The final trio of major Kentucky Derby prep races drew entries today for Saturday’s must-see action at Santa Anita, Keeneland and Aqueduct. It did not go as desired for a few of the favorites, the lethargic breaker Tapit Trice starting from the Blue Grass Stakes rail, while Wood Memorial favorite Hit Show leaves from the farthest 13-post. All 3 races attracted attractive field sizes, averaging 11 runners.

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The Runhappy Santa Anita Derby features a rematch between the San Felipe Stakes 1-2-3 finishers. Practical Move was clearly best that day and returns for Tim Yakteen as the horse to beat from post 5. The pace looks much friendlier early for Geaux Rocket Ride on Saturday than it did last month when a determined runner-up. He starts from post 3 with a fantastic draw and designs on perhaps wiring the field. Late-running Skinner leaves from post 7 as the third actor from the re-matched ensemble. International interest is spawned by Japanese visitor Mandarin Hero (post 8).

At Keeneland, Tapit Trice must improve his early interest or risk having the field collapse down on him and tighten things against the rail. Jockey Luis Saez will have to call upon his skill in an effort to extract the 5-2 morning line chalk from instant chaos if he’s to repeat his Tampa Bay Derby victory. Likely pace controller Verifying drew perfectly in post 3 to exercise his early speed while saving ground. He’ll be the one to catch for Brad Cox and certainly would be deemed the winner of the post draw. Gotham victor Raise Cain may drop a bit farther off the pace than preferred to avoid ground loss into the clubhouse turn from post 10.

Withers winner Hit Show looked to be a standout in Aqueduct’s Wood Memorial, but landing post 13 will make the Brad Cox trainee work harder for the money. His late-running style should not be as impacted by the draw as it would be for a pace-presser or front-runner forced to clear off early. He could find himself a few lengths farther back than desired in order to save a bit of ground, however. That could lead the upset hopes for those with early speed and a shorter way around the oval. Last year’s Wood Memorial was its most successful in decades, producing Preakness winner Early Voting and Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal.

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Keeneland // Race 9 // 5:15 pm ET // $1,000,000 Grade 1 Blue Grass // 1-1/8 miles

1-Tapit Trice (Luis Saez // Todd Pletcher) 5-2
2-Clear the Air (Ricardo Santana Jr. // Will Walden) 30-1
3-Verifying (Tyler Gaffalione // Brad Cox) 3-1
4-Classic Car Wash (Javier Castellano // Mark Casse) 12-1
5-Hayes Strike (James Graham // Kenny McPeek) 15-1
6-Scoobie Quando (Luan Machado // Ben Colebrook) 15-1
7-Sun Thunder (Florent Geroux // Kenny McPeek) 10-1
8-Blazing Sevens (Irad Ortiz Jr. // Chad Brown) 6-1
9-Major Blue (David Cabrera // D. Wayne Lukas) 30-1
10-Raise Cain (Joel Rosario // Ben Colebook) 9-2
11-Mendelssohns March (Brian Hernandez Jr. // Kenny McPeek) 20-1

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Santa Anita // Race 6 // 5:45 pm ET // $750,000 Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby // 1-1/8 miles

1-I Don’t Get it (Mario Gutierrez // Doug O’Neill) 20-1
2-Dazzlemesilver (Kent Desormeaux // Keith Desormeaux) 50-1
3-Geaux Rocket Ride (Flavien Prat // Richard Mandella) 3-1
4-One in Vermillion (Hector Berrios // Esteban Martinez) 50-1
5-Practical Move (Ramon Vazquez // Tim Yakteen) 8-5
6-National Treasure (John Velazquez // Tim Yakteen) 3-1
7-Skinner (Victor Espinoza // John Shirreffs) 4-1
8-Mandarin Hero (Kazushi Kimura // Terunoba Fujita) 8-1
9-Low Expectations (Umberto Rispoli // Antonio Garcia) 30-1

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Aqueduct // Race 11 // 6:16 pm ET // $750,000 Grade 1 Wood Memorial // 1-1/8 miles

1-Dreamlike (Jose Ortiz // Todd Pletcher)7-2
2-Shadow Dragon (Eric Cancel // Bill Mott) 12-1
3-Knox (Jose Gomez // Saffie Joseph Jr.) 50-1
4-General Banker (Frankie Pennington // James Ferraro) 20-1
5-Slip Mahoney (Dylan Davis // Brad Cox) 6-1
6-Clear the Air (Heman Harkie // Will Walden) 15-1
7-Arctic Arrogance (Jose Lezcano // Linda Rice) 6-1
8-Lord Miles (Paco Lopez // Saffie Joseph Jr.) 30-1
9-Crupi (Kendrick Carmouche // Todd Pletcher) 12-1
10-Uncle Jake (Jevian Toledo // Brittany Russell) 20-1
11-Classic Catch (Trevor McCarthy // Todd Pletcher) 10-1
12-Mr. Swagger (Carlos Olivero // Juan Carlos Avila) 30-1
13-Hit Show (Manny Franco // Brad Cox) 5-2