Good morning!
Each year about 20,000 thoroughbred foals are registered by owners who dream that three years hence their horse will be the chosen one to win the Kentucky Derby. The dream resumes today with the 147th Run for the Roses.
Attrition has taken a toll the last few months. BloodHorse gushed that Shug McGaughey’s Greatest Honour was “crying for the mile-and-quarter Derby distance” after he won the Holy Bull and the Fountain of Youth stakes at Gulfstream. Bettors sent him off at odds-on to win the Florida Derby and he finished third.
Seven races in six months had gassed McGaughey’s colt. “Maybe we’ll have him for Saratoga,” he told horseracingnation.com after announcing the colt would be on a 60-day recharge.
Six-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert’s best prospects will remain in their stalls today. Concert Tour was fifth in the Arkansas Derby at 1-5 odds, Life Is Good cracked an ankle after he won the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, and Freedom Fighter folded like a cheap suit in the Gotham Stakes.
The 2-1 morning line favorite today is the gray from the Brad Cox barn, Essential Quality. The undefeated colt is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai. Some feel he’s a cad who deserves to be locked up the moment he steps on American soil, but that’s another story for another time.
His Godolphin racing stable has won three Eclipse Awards and over 5,000 races worldwide, but is 0-for-11 at the Kentucky Derby. The closest was Frosted who finished fourth in 2015.
Essential Quality broke his maiden on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs. A month later he won the Breeders’ Futurity, followed by wins in the BC Juvenile, Southwest Stakes and Blue Grass Stakes under jockey Luis Saez. He drew the 14 post between 50-1 longshot Hidden Stash and 5-1 morning line second choice Rock Your World. This week, furniture store owner Jim McIngvale, aka Mattress Mac, said he plans to wager $2 million on Essential Quality. That will drive down the payout and skewer the odds, leaving bettors to ponder whether to bet Rock Your World. A $650,000 yearling purchase, Rock Your World jumped into Derby consideration after he won the Santa Anita Derby.
The dark brown son of Candy Ride defies conventional wisdom. He’s made just three starts (all wins) and never raced as a 2-year-old, but his precociousness was reflected when he turned in a 100 Beyer Speed Figure last out under two-time Kentucky Derby winner Joel Rosario.
Todd Pletcher’s Known Agenda is the 6-1 morning line third choice despite drawing the one post. Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. is the nation’s leading rider with 150 wins and was aboard Known Agenda in the Florida Derby. The win paid $10.80. Pletcher used the Florida Derby as a final tuneup for Always Dreaming the 2017 Kentucky Derby winner.
After Hot Rod Charlie drew the nine post he got a big cheer from backers who were relieved he hadn’t drawn the cursed one post which hasn’t had a winner in 35 years.
The West Coast colt is owned in part by five Theta Delta Chi frat brothers who played football at Brown University. The good news is their horse is the only million dollar purse earner in the field. The bad news is that Essential Quality is the only $2 million earner. The Louisiana Derby winner is trained by Doug O’Neill and will be ridden by Flavien Prat who’s won 29 percent of his mounts this year.
Bettors should keep an eye on the tote board to see if Chad Brown’s Highly Motivated is taking money. Listed at 10-1 in the program, the New York-based colt broke a step slowly and lost the Blue Grass by only a neck to Essential Quality.
Baffert’s Medina Spirit and Brad Cox’s Mandaloun are both 15-1. Both lost their luster off recent efforts. The former finished finished 4½ lengths behind Rock Your World at odds-on in the Santa Anita Derby, and the latter was a disappointing sixth at 8-5 in the Louisiana Derby.
Post time for the $3 million race is at 6:57 p.m. NBC-TV will begin live coverage of the stakes-filled card at 2:30 p.m.
Derby Notes: Essential Quality’s Beyers have steadily progressed (69-88-95-96-97). … Eight horses in the field have raced at Churchill. Highest BSFs were Mandaloun and Hidden Stash at 82, and Midnight Bourbon and Keepmeinmind at 80. … King Fury, who was scratched on Friday, is named for heavyweight champ Tyson Fury. … Dynamic One is owned by Mike Repole, the mythical king of New York thoroughbred racing. The son of Union Rags broke his maiden two starts ago, has yet to break a 90 speed figure and is 20-1 in the morning line.
