14 Hopefuls Will Either Have Their Dreams Met or Shattered In Kentucky’s Corkscrew

Kentucky is well known for its horse racing background and for one of the biggest races to be run on American soil—The Kentucky (Bluegrass) Derby.  What many don’t realize is that the 20 horses that show up that first Saturday in May go through multiple rounds of “trials” just to try and secure their spot in one of the starting gates that will open in front of the 100,000 plus spectators close to one month from today.  The Corkscrew is one of those trials where 14 promising and hopeful three-year-old colts will go 9 furlongs for their chance to secure one of those precious 20 starting gates in May.  We have a great mix of early and late speed this year that promises to put on quite a show this weekend.  One thing is for certain—the horse that does win this weekend here in Kentucky will likely be one of the, if not THE, favorite in that well-known race in just over one month.  Dreams will be made; dreams will be crushed.  The drama of the Derby starts this weekend right here in Kentucky.  Let’s meet the 14 hopefuls looking to cement their spot in one of those precious few starting gates!

PP #1 – Mo Pyjamas- 13/1

Sired by Uncle Mo, Mo Pyjamas will be looking for his first Graded win in his second straight attempt after starting off 2020 in the winner’s circle.   A third place finish in his debut back in March of 2019 was a little disappointing but he would follow that up by breaking his maiden next time out.  Three straight conditioned allowances would follow and though a win was not in the cards in any of the three races, he did manage two second place finishes.  The ability to run 8 furlongs or more has really been the difference for Mo Pyjamas both in terms of speed and results.  His first attempt at 8 furlongs provided a 10 point boost to speeds and a 2^nd place finish in the previously mentioned conditioned allowance race.  He would follow that up winning two in a row—a conditioned allowance and listed stakes race—and speeds would improve with each race.  His race last time out was his worst career finish in terms of placement as he ran 6^th in the 14 horse Sleepy Fan Stakes—a Grade 2 race.  While the 6^th place finish was disappointing, he would run his career best speed figure of 98 in that race in his lead up to the race this weekend.  The dam, Fur Pyjamas, spent most of her career routing and ran well in the 8.5-9.5 furlong range.  In fact, her career best speed figure came at the 9 furlong distance.  There is hope there for Mo Pyjamas in terms of distance.  Unlike the dam who spent most of her career on the grass, Mo Pyjamas has actually spent his entire career on a dirt surface which is complete opposite of Fur Pyjamas.  You have to wonder if an attempt on the grass is in the cards provided there isn’t a win here this weekend by Mo Pyjamas.

We attempted to reach out to trainer TCrowell for a comment on whether a try on the grass could be in the cards for Mo Pyjamas.  Our messages were, unfortunately, not responded to at the time of this publishing.

PP #2 – NYSP Sergeant- 10/1

Looking for his first Graded Stakes win in his second try, NYSP Sergeant comes into the race this weekend winning two of his last three and besting a 7 horse listed stakes field last time out with a career best speed figure of 100.  After starting his career in California back in January of last year, it took him three tries and until May of 2019 to finally achieve that maiden win.  He would follow up that maiden win with a first place finish in a conditioned allowance race nearly two months later.  The best was yet to come though as he really started to come into form in his first race outside of the sprint ranks.  He would run a career best speed figure in each of the next three races before finally winning his 2^nd conditioned allowance in his last race as a two-year-old—he would finish third in his other two attempts.  His three-year-old campaign started off with a bang in January as he made the jump right into the Graded ranks and led a field of 14 for the majority of the race before falling to third and finishing 5 lengths back.  That leads us to last month where he led from start to finish and bested that seven horse listed stakes field.  He will make the jump in distance this week to 9 furlongs after having run his previous five races at 8 furlongs.  You can expect him to make a quick break out of the gate as he will probably set the pace for the field as we enter the halfway point of the race.  The big questions here are if he will have enough in the tank for the final few furlongs to hold everyone off and will the increase in class come into play as it did in early January?   The three-year-old scratch-bred colt sired by More Than Ready has a pedigree that says he could win the race.  Will he be able to match that pedigree with performance on the track this weekend?

