Tawny Port Affirms Derby Standing With Lexington Win

Tawny Port confirmed he was a talented horse on artificial this winter and spring at Turfway Park, successful two races there on Tapeta and inserting within the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks.

It seems he’s only a expert horse, regardless of the floor.

Shifting to race on filth within the $398,750 Grade 3 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes at Keeneland April 16, the 3-year-old Pioneerof Nile colt rallied from eighth to run down pacesetting Main Common. He received by a size, racing 1 1/16 miles on a quick monitor beneath Florent Geroux in 1:45.24. He returned $12.20 for a $2 win wager.

The ultimate prep as a part of the Street to the Kentucky Derby sequence, the Lexington distributed high quality factors towards the Might 7 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby Offered by Woodford Reserve on a 20-8-4-2 foundation to its high 4 finishers. Tawny Port has 60 total factors, making certain a spot within the Derby if it oversubscribes past its 20-horse most area dimension.

“He responded right now. There was a little bit little bit of a query mark with how nicely he would deal with the filth,” successful coach Brad Cox mentioned.

Main Common, who set splits of :23.85, :48.01 and 1:12.45, held second within the Lexington over In Due Time, who completed a size and a half behind in third. Ethereal Street, racing on seven days relaxation after a seventh within the April 9 Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes ran fourth, one other size behind.

Not one of the three at the moment have adequate factors to rank among the many high 20 horses on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, although defections from the Derby over the following few weeks may clear the best way for a berth. In Due Time is closest, rating twenty second with 24 factors.

Strava, Sprint Assault, Midnight Chrome, Howling Time, Name Me Midnight, Skate to Heaven, and We All See It accomplished the order of end.

The Lexington was the second filth begin for Peachtree Steady‘s Tawny Port, who had run fifth within the Feb. 19 Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes Offered by Lamarque Ford at Truthful Grounds Race Course & Slots in opposition to a high-caliber area that included Epicenter, Smile Completely happy, and Zandon.

“It regarded like each horse who ran in there all got here again and ran some very sturdy races, so we had been hoping to do the identical factor,” Geroux mentioned. “(Tawny Port did) that right now, in a really highly effective means on the excessive finish on the filth. Appears to be like like the space must be no drawback, and I hope the connections will take a swing at (the Derby).”

Cox mentioned after the Lexington the Derby could be the colt’s subsequent goal if he exits the race in good order.

“I actually felt like everyone was speaking about ‘Derby prep, Derby prep,’ however to me, successful a race at Keeneland with a handbag of $400,000, I do not know the way you high that,” mentioned Peachtree Stables’ John Fort. “We’re simply proud to have received this race. We do not contemplate it a Derby prep. We simply contemplate it an honor to have received it.”

Peachtree Steady has run three horses within the Derby, coming closest in 2001 with longshot Invisible Ink, who ran second for coach Todd Pletcher.

Tawny Port was a $430,000 buy on the 2020 September Yearling Sale by Fort from the Machmer Corridor Gross sales consignment. Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, he’s out of the stakes-winning, graded-placed Macho Uno mare Livi Makenzie. He’s the primary stakes winner of her 5 foals, one in all which is unraced. That unraced foal is a yearling filly by At all times Dreaming.