Kentucky Derby Favorite Heads Saturday's Wood Memorial

by Steve Davidowitz | Apr 7 2011

More than 30 prospects for the Kentucky Derby will be in action in three rich stakes races at three different tracks on Saturday.

Among them will be UNCLE MO, the undefeated Juvenile Champion of 2010, who only has been seen in competition once so far this season. That was in a relatively meaningless romp over a weak field in the makeshift Timely Writer Stakes at Gulfstream Park last month.

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On Saturday, Uncle Mo will be back on the track, a prohibitive betting favorite against nine seemingly overmatched foes in the $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Should he fail to win this race as easily as he won the Timely Writer, horseplayers will have every right to downgrade his stock for the 1-1/4 mile Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs on May 7.

Among the Derby prospects who might prove to be Uncle Mo' s most formidable Kentucky Derby challengers next month  are several scheduled to run on the West Coast in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby.
 
Foremost among them are PREMIER PEGASUS, JAYCITO, SILVER MEDALLION and ANTHONY' S CROSS. All are winners of Graded stakes in California and all will be seeking to advance their respective Derby credentials at each other' s expense. Fact is, this Santa Anita Derby is as competitive on paper as The Rebel Stakes seemed to be at Oaklawn Park on Mar. 19 – before THE FACTOR tore that race apart with an impressive display of wire to wire speed.

Premier Pegasus, a four time winner in five career starts, need only duplicate his clear cut victory over Jaycito in the 1-1/16 mile San Felipe Stakes on Mar. 19, to go on to Louisville with a strong Derby resume. Likewise, Jaycito, a Grade-1 winner at Del Mar last summer, is eligible to improve in his second start for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who also trains The Factor.  Baffert, believing that Jaycito did not run his best in the San Felipe without blinkers, will be putting them back on for the SA Derby. “I think he' s ready now to show what he can do,"Baffert said this week.

Silver Medallion, winner of the El Camino Real Derby on the synthetic Tapeta track at Golden Gate Fields in February, has worked well on the dirt at Santa Anita for trainer Steve Asmussen. Certainly, Anthony' s Cross  is eligible to win this important prep race. The same seems to be true for Anthony' s Cross, a game winner of the 1-1/8 mile San Rafael Stakes on Feb. 12, who has run well on synthetic tracks and will be making his first career outing on conventional dirt.

Among the others in the SA Derby are several useful horses that seem a cut below true Derby timber.

These include OFFLEE WILD BOYS and the third, fourth and fifth place finishers in the San Felipe: BENCH POINTS, MR. COMMONS and QUAIL HILL,  as well the recent maiden winner, MIDNIGHT INTERLUDE.

Santa Anita Derby favorite Premier Pegasus has been scratched from Saturday's race after suffering an injury to his left front leg on Thursday morning. With Premier Pegasus out of the running, Jaycito becomes the 2-1 favorite and Silver Medallion becomes the second choice in the revised morning line.

Back in New York, the only thing Uncle Mo has to fear is a subpar performance. Frankly there is not a single other horse in the 12 horse Wood that has bona fide Kentucky Derby credentials.  TOBY' S CORNER and PREACHINTOTHEDEVIL are the only two other than Uncle Mo who previously has won a prior stakes.

In Chicago, Hawthorne Racetrack will host its annual $300,000 Illinois Derby on Saturday and the betting favorite probably will be WATCH ME GO, winner of the Tampa Bay Derby, Mar. 12.  Watch Me Go grimly held on in a sharp Tampa Bay victory, and those who believe he is advancing rapidly, likely will get good odds for their support on Saturday.

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