Wood Memorial – Aqueduct – Frosted, 103 Beyer Speed Figure
Blue Grass – Keeneland – Carpe Diem …. 95 Beyer Speed Figure
Santa Anita Derby – Dortmund 105 Beyer Speed Figure
‘MOON’ BEAMS TO KENTUCKY DERBY
Canadian-bred headed to Churchill off Blue Grass run
DANZIG MOON (90 Beyer Speed Figure), owned by John Oxley and trained by Mark Casse, is headed to the 140th Kentucky Derby following a 2nd place finish in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday. The white-faced colt bounced back off a 4th in the Tampa Bay Derby behind Carpe Diem to be 2nd to that say colt in the 9 furlong race.
“Very happy,” said Mark Casse early Sunday morning in response to colt’s effort and graduation into the Derby field.
Casse has had 2 Derby starters in recent years, : Seaside Retreat was 10th and Prospective was 18th but Danzig Moon is a bit more interesting going into the 10 furlong Derby. And he is a Canadian-bred.
Danzig Moon would be the first Derby starter for breeder Bill Graham, whose Windhaven is in Caledon and run by Bob Hancock.
The son of Malibu Moon is out of Leaveminthedust, by who was placed twice in three career races and earned $13,000.
The mare has had 3 other starters all winners including Horseshoe Hill and the 5-year-old Global Express.
The female family is that of Ogden Mills Phipps as PURE PROFIT, the 3rd dam, produced the Grade 1 winners INSIDE INFORMATION and EDUCATED RISK.
Leaveminthedust is a half sister to former Ontario stallion PHILANTHROPIST.
The colt cost $140,000 at Keeneland September 2 years ago.
Of course, the competition is quite strong for this year’s Derby and we have not even seen AMERICAN PHAROAH race again (he is in the Arkansas Derby next weekend).
The better news for DANZIG MOON is that many of the major contenders have only shown 1 running style – on the lead.
The 3 Derby prep race replays are below:
More on DANZIG MOON:
NORM CASSE (assistant trainer)
“He ran a big race and with a better trip we might have been even closer. I’m just glad the real Danzig Moon showed up today and showed that he’s a serious racehorse. This race is redeeming because we thought he had a big shot at Tampa (in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby) and he ran a bad fourth (behind winner Carpe Diem). But I think he just didn’t handle the track that day and today is a better indication of his ability.”
On whether Danzig Moon will go on to the Kentucky Derby
“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll take him over to Churchill and see where he stands and how he’s doing.”
JULIEN LEPAROUX on whether Danzig Moon is a Kentucky Derby-caliber horse
“He made a big run from the three-eighths pole and he galloped out great, so that’s a good sign. It was a good race.”
“Yes and he proved it today by running a big second here.”
CARPE DIEM, DORTMUND and FROSTED wow the fans on Saturday
CARPE DIEM cost $1.6 million at a 2yo sale and has essentially won back all that money. The Giant’s Causeway colt is out of an Unbridled’s Song mare, the stakes winner REBRIDLED DREAMS. The mare has had 3 other winning foals including Breeders’ Futurity winner J B’s Thunder.
DORTMUND cost $140,000 as a 2yo sale in Timonium in Maryland, bought by Donato Lanni as agent.
Unbeaten son of BIG BROWN is out of Our Josephina who is from the family of champion filly LAKEVILLE MISS.
FROSTED is a homebred for Godolphin, seeking its first Derby win.
This is a TAPIT colt out of the DEPUTY MINISTER mare FAST COOKIE, a Grade 2 winner who has had a few other winners.
NEW YORK TIMES on the Derby preps
JOE DRAPE
ARCADIA, Calif. — Call it Selection Saturday — three important prep races run in a stretch of 90 minutes to determine which horses have a realistic chance to capture the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby next month. When it was over, there was little doubt about the overwhelming favorite at this moment.
His name is Dortmund, a strapping and fast colt who decimated five rivals here in the Santa Anita Derby to remain undefeated, which was no small thing for his owner, Kaleem Shah. Before the race, Shah said that he was not only nervous for the first time but also thinking about history.
About two previous Kentucky Derby victors, to be exact: Smarty Jones (2004) and Seattle Slew (1977).
“I was looking to do what Seattle Slew did when he went to the Derby 6 for 6, Smarty Jones went there 6 for 6,” Shah said. “It was critically important that he move forward, not regress.”
