If races are supposed to grow more important as the Kentucky Derby gets closer, why is Saturday such a glaring exception? Simple, really. Neither the Withers in New York nor the Sam F. Davis in Florida has ever produced a Derby winner.
Families of Greatest Honour, Medina Spirit Go Long bloodhorse.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bloodhorse.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card: A Tale Of Two Pedigrees Sponsored by:
Two Grade 3 races on each coast, the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park in South Florida and the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita in Southern California, were run on Saturday, offering 17 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers (10-4-2-1).
The last time the Holy Bull Stakes winner went on to victory in the G1 Kentucky Derby was in 2006 when Barbaro, making his dirt track debut after winning his first three career starts on turf, scored by three-quarters of a length on a sloppy track. Before that, when the race was known as the Preview Stakes, Go for Gin was victorious en route to capturing the 1994 Kentucky Derby. Some very good horses have won the Holy Bull, including the 2020 winner Tiz the Law, who opened last year s disjointed Triple Crown with a win in the Belmont Stakes.
Medina Spirit Emerges With Narrow Victory In Robert B. Lewis Stakes Sponsored by:
Medina Spirit and jockey Abel Cedillo (right) hold off Roman Centurian (left), and Hot Rod Charlie to win the Robert B. Lewis Stakes
In a gutty gate to wire performance, Medina Spirit fought off all challengers to take Saturday s Grade 3, $100,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes by a neck and thus stamped himself a top tier Derby hopeful for Bob Baffert. Owned by Zedan Racing Stables, Inc. and ridden by Abel Cedillo, Medina Spirit got 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.26 over a Santa Anita main track listed as “good” due to recent rains that deposited 2.4 inches of rain through noon on Friday.
Medina Spirit Narrowly Lands Robert B Lewis bloodhorse.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bloodhorse.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.