I reached out to trainer Doodlegbs to ask him his thoughts on if NYSP Sergeant will try and set the pace.  Our questions were left without a response at the time of publishing.

PP #3 – Bef- 6/1

The only Grade 1 winner that we have in the field this week is a three-year-old colt sired by Gold Ship.  Bef actually started his career out in a Maiden Claimer with a price tag of $125,000 (250 BPs) and no one took a jump at the opportunity to claim him back in March of 2019.  Here we are just one year later and he has won two Graded races and his career earnings are over $500,000.  Though no one could have predicted that he would go on to win four of his five races as a two-year-old—the other being a 2^nd place finish in a conditioned allowance, he certainly wasn’t probably projected to be a Grade 1 winning three-year-old when he ran in that Maiden Claimer either.  He would start off his three-year-old campaign with a bit of a dud in the Grade 2 Fountain of Ute running 5^th and finishing out of the money for the first and only time in his career.  That didn’t deter his trainers from pushing him three weeks later in his first Grade 1 attempt.  He wouldn’t disappoint in that race running a 106 speed figure and finishing first.  One thing that does stick out is that the Fountain of Ute was the only race that he has run over 9 furlongs and he finished 6 ¼ lengths back of the winner in that one.  That race came off of a two-month layoff for Bef.  Was it the two month break that had him lagging a bit or was it the added distance.  Those questions could be answered this weekend in his first attempt back at the 9 furlong length.  If you are looking for Bef as the gates break open on Saturday, he will be battling it out with multiple other horses to set the pace.  If he manages to capture the pace lead to start, he very well may finish there too.  Bef, as previously mentioned, was sired by little known sire Gold Ship.  He has produced just two Grade 1 sim winners in his lifetime as a sire and just six stakes winners overall.  The dam, Kan, had a 23 race career finishing in the money on 11/13 dirt attempts before making the switch to grass for her final 10 career races.  The dam finished her career with just one race over 8 furlongs and she actually won that dirt race to start her three-year-old campaign.  She would never route after that.  Bef is her second career foal and first stakes winning foal that she has produced.

Ric480 is the trainer of Bef.  We reached out earlier in the week to gather his thoughts on having the only Grade 1 winning horse in the field and how the horse went from claimer to Grade 1 winner.  We have unfortunately yet been able to receive a response.

PP #4 – Mutombo’s Finger- 5/1

The three-year-old colt sired by Pioneerof The Nile has been in pretty good form his last few races managing a 3^rd and 1^st place finish in back to back Grade 3 races.  His career best speed last time out of 106 was very strong and overall speeds have only increased with nearly each race that he has ran.  After starting his career in May of last year, and winning that race, he made the immediate jump into stakes company where he finished 2^nd and ran a sold 80 speed figure for a two-year-old– in July of 2019.  He hasn’t left Graded company since the first two races of his career and he has also finished in the money in all but one career race.  That race was the Grade 1 Movieland Futurity back in December in which he started in his usual position mid-pack but could never mount that comeback that his trainer is so used to.  That raises the biggest question today.  While speeds are there, does the increase in competition once again prove to be too much for this young colt?  An interesting thing to note in this one is the comparison of the mom to this colt.  Benchian Fingers was a Grade 1 winning mare out of Awesome Again and has since foaled three straight stakes winning horses.  Much like his mother, Mutombo’s Finger has followed in her footpath having a strong two-year-old campaign.  Benchian Fingers won her first six races including two Grade 1 races.  However, she never bounced back from a February 2015 race to start her three-year-old campaign and won just four races after turning three—all of which were allowance races.  This is a fate that Mutombo’s Finger hopes to avoid today and moving forward in his campaign as a three-year-old.

I tried to get a few questions in with trainer Padrebri earlier this week but unfortunately couldn’t connect with the trainer.

