Update
– Ten Most Wanted, whose only victory had been in a maiden race, grew up with a score in the Illinois Derby. Trainer Wally Dollase is sending him to Louisville.
– Buddy Gil won the March 16 San Felipe and bettors yawned, letting him go off at 6-1 in the Santa Anita Derby, which he also won. But he bled during Saturday’s race and by state rules must miss at least two weeks of training.
Upcoming
Saturday: Wood Memorial, Grade I, 1 1/8 miles, Aqueduct. The Bobby Frankel-trained Empire Maker, everybody’s Derby favorite, leaves from the outside post in an eight-horse field.
Saturday: Blue Grass, Grade I, 1 1/8 miles, Keeneland. Frankel’s Peace Rules has nine challengers.
Saturday: Arkansas Derby, Grade II, 1 1/8 miles, Oaklawn. Eugene’s Third Son is the lukewarm morning-line favorite, but Region of Merit–from the fabled Calumet Farms–will get a lot of support after winning four in a row.
News and notes
New York Hero, named by owner Ernie Paragallo for those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, tries to upset Empire Maker. New York Hero has won three of five races, scoring in the $500,000 Lane’s End on March 22.
“He’s going to have to win the Wood or be right there,” Paragallo said when asked if he’d go to Louisville. “I ain’t going to Kentucky for the mint juleps.”
– Frankel and Bob Baffert have made most of the noise this season while D. Wayne Lukas, winner of four Derbies, has been quiet, which doesn’t mean he’s not a threat. He didn’t make much noise last year, either, until finishing second in the Kentucky Derby with Proud Citizen, making for an astonishing $1,300 Baffert-Lukas $2 exacta payoff.
Ten Cents a Shine, Lukas’ only Derby contender, skipped last week’s Santa Anita Derby–which was that race’s first since 1979 without a Lukas horse–and is 20-1 on the Blue Grass morning line.
– Baffert, who has juggled up to a half-dozen Derby contenders this season, said Santa Anita Derby runner-up Indian Express and third-place Kafwain will ship to Louisville, but Domestic Dispute, who was fifth, is off the Derby trail. Senor Swinger would have to do well in the Wood to earn a ticket to Louisville.
– The Wood, Blue Grass and Arkansas Derby will be linked for betting purposes in the National Pick 3, a $1 wager.
— Mark Shapiro
Pool 3 Derby future wager
HORSE FINAL ODDS
1. Alysweep $71-1
2. Aristocat $48.90-1
3. Atswhatimtalknbout $13.40-1
4. Badge of Silver $9.60-1
5. Brancusi $38.60-1
6. Buddy Gil $13.10-1
7. Domestic Dispute $41.50-1
8. During $93.70-1
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9. Empire Maker $2.50-1
10. Funny Cide $52.70-1
11. Inamorato $68.80-1
12. Indy Dancer $18.20-1
13. Kafwain $18.20-1
14. Lion Tamer $43.30-1
15. Man Among Men $28.30-1
16. Ministers Wild Cat $28.90-1
17. New York Hero $40.50-1
18. Ocean Terrace $47.10-1
19. Offlee Wild $24.20-1
20. Peace Rules $12.40-1
21. Region of Merit $46.10-1
22. Ten Most Wanted $17.40-1
23. Trust N Luck SCRATCHED
24. All others $7.20-1
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