Road to the Derby! Two Big Lock Races!

We are gaining steam on the Road to the Derby. This week there are two big Lock Races, The Florida Derby and The Sand Castle Derby in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier this Spring, HOT AND SPICY proved able to navigate the slop in Louisiana and locked up the first spot in the Bluegrass Derby. He will now be joined by a couple of other horses this weekend in the two races. This is a big deal on a couple of levels for owners and trainers who hope to compete in Derby week. If a favorite wins, it means that the trainer can take it easy and really just concentrate on getting in a few good runs and doesn’t have to worry at all about building any points between now and the Derby. If a horse outside of the top twenty wins, it moves everyone back a spot and those that are on the bubble have to work extra hard to make sure that they qualify by either adding Stakes points or by winning one of the remaining Lock Races. Either way, the pressure builds for the owners and trainers.

It appears that we are going to have a couple of nice looking fields this weekend although as of this writing there are only three of the top twenty entered in either race. That can change in a hurry though as trainers like to wait until the last minute to enter even if they have the horse on the grounds to make sure that they get the best matchup.

Currently, in the Florida Derby we have TIZ SMOKIN’ NOW who is listed at 50-1 in Trotter’s Future Odds. He is the number four ranked colt but has been a bit sluggish this year after a tremendous two year old campaign. We also have THUNDER CRACKED, sired by A.P.Indy and listed at 7-1 in Trotter’s Odds. He is the number seven ranked colt. MISTY WHISPER, the pretty charcoal colored colt is ranked number 11 and listed at 10 -1 by Trotter. Just outside of the top twenty at 21 is XTRA TALES who Trotter has at 75-1 and could really benefit with a good trip here. DUKE OF NORMANDY and SAMSTAG are both ranked in the top forty and this is their time to move up in the rankings or capture a Lock spot. It appears that we will definitely have a full field of 14 in the race and as I noted, there will probably be some late entries.

Over in Dubai, we are still waiting on a top twenty entry but have lots of hopefuls. OSOTOGARI who is a sprint champion is trying to make the stretch out to a mile plus and he hasn’t really taken to it yet. He is joined in the entries by THUNDER DRAGON, who finished third last time out in the FELIPE ALOU G2 with a nice 101 SPF. He could definitely be a player here. Another horse to watch is SILVER TONGUED, who has looked great all year and ran in the LOUISIANA DERBY but didn’t like the mud. There are several other hopefuls that have come on lately and hope for the Lock.

Weather doesn’t look like it will be a factor in either race as the weatherman is predicting ideal conditions for a fast track in both locations. Ticket sales have been brisk for both races even in these less than idea economic times as folks are truly excited about watching these top flight young colts battle it out for a spot in Kentucky that first Saturday in May.

We are still expecting possible entries from top colts like NEVER QUIT and ON THE ROAD in Florida and we may possibly see SISSON’S SUNDAY, COPPOLA or TONYOCITY in Dubai. There are other Lock Races down the road but you start to run out of chances if you are near the bubble for the big race. You also have the advantage of two races in the same week so that entries are spread out.

I will be previewing both of these races later in the week after we have the final entries and the post draws. I am really looking forward to watching and seeing who will make it into the Bluegrass.

See you there! And good luck to all!

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