Fifty years ago, not only was the Kentucky Derby picture clear to me, I was very confident that a long Triple Crown drought was finally going to come to an end. There had not been a Triple Crown winner in 25 years.
On March 22, 1973, I wrote in my sports column in my high school newspaper, the Lewis and Clark Journal: “Going out on a limb and living dangerously, I dare say that 1973 will be a historic year as Secretariat will become the first Triple Crown winner since the great Citation in 1948.”
However, after I predicted that Secretariat would sweep the Triple Crown, he was upset just two weeks before the Kentucky Derby. He finished third to Angle Light and Sham in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
You can watch the 1973 Wood on YouTube (Dave Johnson has the call).
Despite Secretariat’s shocking setback in the Wood, I remained confident that he was going to rebound and win the Kentucky Derby for owner Meadow Stable, trainer Lucien Laurin and jockey Ron Turcotte (the same owner-trainer-jockey team that won the Run for the Roses the previous year with Riva Ridge).
After the Wood, in my sports column, I wrote on April 25:
“Secretariat lost, Angle Light did not win.
“That is the story in last Saturday’s $100,000-added Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
“You can’t throw out a horse because of one defeat. It takes more than that. A perfect example is last year when Riva Ridge lost the Everglades but came back strongly to take the Blue Grass Stakes, Kentucky Derby and grueling Belmont Stakes.
“Angle Light, the only early speed in the race, set a very slow pace, which is the reason that Secretariat couldn’t finish them off as usual.
“The same thing happened two weeks ago at Portland Meadows in the Oregon Breeders Championship.
“You had Beau Julian, winner of over $40,000 last year, against Ruler’s Whirl, a local favorite.
“Beau Julian is a come-from-behinder and Ruler’s Whirl was the only speed. Result? Ruler’s Whirl won by three-quarters of a length.
“So Secretariat lost some of his pride in defeat but he’s still the one they have to beat May 5.”
At the end of the column, I provided my own early Kentucky Derby odds. I listed the coupling of Secretariat and Angle Light as a 4-5 favorite, with Sham the second choice at 7-2. Eleven days later, the official Kentucky Derby morning line in the Churchill Downs program had the coupling of Secretariat and Angle Light favored at even money, with Sham the second choice at 7-2.
The coupling of Secretariat and Angle Light was backed down to 3-2 favoritism in 1973 Kentucky Derby. Inasmuch as my price had been 4-5, I considered 3-2 to be an overlay. Sham departed the starting gate as the second choice at 5-2. Secretariat would not be higher than 1-2 during the rest of his racing career.
Even though Secretariat did not win the Wood, I didn’t hesitate to stick with him in the Kentucky Derby. I felt it was far better to look at his body of work rather than his defeat in the Wood. Prior to the Wood, Secretariat had finished first in 10 straight races, though he did lose the Champagne Stakes during that sequence when disqualified from first and placed second for causing interference.
To clarify what I meant in my sports column when I wrote that “Secretariat lost, Angle Light did not win,” I attributed Secretariat’s defeat in the Wood Memorial to Angle Light stealing the race on the front end. It turned out that I was not alone in having this notion. I could not have possibly known it at the time, but none other than Secretariat’s owner and breeder, Penny Chenery (known then as Penny Tweedy) of Meadow Stable, felt the slow pace set by Angle Light had fooled Turcotte.
In the book “Secretariat: The Making of a Champion,” William Nack quoted Chenery as saying to Turcotte on the evening of the Wood, “I don’t think you were sharp in judging the pace. Your timing could be off.”
Chenery reminded Turcotte that he had messed up recent workouts on Riva Ridge and Secretariat.
“You worked Secretariat too slow the last time you worked him a mile, and then you broke off Riva Ridge an eighth of a mile too soon in his last work,” Chenery said.
“Turcotte agreed that he had messed up the workout” on Riva Ridge, Nack wrote.
However, Turcotte did not believe that his ride was why Secretariat did not win the Wood.
