It is a long and rarely-trodden path from Sunbury in south-west London to Louisville, Kentucky, but one of the runners in the 7.10 at Kempton Park this evening will take the first step along the 4,000-mile route when the track stages the Road to the Kentucky Derby Conditions Stakes over a mile.
The race was originally scheduled for last Thursday’s meeting, which was lost to the weather, but has been saved because it carries precious qualification points for the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs in early May. Along with the Patton Stakes at Dundalk on Friday, points will be awarded on a 20-8-4-2 basis to the first four home, while a third qualifying race at Kempton on 30 March, with 30 points to the winner, will decide which European-trained horse will get a guaranteed spot in the field in Kentucky.
Aidan O’Brien’s Mendelssohn, who has a dirt pedigree, is among the entries at Dundalk and is seen as a contender for the Kentucky Derby despite having won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in November. The name in Wednesday night’s field that is guaranteed to ring a bell with American fans, however, is Jeremy Noseda’s Gronkowski, who is named after 28-year-old Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski, a tight end with the New England Patriots.
The three-year-old Gronk is likely to start favourite this evening, having taken well to all-weather surfaces with two wins from as many starts including a six-length success in a three-runner race at Newcastle last time out.
He is no better than 6-5 this morning, but this is a race with more depth than the betting might suggest and there are several dangers in the field. Fortune’s Pearl, fifth home in a Group Three at Newmarket in September, is a contender, but John Gosden’s Court House (7.10) looks like the value bet at the early odds. He missed the kick at Lingfield last time but still recovered to record an easy win in a decent time, and 6-1 is a fair price about the son of Dawn Approach getting at least one hoof on the plane to Kentucky.
Jumps racing returns after a blank day on Tuesday and Cabernet D’Alene (3.40) looks a likely winner at Fontwell Park. Nick Williams’s runner showed improvement to win by 11 lengths at Market Rasen in January in a useful time and a 10lb rise in the weights may not be enough to stop him. Prestbury Park (4.00) and Warriors Valley (3.00) should both go well at Lingfield Park, while Discoverie (1.50) is the pick of the prices on the card at Catterick Bridge.
Catterick 1.50 Discoverie 2.20 Verni 2.50 Kaloci 3.20 Dica 3.50 Tickanrun 4.20 Shantou Prince 4.50 Indian Opera
Lingfield 2.00 Kafeel 2.30 Captain Lars 3.00 Warrior’s Valley 3.30 Nordic Lights 4.00 Prestbury Park 4.30 Berrahri 5.00 Marshall Aid
Fontwell 2.10 Boreham Bill 2.40 Citadel 3.10 Casterly Rock 3.40 Cabernet D’Alene (nb) 4.10 Master Burbidge 4.40 Legal Eyes
Kempton 5.40 Star Archer 6.10 Tarseekh 6.40 Herecomesthesun 7.10 Court House (nap) 7.40 Envisaging 8.10 Porto Ferro 8.40 Tommys Geal 9.10 Koubba
Tips by Greg Wood.
