‘Road to the Kentucky Derby” Speed King races to Southwest win

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview

Speed King races to Southwest win

TRINITY, Fla. – The demolition derby that was run as the Southwest Stakes on Jan. 25 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., saw the three top betting favorites basically eliminated at the start. The race was won by Speed King who led from start to finish after the rough beginning for the others.

Patch Adams, Gaming and Sandman encountered problems out of the gate. Patch Adams broke slowly and was squeezed back, while Sandman stumbled and Gaming was ping-ponged off the rail several times by the colt to his outside.

Going up the backstretch the trio brought up the rear of the field, about 10 or 12 lengths back. Sandman and Patch Adams were able to put in decent runs heading to the wire to finish second and fourth respectively. Gaming never recovered and finished out of the money and didn’t get any Kentucky Derby points.

Speed King, a son of Volatile, picked up 20 Derby points and Sandman received 10. Speed King doesn’t make my early top 10 list.

That list is headed by Citizen Bull who is expected to make his 3-year-old debut in the Robert B. Lewis on Feb. 1 at Santa Anita Park. The others are:

Disco Time (Not This Time) won the Lecomte at Fairgrounds.

Coal Battle (Coal Front) won both the Springboard Mile at Remington Park and the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park. He is trained by Lonnie Briley.

Jonathan’s Way (Vekoma) was second in the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs following a seventh place in the Juvenile. He is trained by Phil Bauer.

Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) was sixth in the Juvenile, but came into that race undefeated with wins in the Hopeful at Saratoga and the Champagne at Aqueduct. He’s trained by Chad Brown.

East Avenue (Medaglia d’Oro) was ninth in the Juvenile, but previously won the Breeder’s Futurity at Keeneland. He is trained by Brendan Walsh.

First Resort (Uncle Mo) won the Kentucky Jockey Club. He is trained by Eoin Harty.

Poster (Munnings) is undefeated in three starts and his last win was the Remsen at Aqueduct. Harty is the trainer.

Journalism (Curlin) won the Los Alamitos Derby. He is trained by Michael McCarthy.

Sovereignty (Into Mischief) won the Street Sense in October at Churchill. Bill Mott is the trainer.

Cyclone State (McKinzie) won the Jerome at Aqueduct, but I question how far he wants to go. He is trained by Chad Summers.

Another colt that was impressive finishing second in the Jerome was Omaha Omaha (Audible). He was closing fast and I think he will like going farther.