March 19 (UPI) -- Saturday's Louisiana Derby kicks off the final round of prep races for the May 1 Kentucky Derby and also tops a very nice program of racing at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
There's also a very nice program Saturday in Australia, including the rich Golden Slipper for 2-year-olds and a showdown between local star Verry Elleegant and British raider Addeybb -- a veritable "spellcheck match race."
Sha Tin Racecourse hosts a wide-open renewal of the historic BMW Hong Kong Derby, while the 3-year-old sorting process continues in Japan.
Starting, though, with the U.S. 3-year-olds, we have ...
The Road to the Roses
Saturday's $1 million Grade II TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby kicks off the final round of preliminaries for the Run for the Roses. The winner gets 100 points on the "Road to the Kentucky Derby" rankings, so the race almost certainly will send at least one starter to Louisville.
The most likely are the first three finishers from the Grade II Risen Star five weeks earlier -- Mandaloun, Proxy and Midnight Bourbon.
Mandaloun, an Into Mischief Colt trained by Brad Cox, is 3-for-4 with a third-place finish in the local Grade III Lecomte in January the only blot on the record. He won the Risen Star by 1 1/4 lengths after a nice stalking trip and is the morning-line favorite for Saturday's race.
Proxy, a Tapit colt, also used a mild late move to take second in the Risen Star, 1/2 length in front of Midnight Bourbon, a son of Tiznow. O Besos pressed the pace and finished well back of the first three but returns, hoping to improve.
Trainer Brad Cox added blinkers to Mandaloun's equipment between the Lecomte and the Risen Star, but said that was only one factor in the colt's improvement.
"More than anything, it was just the experience of having the race going two turns under his belt," Cox said. "I think the blinkers did help out."
Mike Stidham also went the blinkers route for Proxy, but not until after the Risen Star, and sang from the same songbook as Cox.
"I felt like the works with blinkers, in company, he was definitely a little handier for the rider and more focused," Stidham said.
"We're finally getting these horses at our game. Without a doubt, the 1 3/16 miles is a big help. I'm welcoming the added distance and I'm hoping things go well here and then we get even more distance in Kentucky."
Midnight Bourbon's trainer, Steve Asmussen, noted his colt won the Lecomte and lauded the three-race competition at Fair Grounds.
"I've always thought those three were very serious 3-year-olds, not just at the Fair Grounds but they are as good a prospect as you want to be around," said Asmussen, whose far-flung empire has horses all over the country. "And I don't think they've done nothing to change anybody's opinion of that."
An early indicator might come in the form of the newcomer in the eight-colt field -- Hot Rod Charlie. The Leandro Mora trainee, a son of Oxbow, took four tries to get his first win, then finished second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
He started this year with a third in the Grade III Robert B. Lewis at his home base of Santa Anita so his performance might give an idea how the New Orleans Derby contenders stack up against the West Coast contingent.
The other three entrants for the Louisiana Derby look overmatched but, as the man said, they run these races for a reason. Run Classic, for example, comes off a maiden win, and has yet to beat winners. But, the same statement applies to Hot Rod Charlie.
Emphasizing the importance of the remaining races, the Louisiana Derby begins NBC-TV's "Road to the Kentucky Derby" coverage, to be followed by the Florida Derby next week, the Wood Memorial, Blue Grass and Santa Anita Derby on April 3 and the Arkansas Derby on April 10. The only thing missing is the March 27 UAE Derby in Dubai.
And, as we approach crunch time, it's a good time to see what ace analyst and industry insider Jude Feld things about things at popejude.com. This week's analysis covers Fair Grounds and Santa Anita.
The Road to the Oaks
Saturday's $400,000 Grade II TwinSpires.com Fair Grounds Oaks features the exacta from last month's Grade II Rachel Alexandra -- Clairiere and Travel Column.
In the race before the Rachel Alexandra, the Grade II Golden Rod at Churchill Downs, those two also make up the exacta, but in the inverse order. Clairiere, a Curlin Filly, is trained by Steve Asmussen. Travel Column, by Frosted, is handled by Brad Cox.
