Bob Hill
Staff writer
Tracksideview.com

From now until the running of the 136^th Kentucky Derby on May 1, we will provide a look back at the prep races for this year’s crop of three-year-olds to see which ones are becoming contenders and which ones are looking more and more like pretenders.  With the running of six stakes races for three-year-olds this past weekend we have plenty to talk about this week.

Grade 2 Fountain of Youth

The decision to move the Fountain of Youth to late February and to lengthen the race to 1 1/8 miles deserves praise from the fans of thoroughbred racing.  The race now becomes a very important prep race for the Florida Derby, and on Saturday Eskendereya became the first three-year-old to turn in a performance that will capture the attention of Derbyphiles.  He stalked a reasonable pace and ran away from highly regarded Jackson Bend to win by more than eight lengths.  His pedigree suggests that he can make all of the Triple Crown distances.  He is one of at least five in the barn of Todd Pletcher that seems certain to start in the Derby barring injury or setback.

Jackson Bend and Aikenite finished second and third respectively in the Fountain of Youth.  Robert LaPenta paid big money for Jackson Bend in the hopes of landing a Triple Crown threat.  He is not royally bred, but Jackson Bend will have the graded earnings to make the field on May 1.  He looks more and more like one to fill out exotic tickets.  Saturday was a resurrection for Aikenite, one that most likely would have slipped off the trail had he not done as well as he did.  He has second- and third-place money in three graded stakes now, so he may be on the earnings bubble come Derby time.  If he makes the field, he is one of those that I will use to round out my vertical bets.

Buddy’s Saint was the post-time favorite in the Fountain of Youth, and his day ended the moment he broke a step slow.  Aikenite, drawn inside Buddy’s Saint, got away well and was among the first to get to the clubhouse turn positioned in the second lane from the rail.  As three horses drawn to the far outside (Positive Split, Eskendereya, and Lost Aptitude) raced to the front of the field the ones drawn in the middle were squeezed down toward the rail.  Jockey Jose Lezcano quickened Buddy’s Saint in the hope of at least drawing along side of Aikenite in the turn, but that one moved toward the rail causing the two to bump, contact that ended up putting Buddy’s Saint against the rail.  Shuffled back to mid-pack at that point, Buddy’s Saint’s day was over for all practical purposes.

I was prepared to suggest that we all evaluate Buddy’s Saint on Saturday by how well he ran rather than by what his finish was.  Given what happened to him in that first turn, we have no information on which to base any conclusions.  I am going to give him a pass on this race and hope that he sustained no injuries.  Such is not the case for Pulsion, however.  He was the lone horse in the field to pass another in the stretch, but that move still brought him only to a soundly beaten sixth place.  He is on my list of pretenders.

Grade 2 Risen Star

I’ll start with the pretenders in the Risen Star.  I was one who did not get excited by Ron the Greek’s win in the LeComte.  Maximus Ruler would have won that race in my opinion had he run anything other than those suicidal opening six furlongs. In the Risen Star, the pace was moderate at best, and Ron the Greek finished sixth.

Drosselmeyer jumped onto the list of hopefuls last month when he won an allowance race at Gulfstream at nine furlongs.  He had every opportunity on Saturday to close on the leaders in the Risen Star but did not do so.  I guess we could agree that he needs maximum distance to be at his best, but he will have to do something spectacular now in order to get the graded earnings he needs to make the Derby field.  Stay Put finished one spot behind Drosselmeyer and falls into the same category.  Time is slipping away for these two.

Tempted to Tapit was facing winners for the first time in the Risen Star, and he impressed me.  Considering the class rise, his game second-place finish suggests that big things are in his future.  The farther they go the more dangerous he should be.  Winner Discreetly Mine is another trained by Todd Pletcher that stamped his Derby ticket with his win on Saturday.  Many had insisted that he would improve with added distance.  Going two turns for the first time, he led every step of the way, and if his connections decide that he will return to New Orleans he will be the likely favorite in the Louisiana Derby in March.

Grade 3 Southwest

They had to wait an extra five days to run this race, the first of three Oak Lawn graded stakes for three-year-olds.  Conveyance shipped in from California for trainer Bob Baffert, and rewarded that decision by remaining undefeated.  He gives Baffert at least one other good one to go with Lookin At Lucky, and he joins some other good three-year-olds that should make the pace scenario on Derby Day very interesting.  I always grade descendants of Holy Bull a notch up on the Churchill Downs surface.

Wayne Lukas continues to sing the praises of Dublin, and if the Southwest is any indication the venerable Hall of Fame trainer is telling us the truth.  Dublin closed very well in the short stretch of the Southwest, and as the distances get longer he may really turn out to be a good one. With his medical issues behind him, this son of Afleet Alex could make some waves.

At the other end of the spectrum we must wonder what happened to Dryfly.  He had looked quite good wiring the field in the Smarty Jones back in January, but on Saturday he was denied the lead and never threatened.  He looks much like a one dimensional horse.

Grade 3 El Camino Real

There was only one horse in this race that most handicappers were watching as a Derby hopeful.  Connemara, a stone cold closer, settled at the very back of the field through dawdling fractions and still closed for the win.  He did not beat many that will be confused with California’s top three-year-olds.  My guess is that he will turn up in the Santa Anita Derby and answer our further questions.

Grade 3 Hutcheson

Trainer Rick Dutrow has said all along that he is anxious to stretch D’Funnybone out around two turns.  The son of D’wildcat showed on Saturday that he is a top sprinter, and the time appears to be now to find out if he can make a route of ground.  Dutrow does not have a great deal of time with which to experiment, but for now D’Funnybone has to be on our list of good ones.

A Little Warm finished second in the Hutcheson, but at no time during the stretch run did he make anyone believe he would overtake D’Funnybone.  For now he stays a sprinter in my eyes.

Turf Paradise Derby

There were no true Derby hopefuls in this race.  Baffert’s entry was upset by long shot Dixie Commander.  No more needs explaining from this affair.

Top Ten

Lookin At Lucky, Eskendereya, Caracortado, Discreetly Mine, Rule, Conveyance, Sidney’s Candy, Buddy’s Saint, Super Saver, Tempted to Tapit