There is no doubt about it, Journalism, the horse, is the real deal.
He put an exclamation point on his five-race career with a three-quarters-length win in the Grade 1 $500,000 Santa Anita Derby on Saturday. Yet it was how he did it that had the Santa Anita crowd of 34,312 buzzing. At the three-eighths pole, the horse in front of him, Westwood, started to slow down, impeding Journalism‘s progress.
It’s the kind of thing that could keep an average horse, or even a good horse, from rallying to get into the race. No problem for this 3-year-old son of Curlin.
“I think it’s something you need to do,” said trainer Michael McCarthy about the horse’s trip. “Obviously in a five-horse field like he did [Saturday], if he can’t do it against five, then he will have an awfully hard time doing it against 20 [in the Kentucky Derby]. He’s taken some dirt in a couple races now.
“The dirt in Kentucky is a little different than the dirt here. It was good that there were some people here [Saturday]. The horse did everything we could have asked from him.”
Citizen Bull, the reigning 2-year-old champion, had the lead after three-quarters of a mile in the 1 1/8 -mile race, while Journalism was sitting in fifth. But Citizen Bull couldn’t keep up as Baeza went to the front. As the horses came down the stretch, it was clear that Journalism was the best.
Journalism paid $4 to win and was followed by Baeza, Westwood, Citizen Bull and Barnes.
The race was supposed to be worth 100 points for the winner and 50 points for second, but this year Churchill Downs put in a rule that if the race has only five starters, the points allotment is only 75%, so that the win was worth 75 points and second was 37.5 points.
It’s unclear if Baeza, with 37.5 points, will make the field for the Kentucky Derby. If it had been a six-horse field, he would have gained 50 points and been assured a spot.
It was a disappointing race for the two Bob Baffert horses, Citizen Bull and Barnes. Citizen Bull will have enough points to make the starting gate, while Barnes, a $3.2-million purchase, will be left at home.
“I was discouraged [Citizen Bull] didn’t get the win [Saturday],” Baffert said. “He got tired. He’s a heavy horse. The track was deep. We will figure this out. We have a week and then we will decide what is next. That was a pretty impressive win by Journalism.”
It made no sense for Baffert to run three horses in the Santa Anita Derby, so he sent Rodriguez to the Grade 2 $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in New York. It was certainly the right move as Mike Smith guided the colt to an easy front-running win to give him enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby.
Breaking from the one, Smith settled Rodriguez into a nice rhythm and then let him go in the stretch, where he breezed to a 3 1/2-length win.
Also qualifying for the Kentucky Derby was Admire Daytona, who defeated Heart Of Honor in the $1-million UAE Derby at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. Admire Daytona joined previous Japanese winners of the race: Crown Pride, Derma Sotogake and Forever Young. No horse that raced in the Middle East has ever won the Kentucky Derby. Last year, Forever Young finished a close third.
Admire Daytona, with Christophe Lemaire aboard, wins the $1-million UAE Derby in Dubai on Saturday.
(Martin Dokoupil / Associated Press)
The qualification system changed this year. Now, two horses that run in Dubai get an invitation to the Kentucky Derby, providing they finish in the top four. It’s part of the new Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby. In the past, the UAE Derby was considered part of the U.S. Road to the Derby.
Yukihiro Kato, trainer of Admire Daytona, already indicated the horse will ship to Churchill Downs. It’s unknown if a second horse will go or if the spot will be forfeited.
There is also one spot given to the winner of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, Luxor Café.
The are still two more qualifying races for the Derby, the 100-point Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on Tuesday and the 20-point Lexington Stakes on Saturday. The Blue Grass was originally scheduled for the same day as the rest of Saturday’s big races, but weather — leading to flooding — forced the track to move the race to Tuesday. The first two finishers will qualify for the Kentucky Derby.
The Lexington Stakes race was deemed meaningless when the draw had only horses with six points or less, so the 20 extra points would not be enough to qualify. The qualifying line, a moving target, usually settles around 40.
Saturday was also the last big qualifying day for the Kentucky Oaks, the 3-year-old filly version of the Kentucky Derby. Baffert’s Tenma won her fifth race in six starts with an easy 2 1/4-length victory in the Santa Anita Oaks. She beat Silent Law, another Baffert starter.
Baffert said Tenma would definitely be going to Louisville, but he wanted to see how Silent Law comes out of the race before making a decision on her next start.
“We are trying to get her to the Kentucky Oaks and she had been progressing, getting better and better,” Baffert said of Tenma. “I liked the way she settled [Saturday]. There was a lot of speed in the race. She is becoming more professional as we go.”
The Oaks will be held on May 2 and the Derby on May 3.