On Saturday at Fair Grounds, the stakes action will continue with the $60,000 Marie G. Krantz Memorial Stakes. Scheduled to be run at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf, the stakes race has drawn a full field of fourteen fillies and mares with two others listed as also-eligible.
Street of Gold has been installed as the morning line favorite in the wide open field at odds of 7-2 for trainer Brad Cox. A six-year-old daughter of Street Sense, the bay mare has been on the board sixteen times and is a four-time winner. She was last seen finishing second in the Blushing K.D. Stakes and will be trying to earn her second black-type win. Robby Albarado will be aboard and they will break from post position two.
The second choice at morning line odds of 9-2, Cash Control, also hails from the Brad Cox barn. A five-year-old daughter of Pioneerof the Nile, she has been on the board in eight of her ten starts and is a six-time winner. She is coming into this race off of three straight victories and earned her first stakes win last time out in the Tiffany Lass Stakes. Shaun Bridgmohan will be aboard and they will break from post position six.
Also in the field at morning line odds of 6-1 is Zubi Zubi Zu, one of four entrants in the race for trainer Michael Stidham. A five-year-old daughter of Any Given Saturday, the bay mare has won five of her eighteen starts and will be trying to earn her first stakes victory. She was fourth in the Blushing K.D. Stakes last time out and will try to move forward off of that effort. Mitchell Murrell will be in the irons from post nine.
There will always be Kentucky Derby entrants that would be much better suited to skip the race entirely and find a better spot if not for the gusto of their well-meaning owners, but the Road to the Derby point qualifying system has been remarkably efficient at making the race more of a level-playing field since its inception four years ago.
On Saturday at Keeneland, the featured race is the $250,000 Dixiana Elkhorn Stakes. Scheduled to be run at one mile on the turf, the Grade 2 event has drawn a field of eight colts and geldings.
With a largely underwhelming, and thus far, slow, group of three year-olds set to contest the 2016 Kentucky Derby, logical handicappers searching for a pick outside of the undefeated and likely highly-favored Nyquist may have already begun the hand-wringing process.
On Friday at Oaklawn Park, the featured race is the $600,000 Apple Blossom Stakes. Restricted to fillies and mares, the Grade 1 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth on the main track and has drawn a field of six.
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