Horse Racing Betting - Three Preps Will Thin Traffic on Road to the Roses

Three Kentucky Derby preps should thin the ranks of hopefuls aiming for the grand 3-year-old prize on the first Saturday in May.

The major player in Saturday’s $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby is 2007 Breeders’ Cup juvenile champ War Pass, who sent the Sam F. Davis Stakes winner scurrying north to Oaklawn Park for the $300,000 Rebel Stakes.

Fierce Wind, victorious at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 16, left South Florida for Arkansas and faces Denis of Cork, who stayed in Hot Springs after taking the Southwest Stakes. Fierce Wind went four furlongs in a bullet 49 seconds at the Palm Meadows Training Center on March 7 while Denis of Cork breezed five furlongs in 1:01 on Sunday.

Smooth Air, who breezed a mile in 1:45 3/5 at Calder Race Course on Sunday after running third in the Sam Davis, is among several challengers hoping to derail War Pass.

War Pass posted an easy 7 ½-length victory in an allowance contest on the Fountain of Youth Stakes card Feb. 24 at Gulfstream Park. Nick Zito’s trainee cruised the mile in 1:36 1 /5 after FOY winner Cool Coal Man battled Elysium Fields down the stretch, covering that distance in the same time before prevailing by a half-length at 1:50 for the 1 1/8 miles.

War Pass on March 6 breezed five furlongs in 1:01 4/5 on a good track at Palm Meadows.

The son of Cherokee Run is taking the same path as last year’s Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, who also captured the BC Juvenile. Street Sense nosed out favored Any Given Saturday in the Grade 3 event, setting the Tampa Bay Downs track record for 1 1/16 miles – 1:43.

Both colts battled head-to-head down the stretch, brushing several times in close quarters, but the son of Street Cry got a short advantage inside the eighth pole and prevailed.

War Pass will be heavily favored. His staunchest rival likely will be the Steve Asmussen trainee Z Fortune, runner-up to stablemate Pyro in the Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 9.

A good omen for the son of Siphon is Pyro’s impressive three-length triumph on March 9 in the $600,000 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds. Z Fortune, who captured the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 9, posted a bullet 1:13 3/5 for six furlongs on March 1.

Conditioner Todd Pletcher sends out Atoned, who hasn’t started since losing by a neck to Court Vision in the Remsen Stakes last fall at Aqueduct. The son of Repent was a busy 2-year-old, winning two of seven outings that included Monmouth Park’s Continental Mile.

Pletcher also plans to run Face the Cat in the 1 1/16-mile Rebel. The son Tale of the Cat broke his maiden on Jan. 4 at Gulfstream and 26 days later recorded a four-length triumph in a mile allowance contest.

Another contender is Sierra Sunset, runner-up in the Southwest after being overtaken by Denis of Cork.

Across the country at Santa Anita Park, the $200,000 San Felipe Stakes shapes up as a two-horse race between Georgie Boy and Bob Black Jack.

Georgie Boy is coming off a 3 ¼-length victory in the San Vicente Stakes on Feb. 10. The son of Tribal Rule was just one-fifth of a second off the track record of 1:20 for seven furlongs in his sophomore debut.

The California-bred gelding, who defeated the favored Into Mischief, posted a bullet work of 1:23 3/5 handily for seven furlongs at Hollywood Park on March 1.

Six-furlong world record holder Bob Black Jack drilled five furlongs in a minute on Sunday at Santa Anita where he won the Sunshine Millions Dash in a dazzling 1:06 2/5 on Jan. 26.

Both 3-year-olds are going for their third straight victory, but neither has traveled longer than seven-eighths of a mile. Saturday’s race is 1 1/16 miles.