Six horses have been added to the list of 3-year-old
Thoroughbreds eligible to compete in the three American classic races that make
up the 2010 Triple Crown after their owners paid a required $6,000 fee
during its late nomination phase that concluded Saturday, March 27.
The
first of the coveted U.S.
classics – the 136th running of the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky
Derby
Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) – will be run on May 1 at Churchill
Downs in Louisville, Ky. The Triple
Crown will continue with the 135th renewal of the $1 million Preakness
Stakes (GI) on May 15 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., and
concludes with the 142nd running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes
(GI) on June 5 at New York’s Belmont Park.
The list of late nominations to the 2010 Triple Crown is
headed by Steel Your Face Stable’s Yawanna Twist, the Gotham
Stakes (GIII) runner-up who is entered to run in Saturday’s $500,000 Illinois
Derby (GII) at Hawthorne.
Also on the list is Raise the Bridle, who won the $100,000 Borderland
Derby at Sunland Park, but was disqualified by track stewards and placed second
for interfering with runner-up Storming Saint. Raise the Bridle is
owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerta Equine, the partnership
that also owns 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird. Yawanna
Twist is trained by Richard Dutrow Jr., who won the 2008 Kentucky Derby
with Big Brown, while Henry Dominguez trains Raise the Bridle.
The early
nomination period for the three Triple Crown races, which required a payment of
$600 per horse, closed Saturday, Jan. 16 and 366 3-year-olds were made eligible
for the three-race series at that time. The six late nominees bring the overall
nomination total to 372. The 2010 early nomination total was down from
the 401 3-year-olds initially made eligible for the Triple Crown in 2009. Last
year’s late nomination phase saw 11 horses added to the overall list.
The late
nomination roster includes five colts and one gelding. There are now 329
colts nominated to the Triple Crown, along with 31 geldings, four ridgelings
and eight fillies.
The four
remaining late nominees to the 2010 Triple Crown include:
§
Carnivore – A son of Giant’s Causeway
who scored his first victory in three races in a March 10 maiden race at Laurel
Park for owner James McIngvale and trainer Joseph Delozier III.
The chestnut colt is entered in Saturday’s $750,000 Wood Memorial (GI) at
Aqueduct.
§
Game Ball – A homebred son of Sky Mesa owned by John C. Oxley,
the owner of 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos, has won two of three
career starts, all at Tampa Bay Downs. Game Ball, entered in Saturday’s
Illinois Derby, is trained by Canadian-based trainer Mark Casse.
§
Posse Power – Willow Creek Farm’s son of Posse has a 2-2-2
record in six races for trainer Frank Lucarelli, with his most recent
effort being a third-place run in the El Camino Real Derby (GIII) at Golden
Gate Fields. He’s entered in Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Derby (GI).
§
Thomas Baines – This son of Johannesburg,
owned by AJL Productions, LLC and trained by Doug O’Neill, is
coming off an allowance victory over the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at Santa
Anita. That race followed appearances in three consecutive stakes races
highlighted by a close third-place run behind Ranger Heartley and Connemara in the California Derby.
He has a record of 2-0-5 in 12 career races and is entered in Saturday’s
Santa Anita Derby.
With the close
of the late nomination period, owners have one more opportunity to make their
horses eligible to the Triple Crown races. Horses can be made a
supplemental entry to all three races for a fee of $200,000 paid on Wednesday,
April 28, the day of entry to the Kentucky Derby, or $100,000 paid at entry
time for the Preakness, which makes the horse eligible for both remaining
Triple Crown races, or the Belmont Stakes.
Only 11
3-year-olds have swept all three races in the challenging Triple Crown series,
with Affirmed being the most recent in 1978.