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Smooth Air headed for Kentucky Derby; Elysium Fields likely off trail Grade 2 hero SMOOTH AIR (Smooth Jazz) couldn't gain ground on favored Big Brown (Boundary) in the stretch of Saturday's $1 million Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park, but the bay colt performed well enough to stamp his ticket to the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 3. "We're going to the Kentucky Derby," trainer Bennie Stutts Jr. said. "It's not hard to take $200,000 for finishing second. The key to him is that he's able to rate. He broke sharp yesterday near the lead, but (jockey Manoel) Cruz was able to ease him back off the pace. "When he worked the last time (on March 25 at Calder), he worked five-eighths. He went the first half-mile in 51 and then threw in an eighth in :11 to go 1:02, which was the fastest of the day, and that's what he gave us on the turn Saturday. I've said it before, he's not a big horse, but he's all horse." Smooth Air's 70-year-old trainer indicated that the Florida-bred could be trained at his Calder base leading up to the Derby "I've had a lot of inquiries to buy him, but (owner) Brian (Burns) has shown no interest in selling him," Stutts added. "As far as when he'll ship to Kentucky, that will be up to him (Burns)." Smooth Air has yet to finish off the board in seven starts and pushed his earnings to $395,500 on Saturday. He finished five lengths behind Big Brown but was 7 1/2 lengths clear of Tomcito (Street Cry [Ire]) in third, with nine others strung out behind him. One of those in behind was ELYSIUM FIELDS (El Prado [Ire]), who was doing fine Sunday morning after his disappointing 11th-place finish in the Florida Derby. Trainer Barclay Tagg and his team think Saturday's warm weather sapped the Fountain of Youth S. (G2) runner-up's energy. "He got pretty hot as they got to the gate and his temperature was up after the race," said Robin Smullen, Tagg's assistant now overseeing the Gulfstream stable. "He didn't get heat stroke, but it looks like a severe overheating." Elysium Fields was the 5-2 second choice under jockey Eibar Coa in the signature event of the Gulfstream season and finished 44 lengths behind undefeated Big Brown. "Luckily, Eibar didn't press him," Smullen said. "He could tell the horse just wasn't himself after a half-mile and he didn't push him because if he had, it could have turned into a full-blown heatstroke. "At least the horse came back OK and we went over him completely. His heart is good. He scoped clean and an hour after the race he seemed fine. He ate up his dinner last night. We just have to chalk it up to the heat and live to fight another day." That next fight is unclear now. The colt will travel with the majority of Tagg's horses to Keeneland this week. His second-place finish in the Fountain of Youth puts him on the bubble in terms of graded earnings necessary to qualify for the Kentucky Derby, although it would seem a longshot for the colt to go in that direction. "I can't imagine we could go into the Derby off a race like that," Smullen said.
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