Weekend Lineup Presented By FanDuel: Heating Up The Kentucky Derby Trail

Saturday

12:40 p.m. - Grade 1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz racecourse

The set-up for the one-turn, 1 1/8-mile Saudi Cup could be similar to the two-turn Pegasus World Cup over the same distance, except Pegasus pacesetter Hoist the Gold has drawn just outside of Pegasus winner National Treasure. Much was made of National Treasure's ability to rate just off the pace in that race, indicating sign of maturity for the Quality Road colt who won last year's Preakness (G1) and was beaten a nose by Horse of the Year Cody's Wish in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

But White Abarrio, by all accounts, has been training phenomenally in California and Riyadh as he prepares to make his first start since the Breeders' Cup. Rick Dutrow, who took over training the Race Day horse last spring, said he's been following a pattern he picked up before winning last year's Whitney (G1) at Saratoga. Dutrow is brimming with confidence, as he was before the Breeders' Cup.

"I never got to breeze him for the (Whitney), so we were like 10 days without breezing and you just show up," Dutrow told the Saudi Arabia Jockey Club press office. "But we did breeze him the morning of [the race] and Irad [Ortiz] happened to be there watching. It wasn’t my plan, I wasn’t even there, I was on my way up because I had to train at Belmont but Irad caught it and he was wondering if we were going to scratch! 

"He called me and said, 'Babe, what are you doing?' I said, 'Well, we’re just trying to win a race, man!'

"It worked out unbelievable, so seeing that happen I repeated the same process for the Breeders’ Cup. When I knew that we were coming here, it was like 11 days before we came and I was like man, they are playing into our hands because we don’t need to breeze him. We can play the same game and right now I feel that he is over the trip and he’s himself now.

"We will take him to the training track on Friday to jog him. This is not by design, it is only because what happened at Saratoga. You never know about things until you try and when you do try them and they work, you want to keep them in that zone."

Saudi Cup Day Program With Entries For Each Race

5:10 p.m. - Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn

There are no graded stakes winners in the field for this year's Honeybee, but a couple of the fillies appear to be head and shoulders above the rest.

West Omaha, a West Coast filly trained by Brad Cox, comes off an easy victory over five overmatched foes in the Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds Jan. 20. Ridden by Luis Saez that day, she'll be handled on Saturday by Oaklawn's leading rider Cristian Torres.

Band of Gold, by Preservationist, is coming off an open-lengths victory in the Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn, earning an 86 Beyer Speed Figure (West Omaha's Fair Grounds win received an 84 BSF). But the Martha Washington was run over a sloppy surface, and the track will be fast and the skies blue in Hot Springs on Saturday.

Of the rest, Alys Beach, 10-1 on the morning line, is worth watching. A maiden winner at Saratoga last summer, she competed in consecutive G1 stakes (Spinaway and Alcibiades) and was not disgraced either time. The Omaha Beach filly appears to be training well at Fair Grounds for Tom Amoss and could be ready to win in her first start since Oct. 6. 

Honeybee Stakes Entries

5:45 p.m. – Grade 3 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn

The older male division does not have a lot of depth, and with several top performers chasing millions in Saudi Arabia, the Razorback came up light on proven quality. Another measure would be the weight assignments of those entered. There aren't that many handicaps any more, and this one has three co-high weights at a feathery 118 pounds.

Looking at the Razorback from a pure handicapping point of view, there does seem to be a lot of horses who want or need the lead, so things could set up for a stretch runner like Ain't Life Grand. The only question is whether this son of Not This Time can win off the layoff, as he has been away since last July, when third in the G3 Cornhusker Handicap at at Prairie Meadows.

Razorback Handicap Entries

6:23 p.m. – Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn

It's difficult to look past Timberlake in this year's Rebel. Winner of the G1 Champagne and fourth in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the Into Mischief colt will try to give trainer Brad Cox his first victory in a race that Bob Baffert has dominated with eight wins since 2010. Baffert had planned to send Muth to contest the Rebel, but a last-minute change left the colt in California.

Time for Truth, an Omaha Beach colt, has only sprinted thus far in two starts for trainer Ron Moquett, and I assume he'll be running early from an outside post under Rafael Bejarano to try and get position and save some ground. D. Wayne Lukas sends out the Justify colt Just Steel, and he's battle tested, having run nine times already, including in five stakes races. 

Rebel Stakes Entries

6:30 p.m. – Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes at Santa Anita

A field of eight fillies and mares go postward in this 1 1/4-mile turf test that starts on the downhill turf course and then takes one full lap around the oval. Like many Southern California grass races, Phil D'Amato is stacked with three strong entries led by Queens Command, an Irish-bred who won her U.S. debut last month.

There's depth to this race beyond D'Amato, though, with Richard Mandella sending out the Red Carpet (G3) and Astra Stakes winner Linda's Gift in quest of a third consecutive stakes score. She has speed and could control the pace. Mark Glatt-trained Khinjani won her first start in the U.S. with a last to first rally under Frankie Dettori, who rides the filly back.

Santa Anita Stakes Entries