Lexington a Last Chance Derby Saloon

[Wandering Eyes]

The GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland offers the winner 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and a victory by a couple of Saturday’s entrants would serve as the final push necessary for a berth in the field of 20 in three weeks’ time.

Peter Redekop’s Anothertwistafate (Scat Daddy) has been pegged as the 2-1 morning-line favorite and has been brilliant since finishing well down the field on his career debut on Breeders’ Cup weekend at Santa Anita. He has since become a terror on the Golden Gate Tapeta, with three wins by a combined 16 lengths, capped by a sensational seven-length romp in the Feb. 16 El Camino Real Derby. He proved in his last start that his lone previous dirt try was an anomaly by falling just short behind Cutting Humor (First Samurai) in the GIII Sunland Derby Mar. 24. A repeat of either of those last two efforts puts him front and center here and books a spot in Louisville.

Sueno, by Stonestreet stallion Atreides, also has a Golden Gate stakes win to his credit, hacing won the Dec. 1 Gold Rush S. in his two-turn debut. He has subsequently acquitted himself well in graded company, with runner-up efforts in the GIII Sham S. and GIII Southwest S. ahead of a latest third in the GII Louisiana Derby Mar. 23.

Of those on the outside looking in, Zenden (Fed Biz) looms an interesting possibility. Unbeaten in two starts as a juvenile, including a minor Gulfstream stakes in December, the chestnut was an honest second to Call Paul (Friesan Fire) in the GIII Swale S. Feb. 2 and most recently set blazing fractions from gate 11 and held for fourth in the GII Tampa Bay Derby Mar. 9. The form of the latter race has since been franked when Tacitus (Tapit) returned to annex last weekend’s GII Wood Memorial S. and when third-placed Win Win Win (Hat Trick {Jpn}) overcame some trouble to complete the exacta in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S.

Stonestreet-bred Owendale (Into Mischief) proved best in a salty Fair Grounds allowance Jan. 17 and could do no better than eighth off a torrid trip in the Feb. 16 GII Risen Star S. He’s worked well since at trainer Brad Cox’s Churchill base and can shake things up on the bottom of the exotics.

 

View the full article