Kentucky, 8 February 2010

Godolphin nominate eight in ongoing bid to land Kentucky Derby

366 three-year-olds have been nominated early for the 2010 renewals of America’s three classic races that comprise horse racing’s highly sought Triple Crown.

The first of the classics – the 136th Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands – will be run May 1 at Louisville’s Churchill Downs, to be fol­lowed by the 135th Preakness Stakes on May 15 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore and the 142nd Belmont Stakes on June 5 at New York’s Belmont Park. The early nomina­tion period, at $600 per horse, closed Saturday, Jan. 16. A late period for nominations, at $6,000 each, will close on Saturday, March 27.

At the head of the 2010 class are American Eclipse Award two-year-old champion Lookin At Lucky, owned by 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness-winning owner Mike Pe­gram and partners Karl Watson and Paul Weit­man, and 2009 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Vale of York, who represents Godolphin.

In addition, eight fillies, including Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and Eclipse Award two-year-old filly champion She Be Wild and multiple Grade One win­ner Blind Luck, who finished third in the Juvenile Fillies before winning the Hollywood Starlet, are nominated for the Triple Crown.

The 2010 early nomination total is down from the 401 3-year-olds initially made eligible for the three-race series in 2009. Eleven horses were added to the overall list during last year’s late nomination phase.

“Our nomination total is down a bit, but the 366 horses on the roster of nominees represent as deep a field of quality prospects as we’ve seen over the years,” said Donald R. Richardson, senior vice president, racing, for Churchill Downs Incorporated.

“All the major players in the United States have come forward for these classics and have been joined by 17 representatives from abroad. The list includes eight of the top nine horses from the 2009 Experimental Free Handicap for 2-year-old males, along with the fillies that were considered the top two of their gender in 2009, so it’s clear that interest in this special series of classics that include the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes remains deep and widespread.”

Of the 17 overseas nominees, eight – led by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Vale of York and promising recent purchase Tahitian Warrior – are part of the ongoing bid by Godolphin Racing to capture the Kentucky Derby, one of the few major races in the world that has eluded Sheikh Mohammed. The rest of the overseas contingent hail from England and Ireland and include horses conditioned by trainers such as John Gosden, Aidan O’Brien, Dermot Weld and Jeremy Noseda.