Ky. Derby prep: Speed King faces 11 in Springboard Mile
Speed King, the 7-2 morning-line favorite for Friday’s $300,000 Springboard Mile, arrived Wednesday morning at Remington Park. Trainer Ron Moquett is excited about his chances in the track’s cornerstone race for 2-year-olds on the final night of the season.
The Springboard Mile carries Kentucky Derby 2025 qualifying points for the first five finishers on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale.
“He just got here this morning,” Moquett said Wednesday of Speed King. “He has been at Oaklawn, and he looks very good. The Springboard has always been my first choice for this colt. He is a nice horse. As good as he did at Churchill Downs, I wasn’t sure if he would be the favorite in the Springboard, but I’m not surprised. That was a good field at Churchill.”
Speed King, a 2-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Volatile out of the Corinthian mare Athenian Beauty, broke his maiden by 2 1/4 lengths in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 1 in a $120,000 maiden special weight race, going six furlongs over a fast track. He has not raced since and will stretch out around two turns for the first time in his career.
Speed King’s sire, Volatile, is the no. 2 freshman sire by winners and Grade 1 stakes horses. Volatile clocked the fastest final quarter-mile in history of the Grade 1 Vanderbilt Handicap in 22.94 seconds, when he beat a field composed entirely of Grade 1 winners at Saratoga on June 6, 2020, going six furlongs.
Volatile never ran in a route race, always sprinting, so if Speed King can handle the stretch-out, it should come from the dam’s side. Athenian Beauty didn’t have much of a race career, but her sire, Corinthian, won 6-of-12 starts lifetime, including the Met Mile (G1) in 2007 by 3/4 of a length at one mile at Belmont Park in New York. Corinthian also won the Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2) at 1 3/16 miles in Florida the same year.
Jockey Rafael Bejarano ships in for the mount on Speed King. He rides for Moquett at Oaklawn and combined with the 53-year-old trainer when he won for the 300th time at Oaklawn in 2022. Moquett said it was no secret that Speed King will try to go to the front and try to win in the same manner he did at Churchill.
The colt is owned by Triton Thoroughbreds of Fort Smith, Ark. He was bred by Nancy Shuford and purchased by Triton for $100,000 from the Ocala Breeders spring sale for 2-year-olds-in-training this year. He earned $69,000 from his only race.
Dr Ruben M arrives
Another top Springboard horse that arrived Tuesday is fourth morning-line favorite at 6-1, Dr Ruben M. The chestnut settled into the barn of trainer Mindy Willis and appeared to be doing great. Willis’s barn has been a landing spot for horses from the West Coast, and this one is a Santa Anita maiden winner for two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O’Neill. O’Neill hopes Dr Ruben M picks up where those two left off. The first stop on that trail was a win in a $54,000 maiden special weight race on Oct. 14 by 3/4 of a length.
“He looks good,” said Michael Martinez, a member of Willis’s crew. “Looks like a runner.”
The 2-year-old Kentucky-bred chestnut colt by Vino Rosso, out of the Majestic Warrior mare Xoxo, took four tries to break his maiden out west and almost did it at first asking. In his career debut at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., he lost by a nose on the turf course in a five-furlong sprint. Dr Ruben M broke his maiden at the one-mile distance. He was bred by Malibu Farm and was purchased by O’Neill for the owner Del Mar Group for $150,000. Dr Ruben M’s record is 4: 1-2-0 with $59,700 in earnings.
Medicine Dog equipment addition
The early enigma of the Springboard field would have to be Medicine Dog, who has had three races in his career, all at Remington Park, and could be a live long shot at 20-1 on the morning line.
“I don’t think he really liked the 5 1/2 furlongs last time out,” said trainer Sarah Davidson, who claimed this gelding for $30,000 out of a maiden race when he ran for trainer Robertino Diodoro. “We have added blinkers since that race and he seems to like them. He worked a bullet (47.86 seconds, handily, for the half-mile, fastest of 69 horses that trained at four furlongs Nov. 30). I really think the blinkers and the mile will help him.”
Medicine Dog, a Kentucky-bred son of Constitution out of the Cairo Prince mare Royal Charlotte, is owned by Henry S. Witt Jr. Davidson claimed the horse for Witt on Oct. 10 in the gelding’s first career start when he won by nine lengths. She put him in the $75,000 Clever Trevor Stakes and he ran a competitive third to Jolly Samurai, beaten by only 2 1/4 lengths at seven furlongs. Jolly Samurai is the 4-1 second favorite in the morning-line odds. If the blinkers and added distance move Medicine Dog forward, he could be a contender. His record is 3: 1-0-1, $24,091.
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | ML |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Coal Battle Coal Front |
0.00 |
1st, Jean Lafitte S. |
10-1 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, Jean Lafitte S. |
|||||
| 2 |
|
Blue Angel Gun Runner |
0.00 |
1st, RP MSW (11/18/2024-R2) |
15-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, RP MSW (11/18/2024-R2) |
|||||
| 3 |
|
Speed King Volatile |
0.00 | 7-2 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 4 |
|
Dominant Spirit Mohaymen |
0.00 |
2nd, Clever Trevor S. |
15-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
2nd, Clever Trevor S. |
|||||
| 5 |
|
Brooklyn Alley Cat Ministers Wild Cat |
0.00 |
1st, RP ALW (11/25/2024-R8) |
20-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, RP ALW (11/25/2024-R8) |
|||||
| 6 |
|
Essay Thousand Words |
0.00 |
1st, RP ALW (11/16/2024-R8) |
20-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, RP ALW (11/16/2024-R8) |
|||||
| 7 |
|
Jolly Samurai First Samurai |
6.03 |
1st, Clever Trevor S. |
4-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, Clever Trevor S. |
|||||
| 8 |
|
Complex Music Complexity |
0.00 | 8-1 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 9 |
|
Dr Ruben M Vino Rosso |
6.11 | 6-1 | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 10 |
|
Medicine Dog Constitution |
0.00 |
5th, RP ALW (11/16/2024-R8) |
20-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
5th, RP ALW (11/16/2024-R8) |
|||||
| 11 |
|
Mister Omaha Omaha Beach |
0.00 |
1st, Don C. McNeill S. |
5-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, Don C. McNeill S. |
|||||
| 12 |
|
Keeno Keen Ice |
0.00 |
2nd, RP ALW (11/25/2024-R8) |
12-1 | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
2nd, RP ALW (11/25/2024-R8) |
|||||
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