Kentucky Derby Blog

The following is career earnings in graded stakes races for contenders for the Kentucky Derby as of 3/22/2010.

Mission Impazible, a Todd Pletcher-trained colt, pulled ahead just past the sixteenth pole to win his first race as a 3-year-old in the $750,000 Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds on Saturday.

Ridden by Rajiv Maragh and starting from the second post at 7-1 odds, he covered the 1 1-8-mile course in 1:50.32 on a dry and fast track.

A Little Warm, trained by Tony Dutrow, held on for second, three-quarters of a length behind the winner and a neck in front of third-place finisher Drosselmeyer.

Mission Impazible paid $16.20, $7.20 and $5. A Little Warm paid $8.60 and 5.80. Drosselmeyer, which started from the 13th post, paid $4.20.

Ice Box, a 20-1 long shot, rallied from last entering the final turn to win the $750,000 Florida Derby by a nose over Pleasant Prince, another long shot, at Gulfstream Park.

Trained by two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Nick Zito and ridden by Jose Lezcano, Ice Box earned $450,000 for the victory and will likely make his next start in the May 1 Kentucky Derby. Ice Box covered the 1 1-8th mile in 1:49.19.

Ice Box, who came into the Florida Derby off a fifth-place finish Feb. 20 in the Fountain of Youth, returned $43.40, $20.40 and $9.60. Pleasant Prince, a 25-1 long shot, paid $26.40 and $11.60 while Rule returned $3.40.

Ice Box was purchased by owned Robert LaPenta at auction as a yearling for $125,000. The colt has now won three of seven career starts.

Watch the race replay!

Saturday’s $750,000 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park stages a field of 11 contenders all looking to prep for their chances in Kentucky come May 1.

The morning line favorite is No. 7 Rule at 5-2, who has won his last four races and continues to increase distance for trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez.

Florida Derby is the 11th race and the post time is 6:20 pm. Check out the contenders and Morning Line odds.

The following is career earnings in graded stakes races for contenders for the Kentucky Derby as of 3/16/2010.

Odysseus rallied from between horses in deep stretch Saturday to win the $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby by a nose over Schoolyard Dreams.

Trained by Thomas Albertrani and ridden by Rajiv Maragh, Odysseus covered the 1 1-16th mile in 1:44.31 while winning by a head bob at the finish line. It was the closest finish in the Tampa Bay Derby’s 30 runnings.

Odysseus paid $6.00, $3.40 and $2.40. Schoolyard Dreams paid $5.00 and $2.80 and Super Saver paid $2.40.

Bred in Kentucky by Haymarket Farm and Lakemont Stable, Odysseus is out of the winning Conquistador Cielo mare Persimmon Hill. He is a half brother to multiple stakes winner Once Around.

Crisp won the Santa Anita Oaks 2010. Crisp ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.50, outfinishing pacesetter All Due Respect by a neck. Blind Luck, the 2-5 favorite, closed from last on the backstretch to finish a neck behind All Due Respect.

Sent off the 5-1 third choice in the seven-horse field, Crisp paid $13.60, $8 and $2.80 while starting the $1 exotics worth $47.80 (exacta), $99.20 (trifecta) and $644.80 (2-4-5-6 superfecta). All Due Respect gave back $8.20 and $3.20 at 6-1, and Blind Luck returned $2.10 to her disappointed backers.

Owned by Los Angeles’ Michael Talla, Crisp capped last season with a maiden victory in her second start and began her three-year-old season with a one-length win in the Santa Ysabel Stakes (G3) on January 10 at Santa Anita before the Las Virgenes.

Bred in Kentucky by James Jones and Randy Swanson, Crisp improved to three wins in five career starts and earnings of $252,120. She is the first starter for her dam, the unraced Sir Cat mare Cat’s Fair.

Alphie’s Bet won the $150,000 Sham Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths Saturday.

Ridden by Alex Solis, Alphie’s Bet ran 1 1-8 miles in 1:48.72 on Santa Anita’s synthetic Pro-Ride surface.

Setsuko was second as the 5-2 wagering favorite and The Program, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, was another head back in third in the field of 10 colts.