“The horse just didn’t run his race,” Turcotte said. “I don’t feel that I took too much hold of him. I got him in the clear and he just didn’t respond. I started nudging him at the three-quarter pole and there was no response.”
It later came to light that Secretariat’s loss in the Wood might have stemmed from a painful abscess in his mouth. Whether it was the abscess, the slow pace and/or perhaps just an off day, the bottom line was that mighty Secretariat suddenly did not look so mighty going into the Kentucky Derby.
After being defeated in the Wood, Secretariat did rebound in the Kentucky Derby. He rallied from last in the field of 13 to win by 2 1/2 lengths. Sham finished second. Secretariat’s final time of 1:59 2/5 broke the track record set by Northern Dancer nine years earlier by three-fifths of a second. Fifty years later, Secretariat still has the distinction of having run the fastest Kentucky Derby in history.
Secretariat subsequently won the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes. Last early, he made an electrifying move past opponents on the clubhouse turn. He again prevailed by 2 1/2 lengths. This time there was an electronic timer malfunction.
According to the electronic timer, the final time was 1:55, which was not even close to reality. The official final time then became 1:54 2/5, which was E.T. McClean’s hand clocking of the race. McClean was the racing official in charge of timing Pimlico’s races by hand. Daily Racing Form, in its chart of the 1973 Preakness, noted its disagreement with McClean’s official time of 1:54 2/5. The chart also included Daily Racing Form’s final time of 1:53 2/5, which would have broken Canonero II’s track record of 1:54.
The Maryland Racing Commission held a hearing in 2012 as to whether Secretariat’s official final Preakness time of 1:54 2/5 should be changed.
At the time of the 1973 Preakness and for many years afterward, the racing commission could not change it because Maryland racing rules stated that only the hand clocking from the person employed as the official timer could be used as a backup to the electronic timer. However, that rule eventually was changed to allow for a time adjustment to be made if compelling evidence was presented. This rule change is what led to the 2012 hearing regarding Secretariat’s Preakness.
For more than two hours in 2012, the Maryland commissioners heard testimony, backed by modern technology, in an attempt to prove Secretariat’s Preakness time actually was faster than 1:54 2/5. It turned out that Secretariat’s final time not only was faster than the official 1:54 clocking, it was even faster than Daily Racing Form’s 1:53 2/5.
The evidence was so compelling that the commissioners deliberated for only about 10 minutes before announcing that they had voted 7-0 to change Secretariat’s official Preakness time to 1:53, making it the fastest Preakness to this day.
After the commission changed the final time for the 1973 Preakness to 1:53, I wrote for Xpressbet.com: “How great was Secretariat? He died in 1989, yet broke the stakes record for the Preakness in 2012.”
While I was extremely pleased that Secretariat finally got his Preakness record, I also have been forever grateful that he originally was not credited with breaking Pimlico’s track record for 1 3/16 miles. If Secretariat had been credited with that track record, Turcotte almost certainly would have ridden Secretariat very differently coming down the lane in the Belmont.
Turcotte probably would have taken Secretariat in hand during the last part of the Belmont after the colt had built up such a huge lead. But rather than easing up, Turcotte kept pumping his arms all the way to the finish. That’s because Secretariat and Turcotte weren’t just running against four other Belmont Stakes starters. They also were running against the clock. The Secretariat team was keen to have him to break Belmont Park’s track record for 1 1/2 miles after feeling that he had not been given credit for breaking the track record in the Preakness.
Years ago, long before the 2012 hearing that resulted in the final time for the 1973 Preakness being officially changed from 1:54 2/5 to 1:53, I asked Turcotte what he remembered about Secretariat’s Preakness timing controversy.
“Well, I think I feel the same as everybody, that he broke the record,” Turcotte said. “He deserved the record. I’ve been asked about that time and time again because there’s so much proof. There’s overwhelming proof that he broke the record. But they never gave it to him. Mind you, the Racing Form chart says it’s a record.”
I then asked Turcotte if it was in his mind in the Belmont Stakes that Secretariat had been denied a track record in the Preakness. Turcotte admitted that, yes, it was in his mind during the final furlong of the Belmont. He told me that he did not want to take any chances of Secretariat “being robbed” of another track record, as he put it.
