Last Guaranteed Bluegrass Berth Runs Through Arkansas

The final chance for three year olds to earn an automatic berth in the Bluegrass Derby comes in the Arkansas Juvenile Lock Prep. Run at a mile and an eighth over a fast track this may just be the most competitive field from all the Lock Preps. There is only one horse in the field who has not won at least a listed stakes and many are either graded winners or graded placed. There are five grade three or grade two winners in the field although there are no grade one winners. Several of the runners are running back after trying previous Lock Preps which means they are coming back on two or three weeks rest, a big ask for young three year olds. Let’s take a look at the field.

#1 Groin Irritation 8/1

Poor horse. There are some names that just make you sad and the celebration of gelding Groin Irritation is one. The name police would certainly issue a ticket. Yet often those names that get flagged by the name police are attached to horses with a lot of talent and Groin Irritation fits the bill. He’s got five wins and a second from seven career starts including the Grade Three Risen Star in his 2021 debut. In that start he went wire to wire in the mile and a sixteenth race, winning by almost two lengths with a 107 speed. He followed that up with a very poor showing in the Florida Derby where he never reached the lead and faded late. That race was likely a bounce off the huge showing in the Risen Star. He doesn’t need the lead, the Risen Star was a bit of a fluke for him being there but now he’s running back on just three weeks rest so even if the Florida Derby was a bounce he’ll have to overcome the short turnaround here. He’s a scratchbred son of West Coast x Unbridled x Alydar and he was gelded prior to his first start.

#2 Runaway Edge 9/1

In his last two starts Runaway Edge has finished second in races at today’s distance. The first race was a listed where he ran in seventh early on before closing to lose by a length and three quarters. His most recent start was easily his most impressive. That came in the Grade Two Land’s End over this course and he was further back early in tenth before unleashing a rally to lose by a length and a quarter while running a 109 speed. The winner of that race, Tumescent is the favorite here today so Runaway Edge deserves a legitimate look. He’s only got one win routing and is by Hopeful Stakes winner Competitive Edge out of a Candy Ride x Unbridled mare. He is her second foal and first stakes winner. That backend should give him the stamina he needs to get the Derby distance but his dam never won beyond eight and a quarter furlongs.

#3 Gojira Blast 10/1

Gojira Blast is entering off just one race in 2021 and that race came back at the end of January. He’s got a very interesting pedigree as he is a son of Triple Crown winner Justify based on a grade one winning Arrogate x Bernardini hemare The Glaive. The Glaive scored his biggest win in the Corkscrew – Derby Lock and ran a creditable sixth in the Bluegrass Derby back in 2019. He was also second by a head in the mile and three sixteenths Clerk of Scales Stakes so you know this is a stamina laden pedigree. Gojira Blast even traces back to 2015 Champion Older Dirt Female Barden Bella, a three time grade one winner. But let’s get to his race record. Gojira Blast has never been out of the money in six career starts, with three wins. Two of those wins came in his only sprint starts. He won an allowance going a mile and a sixteenth back in October and jumped straight to graded competition in the Grade Two Ransom Stakes at a mile and an eighth in November. In that race he closed from eleventh to be second by just a half length behind Slash Dot Murder who just lost the All Saints Derby Lock by a head. He ran a 99 speed that day, a number he bested in his January start by six points. That race was the Grade Three Scam Stakes at the same distance. Again he was far back early on but his closing kick only got him to three lengths off the winner while second. The winner of that race, The Free World just won the Florida Derby Lock Prep. You’ve got to love this colt’s chances to score an upset here considering the company he’s been keeping.