PP #5 – Mendelstrike- 19/1

Mendelstrike is a three-year-old colt sired by Mendelssohn.  One of just two horses with five or less career races under their saddle, Mendelstrike comes into this race having won three in a row and putting up career best speed figures in each of his last three races.  After attempting his first race on the grass in June of 2019—just a 5^th place finish—he would make the jump to dirt.  While he didn’t win that first maiden attempt on dirt, speeds did increase 12 points from his run on turf.  He would then get the opportunity to run 8 furlongs or more his next time out and that would be the ground that he would need to break his maiden in October of 2019.  A nice rest would follow and his next race wouldn’t be until January of 2019.  He would best a five horse field in a conditioned allowance race and follow that up by taking down five horses in listed stakes race back at the end of February.  He has really started to come into form in 2020 running career best speeds of 92 and then 100 in his two wins.  Though they have been against smaller fields, his speed figures show that he will have what it takes when they break from the gates on Saturday.  Mendelstrike is a scratch-bred horse that you can look to sit just off the pace in about the 4^th-8^th place position before starting his push near the halfway point.  He will have some early speed to contend with and some late speed looking to pass him up as they turn for home.  It will be interesting to see if he exerts too much energy in the beginning trying to stay closer to the pace setter to finish in the end.  In his three career wins, he has never sat more than 3 ¾ lengths off the pace and that pace should be blistering this weekend.

In reaching out to trainer Stockswami, we asked if he considered Mendelstrike’s limited number of races is something that could work in his favor as his three straight wins show he is in good form.  That question went unanswered and we hope to catch up with him after the race is run this weekend.

PP #6 – OG Speights Tapit- 5/1

Another colt that is pretty familiar with the Graded ranks is OG Speights Tapit.  The three-year-old sired by Speightstown already has one Grade 3 win under his belt and has ran 3^rd in a Grade 2.  He struggled in his first attempt at a Grade 1 which was the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile back in November of last year.  After starting his career with a solid 3^rd place finish in a maiden back in March of 2019, he would break his maiden next time out at the same distance.  Immediately a listed stakes race was attempted and there he would run third though he would finish just 1 ½ lengths back of the winner.  His fourth career race would see him take down a conditioned allowance race and he would make it two in a row winning the Grade 3 Cryogenics Juvenile in September of last year.  After the disappointing showing in the Breeders’ Bowl, he would jump into a residency listed stakes race to round out his two-year-old campaign and take down a tough field of 20 horses while posting a career best speed figure of 105!  His three-year-old campaign started in February where he would run a disappointing 7^th in a Grade 3 race in Florida.  From there, he would run in the Grade 2 Felipe Alou Stakes posting his second career best speed of 103.  In each of his wins, OG Speights Tapit has sat about mid-pack before making the comeback to win his race.  If he starts to make a charge about halfway through the race, expect him to be right there in the end.  His dam, Chocolate Chunk, won multiple stakes races in both sprints and routes.  While she also ran in multiple graded races in her 37 race career, she didn’t fare as well in those races. 

Earlier this week, we tried to make contact with trainer BBaffert to talk about his two horses in the field.  Specifically, we wanted to know what OG Speights Tapit he thought would show up in Kentucky this week.  Unfortunately, we were unable to make contact with him before the submission of this article.

PP #7 – OG Nyquist Cat- 10/1

Coming off of a career best speed figure of 102, OG Nyquist Cat was sired by Nyquist and started his career back in March of 2019.  He would run third in back-to-back dirt races before giving it a go on the grass.  That race did not work out so well and he would finish 7^th in that maiden field.  In his fourth career race, he would finally break his maiden running a 77 speed figure.  Like many others in the field, the jump in distance as also provided an opportunity to shine for OG Nyquist Cat.  His first career routing race was a 3^rd place finish in a conditioned allowance race though speeds did improve from sprints.  He would follow that up with another conditioned allowance race and would improve his speed once again while besting a nine horse field.  His first stakes attempt came in his last race as a two-year-old and he would struggle a little bit as he would finish in 5^th place.  He would jump back down into sprints for his 8^th career race and would actually best a 7 horse listed stakes field running a 96 speed figure.  Last time out was really the breakout performance as he would run a career best speed figure of 102 and finish 2^nd in the Grade 3 Buccaneer Derby.  An interesting note is that this race was actually at the 8.5 furlong mark.  OG Nyquist Cat is a tough horse to peg.  You can expect him to sit a little off the pace as we hit the halfway point in the race.  Will the increase in distance be a problem for him?  It will be his first attempt at going 9 furlongs and he has been up and down in his routing career.  OG Nyquist Cat is a scratch-bred horse and will be looking to become the 6^th Grade 1 winner out of sire Nyquist.   

