Colonel John is Santa Anita Derby favorite
Colonel John was installed as the early 2-1 favorite in a field of 11 that was set Wednesday for Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, a Grade I race at 1 1/8 miles that has produced 35 Triple Crown race winners, including 15 in the Kentucky Derby.
If all 11 start in the 71st running of the Santa Anita Derby, the field size will match 2005 as the largest since 13 ran in 1981.
Eoin Harty-trained Colonel John, to be ridden by Corey Nakatani, will start from post position No. 5. In post position No. 8 will be second choice El Gato Malo (5-2) with David Flores in the saddle. Colonel John beat El Gato Malo by half a length in the Grade III Sham Stakes on March 1.
The Santa Anita Derby will be the sixth of 11 races to be run Saturday on a card that begins at noon and includes three other graded stakes races.
The Derby, with an approximate post time of 2:30 p.m., will be televised nationally by NBC as part of a one-hour program beginning at 2 p.m. Also included in NBC’s coverage will be two other Kentucky Derby prep races -- the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in New York and the Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Race Course.
Two other horses that are considered contenders in the Santa Anita Derby are Yankee Bravo at 4-1 and Bob Black Jack at 6-1. Yankee Bravo, who drew post No. 1, will be ridden by Alex Solis. Bob Black Jack, starting from the No. 4 slot, will be ridden by Richard Migliore.
Bob Black Jack had been preparing for the Arkansas Derby to be run April 12 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. But when Georgie Boy, who would have been among the favorites in the Santa Anita Derby, was sidelined because of a pulled back muscle, 33-year-old trainer Jim Kasparoff entered Bob Black Jack.
The top two riders in Santa Anita’s standings do not have mounts in the Santa Anita Derby. Garrett Gomez, who took over the lead while Rafael Bejarano was sidelined, has left Southern California to ride at Kentucky’s Keeneland Racetrack in a meet that begins Friday.
Bejarano, who suffered two cracked vertebrae in a spill at Santa Anita on March 13, has recovered and will ride Santa Anita Handicap winner Heatseeker for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer in the Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday in Arkansas. He’ll be back at Santa Anita on Sunday, when he is scheduled to ride Glorified for Ron Ellis in the Las Flores Handicap and Rockella for Hollendorfer in the Valentine Dancer Handicap.
Saturday’s card includes the Grade II, $200,000 Potrero Grande Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs, the Grade II, $150,000 Arcadia Handicap and the Grade II, $100,000 Providencia Stakes at one mile on turf.
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The field
Sixth race on Saturday’s 11-race card. Approximate post time: 2:30 p.m. 1 1/8 miles on all-weather track. 3-year-olds. All starters will carry 122 pounds. Purse: $750,000 guaranteed. TV: Channel 4.
*--* PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS 1 Yankee Bravo Alex Solis Paddy Gallagher 4-1 2 Signature Move Michael Baze Eric Guillot 30-1 3 Coast Guard Joe Talamo David Hofmans 20-1 4 Bob Black Jack Richard Migliore Jim Kasparoff 6-1 5 Colonel John Corey Nakatani Eoin Harty 2-1 6 On The Virg Tyler Baze Todd Pletcher 15-1 7 Shore Do Chantal Sutherland Brian Koriner 20-1 8 El Gato Malo David Flores Craig Dollase 5-2 9 Polonius Victor Espinoza Michael Pender 30-1 10 Meetingwithdestiny Joel Rosario Doug O’Neill 30-1 11 Rosso Corsa Alonso Quinonez Darrell Vienna 50-1 *--*
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