On a big day of Kentucky Derby prep races, Journalism rallied past Barnes in the San Felipe Stakes (G2), Sovereignty went last-to-first in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), and Flood Zone pulled off an upset in the Gotham Stakes (G3) on Saturday.
The $300,000 San Felipe at Santa Anita featured two of the top three horses in the usracing.com Derby Top 10 in No. 1 Barnes and No. 3 Journalism.
Journalism. Benoit Photo.
Journalism Upset the Favorite in the San Felipe Stakes
Barnes, the 2-5 favorite, took the lead as expected, with Journalism ($11.80), under Ricardo Gonzalez, racing comfortably in third in the five-horse field. Trained by Bob Baffert, Barnes led into the stretch, but Journalism, with Umberto Rispoli aboard, cruised to the lead and won by 1 ¾ lengths.
“He broke really sharp. He is the kind of horse that for the first furlong he needs to adjust himself,’’ Rispoli said. “The trip was perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better, once I took him out and pressed the button, he went into beast mode. He ran really strong.”
The Fountain of the Youth and Gotham winners each earned 50 Derby qualifying points, while Journalism earned 37.5 points (a field of five or less reduces the points distributed).
Journalism moved into the No. 5 spot on the Derby leaderboard with 47.5 points, Sovereignty to No. 3 (60 points), and Flood Zone to No. 4 (50 points).
SAN FELIPE (SANTA ANITA PARK)
Journalism has now turned aside many of Baffert’s Derby prospects. In winning the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) in December, he beat Getaway Car and Gaming. On Saturday, he beat highly-regarded Barnes as well as Baffert’s Rodriguez and Mellencamp.
“It’s always great to have a horse that’s going to take you places and it looks like he’s going to take us and everyone else with him,’’ winning trainer Michael McCarthy said. “We were confident, not over confident, but I thought he was doing well enough to make some noise and he certainly did.”
“He was ready, but with a horse with a reputation like Barnes, you always wonder if you’re good enough and he certainly was today.”
Barnes, the $3.2 million Into Mischief colt, came into the race with no points in his two wins, but moved onto the leaderboard at No. 21 with 18.75 points.
“He was driving really well. He was comfortable and doing really well,’’ Barnes’ jockey Juan Hernandez said. “Honestly, we just got beat by a great horse today. This is his first time going two turns and I think he ran great even after Journalism ran past me.”
Rodriguez was third, Mellencamp fourth, and Smooth Cruisein fifth. Berlin Wall was scratched.
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH (GULFSTREAM PARK)
Sovereignty’s long-awaited 3-year-old debut was a thriller as the Into Mischief colt rallied from last-to-first and edged River Thames by a neck in the 1 1/16-mile, $415,000 Fountain of Youth.
Sovereignty. Lauren King/Coglianese Photo.
Sovereignty Soars from Last to First
As expected, the Bill Mott-trained colt was last in the field of six following the scratches of McKellen and Solid Left.
River Thames, 2-for-2 coming in for trainer Todd Pletcher, ran a strong race up front but could not hold on against Sovereignty and Junior Alvarado.
It was Sovereignty’s first start since winning the Street Sense Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs on Oct. 27.
“He probably wasn’t peaked. He probably was seven-eighths ready,’’ Mott said. “We just had to get him going.”
Mott said prior to the race he would be happy with a strong run, and a victory wasn’t necessary.
Oh well. The Godolphin-owned colt is now a prime Derby contender and likely will run next in the Florida Derby (G1) on April 5.
“I was just trying to give him a good race. We’ve been running second and third and I wanted to make sure he could finish,’’ Alvarado said, adding that he took his colt outside so he would have clear sailing into the stretch. “I was already a little bit riding him and when I put him in the clear, it seemed like everything came back to his head and he turned it on. After that it was like, ‘I hope we get there in time,’ and he did.”
GOTHAM STAKES (AQUEDUCT)
Flood Zone ($37.60) edged into the lead inside the three-sixteenths pole and moved onto the Derby trail with a 3 ¼-length upset over 3-2 favorite Sand Devil in the Gotham (G3).
Trained by Brad Cox, Flood Zone pulled off the surprise win in the third start of his career, which began with a runner-up in his debut in December, and a maiden win by 5 ¼ lengths in January at Gulfstream Park.
A son of Frosted, Flood Zone all but clinched a spot in the Derby field with his 50 points for the win.
Ridden by Reylou Gutierrez, Wathnan Racing’s Flood Zone led early, dropped back to third behind Normandy Coast and Sand Devil, but regained the advantage in the stretch and was a clear winner.
Sand Devil picked up 25 Derby points, with the next three finishers in the nine-horse field – Garamond, My Mitole, and McAfee, picking up 15-10-5 points, respectively. Sacrosanct, the 5-2 second betting choice also trained by Cox, finished eighth.
Winning time for the mile 1:39.62.
“He broke really sharp and on the bridle. Once we passed the chute, he was in control and in command,’’ Gutierrez said. “I just let him take me.”