We reached out to trainer BBaffert about a comment on his horse earlier this week.  We hoped to catch a comment on whether they think the race last time out was going to be the norm or the exception.  Our questions were unanswered prior to the publishing of this article.

PP #8 – Crazy Like A Tenor- 15/1

Next in line we have a three-year-old colt sired by Tonalist and out of dam Crazy Like A Fox.  Unlike his other stablemates in this race, Crazy Like A Tenor is not unfamiliar to the Graded ranks though he hasn’t been able to perform in those races either.  Starting his career in April of 2019, he won his first two races including a conditioned allowance race and made the immediate jump into the stakes ranks.  Two listed stakes followed and a 2^nd and 5^th place finish in those two races respectively had Crazy Like A Tenor on some radars as we headed into September of his two-year-old campaign.  He ran in a conditioned allowance race in September of 2019 which he won easily going away and the proceeded to win a listed stakes race in October of that year.  That is when the decision was made to attempt the Graded ranks and a 4^th place finish—and career best 93 speed figure— in a Grade 2 race sent Crazy Like A Tenor to the farm for a nice little rest.  Hoping that he would come out of the rest with some fire, Crazy Like A Tenor attempted the Dreams of Zambia Grade 1 in February of this year, but fell too far back and only managed to claim a 9^th place finish in a 14 horse field.  That leads us to this weekend where he will once again try and regain that form that he had in winning his first two races and finishing in the money in five of his first six races.  The big question for me is if that race back in February was just some rust?  Speeds will certainly have to improve and it will be a tough field, but he has a shot if he receives a good ride. 

While trainer Given says that, he too, will run in the Derby provided there is a win on Saturday, he was a little less optimistic about Crazy Like A Tenor and his chances this weekend.  In discussing his four horses in the field, he stated “I had really high hopes for this colt after the easy stakes win in October, and he even ran OK in the Ransom Grade 2 in November.”  Though he was optimistic after these two races, he was “disappointed” in his three-year-old debut but noted that “his dam was a Grade 1 winner at 12 furlongs” and wondered if some added distance might be what is best for him.  While he has a shot, Given ended his thoughts about Crazy Like A Tenor stating “I am not all the optimistic.”

PP #9 – Dwarven Arrows- 11/1

One late entry into the field is Dwarven Arrows—the three-year-old son sired by Arrogate.  Entered late in the day on Monday, Dwarven Arrows comes into the race having not been able to finish in the money in his last three races.  In fact, the last time Dwarven Arrows finished in the top three was in October of 2019.  After starting his career two for two winning both a maiden and conditioned allowance race, Dwarven Arrows took his first stab at the stakes ranks.  He faltered though down the stretch and finished 7^th in a 14 horse field.  He would then run in three straight NW3L allowance races finishing in 2^nd, 3^rd, and 1^st respectively.  Speed figures started to take off in August of last year when routing became an option for him.  After winning that NW3L allowance race, he once again tried a listed stakes and this time came out on top as mentioned above.  His first attempt at a Grade 3 didn’t go as planned and he finished 11 lengths back in The Sam’s Town Delta Jackpot in December of last year.  He would try a listed stakes and Grade 2 race earlier this year but managed just a 4^th and 8^th place finish in each of those races.  Style wise, He has been a bit of a mix between sitting off the pace and shooting out of the gate.  It will be interesting to see what style the trainer and jockey use this week.  His dam, Giant’s Dwarf, was split between the grass and the dirt in her 27 career races and did decently well on each surface.  The majority of her career winnings and only Graded win came on the grass though and it wouldn’t surprise to see an attempt on the grass if things don’t work out well this weekend in Kentucky.  There are a lot of questions that remain unanswered to this young colt and his ownership hopes that some of those answers will be formulated this weekend.