“I did knuckle down on him a little bit the last 70 yards,” Turcotte said. “But I never did use my stick or tap him or anything. He just did it all on his own.”
I asked Turcotte if, at any time during the final furlong of the Belmont, he was looking at the timer in the infield.
“Oh, I was,” he said. “I was definitely looking at the timer. I was looking at the teletimer because I was not racing against any horse. All I was racing against was the clock at that point.”
Secretariat’s 2:24 Belmont obliterated Gallant Man’s track record set in 1957 by 2 3/5 seconds. Secretariat’s 2:24 remains the fastest 1 1/2 miles ever run by a horse on dirt.
In 2012, I wrote: “Thank you, E.T. McClean. Thank you for messing up Secretariat’s time in the 1973 Preakness. Because if you had not done that, then Secretariat probably is taken in hand during the last part of the Belmont and wins by something like 10 or 15 lengths instead of by 31 in what many consider the greatest performance by a Thoroughbred in the history of American racing.
MY KENTUCKY DERBY TOP 10
There are no changes to my Kentucky Derby Top 10 from last week. This week’s list is below:
1. Practical Move
2. Kingsbarns
3. Tapit Trice
4. Angel of Empire
5. Forte
6. Derma Sotogake
7. Skinner
8. Two Phil’s
9. Mandarin Hero
10. Verifying
MY DERBY STRIKES SYSTEM
I developed my Derby Strikes System (DSS) back in 1999. Its purpose is to try and identify those horses having the best chance to win the Kentucky Derby from BOTH tactical and historical perspectives.
Various “rules” for the Kentucky Derby were quite popular for many years. A “Derby rule” meant that a horse needed to have done this or that, or not done this or that, in order to win the Kentucky Derby. But when many of the “Derby rules” were broken through the years, their popularity waned.
I think it’s the marriage of both the TACTICAL with the HISTORICAL that makes the Derby Strikes System better than any single “Derby rule.”
A number of the categories in the Derby Strikes System are tied to a Kentucky Derby being run on the first Saturday in May. Thus, when the 2020 running was changed from May 2 to Sept. 5 because of COVID, the Derby Strikes System was unworkable that year. But when the Kentucky Derby returned to its traditional date of the first Saturday in May in 2021 and 2022, the Derby Strikes System again was viable.
It’s when a 3-year-old makes his or her final start before the Kentucky Derby that I can determine their number of strikes in the DSS.
The DSS consists of eight categories. When a horse does not qualify in one of the eight categories, the horse receives a strike.
The eight categories are listed further below in this blog.
History shows that a horse with zero strikes or only one strike has a much better chance to win the Kentucky Derby than a horse with two strikes or more. According to the DSS, excluding the Kentucky Derby of 2020 when the race was run in September, 83% of the Kentucky Derby winners (40 out of 49) have had zero strikes or one strike going back to 1973.
The eight Kentucky Derby winners with two strikes were Cannonade (1974), Ferdinand (1986), Sea Hero (1993), Funny Cide (2003), Giacomo (2005), Justify (2018), Country House (2019) and Rich Strike (2022).
Only one horse, Mine That Bird in 2009, has had more than two strikes. He had four.
ROCKET CAN TO ADD BLINKERS
According to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Rocket Can is going to race with blinkers for the first time in the Kentucky Derby. The Into Mischief colt had blinkers on when he worked five furlongs in 1:01.00 last Sunday (April 23) at Churchill Downs.
In his three starts so far this year, Rocket Can won the Grade III Holy Bull Stakes, finished second in the Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes and ran fourth in the Grade I Arkansas Derby.
Category 6 in my Derby Strikes System has to do with blinkers. A horse gets a strike if blinkers are added or removed in his or her final start at 3 before the Kentucky Derby. The reason for this strike is if a horse is good enough to win the Kentucky Derby, the trainer generally would not be tinkering with equipment so late in the game. Going all the way back to 1973, no horse has added blinkers or had blinkers removed in his or her last start at 3 before winning the Kentucky Derby.
