jockey, Stewart Elliott, will be first-timers at the Derby.

“We got very little respect before we won the three races at Oaklawn,” Servis said. “It liked it when we had a no-name horse. I dread handling all the Derby hype. In fact, Lynn Whiting [trainer of 1992 Derby winner Lil E. Tee, a Pennsylvania-bred like Smarty Jones] went through this. I’ve been talking with Lynn, to see if he can help me in handling the hype.”

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Who’s Who

Possible starters in the May 1 Kentucky Derby:

*--* HORSE TRAINER JOCKEY Action This Day Richard Mandella David Flores Birdstone Nick Zito Edgar Prado Borrego Beau Greely V. Espinoza Breakaway Neil Howard R. Albarado Bride’s Best Boy Barclay Tagg Edgar Prado Capac Michael Bell Jeremy Rose Castledale Jeff Mullins J. Valdivia Jr. Eddington Mark Hennig Jerry Bailey Fire Slam David Carroll Shane Sellers Friends Lake John Kimmel R. Migliore Imperialism Kristin Mulhall K. Desormeaux Kilgowan Lonnie Arterburn Chance Rollins Limehouse Todd Pletcher Jose Santos Lion Heart Patrick Biancone Mike Smith Master David Bobby Frankel Alex Solis Minister Eric Richard Mandella V. Espinoza Mustanfar K. McLaughlin R. Migliore Pollard’s Vision Todd Pletcher Eibar Coa Preachinatthebar Bob Baffert Javier Santiago Pro Prado Bob Holthus John McKee Purge Todd Pletcher C. Velasquez Quintons Gold Rush Steve Asmussen Jerry Bailey Read The Footnotes Rick Violette Jerry Bailey Rock Hard Ten Jason Orman Gary Stevens Stv Averil Rafael Becerra Tyler Baze Sinister G John Toscano Jr. Paul Toscano Smarty Jones John Servis Stewart Elliott Song Of The Sword Jennifer Pedersen R. Migliore Suave Paul McGee Undecided The Cliff’s Edge Nick Zito Shane Sellers Tapit M. Dickinson R. Dominguez Wimbledon Bob Baffert Javier Santiago

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Triple Crown Ratings

Tribune Co. ratings for 3-year-olds leading up to the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont:

*--* Horse Trainer Jockey St W P S Last Race Next Race 1 The Nick Zito Shane 8 4 2 1 Blue Grass Kentu Cliff’s Sellers Stakes (1st) cky Edge Derby 2 Tapit Michael Ramon 4 3 0 0 Wood Memorial Kentu Dickinso Domingu (1st) cky n ez Derby 3 Smarty John Stewart 6 6 0 0 Arkansas Derby Kentu Jones Servis Elliott (1st) cky Derby 4 Master Bobby Alex 7 2 4 1 Wood Memorial Kentu David Frankel Solis cky Derby 5 Friends John Richard 5 3 0 1 Florida Derby Kentu Lake Kimmel Miglior (1st) cky e Derby 6 Read the Rick Jerry 6 5 0 0 Florida Derby Kentu Footnotes Violette Bailey (4th) cky Derby 7 Eddington Mark Edgar 5 2 2 1 Wood Memorial Kentu Hennig Prado (3rd) cky Derby 8 Lion Heart Patrick Mike 5 3 2 0 Blue Grass Kentu Biancone Smith Stakes (2nd) cky Derby 9 Kristin Victor 15 5 4 1 Santa Anita Kentu Imperialism Mulhall Espinoz Derby (2nd) cky a Derby 10 Jeff Jose 10 3 4 1 Santa Anita Kentu Castledale Mullins Valdivi Derby (1st) cky a Derby

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Triple Crown panel: Bill Christine, Los Angeles Times; Dave Joseph, South Florida Sun-Sentinel; Tom Keyser, Baltimore Sun; Neil Milbert, Chicago Tribune; Paul Moran, Newsday.