Trainer Given didn’t have a lot to say on his fourth horse that he entered into the field.  He noted that it was a late entry into the race stating, “I just added Dwarven Arrows to the race.  I think he may be better on turf but I wanted to give him one additional shot to prove a Derby case.”  What better shot than right here in Kentucky where a win would cement his place in the field for the Derby a little over one month from now?

PP #10 – Golden Tomb- 10/1

Just four career races are all that this colt sired by Cairo Prince has under his belt.  Starting off his racing career in October of 2019 as a two-year-old, he narrowly bested a 12 horse maiden field finishing first by ¾ lengths.  Making the immediate jump into stakes company was the next step and this colt didn’t disappoint in a 2^nd place finish and improving his speed figure by 14 points.  He started off his three-year-old campaign by once again increasing his speeds and finishing first in a 10 horse listed stakes field.  That was enough for his trainer to jump right into the Graded ranks where he finished third in his only Graded attempt—the Grade 2 Sleepy Fan Stakes.  With each race has come an increase in distance and an increase in speeds.  The best speed—a 103—was posted last time out at 8.5 furlongs where he managed that third place finish.  Two questions are now at the top of the list for this trainer today.  Does the increase in distance once again prove to increase speeds for Cairo Prince and does the increase in class prove to be too much?  Expect him to sit very near Mutombo’s finger in terms of placement out of the gate before making that late charge and looking for the win.  Cairo Prince has produced just one Grade 1 winning horse and three Graded level winning horses overall.  Can Cairo Price make it four today?  Golden Tomb’s dam made the most of her career on dirt routes which is perfect for Cairo Prince’s chances.  However, she never won a Graded Race herself and has produced just four stakes winning horses since her first foal in 2008—none of which have won at the Graded level before.

I had the opportunity to catch up with trainer Shagfarms earlier this week.  He did mention that he has just “one Grade 1 win” in his 19 years as a trainer though he “has never had a horse on the Derby Trail.”  He explained his choice in the Corkscrew stating that he chose the race because “the California Derby came up extra strong with a couple of Grade 2 winners including the horse who beat Golden Tomb last time out.”  Though the California Derby is strong, he did mention that “the Corkscrew came up strong as well.”  While he would love a win, Shagfarms mentioned that “I just hope he shows continued improvement so that he can continue to compete at this level for years to come.”  As for what’s next if there is a win this weekend, Shagfarms stated “The Bluegrass Derby, of course” with a big smile on his face.

PP #11 – Sinkintotheocean- 15/1

Nearly identical to his stablemate, Sinkintotheocean has made the most in his three races since the turn of the calendar.  After finishing 2^nd and 1^st in back-to-back maidens to start his career in July and August of last year, he failed to produce in all three of his allowance tries the rest of the year.  Just like Street Streamer, Sinkintotheocean even gave the grass a try in October of last year but failed to produce.  Opposite of his stablemate, this three-year-old colt sired by Speightstown failed to hit the board in any of his tries in conditioned allowance races as a two-year-old.  That all changed with… you guessed it—the increase in distance to start off this year.  Running in an NW2L allowance race to start the month of January, Sinkintotheocean made the jump to 9 furlongs and bested the four horse field by 2 ½ lengths to start the year.  His next time out, speeds increased 22 points as he bested an NW3L allowance race at the same distance!  That was it for conditioned allowance races and a jump into Stakes company was next.  That jump happened on March 1^st of this year and a career best speed figure of 98 saw Sinkintotheocean win his first attempted listed stakes race by 2 ½ lengths coming, once again, at the 9 furlong distance.  That leads us to this weekend, much like his stablemate, this colt will be looking for his first Graded win in his first try.  Unlike Street Streamer, expect Sinkintotheocean to sit back off the pace just ahead of Mutombo’s Finger and Golden Tomb before making the late charge for the win.  One of the three race win streaks will fall this weekend between stablemates Street Streamer and Sinkintotheocean.  However, the jump in class has to have the trainer of each of these boys wondering, will they both fall?

