Withers, Robert B. Lewis offer Derby points on busy prep day

Jan 31, 2024 Vance Hanson/Brisnet.com

While trainer Todd Pletcher's focus on Saturday will primarily be on his champion Fierceness' performance in the Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream, another of the stable's three-year-olds will be looking to enter the Kentucky Derby (G1) picture in the $250,000 Withers (G3) at Aqueduct.

Speed Runner, a son of Gun Runner, will be making his third career start in the Withers, which will be contested over 1 1/8 miles. Third on debut last October going seven furlongs, Speed Runner improved on the stretch-out to nine furlongs two months later, breaking his maiden by a neck after dueling for much of the journey.

On Friday at Aqueduct, @PletcherRacing sent out Speed Runner to win a 1 1/8-mile maiden special weight.

Speed Runner relished stretching out around two turns.

Click the link below to add him to your TwinSpires Stable Alerts ⤵️ https://t.co/K9UNYY6ndF pic.twitter.com/IPtS6BUt66

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) December 13, 2023

Brad Cox, who trained 2023 Withers winner Hit Show, has entered Lightline, a City of Light colt who is twice placed in allowance company. The latter of these was against the highly regarded Carbone, who makes his stakes debut Saturday in the Southwest (G3) at Oaklawn.

'I'm happy with what we've seen from him to start his career,' Cox said. 'He ran a good race at Oaklawn last time and maybe got a little far back. It's a short stretch in a mile race.

'I think he's a horse that's going to really take to a mile and an eighth or a mile and a quarter.'

Another potential contender coming in from the allowance ranks is Mission Beach, who won as an odds-on winner of a Laurel sprint on Dec. 22 in his debut for trainer Brittany Russell. He was previously trained by Bob Baffert, for whom he broke his maiden at Del Mar but went unplaced in both the Hopeful (G1) and Bob Hope (G3).

The Withers has attracted six others, including the relatively experienced New York-bred El Grande O. A multiple stakes winner in state-bred company, El Grande O's stamina will be tested after he faded from first to second in the final furlong of the one-mile Jerome S. on Jan. 6.

The Withers field also includes Seminole Chief, who landed the In Reality division of the Florida Sires S. at Gulfstream in early December.

The Withers, with a post time of 3:55 p.m. ET, offers Kentucky Derby qualifying points of 20-10-6-4-2 to the respective top five finishers.

Offering the same qualifying points on Saturday is the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis (G3) at Santa Anita, which will be run over one mile.

Trainer Bob Baffert, who is currently suspended from starting horses at Churchill Downs, including in the Kentucky Derby, saddles the likely prohibitive favorite in Nysos. The son of Nyquist has won his two starts by a combined 18 3/4 lengths, including the aforementioned Bob Hope at Del Mar.

Looking beyond Nysos as well as stablemates Coach Prime and Wine Me Up, all of whom are ineligible to earn Derby qualifying points, the Lewis field includes Bob Hope and Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) runner-up Stronghold and last-out maiden winners Scatify and Better Than Gold, both of whom obviously remain with upside.

Post time for the Robert B. Lewis is 5:15 p.m. ET. Both the Withers and Lewis can be wagered on at TwinSpires.com.