Port of Tawny showed him to be a horse with mixed skills this winter and spring at Lawn Parkwon two races there on Tapeta and booked in Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3).
It turned out that he was just a skilled horse, regardless of the surface.
Switch to dirt track at Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3) $398,750 at Keeneland April 16, 3-year-old Pioneerof Nile colt increased from eighth to run down to pacesetting Brigadier . He won the length, racing 1 1/16 miles on the fast track under the lead of Florent Geroux in 1:45.24. He returned $12.20 on a $2 winning bet..
The final stage of preparation as part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby series, Lexington distributed quality points for the May 7 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) on a 20-8 basis- 4-2 for the top four finishers. Port Tawny has 60 points overall, securing a place in the Derby if it exceeds its 20-horse maximum yard size.
“He responded today. There’s a bit of a question mark about how well he’ll handle the stain,” said winning coach Brad Cox.
Major General, who set the divisions: 23.85, :48.01 and 1:12.45, holds second place in Lexington over During due who finished a third of the length and a half and a half. The path of purity race for seven days off after Saturday in April 9 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) ran fourth, a stretch behind.
None of the three horses currently have enough points to rank among the top 20 horses on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, although a defection from the Derby over the next few weeks could clear the way for a landing. In due time is the closest, ranked 22nd with 24 points.
Strava , Dash Attack , Midnight Chrome , Howl time , Call me at midnight , Skating to heaven and We all see it complete finish order.
Lexington is the second favorable start for Peachtree Stable’s Port of Tawny, who ran fifth in the February 19 Easter Stars Stake presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) at Fair Grounds & Slots against a high-capacity field consisting of Epicenter , Happy smile and Zandon .
“It looks like every horse that runs in there turns around and runs some very strong races, so we hope to do the same,” said Geroux. “(Tawny Port did) that today, in a very powerful way in the high ground. It looks like distance won’t matter, and I hope the connections will. favorable in (the Derby).”
Cox said after Lexington, the Derby will be the foal’s next target if it exits the race smoothly.
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“I really feel like people are talking about ‘Derby prep, Derby prep’, but to me, winning a race at Keeneland for $400,000, I don’t know how you get there, “We’re just proud to have won this race,” said John Fort of Peachtree Stables. We don’t see this as a preparation for Derby. We just consider it an honor to have won it.”
Peachtree Stable ran three horses in the Derby, most recently in 2001 with the long Invisible Ink, who finished second to coach Todd Pletcher.
Port of Tawny was purchased for $430,000 at Fort’s September 2020 Sale from the Machmer Hall Sales shipment. Raised in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, he is unlikely to win, graded Macho Uno mare Livi Makenzie . He was the first stake winner of her five ponies, one of which was no leaderboard. That untrained pony is a hungry cat Always dreaming .
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