Scorpion, a Seattle Slew colt trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, jumps into the Derby Dozen this week after winning his first start of the year, a seven-furlong allowance Saturday at Gulfstream Park, by nearly three lengths. It was Scorpion’s first victory in seven starts since breaking his maiden first time out last May at Belmont Park.
But he did have a solid 2-year-old campaign, finishing second in the Saratoga Special and third in the Tremont, Sanford and Futurity. Lukas has always maintained Scorpion will improve as the distances increase.
Millennium Wind, who’s run just three times, will make his first start in seven weeks Sunday at the Fair Grounds in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, one of three important preps being run this weekend, along with the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream and the Grade 3 El Camino Real at Bay Meadows.
Two other Derby Dozen standouts will run in the Louisiana Derby: Dollar Bill and Hero’s Tribute, both of whom are coming off impressive victories in their 3-year-old debuts.
A field of nine is shaping up for the Florida Derby: Songandaprayer, Outofthebox and City Zip, who ran 1-2-3 in the Fountain of Youth; Cee Dee, Talk Is Money, Turnberry Isle, Monarchos, Invisible Ink and Dream Run.
Conspicuous by their absence this weekend are two of the top three on the Derby Dozen, Point Given and AP Valentine. Both colts, who were Grade 1 stakes winners going a distance as 2-year-olds, have been dogged by rumors of physical problems.
Trainer Nick Zito, who has tentatively penciled in the April 7 Flamingo at Hialeah for AP Valentine, said yesterday the star 3-year-old of his stable is “back on track. He was never off-track.”
Zito explained that after AP Valentine ran third in his first outing of the year, a fast-run seven-furlong allowance at Gulfstream Feb. 17, a vet examined the colt and found the shin he injured finishing last in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile had flared up again.
“He said that to avoid chronic shin problems, we should back off a bit,” Zito said. “If AP wasn’t one of the favorites for the Derby, no one would be talking about it. But with a horse of this magnitude, you have to take every precaution. We’re in good shape. Personally, I think we’ll be fine.”
Point Given hasn’t raced since winning the Hollywood Futurity in December, and wasn’t in serious training until trainer Bob Baffert sent him out for a pair of six-furlong workouts at Santa Anita the past two weeks.
“When I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago, someone told me they heard he had a bad shin,” Baffert said. “I said, ‘Really?’ He did have a [bad] shin back when he won the Futurity, but that was months ago. Don’t worry about Point Given.”
Baffert also is high on another colt he trains, Congaree. A son of Arazi, Congaree ran once as a 2-year-old last September at Del Mar. Last Wednesday, making his first start since then, he broke his maiden at Santa Anita by five lengths, running the mile in 1:34.1, the fastest time for the meet.
Two 3-year-old stakes were run last Saturday, but it’s questionable whether either will affect the Triple Crown picture. In the mile-and-a-sixteenth Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs, Burning Roma looked good winning his 3-year-old debut and in the Grade 2 San Rafael at Santa Anita, Crafty C.T. went gate to wire, winning by four lengths going a mile.