#4 Dark Voodoo 9/1

A winner of his first three starts, Dark Voodoo did not start his career until last June. In his second race he won a mile allowance with a 90 speed and he made his stakes and graded debut next time out, winning the Grade Three Charcoal Breeder’s Cup with a 95 speed. In all three of his victories he lead wire to wire. Next stop was the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile where he failed to get the early lead and faded to thirteenth. Given a bit of a rest he’s made two starts this year. He was fifth in the Grade Three Scam and second in the Grade One Funky Buddha. Both races came at a mile and an eighth and in both he did get the early lead fairly easily. He ran a 101 and 103 speed in each race respectively. He’s a scratchbred son of Good Magic x Pioneerof The Nile x Ghostzapper.

#5 That Makes Sense 14/1

That Makes Sense comes in after the unkindest cut. The son of Goldencents out of a Ghostzapper x Seeking the Gold mare is the second foal and first stakes winner for his dam who won her only race sprinting. Goldencents is a son of leading sire Into Mischief who won the Breeders’ Cup Mile twice and has been very successful as a young sire in real life. That Makes Sense won a seven and a half furlong stakes race in July before moving up to routes and graded competition. He was second in the Grade three Cryogenics Juvenil in September and second by a head in the Grade Three Nashua Special. Both races were at one mile. That Makes Sense was sixth in his next start, a one mile grade one. He’s only had one start this year, the Grade Three Scam at a mile and an eighth back on January 30^th but he ran a 97 speed there. He tends to come from far back and make one run. If you like the angle of first off the geld he’s your horse, especially at 14/1. But he’s never won a route and his pedigree suggests that he might not be able to get the distance today.

#6 Honest Heart 16/1

Another colt entering after a poor performance in another Lock Prep is Honest Heart. He was last in the All Saints Derby on March 20^th. That race was run over an off track and it was Honest Heart’s first try over one so certainly you can throw it out. His previous race was a very strong win in the Grade Three Legoland Stakes at one mile in early January. In that race he sat third before taking the lead down the stretch to win by a length with a 104 speed. As a two year old he was a grade two winner sprinting. He’s a son of Lion Heart who was second to Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby back in 2004 out of a Johannesburg x El Gran Senor mare. She only raced five times, all sprinting but her pedigree suggests that she probably wouldn’t have done well beyond a mile. This is her first foal.

#7 Chips N Gravy 12/1

Chips N Gravy has three wins and three seconds from seven starts with all but one of those races coming in routes. He has two starts this year, a second place finish in an allowance back in January and a win in a listed stakes in his most recent outing at the end of February. In both races he stalked the early leaders before making a run in the stretch. That run came up just a half length short in the allowance but propelled him to an almost two length win in the listed which was at one mile. He did run a 103 speed that day which, if he improves upon it should make him competitive here but it is always questionable how a horse will do trying graded company for the first time and this is a very salty field. He’s a scratchbred son of Graydar x Summer Squall x Kingmambo.

#8 Gray Spirit 8/1

Gray Spirit is a scratchbred son of Tapit x Maria’s Mon x Seattle Slew. There’s obviously a lot of stamina in that pedigree. Although Maria’s Mon never won beyond a mile that was due to an injury but he sired two Kentucky Derby winners in Monarchos and and Super Saver, while Tapit and Seattle Slew really speak for themselves. He’s got a great record of four wins and a second from six starts. His only off the board finish came in a grade three back in October. That was his stakes and graded debut and he can be forgiven for the hiccup. He’s won two of three starts this year and in his loss he was second by a quarter of a length. He’s got a lot of early speed but doesn’t have to be in front early on, he’s been successful battling for the early lead in second or third before assuming the lead down the stretch. His most recent win came in the mile and a sixteenth Grade Two Felipe Alou Stakes which he won with a 105 speed.

#9 Auglaze County 21/1

It’s surprising that a horse with Auglaze County’s credentials is the longest shot in the field but that just goes to show how strong a field this is. Auglaze County won his first three starts, all sprinting including a seven furlong listed. He was actually available for $60,000 in a maiden claimer in his initial start but luckily for his connections he was not snatched up. In his first two routes he was second in a grade three and a grade one last fall, with both races coming at a mile. This season he has been less successful, finishing tenth and thirteenth in two graded races, the last of which being the All Saints Derby. That was his first try on an off track so it may be wise to throw the race out but it still came three weeks ago which is a very short turnaround. Auglaze County is a son of the Ohio based stallion Cowtown Cat out of a Macho Uno x Halo mare. He is her third foal and first stakes winner.