Game of the Week: The UMass baseball team (10-24) hosts Boston College (17-21) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The baseball program gets one scholarship, hardly enough to be competitive, but coach Matt Reynolds won the Beanpot in 2019.
The Eagles are sub-.500 but have wins against four ranked teams — No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 13 Va. Tech, No. 15 North Carolina and No. 18 Florida State. Three BC players are ranked in the Top 25 by athlonsports.com, outfielder Sal Frelick (uniform No. 11), shortstop Cody Morissette (No. 7) and pitcher Mason Pelio (No. 27).
Spring Bloom: Kudos to Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom whose Red Sox are the surprise team of baseball. Bloom has assembled a core group including regulars Kike Hernandez nd Marwin Gonzalez, pitcher Nick Pivetta (3-0), reliever Garrett Whitlock and closer Matt Barnes.
Whitlock has proven to be more than a Rule 5 reclamation project from New York. He’s allowed no runs in 13.1 innings, struck out 18 and walked two. As for Barnes, toss out the three-run homer he gave up to Seattle’s Kyle Seager and he’s allowed one run and struck out 24 in 13 innings.
MLB NOTES: It’s the same old Mets, scoring one run in 18 innings en route to being swept by the Red Sox who only scored three runs in the two games. …. Francisco Lindor, who signed for $341 million, is batting .203 and hearing the boos from Mets fans. … Kyle Higashioka’s four home runs and solid defense was enough for the Yankees to finally give up on underachieving Gary Sanchez (.182 average, three-time league leader in passed balls). … Mets announcer Gary Cohen called Marwin Gonzalez “the kind of guy who a few years ago profiled as Ben Zobrist-plus,” referring to Joe Maddon’s favorite utility player. …. Cohen saw lots of Kike Hernandez in the National League and called him “a great player to have on a team.” … Jeff Bridich’s departure as Colorado GM was blowback for trading third baseman Nolan Arenado, but Arenado is batting only .244 with four home runs. Bridich’s sin was failing to get a good third base prospect from the Cards in return for Arenado. … Tigers broadcaster Matt Shepard on Jim Leyland’s meteoric temper: “He drop-kicked a trash can further than anyone I’ve ever seen.” … Suzyn Waldman on cold and cavernous Municipal Stadium, former home of the Cleveland Indians: “Ellis Burks showed up early for hitting. The clubhouse guy told him he’d leave the door open, ‘just turn on the lights and make a lot of noise to scare away the rats.’” … AL East refugees Mookie Betts and Manny Machado (heartily booed by Dodgers fans) were a combined 7-for-38 with two RBIs during last weekend’s four game series between the Dodgers and Padres. … Former Met Matt Harvey set down 12 straight Yankees on Monday, lowering his Orioles’ ERA from 5.12 to 4.26. … In Milwaukee, Jackie Bradley Jr. has one HR in 82 at-bats and is batting .195 … Pittsfield native Tom Grieve, former player, GM, and longtime Texas Rangers broadcaster, asked by Sirius-XM’s Ed Randall to comment on baseball scouts: “Some of the most colorful, brightest and most memorable people in the game are the scouts who signed the players, and seeing them become diminished breaks my heart.”. … Heads up Peter Hantzis, Aaron Civale is 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA for the Cleveland Indians. Civale is from East Windsor, Conn., went to Loomis Chaffee and pitched at Northeastern where Hantzis batted .392 for the Huskies in 1973.… Garry Brown, the Giants have a player for your column named Skye Bolt. … Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier stepped to the plate on Tuesday and fouled off Trevor May’s first two pitches. Hall of Famer Jim Palmer watched from the broadcast booth and said, “Clint, my lad, you’ve had two good pitches to hit. Now you’re going to scuffle.” Frazier flied out to right, dropping his average to .132.
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for four decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet95@yahoo.com