While there are still 13 weeks to the annual Run for the Roses, we should find out this weekend if the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Boston Harbor has any chance of becoming the first Juvenile champion since Spectacular Bid to win the Kentucky Derby.
A 
six-time
winner from seven 1996 starts, including the $1 million Breeders Cup
Juvenile at Woodbine, Boston Harbor is set to make his 1997 debut in the 1
1/16-miles Santa Catalina stakes at Santa Anita on Sunday with many
doubting he will make it to the spring Classics.
"I've read a lot about how his sire Capote can't get a Derby horse and how lucky this horse was to win the Breeders' Cup, " said Lukas. "But this is a gifted athlete who already has won three stakes at 1 1/16-miles and he's going to surprise a lot of people."
Lukas, who trained the last two Derby winners, Thunder Gulch in 1995 and Grindstone in 1996 says he has a good handle on Boston Harbor's training regimen.
"Like Capote, who I trained all wrong for the 1987 Derby, Boston Harbor has natural speed," Lukas said. "That's one reason why I'm running him in the Catalina instead of the (seven furlong) San Vincente next week. We're training him easier than Capote and keeping him in routes from here to the Derby."
Also in the $100,000 Catalina is one other speedy Grade-1 winner from last year who many believe will not make the Derby cut: Swiss Yodler, front running winner of the Grade-1 Hollywood Futurity December 15.
WHILE A SPEED DUEL IS POSSIBLE between these two, which could give longshot Falkenham a shot at a stretch running upset, Lukas is counting on jockey Jerry Bailey to avoid the trap.
"No rider in the game makes more good decisions under pressure than Jerry," Lukas said.
At Gulfstream Park in South Florida, many trainers of Derby prospects will be watching Boston Harbor's Catalina performance on video monitors, while turning their attention to the live running of the seven-furlong Hutchenson stakes to chart the progress of highly-rated Derby prospect Ordway, among other good colts.
Ordway, a long striding son of the sprinter Salt Lake out of a distance loving mare (Priceless Countess), made a strong visual impression when he overcame traffic problems to win the 1 1/16-miles Champagne stakes at Belmont last fall.
Ordway's main competition Sunday figures to be the very speedy Confide, who has trained bullets since his aggressive winning performance between horses in the 6 furlong Spectacular Bid stakes here, January 5.
Confide, a multiple stakes winning son of the world class sprinter Phone Trick who is trained by sprint specialist Ben Perkins, seems sure to get the early jump on stretch running Ordway and will take some beating despite never having raced beyond six furlongs in six career starts.
AMONG SEVEN OTHER PROSPECTIVE starters in the $100,000 Hutcheson, are four speedy runners capable of setting up the race for Ordway, or perhaps breaking into the exactas: Hoop Coyote Hoop, a sprint stakes winner at Churchill Downs last year; President's Decree, another fast colt from Kentucky; the Sonny Hine-trained speedball Time to Gamble, and possibly Crown Ambassador, who flashed some speed when third behind Confide in the Spectacular Bid.
Beyond the Hutcheson and Santa Catalina stakes for Derby aged-colts, simulcast players throughout the country will be tuned in to at least five other important stakes this weekend, including one more for Derby prospects, one for fillies and three for older horses.
At the Fair Grounds in New Orleans on Saturday, Canadian-based Derby prospect, Cash Deposit should handle local allowance winner Stroke and four others in the $60,000 Lecomte Handicap at one mile.
At Gulfstream Park on Saturday, tightly matched older fillies and mares will go in the $100,000 Shirley Jones handicap at seven furlongs and in a race that might have five, six or seven different winners if it were run 10 times. The morning line favorite at 9-5 is the speedy Phone the Doctor, despite the fact she was recently defeated at her best distance by 5-2 second choice Chip. This time both will have to handle Steady Cat, Special Request and Flat Fleet Feet, all of whom have finished within a neck of each other in previous 7 furlong races.
At Santa Anita on Saturday, red hot trainer Bob Baffert sends out the razor sharp 5 year old High Stakes Player against good older sprinters in the $200,000 Palos Verdes at six furlongs.
While the field contains several upset threats, including the streaking New York shipper Victor Avenue, the most interesting horse is the popular Larry The Legend, who has worked sharply of late, after having failed to win all four of his starts since a dynamic victory in the 1995 Santa Anita Derby.
"We're not sure we're going to run him," said trainer Craig Lewis. "He's had a lot of tough luck since he was injured (before the 1995 Kentucky Derby)... He's starting to perk up though and we might pull him out of this race and try something longer for him another day. "
Larry is listed at 20-1 in the Palos Verdes.
ON SUNDAY AT SANTA ANITA, the Catalina will be supporting stakes to a pair of major stakes for older horses. the $300,000 San Antonio for fully mature runners at 1 1/8-miles and the $500,000 Strub, for newly turned 4 year olds at 1 1/4-miles.
As the richest race of the weekend, the Strub will give fans their first look of the year at the erratic 1996 Belmont stakes winner Editor's Note, who was 12th behind Alphabet Soup in the BC Classic last fall. On the same card, the San Antonio will mark the return of Alphabet Soup, who is being pointed for the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 2. Unfortunately, Alphabet Soup will run into the sensational Gentlemen, who has won four straight on dirt and turf as if he could be the best horse on the continent.
Gentleman and Alphabet Soup each were assigned 122 pounds for Sunday's confrontation.
Steve Davidowitz is the author of "Betting Thoroughbreds.".
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