Champion juvenile filly Songbird will make her highly-anticipated return in
the $300,000 Las Virgenes (G2) at Santa Anita,
one of two Kentucky Oaks preps being offered Saturday along with the $100,000
Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park. Mike Smith retains the mount on the
undefeated Jerry Hollendorfer trainee and six rivals will line up to challenge
Songbird in the one-mile race.
Los Alamitos Futurity (G1) winner
Mor Spirit headlines a field of seven in Saturday’s $150,000 Robert B. Lewis
(G3) at Santa Anita, a Kentucky Derby qualifier offering points on a
10-4-2-1 scale to the top four finishers. Santa Anita will also offer the
$500,000 San Antonio (G2) for older horses on the main track and the $200,000
San Marcos (G2) for turf runners.
One of three runners entered from the Todd Pletcher stable,
Mshawish will attempt to provide the leading conditioner his fourth victory Donn
H. (G1) in seven years at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. Madefromlucky and
Itsaknockout are the other Pletcher trainees in the eight-horse field, and
Travers (G1) upsetter Keen Ice is among those using the 1 1/8-mile race as a
possible springboard to the lucrative Dubai World Cup program on March 26.
Also at the TwinSpires Blog:
James Scully reviews last weekend’s developments, including Mohaymen’s
impressive Holy Bull (G2) victory, and gives his weekly top 10 list in the
Kentucky Derby Report. And Scully also remembers the
epic showdown between Dortmund and Firing Line in the 2015 Lewis.
Vance Hanson weighs in on
why the older horse division seems no closer to getting back on track.
Ed DeRosa explains why his
race and wager selection process has helped start the New Year in a big way.
John Mucciolo provides his weekly take on the action over the inner track in
the
Aqueduct Notebook.