During our conversation about Street Streamer, I managed to catch up with trainer Given about his other three horses in the field this week.  He stated that Sinkintotheocean “has the absolute opposite running style of Street Streamer” and that he looks for this colt to “drop to the back and make a big run through the stretch.”  While the running styles do differ, Given stated that “it’s nice to have horses with complementary running styles in here.”  Given sounded impressed with his stakes win last time out, and he stated that he thinks he “has a big shot” this weekend.  When asked what needs to happen in addition to capitalize on that shot this weekend, Given said “he can win for sure, just needs to handle the step up in class and get a clean trip.”  A stay in Kentucky for the derby will be next, provided there is a win here this weekend for Sinkintotheocean.  As for what should happen provided multiple of his horses finish in the top three?  Given didn’t completely rule out attempting multiple horses in the derby in May.

PP #12 – Ghostly Knight- 13/1

One of the more experienced Graded runners in our field this weekend is a three-year-old colt sired by Ghostzapper.  One of just two horses in the field to have won a Graded race in their careers, Ghostly Knight will be looking for his first win since October of his two-year-old campaign.  After starting his career third in a maiden in February of 2019, Ghostly Knight would rattle off three in a row from April to June of 2019 including a listed stakes win from wire to wire.  Since that time, he has seen nothing but Graded races, but has also found that achieving a top three positon in these races is tough.  After attempting his first Grade 1 race in September—he finished 5^th in a 14 horse field—he would win his only Grade 2 attempt in the Big Hill Stakes in October.  He would move on to attempt another Grade 1 and his first routing race which provided a 13^th place finish in a 14 horse field.  He’s attempted two Grade 3 races in 2020 and finished 9^th and 4^th respectively in those races.  With quite a bit of early speed (and late speed) in this race, you have to wonder if the increase in distance will help or hurt Ghostly Knight.  While speeds have been increasing (84, 93, 99) in his three routing races, he hasn’t managed to hit the board in the three try’s—though his order of finish (13^th, 9^th, 4^th) has gotten better.  Questions are there with this one as he will be making his first attempt at the 9 furlong length.  Will speeds continue to increase?  Will the early speed in this race help or hurt Ghostly Knight?  He has proven he can win at the Graded ranks which only one other horse has done as previously mentioned.  Will he cement his spot in the derby in May or will it be yet another rough Graded race for this young colt?

We reached out to trainer Baggio earlier this week to see if he could comment his thoughts on the improvement he has seen in Ghostly Knight in his three Graded runs at routing distance.  We were unable to reach him before the article was published.

PP #13 – DMR Ziponbyu- 18/1

11 races into his career and DMR Ziponbyu has tried just about everything except a Graded race which he will attempt for the first time this weekend.  After an amazing debut win on the dirt at 89/1 odds in a maiden back in April of 2019, he would run in six straight conditioned allowance races—not winning another race until October of 2019.  Four of the six races came on the grass after he managed just a 3^rd place finish in his second career race on the dirt.  While speeds did increase a little bit on the grass, he would manage just one 3^rd place finish in three straight attempts on the grass.  A move back to dirt would prove to be uneventful in September where he would finish 5^th in a conditioned allowance though he would run his career best speed of 81. His second career win would come next time out in race 7 where he would best a four horse conditioned allowance race on the grass.  His first listed stakes try came in November of 2019 where he would manage just a 6^th place finish though it looked like he was gaining ground in the stretch.  After wrapping up his 2019 campaign with just two wins in nine races, he would make the switch back to the dirt and that has proved all the difference so far for this colt.  He would run his next race, a conditioned allowance, in February of this year and best a four horse field at 8.5 furlongs.  His next time out, he took down a seven horse field in a 9 furlong listed stakes race—his only listed stakes race win of his career.  His 97 speed figure last time out is his best speed figure to date and came right here in Kentucky.  That leads us to this weekend’s race where you can look for DMR Ziponbyu to sit well off the pace before making a run at it in the end.  In his listed stakes win last time out, he was 11 ¼ lengths off the lead at the mid-point before making a strong surge to win by a ½ length.  This three-year-old colt was sired by Normandy Invasion and is out of a stakes winning/graded placed dam RX Only.  RX Only loved the dirt and bounced around between stakes and allowance company for most of her career before being retired after he last race in July of 2018.  Her best stretch came in back to back races early in 2018 where she would win an allowance race and finish 2^nd in a Grade 3 race.  She would run just two races over 8 furlongs—one each on the grass and on the dirt—and would not win a single of those races.  While DMR Ziponbyu will most likely make a strong surge in the end, you have to wonder if he will be sitting too far off of the pace to make much of an effort in the stretch.

