Florida Derby has obstacles and hope
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – They’ll run the $1 million Florida Derby today, with High Fly and Noble Causeway likely going off as the favorites in this major prep race for the Kentucky Derby.
The starting gate can’t open quickly enough for Scott Savin, the beleaguered president and general manager of Gulfstream Park. Savin doesn’t have a rooting interest, but the track he runs sure has a lot on the line.
“Maybe, whoever wins will go on to win the Kentucky Derby, and next year everyone will say, ‘This is the place to be to get ready for the Triple Crown,’ ” Savin said Friday morning after a visit with Nick Zito, who trains High Fly and Noble Causeway.
It’s been a tough racing meet for Savin, not to mention South Florida racing fans.
The track, owned by Frank Stronach’s Magna Entertainment Corp., has been reduced to a bunch of big white tents while construction of a new grandstand and clubhouse continues. Savin has been criticized for moving the date of the Florida Derby from it’s usual mid-March slot to five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, perhaps too close to the May 7 Derby for trainers to get another prep race into their horses.
And now, horses at Stronach’s Palm Meadows Training Center – 47 miles north in Boynton Beach – have come down with the bacterial infection known as strangles disease, forcing trainers to ship horses out of town earlier than scheduled.
“We’re running a meet out of tents, everything’s under construction and it’s a challenging time,” Savin said. “This (strangles) is just another thing thrown into the mix.”
The infection, found in five horses trained by Dale Romans, hasn’t affected any of the nine 3-year-olds set for the 1 1/8 -mile Florida Derby. As a precaution, though, Zito and others have moved their horses from Palm Meadows to Gulfstream.
“You try to enjoy this,” Zito said, “but it’s inevitable that not everything will run smoothly.”
High Fly, winner of last month’s Fountain of Youth in his last start, can establish himself as a top Derby contender with a victory today. The homebred son of Atticus, owned by Charlotte Weber of Live Oak Plantation, has won four of five races and was the 8-5 morning-line favorite. Noble Causeway was 3-1.
Earlier in the week, Fountain of Youth runner-up Bandini and Holy Bull winner Closing Argument were pulled out of the race with bruised hoofs, but there were a few unexpected entries, including Park Avenue Ball and Wallstreet Scandal.
Jim Ryerson, who trains Park Avenue Ball, said the Wood Memorial or Illinois Derby – both April 9 – were under consideration, “but with two of the favorites not starting (Bandini and Closing Argument), and with the uncertainty of moving horses around the country, we have to take a look at this race.”
Park Avenue Ball, a New Jersey-bred, was sixth after a rough trip in the Fountain of Youth and second behind Proud Accolade in the Hutcheson in his 3-year-old starts.
Trainer Rick Violette figured he’d take a shot with Wallstreet Scandal, who was fourth in the Louisiana Derby. Violette’s reasoning? Two top contenders aren’t running, and High Fly spiked a fever earlier in the week.
“Sometimes, you just have to be in the right place at the right time,” Violette said.
B.B. Best and Papi Chullo are back to challenge High Fly again after finishing third and fourth, respectively, in the Fountain of Youth. Also entered are Vicarage, Mighty Mecke and Evil Minister.
Finish lines
Zito said Andromeda’s Hero – fifth in the Lane’s End at Turfway Park last week, remains on the Derby trail and will run next in either the Arkansas Derby (April 16) or the Lexington Stakes (April 23). … Jockey Frankie Dettori will be reunited with Wilko for the Santa Anita Derby on April 9. Dettori will fly in from Europe to ride the colt he guided to an upset in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Lone Star Park in Texas.