Rocket Can doesn’t get a strike for adding blinkers in the Kentucky Derby. Why? Because the Derby Strikes System is designed to determine a horse’s chances of winning the Kentucky Derby based on his or her races BEFORE the Kentucky Derby.
While Mott is saying that Rocket Can is going to add blinkers for the Kentucky Derby, this is not set in stone. Mott could change his mind. One really can’t know if a horse is actually going to undergo an equipment change blinkers-wise in the Kentucky Derby until the race is run.
Nevertheless, even though Rocket Can does not get a strike in Category 6, the principle is the same in that if a horse is good enough to win the Kentucky Derby, a trainer typically would not be tinkering with the horse’s equipment so late in the game. If Rocket Can does in fact add blinkers in the Kentucky Derby, I will consider it as an unofficial strike for him in addition to his one official strike. His official strike is for not having finished at least third in a race at 1 1/8 miles or longer (Category 5).
The strikes for the current Kentucky Derby candidates are listed below:
ZERO STRIKES
Angel of Empire
Derma Sotogake
Hit Show
Major Dude
Practical Move
Tapit Trice
ONE STRIKE
Confidence Game (Category 5)
Forte (Category 3)
Kingsbarns (Category 7)
Lord Miles (Category 3)
Raise Cain (Category 5)
Reincarnate (Category 4)
Rocket Can (Category 5)
Two Phil’s (Category 4)
TWO STRIKES
Cyclone Mischief (Categories 2 and 4)
Disarm (Categories 2 and 3)
Jace’s Road (Categories 2 and 4)
Mandarin Hero (Categories 1 and 2)
Skinner (Categories 2 and 3)
Sun Thunder (Categories 2 and 3)
Verifying (Categories 2 and 4)
THREE STRIKES
Continuar (Categories 2, 3 and 4)
King Russell (Categories 1, 2 and 3)
Mage (Categories 2, 4 and 7)
WINNER’S STRIKES GOING BACK TO 1973
Because stakes races in this country were not graded until 1973, I can’t go further back than that year when calculating the number of strikes for Kentucky Derby winners. That’s because two of my eight categories deal with graded stakes races.
Maximum Security finished first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby. He had zero strikes. But the stewards disqualified Maximum Security and placed him 17th for committing a foul when he veered out sharply nearing the five-sixteenths marker to cause interference to War of Will, Bodexpress and Long Range Toddy. Country House was declared the winner of the 2019 Kentucky Derby.
Medina Spirit finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. He had zero strikes. But Medina Spirit was disqualified due to testing positive for traces of betamethasone, a medication that is legal to use but not on race day.
The strikes for each Kentucky Derby winner going back to 1973 are listed below:
2022 Rich Strike (2 strikes) Categories 2 and 3)
2021 Mandaloun (1 strike) Category 4*
2020 race run in September
2019 Country House (2 strikes) Categories 2 and 3**
2018 Justify (2 strikes) Categories 1 and 7
2017 Always Dreaming (1 strike) Category 1
2016 Nyquist (0 strikes)
2015 American Pharoah (0 strikes)
2014 California Chrome (0 strikes)
2013 Orb (0 strikes)
2012 I’ll Have Another (0 strikes)
2011 Animal Kingdom (0 strikes)
2010 Super Saver (1 strike) Category 4
2009 Mine That Bird (4 strikes) Categories 1, 4, 5 and 9
