Road to Kentucky Derby goes through Sunland, Turfway

You may wonder why Derby preps at smaller tracks deserve such notice.

Well, Mine That Bird used the Sunland Derby as a prep for his 2008 Kentucky Derby win. And War Emblem won the Illinois Derby in 2002 before his Derby win. The lesson learned is that the next Derby winner can come from anywhere.

The Spiral Stakes at Turfway on Saturday drew a field of 12. Royal Son (7-2) is the morning-line favorite in a wide-open race. He won the John Battaglia last out, which is the local prep for the Spiral. If he is able to repeat that race, Royal Son can win again.

Turfway has a synthetic Polytrack surface. So horses with a good turf resume such as Imperia (4-1), Conquest Typhoon (5-1) and Metaboss (4-1) must be considered.

Imperia was a beaten chalk in the Risen Star, so he’s hoping to rebound. Conquest Typhoon lost as the favorite in the El Camino Real Derby to Metaboss.

The Sunland Derby on Sunday will feature four shippers from Southern California: Firing Line, Lord Nelson, Why Two and Pain and Misery.

Firing Line has lost by inches to Dortmund in the Robert Lewis and Los Alamitos Derby. The race clearly goes through him. He is by far the fastest horse in the race.

Lord Nelson is a stablemate of American Pharoah and Dortmund for trainer Bob Baffert. A win here and Baffert would have quality and quantity ready for Churchill Downs on May 2.

A sleeper horse could be Tiznow R J, who ships in from the Fair Grounds for trainer Steve Asmussen. He is a better horse than shown in the Risen Star and LeComte.

■ HORSEPLAYER WORLD SERIES — The beauty of the Horseplayer World Series next week is this: If you have not qualified, you can still buy an entry for $1,000. The annual three-day HWS tournament at The Orleans starts Thursday.

If the $1,000 is too much, get a friend or two to partner with you. There are few chances in horse racing to win a more than $300,000 first prize with that size of investment.

■ JERKENS DIES — Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens, 85, died this week in Aventura, Fla. His resume as “the Giant Killer” speaks for itself. However, on the backside, Jerkens was better known as “The Chief.”

I reached out to an old friend, trainer Chuck Simon, who had worked under Jerkens for many years before going out on his own. What was Allen Jerkens like?

“His brilliance as a trainer was easy to see from the outside,” Simon said. “Yet the reality is that until you worked under him, you saw that he saw things that no one else did.

“His exterior was gruff, yet he had a soft spot for many of the forgotten people on the backside. He gave everyone a shot. As great as he was as a trainer, he was far greater as a person.”

Years ago, when I worked at New York racetracks, I got to meet people such as trainers Woody Stephens, Mack Miller and Allen Jerkens. I’m not sure if it’s me or if they don’t seem to make people like them anymore.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick.