Dullahan has a win over the Keeneland course in last fall’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity. He also turned in a sharp five furlong work earlier this week at Keeneland in which he covered the distance in :57. Dullahan will be in post position 6 under the guidance of jockey Kent Desormeaux.
Trainer Graham Motion and owner Team Valor International hope Howe Great can get the graded earnings he needs to take them to the Kentucky Derby. Although the connections still have a Derby entry with Went The Day Well, at number 19 on the graded earnings list, the Vinery Racing Spiral winner could be easily knocked off the list.
Howe Great is three for three on the turf, is unbeaten in two starts this year, and has never finished worse than second in five lifetime starts. He’s done well from inside positions in his previous starts, but will have to make an adjustment when he breaks from post 10 in the Bluegrass. The front-running style of Howe Great should help.
A morning line longshot to consider is the California-based Holy Candy. John Sadler chose to skip the Santa Anita Derby last week in favor of the Bluegrass Stakes. Santa Anita odds maker, Jon White, has said the Candy Ride colt would have been 8-1 on the morning line in that race, so at 30-1 in the Bluegrass, and the confidence Sadler must have to ship him across the country, Holy Candy could be an interesting price play.
Rounding out the thirteen-horse field is Heavy Breathing, owned by the connections of Algorithms; Gung Ho, second in the Rushaway; Prospective, the Tampa Bay Derby winner; Russian Greek, who will remove the blinkers for this race; Politicallycorrect, who turned in a bullet work last week; Bob Baffert’s Midnight Crooner; Ever So Lucky, another one coming in with a bullet work; Hero Of Order, the 109-1 winner of the Louisiana Derby just two weeks ago; and Scatman, the front-running son of Scat Daddy.
The race is the 11th on Keeneland’s card and caps four stakes for the day. It is scheduled to post at 6:18 p.m. and can be seen as part of “The Road to the Derby” series on NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) and also on TVG.
Photo: Courtesy Kentucky Derby
