Nine weeks before the May 4 Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs, the action on the 3-year-old stakes front heats up this weekend with four designated stakes races offering qualifying points toward the first leg of the Triple Crown.
One upcoming race is the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park, an ungraded contest on a synthetic track offering points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale to its top five finishers. The other three preps—the Gotham Stakes (G3), the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), and the San Felipe Stakes (G2)—provide points to eligible runners on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis. All but the San Felipe will be contested March 2, with the San Felipe now March 3 due to the postponement of Santa Anita Handicap Day with rain forecast in Southern California.
The Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park has most impacted the Run for the Roses of these four races, with 14 horses exiting it to have Derby success. The San Felipe at Santa Anita Park is next with 13 winners (though with more overall success than the Fountain of Youth since the late 1990s), and the Gotham at Aqueduct Racetrack and John Battaglia have generated one winner apiece.
San Felipe
Of the stakes races this year, the Fountain of Youth would appear the most likely to produce the Derby winner in great part because Nysos and two other Bob Baffert trainees in the San Felipe are ineligible for the Derby owing to Churchill Downs Inc.'s continued ban of the trainer and his horses. So while serving as a prep for the April 6 Santa Anita Derby (G1), the San Felipe is more likely to propel a top Baffert runner toward the second leg of the Triple Crown, the May 18 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course.
Fountain of Youth
Dornoch and Locked—1-4 in the Blood Horse's Derby Dozen rankings—are in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth, as are several promising colts with apparent stakes potential, among them debut winner Speak Easy, who, like Locked, is trained by Hall of Fame trainer and dual Kentucky Derby winner Todd Pletcher.
Dornoch and Locked both kick off their seasons Saturday, the latter in a delayed return after a setback kept him off the worktab for a few weeks after he had been originally pointed toward the Feb. 10 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs.
Dornoch, a son of Good Magic and a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby Mage , improved with experience last year for owners West Paces Racing, R. A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Two Eight Racing, and Pine Racing Stables.
Second in his first two starts last summer, a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race at Saratoga Race Course and the one-mile Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park, he then rattled off two consecutive victories in longer races. He whipped maidens going 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland and then narrowly took the Dec. 2 Remsen Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct in his most recent start. After setting a fast pace, he lost focus in early stretch—making contact with the inside rail and ultimately losing the lead in midstretch to next-out Risen Star Stakes (G2) winner Sierra Leone—but Dornoch was resurgent late to score by a nose.
"We've always been really high on (Dornoch). Everybody in barn likes him. We think he's a nice horse," trainer Danny Gargan said. "I just don't want him to go too forward. Hopefully he doesn't have to run a crazy, big, fast number or anything like that too soon. We just want to keep him maintained in what he's doing, and hopefully he can be sound and be there on the first Saturday in May. Don't get me wrong, we'd like to win the Fountain of Youth, but it's really not the goal."
Locked took the Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland last fall before a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Santa Anita for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm. Pletcher has been pleased with the Gun Runner colt's last two works, though an interrupted training schedule is far from ideal.
Pletcher pointed to Locked as an example of needing to remain flexible with spring 3-year-olds "and be ready to call some audibles."
WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's Speak Easy vaults into the Fountain of Youth after a quick debut win. Racing Jan. 27 on the Pegasus World Cup Day, he sizzled seven furlongs in 1:21.96, defeating the Fountain of Youth-entered maiden Victory Avenue by 1 3/4 lengths.
Some maiden graduates who race quickly on debut regress second out, particularly when rising into stakes.
Gotham
The Gotham and the John Battaglia offer the most depth of the weekend's 3-year-old stakes, though at least some of their competitors may not necessarily be suited to racing 1 1/4 miles on dirt in the Derby.
Contested around just one turn, the Gotham drew numerous short- and middle-distance runners. Morning-line favorite Just a Touch is bred to route and is racing in the Gotham due to the mile race serving as a logical stepping stone to future stakes races after an initial win on Jan. 27 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots at six furlongs.
Deterministic, whose only start resulted in a win going seven furlongs at Saratoga this past summer, is in a similar position and competes after a long layoff.
"We're excited to see him run again," said trainer Christophe Clement. "I wish I could have run in an allowance race in Florida or New York, but we could not find (a suitable) race and the Gotham is really the only choice. But, I do like the horse very much."
John Battaglia
The Battaglia has a number of horses mostly established racing at Turfway or on other Tapeta synthetic surfaces across the country. Of the 12 horses in the race's body and two also eligibles, only Epic Ride is an existing stakes winner, having rolled to a four-length victory in the Leonatus Stakes at Turfway Feb. 2.
