In Due Time Seeks to Land on Derby Bubble in Lexington

[Wandering Eyes]

It's last call for many in Keeneland's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. as the race to solidify, or sneak into, a Kentucky Derby gate enters the final furlong. In Due Time (Not This Time) heads this field of ten other last minute hopefuls with an ever-improving resume in both distance and class including a two length allowance company victory over Iron Works (Distorted Humor) Feb. 4 marking a significant jump in performance. Last out, the son of hot sire Not This Time was a strong second behind Simplification, also by said stallion, in an accident-marred edition of the GII Fountain of Youth. The latter heads to Kentucky in ninth on the points board while In Due Time will try to leapfrog out of his five-way 20 point tie to land even in another, and hope defections get him in.

One who races to keep his spot is the hard-trying Tawny Port (Pioneerof the Nile), who not only sits on the edge at #20 but has four others in line with him at 40 points a piece. A win here will jump the colt into 12th with 60. Tawny Port ran fifth in his first foray into graded company in the GII Risen Star S., an early prep which produced points leader Epicenter (Not This Time), GI Toyota Blue Grass S. winner Zandon (Upstart), and Smile Happy (Runhappy), who currently sits tenth. Second to Tiz the Bomb last out Apr. 2 in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks S. at Turfway Park, Tawny Port will try to overcome a two-week turnaround as the 5-2 morning line favorite.

The formidable WinStar and Siena Farm partnership will send out two in hopes of landing points and a spot on the bubble: Major General (Constitution) and Strava (Into Mischief). Both colts were expensive auction purchases -$420,00 KEESEP and $825,000 KEENOV, respectively- with high expectations coming in though only the latter has a win over this track, a sprint on debut Aug. 21 last year. Ethereal Road (Quality Road) is being quickly brought back after a tired seventh place effort Apr. 9 in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S.

The post In Due Time Seeks to Land on Derby Bubble in Lexington appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article