By Joe Bianca
None of them were able to make a dent while trying their luck at undefeated Triple Crown winner Justify, but a quartet of this spring's Classic also-rans will look to start fresh while kicking off their second-half campaigns in the GIII Ohio Derby Saturday at Thistledown.
The most accomplished of the four is John Oxley's Flameaway (Scat Daddy), who captured the GIII Sam F. Davis S. in February before running second in both the GII Tampa Bay Derby and GII Toyota Blue Grass S. Making a bit of an early move into the supersonic GI Kentucky Derby pace, the chestnut faded to finish 13th and returns with a trio of quick breezes at his Churchill Downs base for this engagement.
G M B Racing's Lone Sailor (Majestic Warrior) came by far closest of any of his rivals to Justify when finishing fifth, beaten just two lengths in the GI Preakness S. The Tom Amoss trainee will look to finally break through at the stakes level after placing in three other black-type events.
Gary Broad's Core Beliefs (Quality Road) is the lone west coast representative in the field, shipping in from Santa Anita for trainer Peter Eurton. After an impressive graduation there Mar. 8, the $350,000 Barretts March buy was a respectable third at 41-1 behind Justify while making his stakes debut in the GI Santa Anita Derby Apr. 7. He most recently finished second after dueling on the lead and opening up into deep stretch of the GIII Peter Pan S. May 12 at Belmont.
Diamond King (Quality Road) earned a spot in the Preakness by virtue of his score in the Federico Tesio S. at Laurel, but could beat just one horse in Balitmore. He returned home to drill five furlongs in :59 1/5 (1/18) June 12 at trainer John Servis's Parx base in preparation for this.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
