ANOTHERTWISTAFATE ON KENTUCKY DERBY TRAIL AFTER EL CAMINO REAL DERBY WIN
The well-regarded, local colt Anothertwistafate punched himself a ticket to the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, with a gate to wire score in last Saturday’s El Camino Real Derby for 3-year-olds. The son of Scat Daddy set the pace before disposing of his rivals in upper stretch, dashing down the lane in a final furlong timed in 12 seconds while completing the 9-panel contest in 1:50.38. He earned a 94 Beyer speed figure for his effort.
With the victory, Anothertwistafate not only received a free Preakness Berth, but 10 Kentucky Derby points. Trainer Blaine Wright indicated that he would discuss Anothertwistafate’s next race with his owner, Peter Redekop, in the next week or so. His next race is not definite. What is definite, according to Wright, is that Anothertwistafate is on the Kentucky Derby trail, and he will be given a shot to prove he has what it takes to compete against the best 3-year-olds on the first Saturday in May.
“I’m just in awe of [Anothertwistafate] right now,” said Wright immediately following the El Camino Real. “There’s a lot of stuff in front of us. We’ll sit down and talk about what races to consider.”
Anothertwistafate has run four times, with three races resulting in impressive wins on the Golden Gate Tapeta. His lone career loss came in his career debut at Santa Anita in November, sprinting six furlongs on dirt. In a previous News and Notes interview with Wright, he indicated that Anothertwistafate’s first race should be a toss out.
“I probably should have never run him in that race,” admitted Wright in January. “It was a mistake on my part. I blame myself for that loss. [Jockey] Juan [Hernandez] came back after the race and said [Anothertwistafate] hated the dirt in his face. But if you watch the replay, Juan was able to get him in the clear down the stretch and once he did, he made up a good amount of ground, and the gallop out was terrific.”
There are questions as to whether Anothertwistafate will handle the dirt as well as he has handled the Tapeta. He possesses a turf pedigree: by Scat Daddy out a half-sister to a French Oaks/Grade I winner on turf. Keep this in mind, though: Scat Daddy was a dirt horse himself, and he produced 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify.
Potential next starts for Anothertwistafate? His connections could run him in The Jeff Ruby Steaks (previously known as The Spiral) at Turfway on March 9 over their synthetic surface, but he is not nominated, so they’ll have to supplement him into the race if they decide to run there. Not only that in mind, but the race comes up pretty quickly after a huge effort in the El Camino Real Derby. Anothertwistafate may just wait until the Santa Anita Derby and take on the big dogs down South, or even run in the Sunland Derby on March 24 at Sunland Park, a race that has a large $800,000 purse with 50 Kentucky Derby points to the winner, but typically does not attract the top 3-year-olds in the U.S.
There is no doubt that Anothertwistafate oozes talent. Whether he can compete against the very best 3-year-olds remains to be seen, but he will get his shot in the coming months. And one thing is for sure: every racing fan and horsemen will be watching their local 3-year-old represent Golden Gate Fields as he looks to become another Scat Daddy prodigy to make some noise in various graded stakes races all over the country.
GGF EARLY PICK 5/STRONACH 5 CARRYOVERS SPARK INTEREST FOR HORSEPLAYERS THIS FRIDAY
Two noteworthy carryovers in the Golden Gate Fields Early Pick 5 and the Stronach 5 will keep horseplayers busy on Friday afternoon.
Friday’s Golden Gate Fields Early Pick 5, a 50 cent minimum bet with a low 14% takeout every day, has a carryover of over $46,000. The sequence, Races 1-5, is a competitive one, and track officials are expected the pool of new money to grow to at least a quarter of a million dollars: $250,000. Post time for the first race on Friday, and the first leg of the Early Pick 5, is approximately 12:45 PM PT/3:45 PM ET.
The Stronach 5, a $1 minimum bet with a low 12% takeout, features a carryover of over $169,000. A large amount of new money is expected to be bet into the pool, with track officials projecting that figure to be somewhere close to $500,000. Leg A (the first leg) goes as Race 9 at Laurel Park, with post time slated for 4:35 p.m.ET/1:35 p.m./PT. Leg D (the second to last leg) is Golden Gate Fields’ fifth race, a 12-horse maiden claimer for 3-year-old fillies going 5 furlongs.
FINISH LINES: Although jockey Juan Hernandez had a sensational four days last week, journeyman Abel Cedillo continues to lead the way in the jockey standings…Jonathan Wong holds a large-sized lead in the trainer standings….Trainer William E. Morey reports that multiple Golden Gate winner and Grade I placed filly Ollie’s Candy is doing very well and getting back into training. The daughter of Candy Ride has not run since the summertime…5 furlong turf specialist Bay Muzik, arguably the best grass sprinter located in Northern California, worked a half mile in 49 seconds flat for trainer Ari Herbertson on Saturday morning. The 5-year-old gelding could make a trip to Keeneland in April, according to owner Scott Herbertson…Happy birthday to jockey Julien Couton, who celebrates another birthday this Saturday.