CARPE DIEM conformation image
KENTUCKY DERBY CONTENDERS and last/best Beyer Figure
MATERIALITY 110
UPSTART 108
DORTMUND 106
AMERICAN PHAROAH 100
FROSTED 103
ONE LUCKY DANE 99
TENCEDUR 99
CARPE DIEM 98
INTERNATIONAL STAR 98
FIRING LINE 97
EL KABEIR 94
KENTUCKY DERBY POINTS
Rank – Horse – Points – Owner(s) – Trainer- NonRestricted Stakes Earnings
1. International Star 171 Ken & Sarah Ramsey Mike Maker $940,979
2. Dortmund 170 Kaleem Shah Inc. Bob Baffert $1,230,000
3. Carpe Diem 164 WinStar Farm, LLC (Kenny Troutt) & Stonestreet Stables LLC
(Barbara Banke) Todd Pletcher $1,470,000
4. Frosted 113 Godolphin Racing LLC (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum et al) Kiaran McLaughlin $776,200
5. Mubtaahij-IRE 100 Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum Mike de Kock $1,400,000
6. Materiality 100 Alto Racing LLC (Gil Moutray) Todd Pletcher $632,028
7. El Kabeir 95 Zayat Stables, LLC (Ahmed Zayat) John Terranova II $720,792
8. Upstart 76 Ralph M. Evans Rick Violette Jr. $807,680
9. American Pharoah 60 Zayat Stables, LLC (Ahmed Zayat) Bob Baffert $810,000
10. Itsaknockout 60 Starlight Racing (Jack & Laurie Wolf & Donald & Barbara Lucarelli) Todd Pletcher $288,560
11. Firing Line 58 Arnold Zetcher LLC Simon Callaghan $530,000
OUT @Dubai Sky 50 Three Chimneys Farm (Goncalo Borges Torrealba) & Besilu
Stables (Benjamin Leon) Bill Mott $371,780
12. Danzig Moon 45 John C. Oxley Mark Casse $217,500
13. War Story 44 Christopher T. Dunn & Loooch Racing Stables, Inc. (Ron Paolucci) Tom Amoss $195,000
14. Tencendur 41 Philip S. Birsh George Weaver $224,500
15. Maftool 40 Godolphin Racing LLC (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum et al) Saeed bin Suroor $630,595
16. One Lucky Dane 40 Michael Lund Petersen Bob Baffert $200,000
17. Ami’s Flatter 40 Ivan Dalos Josie Carroll $195,200
18. Stanford 40 Stonestreet Stables LLC (Barbara Banke), Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith
Todd Pletcher $151,400
19. Ocho Ocho Ocho 30 DP Racing, LLC (Deron Pearson) Jim Cassidy $760,250
20. Bolo 30 Golden Pegasus Racing Inc. & Mack Carla Gaines $214,980
21. Prospect Park 30 Pam & Martin Wygod Cliff Sise Jr. $130,000
22. Conquest Typhoon 26 Conquest Stables, LLC (Ernie Semersky & Dory Newell) Mark Casse $430,827
23. Far Right 22 Harry T. Rosenblum & Robert V. LaPenta Ron Moquett $385,906
24. Keen Ice 22 Donegal Racing (Jerry Crawford) Dale Romans $136,520
25. Daredevil 20 WinStar Farm (Kenny Troutt), Let’s Go Stable (Kevin Scatuorchio & Bryan Sullivan) & China Horse Club Todd Pletcher $389,600
HE HAD A LOT EXTRA!
Brave and speedy Canadian based, owned and trained SOMETHING EXTRA is back with flair. He won the Shakertown off the layoff at Keeneland yesterday for Gail Cox and John Menary. KEENELAND PHOTO
The third time was the charm for John Menary and Gail Cox’s Something Extra.
The Canadian based gelding proved he is just as good as a 7-year-old as he was for the last few years as he took the lead out of the gate and held off a late bid from 44-1 longshot Channel Marker by a half-length to win the 19th running of the $125,000 Shakertown (G3).
The gritty bay was 2nd beaten a nose to Havelock in the 2013 Shakertown and 3rd beaten a length in last year’s renewal.
Trained by Cox and ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, Something Extra covered the 5½ furlongs on a turf course rated as good in 1:02.85.
A 7-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Indian Charlie out of the Mt. Livermore mare Our Mariah, Something Extra added $75,000 to his bankroll that swelled to $865,656 with a record of 29-9-8-5.
Cox and Menary bought Something Extra as a yearling for $85,000.
It was the first Keeneland stakes victory for Cox, who sent out Something Extra to finish second in the Shakertown in 2013 and third in the 2014 renewal.
Something Extra returned $18.40, $8.40 and $5. Channel Marker, ridden by Francisco Torres, returned $26.40 and $10.40 with Undrafted finishing another 2 ½ lengths back in third under John Velazquez and paying $3.40 to show
