Kentucky Derby Day is moving right along, as the day’s slate of 14 races has been pared down. For results of the first five races on the day, go here. Jazzy Times, the horse who occupies the previous stall vacated by American Pharoah, the horse who won the Triple Crown in 2015, won its debut in the early slate of races. The Derby itself is set to get underway at 6:34 p.m. ET.
Kentucky Derby 2016: Divisidero victorious in Turf Classic, Catalina Red wins Churchill Downs Stakes
Catalina Red and Taris were among the winners in Saturday’s undercard races.
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
We’ve moved onto the Stakes races, starting with the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile, which got underway at 1:13 p.m. The race was won by Tepin, who took the $300,000 race last year as well. The five-year-old mare came into the Derby with a five-win streak and took the win in this race by three-and-a-half lengths under jockey Julien Leparoux. Tepin joins Foresta (1990-91) as the only repeat winners in the race.
Leparoux won riding Tepin last year as well, and this year made it three wins in four years for the jockey, also winning it in 2013 atop Stephanie’s Kitten.
Catalina Red took the next race, bringing home $500,000 in the Churchill Downs Stakes, a Grade 2 race. The four-year-old colt was ridden by Javier Castellano, and ran a stellar 1:20.79, narrowly edging out Calculator by a single length. Speightster, the favorite to win the race, ended up second-to-last, with Calculator to place and Kobe’s Back to show.
Next up was the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at 2:45 p.m. A cool $300,000 was claimed by Taris, who dominated the race. The five-year-old mare won by nearly six lengths after taking the lead down the stretch, beating out Stonetastic and Enchanting Lady. Next was the Grade 2 American Turf, which was taken by Camelot Kitten, who beat out Beach Patrol, Surgical Strike and in fourth place, Airoforce, the favorite. In the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile, Sharp Azteca took down Forevamo and Star Hill to win. Sharp Azteca was sitting on 15-1 odds to win, and completely dominated the race.
Finally, the biggest race on the day not called the Kentucky Derby, the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, was won by Divisidero. The race saw Kasaqui clipping hills with a rival and throwing his rider off. Triple Threat also stumbled, and jockeys Paco Lopez and Jose Lezcano were thrown from their mounts. It appears everyone is fine, including the horses. Divisidero brought home a $500,000 pay day.
Full results for the day of races can be found here.
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