Derby favorite Uncle Mo faces important Derby prep

Uncle Mo, the current favorite for the Kentucky Derby, will make his season debut in the Timely Writer at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. Trainer Todd Pletcher has not started last year's champion 2-year-old since winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs.

On paper, this looks like a paid public workout. The lowest Beyer speed figure that Uncle Mo has run is a 94. The highest career Beyer among his foes is 89, so Uncle Mo is supposed to win.

However, because Uncle Mo will have only one more start before the Kentucky Derby, this is a key prep.

Pletcher also will be keeping an eye on Tampa Bay Downs, where he'll start Brethren as the favorite in the Tampa Bay Derby. Wins by both colts would give Pletcher two aces entering the Kentucky Derby in eight weeks.

The most intriguing Derby prep Saturday is the San Felipe at Santa Anita Park. Of the 10 entrants, a horseplayer would be hard-pressed to throw out any with confidence.

Premier Pegasus ran a good third in the San Vicente behind The Factor and Sway Away. He's taking the blinkers off and going around two turns for the first time. Jaycito is also worth watching in his first start for trainer Bob Baffert.

■ BIG 'CAP AFTERMATH -- There is no doubt the rodeo finish of the Santa Anita Handicap will be debated for as long as there are two horse racing fans left alive. After a 12-minute steward's inquiry into the bumper-car action involving Game On Dude, Setsuko and Twirling Candy, there was no change in the final order of finish.

But the conduct of Baffert, trainer of Big 'Cap winner Game On Dude, should not be overlooked. Here is what Richard Mandella, trainer of runner-up Setsuko, had to say in the Santa Anita press notes:

"I don't want to drag the game down by saying anything now about the decision the stewards made," Mandella said. "I think they should talk to the jockeys, but I think it was (expletive) that Baffert was trying to talk to the other jockeys and to the stewards.

"I was trying to be a gentleman, and unless the trainer is claiming foul, I just don't think it's right that (Baffert) is trying to talk to the jocks and to the stewards."

Richard Eng's horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.