2008 Big Brown (0 strikes)
2007 Street Sense (0 strikes)
2006 Barbaro (0 strikes)
2005 Giacomo (2 strikes) Categories 2 and 5
2004 Smarty Jones (0 strikes)
2003 Funny Cide (2 strikes) Categories 2 and 8
2002 War Emblem (0 strikes)
2001 Monarchos (0 strikes)
2000 Fusaichi Pegasus (1 strike) Category 6
1999 Charismatic (1 strike) Category 5
1998 Real Quiet (0 strikes)
1997 Silver Charm (1 strike) Category 4
1996 Grindstone (0 strikes)
1995 Thunder Gulch (0 strikes)
1994 Go for Gin (0 strikes)
1993 Sea Hero (2 strikes) Categories 3 and 5
1992 Lil E. Tee (0 strikes)
1991 Strike the Gold (0 strikes)
1990 Unbridled (1 strike) Category 3
1989 Sunday Silence (0 strikes)
1988 Winning Colors (0 strikes)
1987 Alysheba (1 strike) Category 2
1986 Ferdinand (2 strikes) Categories 2 and 4
1985 Spend a Buck (0 strikes)
1984 Swale (0 strikes)
1983 Sunny’s Halo (1 strike) Category 1
1982 Gato Del Sol (1 strike) Category 3
1981 Genuine Risk (1 strike) Category 1
1980 Pleasant Colony (0 strikes)
1979 Spectacular Bid (0 strikes)
1978 Affirmed (0 strikes)
1977 Seattle Slew (0 strikes)
1976 Bold Forbes (0 strikes)
1975 Foolish Pleasure (0 strikes)
1974 Cannonade (2 strikes) Categories 3 and 4
1973 Secretariat (0 strikes)
*Medina Spirit (0 strikes) finished first but was disqualified from purse money
**Maximum Security (0 strikes) finished first but was disqualified and placed 17th
STRIKES FOR 1973 KENTUCKY DERBY STARTERS
With this year’s Kentucky Derby attracting additional attention because of it being the 50th anniversary of Secretariat, the strikes in my Derby Strikes System for each of the 13 runners in that renewal are listed below:
ONE OR ZERO STRIKES
Angle Light (0 strikes)
Our Native (1 strike, Category 4)
Restless Jet (1 strike, Category 1)
Royal and Regal (1 strike, Category 4)
Secretariat (0 strikes)
Sham (0 strikes)
Twice a Prince (1 strike, Category 7)
TWO STRIKES
My Gallant (Categories 3 and 4)
Shecky Greene (Categories 4 and 5)
THREE STRIKES
Forego (Categories 2, 7 and 8)
Gold Bag (Categories 2, 4 and 5)
Navajo (Categories 1, 2 and 3)
Warbucks (Categories 1, 2 and 3)
MY DERBY STRIKES SYSTEM’S CATEGORIES
What are the eight categories in my Derby Strikes System? They are listed below:
1. THE GRADED STAKES CATEGORY. (The horse ran in a graded stakes race before March 31.) This points out horses who have competed against tough competition prior to March 31 rather than at the last minute in April, enabling the horse to be properly battle-tested. (Exceptions: Going back to the introduction of graded stakes races in the U.S. in 1973, only Genuine Risk in 1980, Sunny’s Halo in 1983, Mine That Bird in 2009 and Always Dreaming in 2017 have won the Kentucky Derby without running in a graded stakes race at 2 or early at 3 before March 31.)
2. THE WIN IN A GRADED STAKES CATEGORY. (The horse has won a graded stakes race.) This points out horses who have shown they have the class to win a graded stakes race. (Exceptions: Ferdinand in 1986, Alysheba in 1987, Funny Cide in 2003, Giacomo in 2005 and Rich Strike in 2022 are the only exceptions going back to the introduction of U.S. graded stakes races in 1973; Alysheba in 1987 did finish first in the Blue Grass, only to be disqualified and placed third.)