Alphie’s Bet is nominated to the Triple Crown races, but he needs to increase his graded stakes earnings in the coming weeks to have a shot at making the Kentucky Derby field, capped at 20 starters. The Sham victory, worth $90,000, increased his career earnings to $141,320.

Alphie’s Bet paid $19, $8.40 and $4.80 at 8-1 odds. Trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, Setsuko returned $4.40 and $3.20, while The Program paid $4 to show.

Watch the replay.

Blind Luck has cemented her position as a clear leader in the three-year-old filly division, and the Pollard’s Vision filly will try for her third straight Grade 1 win and fourth overall on Saturday at Santa Anita Park in the $250,000 Santa Anita Oaks (G1).

Blind Luck, who was nominated to the Triple Crown, made her fans sweat in her most recent start, closing from last to win the Las Virgenes Stakes (G1) by a nose in the final stride of her season debut on February 13 (video).

Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Blind Luck won the Oak Leaf Stakes (G1) in October before a third-place finish in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on November 6 at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park meeting. She closed her two year-old season with a dominant seven-length win in the Hollywood Starlet Stakes (G1) on December 20 at Hollywood Park.

Owners Mark DeDomenico, John Carver, and Hollendorfer purchased Blind Luck privately after she won her career debut by 13 1/4 lengths in June at Calder Race Course. Since the purchase, she has rewarded her current connections with four wins, one second, and one third in six starts.

Other entrants include Santa Ysabel Stakes (G3) winner Crisp, Grade 3-placed winner All Due Respect, and impressive debut winner Sister Dawn.

March 06, $250,000, 3yo, f, 1 1/16M, Santa Anita Park, 3:38 PM PT

Three-time Grade I stakes winner Blind Luck and rising star Amen Hallelujah are the favored individual fillies in Churchill Downs’ 2010 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, but oddsmaker Mike Battaglia is betting that the mutuel field, or “all others,” will be the favored betting interest when the three-day pool wraps up early on Sunday evening.

Battaglia installed “all others” – a betting interest that includes all 3-year-old fillies other than the 23 individual betting interests in the Oaks Future pool – as the narrow 4-1 choice in the 2010 pool. Blind Luck, expected to be a heavy favorite to score her fourth Grade I win in Saturday’s Santa Anita Oaks (GI), is close behind as the 5-1 second choice and the favored individual filly, while Amen Hallelujah, an impressive winner of last week’s Davona Dale (GII) at Gulfstream, is next at 6-1.

The three-day pool that opens at noon (all times EST) Friday, March 5 provides the only opportunity for racing fans to place an early wager on 3-year-old fillies that are contenders for the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (Grade I), America’s premier race for 3-year-old fillies. The 1 1/8-mile race is scheduled for Friday, April 30 – the eve of the $2 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI). Wagering in the pool will conclude Sunday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m.

The Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pool runs concurrently with Pool 2 of the 2010 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which also opens at noon Friday. The Derby pool will close on Sunday at 6 p.m., 30 minutes prior to the end of Oaks pool betting.

The Oaks Future bet provides fans with an opportunity to wager on contenders for the Kentucky Oaks weeks in advance of the race at odds that could be more attractive than those they would receive on the day of the race. The Kentucky Oaks Future bet is a $2 minimum “win” wager. There are no scratches and no refunds in the Oaks Future Bet. If Churchill Downs officials determine that injury or illness will prevent one of the individual fillies in the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pool from participating in the race, wagering on that betting interest will be suspended immediately.

Eventual Preakness (GI) winner and Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra won last year’s Kentucky Oaks by a record margin of 20 ¼ lengths, but she was not the favorite in the 2009 Oaks Future Bet. The bettor’s choice in the pool was Justwhistledixie, who closed as the 5-2 favorite over Rachel Alexandra (3-1) and Stardom Bound (9-2).

Christine Daae, an impressive allowance winner last week at Gulfstream Park, is listed 8-1. Other respected members of this year’s KOFW pool include 2009 2-year-old filly champion and Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) winner She Be Wild; Evening Jewel, a close runner-up to Blind Luck in the Las Virgenes (GI) at Santa Anita; and Switch, a close third in the Las Virgenes. Each of those fillies is listed at 12-1.