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Three Derby Preps Saturday; R2K Handicapping Contest Features Tampa Bay Downs; Derby Future Pool 3 Opens Friday

Kentucky Derby prep races will be held from coast to the other Saturday with the Gotham at Aqueduct, the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs and the San Felipe at Santa Anita. Canterbury’s Road to Kentucky Handicapping Contest will focus on the first 11 races at Tampa which begins at 11:15am but also includes the other preps. Always in this free weekly contest the Derby preps count as double points.  Find the contest details on the R2k webpage.  The entry box closes with the first race at Tampa at 11:15.

The Tampa Bay Derby is a major prep for the First Saturday in May. It drew a field of 12 featuring Sam F. Davis winner Sole Volante and Chance It, winner of the Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream in January. Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. scratched Chance It from the Fountain of Youth due to his outside post and this Saturday has the four hole. The two will take the majority of the wagering action making others long odds for those looking to win the R2K contest with one fell swoop. The Tampa Bay Derby, one of five stakes on the card, is race 11.

Each Derby prep awards the top horses points and the 20 with the highest point totals can advance to the Kentucky Derby. The current leader is Ete Indien with 54 points, winner of last weekend’s Fountain of Youth Stakes but he will have company as each of the three preps Saturday will award 50 points to the winner.

The Grade 3 Gotham is the 10th race at Aqueduct with a 3:42 p.m. post and a field of 11. None of the entrants are included in this weekend’s Future Wager Pool 3 but the winner, despite his current credentials or lack thereof, will earn points sufficient to make the Derby field on May 2.  Mischevious Alex won the seven furlong Swale at Gulfstream by seven lengths. Based on his speed figure from the Swale, he should be one of the favorites in the Gotham. Flap Jack was the longshot winner of the Arlington Washington Futurity in September. He has been training at Fair Grounds and ships north to make his 2020 debut.

The San Felipe will also play an important role as Thousand Words, currently one of the top 3-year-olds, is entered along with Baffert stablemate Authentic, winner of the Sham Stakes. Storm the Court won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and is fourth on the Derby leaderboard. He ran fourth in the seven furlong San Vicente and needs to prove his BC win at 45 to 1 was not a fluke. All three are offered as betting interest in the Future Pool.

Anyone longing for the ‘old days’ when Santa Anita was king should appreciate the program assembled for Saturday. The 12-race card begins at 1:30pm. Four graded stakes include the San Felipe and the Big ‘Cap, the Santa Anita Handicap. Top to bottom the fields are full and the handle will be immense.

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 3 this Weekend

The third Kentucky Derby win and exacta future wager pool opens Friday and is playable at the Canterbury Racebook through Sunday afternoon. The first Kentucky Oaks pool is also offered along with the Oaks / Derby Double Future Wager.

The opening odds sheet along with rules is available here.

Mr. Jagermeister In Action At Oaklawn

Minnesota bred Mr. Jagermeister is entered in Saturday’s $150,000 Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn. The tight yet competitive field of six will race six furlongs. Leandro Goncalves has the mount. They combined Feb. 8 for a win in the Phoenix Gold Cup for trainer Valorie Lund covering six furlongs at Turf Paradise in 1:08.

One-two finishers in the Feb. 8 King Cotton at Oaklawn, Share the Upside and Whitmore, are also entered. The pair met in last year’s Hot Springs and Whitmore had the upper hand beating Share the Upside by a length and a half.

Mr. Jagermeister has an allowance win at Oaklawn in 2019 and a second in a stake in 2018. He posted a workout over the surface on Sunday.