3. THE EIGHTH POLE CATEGORY. (In either of his or her last two starts before the Kentucky Derby, the horse was first or second with a furlong to go.) This points out horses who were running strongly at the eighth pole, usually in races at 1 1/16 or 1 1/8 miles. By running strongly at the same point in the Kentucky Derby, a horse would be in a prime position to win the roses. Keep in mind that 56 of the last 60 Kentucky Derby winners through 2022 have been first or second with a furlong to run. Since Decidedly won the Derby in 1962 when he was third with a furlong to go, the only four Kentucky Derby winners who were not first or second with a furlong to run were Grindstone, fourth with a furlong to run in 1996; Giacomo, sixth with a furlong to go in 2005; Animal Kingdom, third a furlong out in 2011 when only a half-length from being second; and Rich Strike, third with a furlong to go in 2022. (Exceptions: Going back to 1955, the Kentucky Derby winners who weren’t either first or second a furlong from the finish in his or her last two starts have been Tim Tam in 1958, Carry Back in 1961, Cannonade in 1974, Gato Del Sol in 1982, Unbridled in 1990, Sea Hero in 1993 and Rich Strike in 2022, with Canonero II in 1971 unknown.)
4. THE GAMENESS CATEGORY. (The horse’s finish position in both of his or her last two races before the Kentucky Derby was no worse than his or her running position at the eighth pole.) This points out horses who don’t like to get passed in the final furlong. (Exceptions: Going back to 1955, the exceptions have been Venetian Way in 1960, Cannonade in 1974, Foolish Pleasure in 1975, Ferdinand in 1986, Silver Charm in 1997, Mine That Bird in 2009, Super Saver in 2010 and Mandaloun in 2021, with Canonero II in 1971 unknown.)
5. THE DISTANCE FOUNDATION CATEGORY. (The horse has finished at least third in a 1 1/8-mile race or longer before the Kentucky Derby.) This points out horses who have the proper foundation and/or stamina for the Kentucky Derby distance. (Exceptions: Going back to 1955, the only exceptions have been Kauai King in 1966, Sea Hero in 1993, Charismatic in 1999, Giacomo in 2005 and Mine That Bird in 2009.)
6. THE NO ADDING OR REMOVING BLINKERS CATEGORY. (The horse has not added blinkers or had blinkers removed in his or her final start at 3 before the Kentucky Derby.) This seems to point out that, if a horse is good enough to win the Kentucky Derby, the trainer is not searching for answers so late in the game. (Going back to 1973, no horse has added blinkers or had blinkers removed in his or her last start at 3 before winning the Kentucky Derby.)
7. THE RACED AS A 2-YEAR-OLD CATEGORY. (The horse made at least one start as a 2-year-old.) (Exceptions: Apollo in 1882 and Justify in 2018. Going back to 1937, horses unraced as a 2-year-old now are a combined 1 for 67 in the Kentucky Derby through 2022. During this period, the only horses to finish second or third in the Kentucky Derby without having raced at 2 were Hampden, who finished third in 1946; Coaltown, second in 1948; Agitate, third in 1974; Reinvested, third in 1982; Strodes Creek, second in 1994; Curlin, third in 2007; Bodemeister, second in 2012; and Battle of Midway, third in 2017.)
8. THE NOT A GELDING CATEGORY. (The horse is not a gelding.) (Exceptions: Funny Cide in 2003 and Mine That Bird in 2009 are the only geldings to win the Kentucky Derby since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.)
PREAKNESS STAKES FUTURE BET OFFERED
A brand new Preakness Stakes Future Bet will open Friday (April 28) and close on the afternoon of May 6, prior to the running of the Kentucky Derby that day. The Preakness Stakes will be held at Pimlico Race Course on May 20.
The Preakness future bet has a field of 28 individual horses, plus an “all others” option.
Officials of 1/ST Racing, which owns Pimlico, have said they’ve modeled the Preakness future bet after the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which was inaugurated in 1999.
The Preakness future bet has a $2 minimum. There are no refunds. The takeout is 18%.
Included among the 28 individual horses are horses expected to be entered in the Kentucky Derby, plus five others -- Blazing Sevens, Red Route One, First Mission, Instant Coffee and Chase the Chaos -- who are currently considered candidates for the Preakness.
Forte has been pegged as the 4-1 morning-line favorite in the Pimlico future bet. Tapit Trice is the 6-1 second choice.
I have absolutely no interest in betting anyone at prices like 4-1 or 6-1.
I do plan to put some money on First Mission if the price is right. He’s listed at 15-1 on the morning line. Anything around that will be just fine with me.
