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Posted Monday, February 08, 2010 11:30 a. m.

Triple Crown has 366 early nominees

Triple Crown has 366 early nominees

 Edited from Bloodhorse.com

Lookin At Lucky and She Be Wild, the champion 2-year-old male and female, respectively, of 2009, top the list of 366 early nominees to the 2010 Triple Crown races.

The number of nominations during the early nominating period, which closed Jan. 16 at $600 per horse, was down 8.7% from the 401 early nominations last year. The record 450 early nominations was set in 2007.  In 2009, there were an additional 11 horses nominated during the late nomination period. This year’s late nomination deadline, which requires a $6,000 fee, is March 27.

Each nominee is eligible for all three legs of the Triple Crown, which kicks off with the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) at Churchill Downs. The second leg, the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), will be run May 15 at Maryland’s Pimlico Race Course and the series concludes with the June 5 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) at New York’s Belmont Park.

To see a sortable listing of the nominees, click here

Churchill Downs spokesman John Asher said there are a number of reasons why the early nomination total is down from last year, including the recent decline in number of foals born each year and the economy, especially the downturns within the horse industry.

“Fewer foals are hitting the ground, so it stands to reason that there would be an accompanying decline in the number of horses that display Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown potential,” Asher said. “It’s also logical to assume the challenging business conditions have prompted many owners to tighten their belts in their racing operations and they might not take a chance on cutting that $600 check for the early nomination fee for a 3-year-old that they consider a longshot to make the series.”

Asher added that some owners might have cut back on the number of 3-year-olds they nominate to the series. “For very small stables, that $600 fee could cover other expenses and it’s possible that some owners who might have nominated on a whim in the past might have pulled back during the early phase this time.”

“Our nomination total is down a bit, but the 366 horses on the roster of nominees represent as deep a field of quality prospects as we’ve seen over the years,” said Churchill senior vice president of racing Donnie Richardson in a release from the track.

In addition to the Eclipse Award-winning juvenile male and female of 2009, the early nominees include every runner, except Irish-bred Alfred Noble, from last year’s Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I). Vale of York, who defeated Lookin At Lucky in the 13-horse Juvenile field, is one of 17 overseas nominees and one of eight nominated from Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Stable.

The eight total fillies nominated also include multiple grade I winner Blind Luck, who was third in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) won by She Be Wild.

With 20 nominations, Todd Pletcher tops the list trainers of early nominees, followed by D. Wayne Lukas with 19. Chip Woolley, who upset the 2009 Derby with Mine That Bird, is not listed as the trainer of any early TC nominees. Thoroughbred Racing Legends, the partnership that retains Hall of Famers Lukas, Nick Zito, and Bob Baffert as its trainers, leads the owners’ list with 12 nominees. WinStar Farms is second with 10. Among sires of early nominees, the list is topped by Distorted Humor   and Tiznow  , with 10 each.

Quality Road smashes own record

Quality Road demolished the field Feb. 6 in the $500,000 Donn Handicap (gr. I) in track-record time at Gulfstream Park. With regular partner John Valezquez aboard, Edward P. Evans' 4-year-old homebred drew off to a 12 3/4-length trouncing of a clearly overmatched field as the 2-5 favorite, blasting home in a final time of 1:47.49 for the 1 1/8-mile distance over a fast track. The final time eclipsed the mark of 1:47.72 that the son of Elusive Quality   established in winning last year's Blackberry presents the 58th running of the Florida Derby (gr. I). Quality Road's margin of victory was the largest in the Donn's 52 runnings, breaking the record of nine lengths set in 1972 by Going Straight.

Quality Road, a Virginia-bred bay colt out of the Strawberry Road mare Kobla, improved his career mark to 6-2-1 in nine starts while boosting his earnings to $1,332,830 with the Donn's winning purse of $300,000. Quality Road was coming off a 2 3/4-length victory in the Hal's Hope Stakes (gr. III) at Gulfstream Jan. 3, his first start since Breeders' Cup meltdown.

Back at his favorite track for trainer Todd Pletcher, Quality Road was perfectly cool warming up and going into the gate for the Donn, a marked contrast to the colt who delayed the start of the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) at Santa Anita Nov. 7 by refusing to load, eventually forcing his scratch from the $5-million event.

Instead, coming out of the gate alertly in the Donn, Quality Road settled in nicely while taken in hand and tracked second choice Past the Point, who got the early lead for Edgar Prado and clicked off swift fractions of :23.21, :46.02, and 1:09.87. Stalking less than a length behind on the final turn, Quality Road smoothly angled up to challenge the leader, getting the advantage and taking command before completing the sweeping bend.

Quality Road enjoyed a daylight lead at the top of the lane but had plenty more to give when roused by Velazquez nearing mid-stretch. He burst to a five-length lead at the eighth pole and widened from there in a superior display of talent. He won for the fourth time in five starts at Gulfstream.

“Watching the replay it looked awesome, it felt awesome," Velazquez said. "It was just awesome. Down the lane I wanted to make sure I encouraged him to finish because up until then I hadn’t really done much with him. He started to look round a bit, so I tapped him with the whip to encourage him a little and he just drew away from everybody.”

Dry Martini, with Javier Castellano aboard, closed well to beat the rest. Delightful Kiss, last in the nine-horse field early, also rallied to gain the show spot by a head for jockey Juan Leyva while finishing one length behind the runner-up. Mambo Meister just missed third, with Helsinki, Past the Point, Kiss the Kid, Duke of Mischief and Dubail Gold completing the order.

“Not much to say after a performance like that," Pletcher said. "Obviously, he ran the kind of race we know he’s capable of and the race set up just as we thought with Past the Point going to the front. He (Quality Road) put himself in good position and they went fast. He’s got a very high cruising speed and can go :46 and 1:09 and still keep going. Not many horses can do that and he was spotting weight to all those horses, six pounds or more.

"The plan for him here all along was to run in the Hal’s Hope and then the Donn, give him a little break, and then point for the Met Mile (gr. I, Belmont) and the big races at Saratoga before the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) in the fall. Mr. Evans and I will talk about it again, but I think that will be the plan."

The winner carried top weight of 123 pounds and paid $2.80, $2.40 and $2.10. Dry Martini returned $6.20 and $4.20. Delightful Kiss was $4.80 to show.  You and I Forever scratched.