Field for the 2011 Santa Anita Derby Taking Shape

The field for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby to be run on April 9, 2011 is taking shape with Silver Medallion, who will be ridden by Garret Gomez, among the expected entrants. Silver Medallion most recently won the El Camino Real Derby up at Golden Gate Fields on February 12th.

Premier Pegasus will be the probable favorite, however, on the strength of his 7 ¾ romp in the San Felipe Stakes, which he completed in a time of 141.23 and for which he earned a 96 Beyer, and he has the advantage of a strong win over the Santa Anita Park surface.

Indian Winter might run and is coming out of the San Pedro Stakes which he won from off the pace by a hard fought half-length. Based on the visual of that race which was a sprint, he might be better as a sprinter – he closed pretty well on the leader to gain the victory but didn’t seem like he would relish an additional 2½ furlongs. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, however, thinks that he should be able to handle the 1-1/8 mile distance at which the Santa Anita Derby is run.

Anthony’s Cross is a possible entrant and would be coming off a win in the Robert B. Lewis stakes and would have the advantage of having run a 1-1/8 mile race over the Santa Anita surface.
Comma to the Top has the distinction of having run against the likely two favorites, Premier Pegasus and Silver Medallion, and it should be noted that he got much closer to Silver Medallion than he did Premier Pegasus, so if anything, this horse might be a good gauge by which to measure the relative talents of the favorites.

The Factor is also a possibility for the Santa Anita Derby. Trainer Bob Baffert has not decided whether to run him here or in the $1 million Arkansas Derby .

Mr. Commons is coming from an allowance race and is a possible for the race as well