Brad Cox trains First Mission. In his career debut on Feb. 18, the Street Sense colt finished second in a Fair Grounds maiden race to the highly regarded Bishops Bay, who likewise resides in the Cox barn.
Since First Mission’s first race, he’s two for two, both times going 1 1/16 miles. He won a Fair Grounds maiden contest by 6 3/4 lengths on March 18. That was followed by a half-length triumph in Keeneland’s Grade III Lexington Stakes on April 15.
First Mission recorded an impressive 96 Beyer Speed Figure at first asking, dipped to an 89 in his maiden victory, then jumped to a 98 in the Lexington.
I also have some interest in possibly putting some money on Mandarin Hero, who is 20-1 on the Preakness future bet morning line. He could have a big say in the Preakness after finishing second in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby, which he lost by a scant nose in his U.S. debut after racing in Japan.
And I will be taking a serious look at Instant Coffee. After finishing sixth as the 3-2 favorite in the Louisiana Derby, he is 50-1 on the Preakness future bet morning line. I will be monitoring the odds. If it looks like Instant Coffee is going to be anywhere close to a big price like that, I will be putting a few bucks on him.
Below are the morning-line odds for the Preakness Stakes future bet:
No. Horse (Morning Line Odds)
1. Angel of Empire (12-1)
2. Blazing Sevens (50-1)
3. Chase the Chaos (99-1)
4. Confidence Game (50-1)
5. Continuar (70-1)
6. Cyclone Mischief (50-1)
7. Derma Sotogake (10-1)
8. Disarm (35-1)
9. First Mission (15-1)
10. Forte (4-1)
11. Hit Show (30-1)
12. Instant Coffee (50-1)
13. Jace’s Road (60-1)
14. Kingsbarns (15-1)
15. Lord Miles (60-1)
16. Mage (30-1)
17. Mandarin Hero (20-1)
18. Practical Move (10-1)
19. Raise Cain (60-1)
20. Red Route One (50-1)
21. Reincarnate (50-1)
22. Rocket Can (50-1)
23. Skinner (20-1)
24. Sun Thunder (60-1)
25. Tapit Trice (6-1)
26. Two Phil’s (40-1)
27. Verifying (15-1)
28. n/a
29. All Others (8-1)
CONGRATULATIONS TO 2023 HALL OF FAME CLASS
It was announced Tuesday (April 25) that racehorses Arrogate, California Chrome and Songbird were elected to the national Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. The only other contemporary selection for induction is jockey Corey Nakatani, who first appeared on the ballot in 2018.
Selected to the Hall of Fame by the Historic Review Committee is jockey Fernando Toro, while John W. Hanes II, Leonard W. Jerome and Stella Thayer were selected as Pillars of the Turf for their contributions to racing.
The finalists on the 2023 ballot who did not receive the necessary 50% plus one vote needed be elected into the Hall of Fame were racehorses Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold, Lady Eli and Rags to Riches, plus trainers Christophe Clement, Kiaran McLaughlin, Graham Motion, Doug O’Neill and John Sadler.
The 2023 induction ceremony will be held on Aug. 4 in Saratoga.
TOP 10 IN THIS WEEK’S NTRA TOP THOROUGHBRED POLL
Rank Points Horse (First-Place Votes)
1. 305 Elite Power (25)
2. 219 Proxy (4)
3. 195 Art Collector (5)
4. 174 Clairiere
5. 153 West Will Power
6. 128 Stilleto Boy
7. 124 Last Samurai
8. 116 Defunded
9. 99 Goodnight Olive
10. 95 In Italian
TOP 10 IN THIS WEEK’S NTRA TOP THREE-YEAR-OLD POLL
Rank Points Horse (First-Place Votes)
1. 353 Forte (31)
2. 297 Tapit Trice (3)
3. 264 Practical Move (1)
4. 260 Angel of Empire
5. 188 Kingsbarns (1)
6. 117 Derma Sotogake
7. 92 Two Phil’s
8. 89 Verifying
9. 69 Mage
10. 51 Confidence Game
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