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Derby Preps in Dubai, Kentucky |
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3/24/2006 9:31:50 AM |
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Strong Contender won't be running in the $500,000 Lane's End Stakes, after all. The talented, but lightly raced colt was left out of the field for Saturday's race at Turfway Park after 12 3-year-olds with more earnings were entered Thursday.
Trained by John Ward, Strong Contender is 2-for-2 but has earned just $36,000. The 1 1/8-mile Lane's End is limited to 12 starters, and the son of Maria's Mon fell $2,650 short.
"That's how the game goes," said Ward, who was pointing to this race for a month.
The field still has a bunch of Kentucky Derby prospects, including 7-2 morning-line favorite Superfly and 4-1 co-second choice Hemingway's Key - both trained by Nick Zito.
Also entered were Laity, Tahoe Warrior, Seaside Retreat, More Than Regal, Sharp Attack, Malameeze, Pair of Kings, With A City and Starspangled Gator.
The Lane's End will be the first serious Derby prep to be run on Polytrack, the synthetic, all-weather surface.
Ward, who won the 2001 Derby with Monarchos, says Strong Contender could run next in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 8.
Zito, meanwhile, is still looking for Derby horse. Superfly needs a top effort after second and third-place finishes in allowance races this year. Hemingway's Key, owned by Yankees boss George Steinbrenner's Kinsman Stable, was eighth in the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on March 4.
"We're fortunate to have two horses in the race and we hope they live up to their billing," said Zito's assistant trainer Tim Poole.
Also, Discreet Cat could move onto the Derby trail for Sheik Mohammed's Godolphin Racing with a win in Saturday's $2 million UAE Derby.
"It's way, way too early to start talking about the Kentucky Derby," Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford said. "We have to watch him on Saturday night and we'll go from there."
On the undercard at Turfway is the $100,000 Rushaway Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1-16 miles. High Cotton, trained by Todd Pletcher, is the likely favorite.
DERBY NOTES:@ Corinthian, who finished first but was DQ'd to third in the Fountain of Youth for impeding horses in the stretch, is off the Triple Crown trail with a hairline fracture of the left-hind pastern, the bone that connects the ankle to the hoof. ... Achilles of Troy, believed to have injured his leg during his fifth-place finish in the Gotham Stakes, was not hurt, trainer Frank Amonte said. The problem was spasms in his lower back, and the colt's next start could be the Arkansas Derby on April 15. ... Henny Hughes, who finished second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Belmont Park and was then shipped to Dubai, is expected to be returned to the United States under the care of trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. The colt's former trainer told the Thoroughbred Times' Web site that his plans call for Henny Hughes to run in the Wood Memorial.
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