MUSKET MAN (Yonaguska), who rebounded from his first career loss to take the
March 14 Tampa Bay Derby (G3) by a neck, will stretch out to 1 1/8 miles on
Saturday in the $500,000
Illinois
Derby (G2) at Hawthorne, where he will meet 10 rivals including the
Illinois-bred GIANT OAK (Giant’s Causeway). Musket Man was established the 7-2
morning line choice while Giant Oak has been tabbed at 9-2.
Winner of his first three starts including the seven-furlong Pasco S. at
Tampa Bay, Musket Man met his first reversal when a lethargic third in the Sam
F. Davis S. (G3) over the same track, but rebounded to win the photo in the
Tampa Bay Derby after getting shuffled back around the far turn. The Derek Ryan
trainee has won for three different riders, a good omen as Eibar Coa has been
named to ride the colt for the first time on Saturday.
Giant Oak, narrowly defeated in the Kentucky Jockey Club S. (G2) last fall,
returns to his home state following modest finishes in two starts this season at
Fair Grounds. The chestnut fell far off the pace in both the Risen Star S. (G3)
and Louisiana Derby (G2), finishing fifth in the former and fourth in the
latter. The Chris Block pupil, who took his first two starts in open company
last year at Arlington, will also have a new rider for the Illinois Derby in
Shaun Bridgmohan.
Trainer Todd Pletcher sends out three in the Illinois Derby. AL KHALI (Medaglia
d’Oro), re-imported to the United States after winning two of three starts in
Peru, exits a three-quarters-of-a-length score in a Gulfstream Park allowance
over nine furlongs on March 6. LORD JUSTICE (A.P. Indy), a likely pace player
should he choose to run here rather than in Saturday’s Wood Memorial S. (G1),
enters off a score against similar company over the Aqueduct inner track, while
IL POSTINO (Distorted Humor) is the longshot of the trio having just graduated
at Gulfstream for a $20,000 tag.
Two colts hoping to improve on recent stakes efforts are NOWHERE TO HIDE
(Vindication) and FREE COUNTRY (Big Country). Nowhere to Hide, the 5-1 third
choice in the morning line, hails from
the barn of trainer Nick Zito. He was fourth behind Friesan Fire (A.P. Indy) in the
Risen Star and occupied the same position at the end of the Tampa Bay Derby,
finishing 3 1/4 lengths behind Musket Man. In the latter event, Nowhere to Hide
trailed the field early before moving up when making a seven-wide rally.
Free Country also made his last two starts at Fair Grounds and Tampa Bay, but
was far less effective compared to Nowhere to Hide. Free Country was a
non-threatening fourth in the Sam F. Davis, then hit a brick wall in the stretch
of the Louisiana Derby and ultimately finished last of nine. On Saturday Free
Country will shed the blinkers he wore for the first time in his last start.
PERFECT SONG (Pleasantly Perfect), who is undefeated in two dirt attempts, is
a threat to shake loose in his stakes debut. Trained by Michael Trombetta, who
saddled Sweetnorthernsaint (Sweetsouthernsaint) to victory in the 2006 Illinois
Derby, Perfect Song will also be trying two turns for the first time under dual
classic-winning jockey Jeremy Rose.
The field is rounded out by the multiple stakes-placed TOCCET ROCKET (Toccet),
maiden winner KNIGHT SHOT (Red Bullet), and HIS GREATNESS (Honour and Glory), an
also-ran in three prior graded stakes attempts.