Potential upsetters are Obligatory, a late-developing Curlin filly coming off a maiden win at Gulfstream Park, and Zaajal, a daughter of Street Sense who stretches out after winning the 7-furlongs Forward Gal, also at Gulfstream. Zaajal is a Shadwell homebred; Obligatory, a Juddmonte homebred.
Classic
Saturday's $400,000 Grade II New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds drew a well-matched, quality field with lots of ways to go. Owendale looks for his first win in a while in his second race back from a vacation.
Roadster, previously trained out west by Bob Baffert, now is in the hands of Mike Stidham and has been working well over the Fair Grounds strip. Captivating Moon, who jumped up to win the Grade III Fair Grounds Stakes on the turf at odds of 43-1, is in here but cross-entered in the grassy Muniz Memorial for trainer Chris Block.
The field also includes a couple who chased Maxfield home in the Grade III Mineshaft -- but not the winner himself.
Sprint
Saturday's $150,000 Gazebo for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn Park got six takers, most of whom seem to have legitimate chances to take home the winner's share.
Cazadero, a Street Sense colt, won the Grade III Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs last June, then finished fifth in the Grade II Saratoga Special in August and hasn't been seen since.
The Steve Asmussen charge is, nonetheless, the 9-5 favorite on the morning line. Others to watch include Maryland Juvenile Futurity winner Jaxon Traveler, Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile winner Sir Wellington and Clever Trevor Stakes winner Game Day Play.
Turf
Colonel Liam, winner of the Grade I Pegasus World Cup Invitational Turf in his last start, is the featured attraction in Saturday's $300,000 Grade II Muniz Memorial Classic at Fair Grounds.
The 4-year-old Liam's Map colt has won three of his last four starts and appears to have a cozy spot here. As noted, Captivating Moon may run back from his upset win in the Fair Grounds Stakes. Ditton the two who followed him in that event.
Olympic Runner also has been in good form for some time now. Don't overlook Pixelate, who had a flat run in the Pegasus but can do better than that.
Saturday's $100,000 Grade III San Luis Rey at Santa Anita has a field of five with United as the prohibitive favorite. The 6-year-old son of Giant's Causeway was eighth in the Longines Breeders's Cup Turf in his last outing.
Before that, though, he was first or second in seven straight races, all graded stakes, including a second in the 2019 Breeders' Cup. Say the Word and Masteroffoxhounds would be ready to step up if United should falter.
Filly & Mare Turf
The top four finishers from the Al Stall Memorial -- Dalika, Temple City Terror, Pass the Plate and Joy Epifora -- return to contest Saturday's $100,000 Tom Benson Memorial at Fair Grounds. Several of the newcomers look promising but Dalika's resume is more imposing, if a bit spotty.
Turf Sprint
Saturday's $100,000 Costa Rising Stakes at Fair Ground has 14 starters, most of them veterans, going 5 1/2 furlongs on the lawn. The ages range up to 10-year-old Win Lion Win and 8-year-old Monte Man.
Among them, they have made 322 starts -- unless we burned out the calculator batteries doing addition. No Parole, a 4-year-old Violence colt, has been competing in
Around the world, around the clock:
Hong Kong
The picture for Sunday's BMW Hong Kong Derby was clouded when a trio of long shots -- Healthy Happy, Russian Emperor and Shadow Hero -- rolled home 1-2-3 in the Hong Kong Classic Cup Feb. 21. It's not any clearer as the big day approaches.
The Classic Cup is the middle leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic series culminating in the Derby itself. The favorites in that event, Tourbillon Diamond, Excellent Proposal and Sky Darci, reported fifth, fourth and seventh, respectively. All of them return for the Derby.
The distances increase as the series goes along, from a mile to 1,800 meters to the 2,000 meters of the Derby, adding to the uncertainty.
Happy Healthy was seventh in the Hong Kong Classic Mile, then went to the post at odds of 23-1 in the Classic Cup and led all the way, holding off Russian Emperor and Shadow Hero by a pair of noses.
Russian Emperor, a Galileo colt formerly trained by Aidan O'Brien, finished seventh in the Investec Derby and won the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot.
