We’re about six weeks away from the 2021 edition of the Kentucky Derby, which will kick off this year’s Triple Crown. The schedule of races is expected to be normal this season, although it remains to be seen whether fans will be allowed into the stands at each race. If horse racing is part of your sports betting this year, take a look at some of the latest news items that will affect the Kentucky Derby field. Essential Quality currently leads the qualifying standings on the basis of running in more graded stakes and on more tracks than Life Is Good. Behind them is Greatest Honour to round out the top three.
Horse Racing News: 2021 Triple Crown Updates
Helium Wins the Tampa Bay Derby
Despite having never raced on dirt, having never raced around two turns, and not having raced at all in four and a half months, Helium came through on March 6 to take the Tampa Bay Derby. That makes three wins in three starts and virtually sews up qualification for the Kentucky Derby, thanks to the 50 points he picked up at the Grade II stakes. Hidden Stash added 20 points with a second-place finish, and Moonlite Strike added 10 points by coming in third. Helium’s ownership is expected to pay a nomination fee of $6,000 to make Helium’s status official. Helium’s trainer may keep him off the race circuit until the Kentucky Derby, depending on race conditions and training between now and then.
Life Is Good Wins the San Felipe Stakes
Life Is Good also made it three wins in a row in the Grade II San Felipe Stakes, bolting from the inside post to win by eight lengths. Trained by Bob Baffert, Life Is Good may opt out of the Santa Anita Stakes (Grade I). He did drift down the stretch, but jockey Mike Smith attributed that to Life Is Good looking at the infield screen instead of the finish line. During training runs, the screens are off, but racing day means the screens are on. Medina Spirit, another horse in Baffert’s stable, came in second under John Velazquez. Medina Spirit may run in the Santa Anita Derby or the Arkansas Derby to get enough points to qualify for Churchill Downs. Life Is Good now has 60 points toward Kentucky Derby qualification, while Medina Spirit has 34.
Weyburn Pays on 46-1 odds at the Gotham Stakes
The only reason Weyburn was in the Grade III Gotham Stakes on March 6 was that an allowance optional claiming race set for the same card did not fill. However, the race did not fill, and Weyburn was in his first graded stakes, coming off a maiden win. He pushed hard down the stretch, edging out Crowded Trade by a nose in a one-mile race. Weyburn won his maiden at Aqueduct on December 5 in his third start and had not raced since then. Weyburn picked up 50 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby, but he had not yet been nominated. The $165,000 that Weyburn earned by winning the Gotham, though, should easily cover the $6,000 nominating fee. Weyburn has not yet raced around two turns, and the one-mile win was his longest race in his career — before March 6, he had never raced longer than seven furlongs. He is set to run at the Wood Memorial (Grade II), a 1 ⅛ mile race, to see whether the Kentucky Derby is a realistic goal. Jockey Trevor McCarthy, who rode Weyburn to the win at the Gotham, does not see added distance as a problem. Instead, he thinks that Weyburn will enjoy additional ground. The favorite, Highly Motivated, ended up finishing third but was sitting in sixth place after a poor start. Freedom Fighter took fourth place.
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