Curlin starting to look like a Derby favorite

Whether Curlin wins the Kentucky Derby on May 5 remains to be seen, but the lightly raced son of Street Cry might very well be favored in the world’s most famous race.

Remaining unchallenged in three starts, Curlin, the 4-5 choice, rolled to a 10 1/2 -length victory in the $1-million Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

This anticipated victory materialized about 80 minutes after Dominican, an 8-1 shot, had surprised 2-year-old champion Street Sense and five others in the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

Purchased for more than $3 million after his 12 3/4 -length debut win on Feb. 3 at Gulfstream Park, Curlin followed his romping score in the Rebel with another in the Arkansas Derby. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Curlin, ridden by Robby Albarado, ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.09.

Looking for his third consecutive victory, Street Sense, who is trying to become the first Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner to win the Kentucky Derby, was defeated by a nose by Dominican, an El Corredor gelding and synthetic surface specialist.

Owned by Silverton Hill LLC and trained by Darrin Miller, Dominican has earned all three of his wins on Polytrack at either Keeneland or Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. He is winless in four starts on conventional dirt, which is the surface at Churchill Downs, where the Derby is run.

In a Grade I stakes race that featured an extremely slow pace -- the first six furlongs were run in 1:16.65 -- Zanjero, a 7-1 shot, finished a head back in third and Teuflesberg, who was the early leader, was another head back in fourth.

The disappointment in the race was the Doug O’Neill-trained Great Hunter, who finished fifth as the 9-5 second choice. He had won the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland in his first start over the Polytrack on Oct. 7.

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The racing future of Notional, one of four 3-year-olds O’Neill was pointing toward the Kentucky Derby, is in doubt after the California-bred suffered a fractured cannon bone in his left front leg while exercising Saturday morning at Keeneland.

The In Excess son, who is owned by Paul Reddam, is scheduled to undergo surgery this morning in Lexington, Ky. The injury is not considered life threatening, but when or if he returns to racing is unclear.

Notional, purchased for $235,000 at the Barretts’ March sale in 2006, finished second behind Scat Daddy in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in his most recent start March 31.

He had won his first two starts of the year, the San Rafael at Santa Anita and the Risen Star at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

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Golden Balls, a 7-1 shot, rallied furiously in the final sixteenth of a mile to edge favored Desert Code in the $108,300 La Puente Stakes at Santa Anita. Earlier in the day, Ballado’s Thunder, who was also 7-1, took the $79,550 Santa Lucia Handicap.

bob.mieszerski@latimes.com