He has yet to win in three starts in Hong Kong but jockey Karis Teetan said the Classic Cup finish showed the colt is ready to rock and roll going 2,000 meters.
Sky Darci has been promising all through the series but a combination of factors kept him from delivering as he finished sixth in the first leg and seventh, after being caught up in traffic, in the Classic Cup.
"He was held up the other day over 1,800 [meters] and wasn't full tested and he got beaten a couple of lengths," trainer Caspar Fownes said of Sky Darci. "So, with the extra furlong, if it works out good, he could run a nice race for us."
On one thing, the participants agree.
"On paper, it's obviously quite a competitive Derby this year. There's probably seven winning chances, really," Fownes said.
Neil Callan, who will ride long chance Packing Waltham, said, "Obviously, it's a very open race."
John Size, who will saddle three, had the same message, with some deeper perspective.
"There's a big group of horses in this race that have similar ratings. "They're all in very good form and I think just the circumstances on the day will determine the winner," Size said.
"I wouldn't be degrading these horses. I just think there is a number of very good horses in the race that just happen to be evenly matched. That's the difference," Size added.
Australia
Another big, big day in New South Wales with the Longines Golden Slipper for 2-year-olds leading a quintet of Group 1 events at Rosehill Gardens.
The Golden Slipper gets the glory as a showcase for potential stars of the future but the Ranvet has a couple stars of today. The form could be clouded by turf saturated by days of rain.
Only five signed on for the 2,000-meter Ranvet, but among them we find both Verry Elleegant and Addeybb.
Last year's Caulfield Cup winner, Verry Elleegant, comes off a victory in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes.
Addeybb returns to Australia, where the 7-year-old William Haggis trainee won this race and the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Cup last year. He makes his first start since winning the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot last October, defeating Magical, Serpentine and some other good ones.
Before that, he won the Doonside Cup at Ayr by 3/4 length over Lord Glitters, who projects as one of the favorites for the Group 1 Dubai Turf on World Cup night March 27. If, as expected, the track is deep and testing, Addeybb should feel right at home.
The others in the Ranvet are Master of Wine, Prince Fawaz and Nettoyer, and good luck to them.
As for the Golden Slipper, it's never easy to sort out the youngsters, especially in a 16-horse field like this one. The early support has been for Profiteer and Stay Inside with additional money on Artorius and Four Moves ahead.
Lion's Roar looks a likely chance in the Skyracing Active Rosehill Guineas at 2,000 meters. The Contributor gelding exits a 1 1/4-length victory over Mo'unga in the Randwick Guineas on March 6 and faces that one again, along with 11 others.
The Agency George Ryder is 1,500 meters, with Kolding and Arcadia Queen the top-rated in a field of 11.
Arcadia Queen, a 5-yaer-old Pierro mare, exits a second behind Probabeel in the Group 1 Futurity. Avilius gets support after a third in the Chipping Norton.
The Galaxy goes at 1,100 meters with several given roughly equal chances. Last year's Golden Slipper winner, Farnan, was to have competed in the Galaxy but, instead, was retired earlier in the week.
The Down Under Fest opens Friday at The Valley with the Group 1 William Reid Stakes, another 1,200-meter test, but this one for 3-year-olds and up, weight-for-age. A half dozen or more have attracted antepost action.
Dubai
The Dubai Racing Club has announced the "expected fields" for the $12 million Group 1 Dubai World Cup and its supporting races, set for March 27.
As usual, the eight Thoroughbred races on the program have a very international flavor, with runners representing 10 jurisdictions from Uruguay to Germany, France and Japan.
A solid U.S. contingent is led by Mystic Guide, Jesus' Team and Title Ready in the Cup itself and Channel Maker in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic at 1 1/2 miles on the grass.
The sprint events, one on the grass and the other on the dirt course, are well-subscribed with U.S., Japanese and local runners.
Of particular interest is the Group 2 UAE Derby, which is a 100-point race in the Churchill Downs "Road to the Kentucky Derby" leaderboard. There are two U.S.-based runners, Ambivalent and serious contenders from Uruguay, Japan and Sheik Mohammed's Godolphin home team.
