Sophomores Look to Soar in Inaugural $150,000 Bald Eagle Derby
Sophomores Look to Soar in Inaugural $150,000 Bald Eagle Derby
Channel Cat, Canadian Classic Winner Neepawa Top Field of Nine
Class on the Grass’ Program Features Six Stakes, Four on Turf, Worth $650,000
LAUREL, MD – Wheeling back in 17 days off his first career stakes victory, Calumet Farm’s homebred Channel Cat faces eight rivals including Canadian classic winner Neepawa in the inaugural running of the $150,000 Bald Eagle Derby Saturday at Laurel Park.
The 1 ½-mile Bald Eagle Derby for 3-year-olds is among six stakes worth $650,000 in purses on a 12-race ‘Class on the Grass’ program that also includes the $200,000 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup (G3) for 3-year-olds and up going one mile.
Also scheduled to be run over Laurel’s world-class turf course are a pair of $75,000 stakes for Maryland-bred/sired horses at 1 1/16 miles – the Find for 3-year-olds and up, featuring Maryland’s 2017 Horse of the Year Just Howard, and the All Brandy for fillies and mares 3 and older. Carded on the dirt for non-winners of a sweepstakes are the $75,000 Challedon for 3-year-olds and up and the $75,000 Shine Again for females 3 and older, both at seven furlongs.
First race post time is 12:30 p.m. The Bald Eagle Derby is carded as Race 8, with a post time of 4 p.m.
By 2007 turf champion English Channel, also trained by Todd Pletcher, Channel Cat takes plenty of stakes experience into the Bald Eagle Derby. Five of his eight starts this year have come in stakes company, four of them graded, finishing third in the Pennine Ridge (G3) and fourth in the Belmont Derby (G1) behind Catholic Boy, who would go on to take the Travers (G1) on dirt at Saratoga.
Last time out, Channel Cat was a determined and gutsy head winner of the 1 5/16-mile Dueling Grounds Derby Sept. 12 over the unique course at Kentucky Downs, pushing his career bankroll to $431,792, richest among Bald Eagle Derby competitors.
“He showed good tactical speed last time which I would expect him to do going that far. He seemed to handle the undulating ground there at Kentucky Downs which is always a concern when you go there. It seems like not every horse takes to that kind of surface but he took to it well,” Pletcher said. “He’s been a consistent horse for us all along and he always kind of shows up and runs hard. We were pleased with his effort and look forward to running him again at a distance that suits him.”
Pletcher has continued to seek out long distance races for Channel Cat like the 1 ¼-mile Belmont Derby and a 1 3/8-mile allowance July 30 at Saratoga where the chestnut colt rated kindly in fourth and closed well on the outside to be second by less than a length to subsequent John’s Call Stakes winner Focus Group.
“This is a horse we’ve always felt wants to run that far. We ran him at Saratoga against older horses because we wanted to get him stretched out,” Pletcher said. “We took him to Kentucky Downs because they had a mile and five-sixteenths race, but I think mile and a half is better for him. It great to have an opportunity like that to run against straight 3-year-olds.”
The Bald Eagle Derby will mark the shortest time between starts for Channel Cat, who will be making his Laurel debut. Feargal Lynch has the mount from Post 4 at co-highweight of 120 pounds.
“The quick turnaround is always a little bit concerning when you ship and ship back and then ship to another track, but he’s a pretty durable kind of horse, takes his races well, and hopefully this isn’t back too soon for him,” Pletcher said. “I don’t think soft ground will bother him, either. English Channel won the Breeders’ Cup in a bog so he gives us the impression he’ll handle it fine.”
Chiefswood Stable’s Ontario homebred Neepawa, from the barn of Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, won the 1 ½-mile Breeders’ Stakes, the third leg of Canada’s Triple Crown and the only one contested on turf, over a yielding course Aug. 18 at Woodbine.
Winless in four starts at 2, the Scat Daddy colt has two wins and two seconds in seven races this year, breaking his maiden in his sophomore debut going 1 1/16 miles on the Gulfstream Park turf. He has breezed four times over Woodbine’s synthetic surface since his stakes win, most recently going four furlongs in 47.60 seconds Sept. 21.
“It was a huge effort last time. He’s a horse that I always felt like was kind of an underachiever. He just kind of needed to get his act together and it seems he got his act together in his last start,” Casse said. “He’s really trained well since then, too. I find a lot of the Scat Daddys as they get older they do get better and he’s thriving right now so I expect a big effort out of him.”
Under Woodbine regular Jerome Lermyte, who will ride again at Laurel from Post 3 at 120 pounds, Neepawa led all the way from the gate in the Breeders’ Stakes, a different strategy from his previous races Casse devised after examining the field.
“It was by design. We looked at it and didn’t think there was a whole lot of speed in the race so we sent him,” he said. “I don’t think he has to be on the lead but we find that he’s happy when he’s kind of running free and he wants to up fairly close so that’s what we’ll attempt to do this weekend. He can just go and go and go.”
Neepawa also competed in the 1 ¼-mile Queen’s Plate, Canada’s version of the Kentucky Derby, where he pressed the pace for a half-mile before fading to finish 10th of 16 behind filly stablemate Wonder Gadot on the Woodbine synthetic. He bounced back to run third in the Toronto Cup Stakes on turf July 28.
“I don’t know what happened to him that day. Everything went wrong in the Queen’s Plate. We had Wonder Gadot in there but I actually thought he could give her a run for her money,” Casse said. “I was pretty high on him going into the Queen’s Plate. He kind of got cooked up in a speed duel and they were running and he just didn’t run his race. The pace was really fast that day.”
Bill Crager and Paul Hondros’ Maryland-bred Nakamura, a maiden winner at Laurel April 14 in his second career start, seeks his first win since that neck victory. He has run fourth twice, including his stakes debut in the Stanton, run at about 1 1/16 miles June 13 at Delaware Park, and second in each of his last two races.
Most recently, the bay son of 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom circled the field from last to take a one-length lead into the stretch, only to fall three-quarters of a length short of Admission Office in a 1 3/16-mile open optional claiming allowance over a yielding course Aug. 19 at Saratoga.
“He’s a horse that’s steadily improving. I thought he ran really well at Saratoga last time. He was a fast-finishing second and I think this is what he wants to do,” trainer Graham Motion said. “He may well handle the soft going. The grass wasn’t really firm the whole meet at Saratoga and he ran well over it. I would say there’s a good chance he’ll handle it.”
Jorge Vargas Jr. has the call from Post 8 at 118 pounds.
Amerman Racing’s homebred Admission Office also returns in the Bald Eagle Derby, which marks his stakes debut. The Point of Entry colt came from last of 12 to win his debut going 1 1/16 miles May 25 at Belmont Park and second by less than a length in a 1 1/8-mile optional claiming allowance there July 5 prior to his win under similar conditions at Saratoga.
“I think he’s got a lot of stamina and he’s been looking for this long distance-type of race, so we’ll see,” trainer Chad Brown said. “He handled the soft course well last time and he ran super, so hopefully he can make that step up into stakes company. He’s certainly bred to go the distance.”
Joe Bravo will be aboard for the first time from Post 9 at 118 pounds.
Penn Mile (G2) runner-up Way Early; Jailhouse Kitten, fifth in the Dueling Grounds Derby; Peace of Ekati; Queen of Connaught, a two-time winner at 1 ½ miles in England making his North American debut; Peace of Ekati and Salt Air round out the field.