#10 Corona Evac 11/1

The only horse in the field who is not already a stakes winner is Corona Evac. He’s a scratchbred son of Arrogate x Street Cry x Deputy Minister but he only has two wins from nine career starts. His last win came in August in a one mile allowance where he ran an 89 speed. He jumped straight to graded company and finished second in the Grade Three Charcoal Breeder’s Cup at a mile and a sixteenth. Since then he has hit the board once, finishing third by over seven lengths in a listed two starts back. That race came at a mile and three sixteenths. He’s another horse who enters off a previous try in a Derby Lock, this time the Sand Castle Derby just two weeks ago.

#11 Blythenthefastlane 12/1

Blythenthefastlane was gelded at the end of his two year old season which saw him win just one time in five starts (although he was second in three others). His only off the board finish came in his only sprint race. The scratchbred son of Bernardini x Mr. Prospector x Nijinsky II returned this year to win a first level allowance at a mile and three sixteenths. That propelled him to his first stakes race which came at the same distance and he won it as well. In both races he went wire to wire and held off the closers at the end of the race. He ran a 96 speed in the allowance and a 98 in the listed. There’s a lot of speed in this race and the question mark is how he will handle the drop down in distance. Certainly though if he wins this race he should have plenty of stamina going into the Bluegrass Derby.

#12 Tumescent 5/1

Tumescent is the favorite here and the horse with the most starts of any horse in the field with eleven. He’s won five of those and finished on the board in four others. He exits a win in the Grade Two Land’s End stakes which came over this track and at this distance. He also holds the highest last out speed of any horse in the field with a 107. In that race he sat sixth early on but took the lead around the turn and held it down the stretch. He was entering off four straight turf stakes races. He won a listed and a grade three before running second in two grade ones. His pedigree is an interesting one as he’s a son of Bernardini out of the grade three winning Galileo x Farrh mare Feel Me Up. Like him she was capable on both surfaces and as far as distance goes she was a stakes winner up to a mile and five sixteenths. His first four dams were all graded winners in routes.

#13 Otto Jenius 9/1

Never off the board in seven starts, Otto Jenius enters off a third place finish in the Grade One Funky Buddha at a mile and an eighth. Prior to that he won his stakes debut in a mile and a sixteenth listed. He ran over this course and distance in his 2021 debut in an allowance and won albeit against only four rivals. His speeds have been pretty strong though. He won the allowance with a 98, the listed with a 103 and in his third start he ran a 102. He’s a good stalker which will help him in this race considering the number of speedsters in the field. He’s a son of Union Rags out of the Distorted Humor x Giant’s Causeway stakes winning mare Jenius. Jenius did her best running at a mile but was second against allowance company at a mile and a quarter. She was a daughter of the grade one winning hemare Otto Causes who scored his biggest win going a mile and an eighth but was third in the 2007 Breeders’ Bowl Classic by just a half length behind the legendary Solar Song.

#14 Spastic Max 11/1

The last horse coming out of the All Saints Derby is Spastic Max. He also is the horse who finished best in that field as he was sixth. Unlike the other two entrants he had previous experience on an off track as he had a win and a second in two other starts. The scratchbred son of Fusaichi Pegasus x Giant’s Causeway Awesome Again colt entered that start off a win in a listed stakes at a mile and an eighth. The All Saints Derby was his only off the board finish from six career starts of which he’s won three. His early races saw him run on the lead early on but in that listed stakes he showed a different dimension, coming from fifth early on before winning by a head.

Good luck to all!