Parimutuels

Rockport may compete despite little prep

By BRANT JAMES
Published April 21, 2005

Rockport Harbor's route to the Kentucky Derby has been, as owner Rick Porter says "pardon the pun ... a rocky road."

The colt will not have completed the typical checklist of three preps before the May 7 Kentucky Derby, mainly because of a litany of health problems. A deep cut after being stepped on in winning the Nov. 27 Remsen cost him a start in the Southwest Stakes on Feb. 19 at Oaklawn Park. He finished second to Greater Good in the Grade III Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn March 19 but a blood clot in his neck forced a scratch in the Grade II Arkansas Derby Saturday.

Though trainer John Servis, who took Smarty Jones to within a Belmont Stakes win of the Triple Crown last year, still wishes to run Rockport Harbor in the Derby, he said a win in this weekend's Grade II Coolmore Lexington Stakes would not guarantee an entry. He has learned there are no guarantees with this colt.

"Actually it could be a bittersweet victory for us," he said. "I think he can be very competitive in the Kentucky Derby because he's an exceptional horse. But he's going to have to be 100 percent to do that. And if I'm not happy with where he is, then we'll regroup and we'll map out another plan."

Rockport Harbor is ridden by Stewart Elliott, who won the Derby in his first try with Smarty Jones.

Rockport Harbor, the gray/roan son of Unbridled's Song - a winner of the 1995 Grade I Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Grade I Florida Derby and Grade II Wood Memorial in 1996 - won all four starts as a 2-year-old, but had his momentum halted in the Rebel. That loss scuttled Servis' attempt to use the same path for the colt as Smarty Jones: win Oaklawn's big three prep races and collect a $5-million bonus for capturing the Kentucky Derby.

Servis said he would love to know how his colt compares with Derby favorites Bellamy Road - which won the Grade I Wood Memorial on April 9 by an astounding 171/2-lengths - and Grade I Blue Grass Stakes-winner Bandini, but he'll have to be content possibly finding out on horse racing's biggest day.

"I would have loved to have been able to run the Southwest, been able to run in the Rebel and been able to run in the Arkansas Derby with a healthy horse going into Kentucky," Servis said. "But that hasn't happened and it's been out of our control. And, like I said, I have an exceptional horse. And you're either going to see an exceptional horse May 7 or you're going to see an exceptional horse later in the year."

ON HOLD: Churchill Downs and the Jockeys' Guild announced an agreement Wednesday that shelves their long-running dispute over medical insurance and safety long enough to not affect Derby Week.

Churchill Downs agreed to drop an injunction to prevent a walkout - such as the ones at Churchill Downs and Hoosier Park in November - in exchange for a Guild pledge not to order one. Kentucky's five thoroughbred tracks agreed in February to increase the level of insurance coverage for jockeys from $100,000 to $1-million until a legislative solution can be reached.

A threatened jockey walkout before last year's Derby was averted when U.S. District Judge John Heyburn II ruled that seven litigants - including Jerry Bailey, Alex Solis, Jose Santos and John Velazquez - could wear sponsor logos on their race uniforms and that all members of the Guild could wear union patches when racing in Kentucky.

BITS: Blues and Royals, winner of the Grade II United Arab Emirates Derby, will not contest in the Derby, according to Godolphin Racing's Web site, after contracting a "low-grade respiratory condition." The Florida-bred colt ranked second in earnings for Derby contenders after collecting the $1.2-million purse in the UAE Derby. He will be shipped to Belmont Park to prepare for a summer return.

[Last modified April 21, 2005, 01:06:12]