GI Florida Derby

GI Florida Derby runner-up The Puma (Essential Quality) put in his final local breeze at Gulfstream Park Saturday morning in advance of shipping out to Churchill Downs for an anticipated tilt in the GI Kentucky Derby. Working five furlongs with Javier Castellano aboard, the chestnut clicked off 1:00.77 (5/15) over a fast track in his second work since being defeated by Commandment (Into Mischief) in a desperate photo in the Florida Derby. Clockers caught his six-furlong gallop out in 1:12.85 and a mile in 1:37.88. "[The work] went really well....

Timeless Victory (By My Standards) will be trainer Eddie Plesa Jr.'s final starter in Saturday's GI Florida Derby as the Florida horseman closes up shop after over 40 years at the track, it was announced via press release Friday. A second generation horseman, and one of the most successful horsemen in Florida racing history, Plesa will call it a career after the Kentucky Derby prep race concludes. His final starter in the Saturday feature will look to send his conditioner off in a big way, and despite being a longshot,...

Well, just take a look at the video--and then show us a horse more eligible for stardom, the year the soccer World Cup comes to America. As a yearling, he would roll a beach ball around his paddock 45 minutes at a time. Using his feet, his nose, arching his body. As a rule, other youngsters on the farm do no more than pick it up with their teeth, shake it. "And that kind of gives you the essence of this colt," Kris Gibbons suggests. "We just want to stop...

Grade I winner Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map) continued preparations for his next Kentucky Derby qualifier with a strong work at Palm Meadows last Friday, but the question remains as to which race the grey will be pointed for at the end of the month. Cruising through five panels in 1:01.45, marking it the fastest work of five at the distance, the colt worked in company with Saffie Joseph Jr. trained Ruleroftheuniverse (Sharp Azteca). The latter posted 1:02.15 for the trip. "I couldn't be happier with how he's coming along," trainer...

Grade I winner Tappan Street (Into Mischief) worked Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park in his continued preparation for the Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Working four furlongs alone at Payson Park, the Brad Cox trainee was clocked in :49.60 (15/48) in his first move since his successful return to the races Dec. 19 against allowance optional claiming company at Gulfstream Park. "It was a really good move, by himself, :49.2 and 1:02.2," said Cox. "I thought the track was much deeper after the break up there [at Payson Park]." Disco Time...

This past weekend we were three weeks out from America's most historic and important horse race, and all was quiet on the GI Kentucky Derby front. Too quiet, in fact. Compared to pro and college team sports, which have expanded their wild-card and play-in formats to capitalize on the immediacy of games with win-or-go-home playoff berths on the line, the lead-up to the Derby has silently shifted in the opposite direction. Instead of maximizing the relevancy of making the final cut as the sport's main event nears, racing rolls out...

If you want a historical prognosticator for success in the GI Kentucky Derby, you can't do much better than running well in the GI Florida Derby. The premier stakes for sophomores at Gulfstream Park has been around since 1952, and in 73 renewals, Florida Derby participants have gone on to win that year's Kentucky Derby 25 times-a better than 1-in-3 strike rate. For perspective, the next-most-productive preps are two far older races, the GI Champagne Stakes (which dates to 1867) and the GI Blue Grass Stakes (first run in 1911),...

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) will be onsite during Florida Derby Week as they partner with 1/ST RACING and are designated the beneficiary of a golf tournament, according to a press release from the non-profit on Thursday. TAA will be honored with a named race on the Mar. 29 Derby undercard. Following the running of the race, a presentation will be made to the winning connections including a TAA gift bag. A representative from Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will be host the winners of the "Off to the Races" VIP Experience online...

On Sunday at Gulfstream Park, White Abarrio (Race Day) drilled five panels for trainer Saffie Joseph in 1:00.20, ranking third of 20 horses. The four-time Grade I-winning millionaire, who captured the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup last out, is being pointed to the GIII Ghostzapper Stakes on the Florida Derby undercard. "He went well," Joseph said. "He sat off his workmate and went on strong in his gallop out. It was a good work, so he's going to the Ghostzapper in good order." Also making the rounds for the Florida-based...

Dual Eclipse winning trainer Brad Cox is drawing up intended targets for Flood Zone's (Frosted) next start after the colt took home the GIII Gotham Stakes at the Big A last weekend. The trainer said that possibilities include the Mar. 29 running of the GI Florida Derby and also two races scheduled for Apr. 5--the GII Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct and the GII UAE Derby at Meydan. Flood Zone stablemate and GI Florida Derby contender Tappan Street (Into Mischief) continues to tune up at Payson Park. Most recently, the...

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is in the process of making plans for a trio of stable stars which includes the Florida-based River Thames (Maclean's Music), Gate to Wire (Munnings) and Locked (Gun Runner). WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s undefeated 3-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' River Thames bounced out of his Feb. 1 optional claiming allowance victory in good order and will have plenty of options moving forward said Pletcher. The New York-bred bay romped by 6 1/2 lengths as the favorite going one mile in 1:36.34 on...

Fierceness (City of Light), the beaten favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby, is scheduled to make his next start in the GI Belmont S. on June 8 in Saratoga. "He has settled in well and we are pointing to the Belmont," trainer Todd Pletcher said in a text. Sent off at 3-1, Fierceness finished 15th, beaten 24 1/2 lengths in the Derby. When asked if his colt had any excuses in the Derby, Pletcher replied: "Perhaps too close to a fast pace? Stuck a little wide on both turns?" Following...