The undefeated Bench Points (ranked No. 23 on Horse Racing Nation’s
2011 Kentucky Derby Contenders list
) worked for the first time on Friday morning since making his
three-year-old debut a winning one in an allowance race at Santa Anita on February
11.
Trainer Tim Yakteen
was pleased with the half mile work in 47.4 and confirmed the California-bred
son of Benchmark is being pointed to the Grade II $250,000 San Felipe Stakes at
a mile and a sixteenth on March 12.
This will mark the
first try around two turns for Bench Points, who Yakteen also confirmed will be
ridden again by Alonso Quinonez.
After Rafael
Bejarano was aboard for the first three victories of his career, including a
pair of stakes at Del
Mar last summer, Quinonez took over for the first time in his aforementioned allowance
victory.
My entire interview
with Yakteen from Clocker’s Corner this morning can be seen below.
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