The California Derby-G1 at one point could lay claim to being one of the strongest preps in the game, with Tower Storm and Granhee using the race as a springboard to Derby glory, and Fly for Buda and Folsom Blues both taking the Middle Jewel-G1 after finishing third in the Derby. In recent years, the California Derby-G1 has not fared as well, but every year is a fresh start, and this year\u2019s edition features a strong field of 14, including Breeders\u2019 Bowl champ and Champion 2yo Colt Bolton Valley<\/B>.Bolton Valley gets leading rider Fred Gossett in the irons. The pair have teamed up successfully twice in the past, capturing the North Fork Stakes-G1 and the Movieland Futurity-G1 last season. The son of Belong to Me has been off to a rougher start as a sophomore, faltering in the Risen Star Stakes-G3 to finish fifth after being uncharacteristically rank in the early going, and then finishing a game second in the Winter Is Coming-G1 last time out. That performance should set the dundey8<\/I> trainee well up for this spot. The handsome chestnut is a deserving favorite at 5\/1.
Letmegocrazyonu<\/B> is back for another matchup, having finished second behind Bolton Valley in the Movieland Futurity-G1. The elegant dark hued colt has run only once since then, a solid second in the Vermont Is 4 Lovers-G1. He is bred for the distance, as he is the first foal out of a G3 winning mare at 9 \u00bd panels, and has certainly lived up to that pedigree on the track. Blankpoint2<\/I> does not need a win, as the son of Eskendereya is currently ranked ninth; but you always want to see your Derby colt entering the big dance off of a promising effort, and there\u2019s no reason to think that this consistent runner won\u2019t put in another big run here.
Scarlet Flight<\/B> has been crying out for distance, and finally gets it here today. After unleashing a pair of late charges at a mile, vagueideas<\/I> stretched the big chocolate hued colt out to 1 1\/16 miles in the G3 Buccaneer Derby, and he responded with a big, eye-catching move in the stretch, closing from ninth to second with a career-best 102 SF. The extra distance should not be a problem, but this son of Roses In May will have to win if he wants to run for the roses. One to watch in this field
Japrufrock<\/I> has got to be frustrated after Mamin\u2019s<\/B> effort in the Winter Is Coming-G1. The dark bay dynamo looked great in his first two attempts over a route of ground, including a second place finish in the Scam over this track and distance with a 102 SF. However, things kind of fell apart last time out, as the colt never really seemed interested, finishing a dull sixth, more than 10 \u00bd lengths behind the winner. The connections are clearly looking for redemption with this son of Makfi. By the stretch, it should be clear whether Mamin will be making his usual late kick, or is struggling with something more serious than a one-off.
Southern Migration<\/B> looked solid in winning the Ransom-G2 back in the fall, but has hit a plateau, speed-figure wise, since then. The Summer Bird colt has consistently run in the mid-90s, good enough for a second place finish against listed company, and a fourth place effort in the Winter Is Coming-G1, but the zenyatta10<\/I> homebred will need to step it up another notch to threaten here.The lone filly in the field is kashbarn2\u2019s<\/I> Seattle Kash<\/B>, attempts to emulate Street Etiquette and defeat the boys. The daughter of Grand Slam enters this race fresh off a rallying second in a listed stakes, where she earned a solid 101 SF. However, she has yet to hit the board in any of her graded stakes attempts to date, and seems a cut below the best in the filly division. However, if she can repeat that 101 SF, the coppery miss could be right up there at the end.
Verygooday<\/I> looks for a very good day indeed with the lightly raced Seattle Saver<\/B>. The son of Derby hero Super Saver has shown promise in his brief career, with two ins at a mile, followed by a solid second in a listed stakes. Still, the last start causes a little bit of concern as the colt faltered at this distance, finishing sixth lengths behind the winner. This guy has every reason to improve, and he will need to against this field.
Two of the hottest sires in the game are Giant\u2019s Causeway and Distorted Humor, and both of them can be found in Immensely\u2019s<\/B> pedigree. The leggy brown colt has done little wrong to date, winning a listed stakes in Delaware to close out his juvenile campaign. Most recently, he dawdled at the start, but made up tons in the stretch go from fourteenth to second in the Immense Derby Challenge-G1. That race was also at 9 furlongs, and a top three finish will make sure that this mtktwos<\/I> trainee will guarantee himself a spot in the Derby field. Improving at the right time, but cannot afford to take a step backwards.
Arch E Bunker<\/B>, a cleverly named son of Arch, has been a bit of a hard luck horse to date, with only a maiden victory to his name in 11 starts. However, the colt\u2019s last race, a third place effort in the UFO Stakes-G3, has shown cmd<\/I> enough to give Mr. Bunker a chance here. The speed figure in that race was a 99 SF, competitive with the rest of the field. It has been a little hard to peg this guy \u2013 based on his prior efforts in the Ransom-G2 and a listed 9 \u00bd furlong stakes, it may be that 1 1\/16 miles is more to his liking, but has a solid jock aboard, and wouldn\u2019t be much of a stretch to see him as a factor.
The horse that finished ahead of Arch E Bunker is also in this field: stormyhk\u2019s<\/I> Lute\u2019s Wish<\/B>. The imposing chestnut has been a deep closer, and in his route debut looked very impressive when rallying from thirteenth to first with a 103 SF. Lute should appreciate the extra distance, but is having to make up for lost time, and desperately needs a win to punch his ticket to Churchill. Off of that one effort, looks very good here if he can duplicate that effort, but the two weeks\u2019 rest is a little bit of cause for concern. At 13\/1, a must include in the exotics, and is definitely the \u201cwise guy\u201d horse.
Thunder222<\/I> is ready to give Crimson Satann<\/B> another class test after the son of Langfuhr posted a 100 SF in an allowance score last out. The colt did not fare so well in his prior two graded stakes attempts, but both of those efforts were sprinting, and it is undeniable that the colt has been improving in his last few starts. If he can run back to his last race, the colt may emulate his granddam, Pye Are Squared, who was a graded stakes winner at this distance, but it will not be easy.
Rounding out the field are waybil\u2019s<\/I> Soft Sensation<\/B>, who is winless in two attempts routing, including a seventh in the Rebel Yell-G3, and gets a low percentage jock, chloedawg\u2019s<\/I> Onenationundergod<\/B>, who has done well at the allowance level, but couldn\u2019t take the next step last time out in the Felipe Alou-G2 and faces just as tough a bunch this go round, and Vertigo\u2019s<\/I> Best Impression<\/B>, a nice colt who is taking a step up in both distance and class, and will need to improve on his lifetime best SF of 94 to threaten against this bunch.
Good luck to all the runners and their connections!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Juvenile Champ Looks to Go To Kentucky on High Note<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":438,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/438"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}