Goldencents drills three-quarters ahead of Santa Anita Derby

Goldencents drills three-quarters ahead of Santa Anita

Derby

On a picture-perfect Friday morning, dual Grade 3 star Goldencents had his final major drill for the Grade

1, $750,000 Santa Anita

Derby on April 6 when going six furlongs on the fast main dirt at the Arcadia,

California, track in a bullet

1:14.

It was the fastest of nine moves at the distance, the

average time of which was 1:16 1/5. Exercise rider Jonny Garcia was aboard the

bay son of Into Mischief, who looks to improve on his disappointing fourth-place

finish last out in the Grade 2 San Felipe on March 9.

"Now all we have to do is stay injury-free and gallop into

the big one," trainer Doug O'Neill said. "Jonny's been doing just a brilliant

job of trying to slow him down. The horse has been running well enough that I

didn't put a lot of energy into changing up the morning activities because he

kept running good.

"But after the San Felipe, and how the race didn't unfold

perfectly and we didn't get the results we wanted, I figured, you know what? I

really need to start putting some energy into getting him to slow it down.

"If you're going to experiment, this is the best time to do

it. That's why they call these races preps. We've got to learn something now.

Hopefully, what we've implemented will get the results we want to see in the

Santa Anita Derby. That's the goal."

With 29 points in the bank for the Kentucky Derby on May 4,

Goldencents is well positioned to make the cut of 20 starters under the new

qualifying system. The Santa Anita Derby offers 100 points to the winner, 40 for

second, 20 for third and 10 for fourth.

"Being the first year, no one really knows what to make of

it," said O'Neill, who was on the verge of possibly winning the Triple Crown in

2012 with I'll Have Another until a last-minute injury forced him to miss the

Belmont Stakes and ultimately be retired.

"But I do think you can't rest on your laurels as a

two-year-old nowadays," he added. "You've got to really be productive in

these three-year-old preps. It makes it interesting, and I guess you hope a good

horse doesn't have to scramble to try to get there."

Probable for the 76th Santa Anita Derby at

1 1/8 miles are Flashback, Garrett Gomez; Hear the Ghost, Corey Nakatani; Goldencents, Kevin Krigger; Super Ninety Nine, Martin Garcia; Power Broker,

Rafael Bejarano; Tiz a Minister, Joe Talamo; Storm Fighter, Gary Stevens; and

Dirty Swagg, no rider.

On Santa Anita Derby Day, ontrack fans will be offered a free

Santa Anita Derby T-shirt with paid admission, while supplies last. There will

be more than 50 microbrew/craft beer vendors, in addition to Premium Food

Trucks, and KROQ will present Iration in concert. Also, the Daily Racing Form

will present a $750,000 guaranteed Late Pick 4.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com