Scoobie Quando battling Retained to score in his debut in the Turfway Prevue Jan. 7. (Coady Photography)
Derby Dispatch/Edited
LOUISVILLE Ky.—Andrew and Rania Warren’s Scoobie Quando, a debut winner in the $125,000 Turfway Prevue Stakes, will attempt to add his name to the Road to the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard as the headliner in an over-subscribed field of 14 3-year-olds that entered Saturday night’s 41st running of the $150,000 John Battaglia Memorial (Listed) at Turfway Park.
The John Battaglia Memorial will go as Race 8 of 9 with a post time of 9:25 p.m. First post is 5:55 p.m.
Run at 1 1/16 miles, the John Battaglia Memorial is the final race in the Road to the Kentucky Derby Prep Season. The top five finishers will be awarded qualifying points on a 20-8-6-4-2 scale for a spot in the starting gate for the $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve on Saturday, May 6. Turfway’s Saturday program also features the $150,000 Cincinnati Trophy Stakes on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.
Trained by Ben Colebrook, Scoobie Quando debuted Jan. 7 in the Turfway Prevue where he gamely dug in to defeat Retained by a neck under jockey Luan Machado. In his last start, Scoobie Quando finished second to Wadsworth in a first-level allowance event at Turfway.
“Timing wise, the Turfway Prevue worked out well for us to run him first out,” Colebrook said. “He’s always trained like a good horse in the mornings and been the best of the company I worked him in. I’m not one to let a horse draw off on their company so I think in the (Turfway Prevue) he ran to how he worked but wasn’t going to let the runner-up by him. He’s light on experience so we opted to run him in the allowance race where Luan (Machado) said once he sort of got to the outside he was able to make a better run but was just second best that day.”
Machado will be back aboard Scoobie Quando and break from post No. 4.
Chief among his rivals is SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan’s $100,000 El Camino Real Derby runner-up Gilmore. Now under the care of Brendan Walsh, Gilmore was previously conditioned by Bob Baffert in California. The gray son of Twirling Candy was the 9- 5 post time favorite in the El Camino Real Derby where he finished 1 1⁄2 lengths behind Chase the Chaos. Previously, Gilmore was bet down to odds of 1-5 in a maiden special weight contest at Los Alamitos where he easily defeated eight rivals by four lengths. Gilmore will be ridden in the Battaglia by Joe Ramos from post 3.
Other top Battaglia prospects include Gary and Mary West’s undefeated Aristocracy; OXO Equine’s local allowance winner Bromley; Tami Bobo and Lugamo Racing Stable’s $150,000 Laurel Futurity winner Congruent; and M Racing Group’s Gulfstream Park allowance winner Eyes On the King.
Fans can watch and wager on the John Battaglia Memorial on www.TwinSpires.com, the official wagering provider of Churchill Downs Incorporated and the Kentucky Derby.
John Battaglia Memorial Quotes
Ben Colebrook, trainer, Scoobie Quando: “Timing wise, the Turfway Prevue worked out well for us to run him first out. He’s always trained like a good horse in the mornings and been the best of the company I worked him in. I’m not one to let a horse draw off on their company so I think in the (Turfway Prevue) he ran to how he worked but wasn’t going to let the runner-up by him. He’s light on experience so we opted to run him in the allowance race where Luan (Machado) said once he sort of got to the outside he was able to make a better run but was just second best that day.”
