Filly may have 'Half'-decent shot
This year, the Kentucky Derby is more up in the air than usual. It could turn out to be the Year of the Filly, since undefeated Halfbridled may be as good as any of the colts.
Sometimes the connection of a top 3-year-old filly will indicate immediately that they are not interested in taking on the males in the Run for the Roses, but Richard Mandella, who trains Halfbridled for Wertheimer Farm, says the Derby is a possibility for the daughter of Unbridled, who won the Derby in 1990.
Halfbridled, who is out of a Deputy Minister mare, won all four of her starts as a 2-year-old by open lengths. She broke her maiden at Del Mar in July, then captured the Del Mar Debutante, the Oak Leaf at Santa Anita, and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita in October. She won the Eclipse Award as top 2-year-old filly, missing a unanimous decision by one misguided vote.
She was supposed to make her sophomore debut in the Las Virgenes Stakes today but Mandella decided to hold her out until the Santa Anita Oaks March 13.
"She coughed a couple of weeks ago," said Mandella. "She's over it, and she seemed fine when I worked her, but she looked a little light coming out of it. So I'm not going to push her up against a wall. I'll wait and start her in the Oaks. I would have liked to have started her in the Las Virgenes, but I've come to the point where I think if I ran her, I might drive her backwards, not forwards. I can't do that.
"There's nothing seriously wrong with her. She just isn't in full bloom right now. Her hair still isn't what it ought to be. She was coming along with her weight until she got that little cough. That, and trying to keep up with her training, knocked a little bit off her. In a month, I think she'll have bloomed on out, and be in great shape again."
After the Santa Anita Oaks, Mandella hopes to point Halfbridled toward the Ashland Stakes, a race for fillies April 3 at Keeneland. He will then decide whether to run her in the Kentucky Oaks April 30 or the Derby May 1.
The first Derby/Oaks future wager opened Thursday. Halfbridled is a 5-1 co-favorite, tied with the mutuel field, for the Oaks, and a 10-1 third choice behind the field (at 4-1), and the promising Eurosilver, second at 6-1, in the Derby. The future wager lists 23 horses for each race. The mutuel field comprises all 3-year-olds not listed for each contest.
"The Kentucky Derby picture is always very open at this time of the year, but the early picture for Derby 130 appears cloudier than usual," said Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia.
The opening pool closes at 6:30 p.m. today. Pool Two is set for March 11-14, and Pool Three April 1-4.
Back in action
Mandella also trains Action This Day, one of the best of the 3-year-old colts. Action This Day won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a bold rush at 26-1, and earned the Eclipse Award as top 2-year-old colt. The son of Kris S. made his yearly bow in the Sham Stakes at Santa Anita last Sunday and finished fourth. However, he did close well from last place, and was beaten a little more than a length. He missed second by two heads, despite rallying five-wide in the 1 1/8-mile event. "Thinking he would win anyway, I told [jockey] David [Flores] to come wide with him and not take any chances of getting in trouble," said Mandella. "I wanted him to finish good, and have a nice, safe trip. As it turned out, I blew the race. I don't mean we were giving him one. I truly believed he could do all that and still win. He probably would have won anyway, but he hung a little bit in the last sixteenth. He looked like he needed the race." Next for Action This Day, who is 20-1 in the Derby future wager, will be the San Felipe Stakes March 13, followed by the Santa Anita Derby April 3. Master David, the winner of the Sham, is trained by Bobby Frankel. The son of Gand Slam came over from Europe, finished second in the Remsen at Aqueduct in November and third in the Santa Catalina Jan. 17. He is also 20-1 in the future wager, and Frankel is aiming him for the Florida Derby March 13. Eurosilver, who is by Unbridled's Song, received the favored role in the future wager after winning an allowance at Gulfstream impressively Feb. 3. Next for Eurosilver, who is trained by Nick Zito, is the Swale, a sprint on the Florida Derby undercard . . . Azeri, Horse of the Year in 2002 and champion older female in 2003, had her first work for new trainer D. Wayne Lukas, going 3 furlongs in :35 1/5 at Santa Anita last Sunday. "She went very well, excellent," said Lukas. The 6-year-old mare has not raced since running third (elevated to second via disqualification) in the Lady's Secret Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Sept. 28. Lukas has yet to map out a 2004 schedule for her . . . Trainer Steve Asmussen set a North American record for victories in one day when he sent out 10 winners last Saturday. Asmussen, who has a far-flung operation in the Southwest, won three races at Oaklawn, three at Sunland Park, two at Delta Downs, and one each at Fair Grounds and Sam Houston. The former mark of eight was held by J.C. Williams, who saddled each of his winners at Waterford Park in West Virginia Feb. 24, 1979. Through last Sunday, Asmussen had won 72 races this year, and his starters had earned more than $1.3 million in purses.
Material from the Thoroughbred Daily News was used in this report.
