Though the Kentucky Derby (G1) has been postponed until Sept. 5, the Derby prep season is generally still intact, including Sunday’s Sunland Derby (G3), the track’s marquee race for 3-year-old colts.
Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stables LLC, and LNJ Foxwood’s Shoplifted will be part of Sunday’s 1 1/8-mile contest, the colt’s latest stop on the Triple Crown Trail. Shoplifted has had two starts this year, both at Oaklawn Park, where he was third in the Smarty Jones S. and fourth after a wide trip in the Southwest S. (G3) in mid-February.
His works in preparation for the Sunland Derby has been excellent, including a bullet five furlongs March 10 at Oaklawn. He drew post 1 in Sunday’s 1 1/8-mile contest, which has a field of nine.
Trainer Steve Asmussen will add blinkers for the first time, and he will be reunited with rider Rafael Santana, Jr., who was aboard when he won the Springboard Mile.
Post time for the Sunland Derby, race 10, is 7:08 p.m. ET.