Earlier this week, I attempted to make contact with trainer Daveraw and collect his thoughts on DMR Ziponbyu.  His staff said he would return my call sometime in the future but he unfortunately didn’t return it before publishing occurred.

PP #14 – Street Streamer- 13/1

The turn of the calendar has been really nice to our next three-year-old colt sired by Street Sense.  Street Streamer had just one win in five career races to begin his two-year-old campaign.  That win came when he broke his maiden in June of last year on his second try.  While he was never really “out of it” in each of his other three races in July, August, and September of last year, he didn’t have enough in the tank to hold off the late challengers finishing with two places and a show in the three races.  He even gave the grass a try in September of last year and produced just the third place finish that was mentioned above.  A nice trip to the farm proved to be just what the doctor ordered, however, as he is now three for three since the turn of the calendar besting two conditioned allowance fields and a listed stakes field while running a career best speed of 102 his last time out.  One figure that has proven to be of help for Street Streamer has been the ability to increase from 8 furlongs to 9 furlongs.  That increase in distance has allowed him to hold off the rest of the field in each of his three races as a three-year-old and he will be looking to make it four in a row at the 9 furlong distance today.  Street Streamer is a three-year-old scratch-bred that will be looking to set the pace with NYSP Sergeant.  Will the early battle for the lead leave much in the tank for either of the two horses as we turn for home this weekend?  That question has to be running through his trainer’s mind as we get closer to race day.

Speaking of trainers, I managed to catch up with Street Streamers’ trainer Given the other day and he is very fond of his colt calling him a “big, leggy, colt that just needed more ground to show off his massive stride.”  He noted that the increase to 9 furlongs has proven to “flatter” him though he was a little concerned about the increase in class for this race.  It will be the first Graded attempt for Street Streamer.  Given hopes to have his colt “near the front” early and he said he “clearly has a chance to win” when asked where he thinks he will end up.  As for what’s next provided there is a win here this weekend?  Given and Street Streamer will stay right here in Kentucky and give the Derby a go in May.

No matter who you are betting on this weekend, this will be one heck of a show Saturday in Kentucky when these horses meet for the chance to cement their spot in the Bluegrass Derby.  The field features an excellent mix of early speed, those that will sit mid-pack, and those that will sit near the back of the pack.  At the post draw on Wednesday, I managed to catch back up with trainer Given for a few more comments.  He mentioned that he “wasn’t pleased with Street Streamer’s post position” but also did point out that “if he’s good enough, I don’t think it will matter.”  He was very upbeat about the prospects for Street Streamer and Sinkintotheocean stating, “I really expect to see Sinkintotheocean charging late, though, I think they both rate a big shot.”    For me, not much separates the horse that will finish 1^st from the horse that will finish 14^th in this race.  However, cementing a spot in the Bluegrass Derby will be the biggest thing that separates these horses after this weekend.  As for my final thoughts, I thought these quotes by trainer Shagfarms summed up the race well.  He stated, “The pace should be solid,” and said, “the Corkscrew came up strong as well” when referencing the field.  That it did Shagfarms and we’re all looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.