Art Collector Scares No One-Off In Ellis Park Derby
Daily Racing Form
Aug 05, 2020
A full field is expected Sunday for the $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby, one of the final chances for a 3-year-old to earn his way into the 146th Kentucky Derby.
Even with Art Collector as a heavy favorite, racing officials at Ellis in western Kentucky were expecting a capacity field of 12 for the 1 1/8-mile race. Entries were to be drawn Thursday.
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The Ellis Derby offers 85 qualifying points (50-20-10-5) toward the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby. Following the Travers on Saturday, it is the second-to-last points race on a prep schedule that was revised when the Derby was postponed from its original May 2 date because of the global pandemic. Only the Aug. 15 Pegasus (20-8-4-2) at Monmouth Park remains.
Art Collector, whose flashy victory in the July 11 Blue Grass at Keeneland vaulted him into the upper echelon of Derby contenders, figures to be an odds-on choice in the Ellis Derby. Brian Hernandez Jr. will be back aboard the Bernardini colt for owner-breeder Bruce Lunsford and trainer Tommy Drury.
Among the expected opposition is Anneau D’Or, Attachment Rate, Dean Martini, Little Menace, Necker Island, Rowdy Yates, Shared Sense, Trident Hit, Winning Impression, and a couple more longshots.
According to Ellis racing secretary Dan Bork, the Ellis Derby will be carded as the last of 10 Sunday races at about 5:10 p.m. Central, meaning it will be held 10 minutes after Pool 7 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager closes. It will be one of five stakes on the richest program of the Ellis meet.
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The other four stakes, all worth $100,000, are the Audubon Oaks, Groupie Doll, Juvenile, and Debutante. The seven-furlong Audubon Oaks, a 10-4-2-1 qualifier for the Sept. 4 Kentucky Oaks, is expected to have Miss T Too, Ocean Breeze, and Sconsin among its core of favorites. Street Band, winner of the Grade 1 Cotillion last year, is among the Groupie Doll prospects.
Sunshine and a high near 90 are in the long-range forecast for Henderson, Ky., where the track is located.
Spectators are being permitted to attend the Ellis races amid the ongoing pandemic, although tickets must be purchased in advance through ellisparkracing.com.
