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 Take Charge Lady is one of the best of the 12 late nominees |
Updated: 04/03/2002
Update: An additional 12 horses were nominated for a $6,000 fee in the late nominations which closed on March 30th. Other horses can still enter up until entries are drawn for the Derby, but a hefty $150,000 supplemental fee would be required.
On Sunday February 10th the list of early nominations for the 2002 Triple
Crown was released. Early nominations, due on January 19th, cost only $600. Late
nominations cost $6,000 and are due in by March 30. The stakes are high with each of the three Triple Crown races having a purse of $1 million, and should a
horse sweep the series, a feat that has not been accomplished since
Affirmed in 1978, the owner wins a $5 million bonus. This year the Derby
will be held on May 4th at Churchill Downs, the Preakness two weeks later on
May 18th at Pimlico Racecourse, and then three weeks after on June 8th is the
Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park.
A total of 405 three-year-olds, including fourteen fillies and nine
geldings, were nominated. Some notable nominees include
Johannesburg, who hasn't raced since winning the 2001 Breeders' Cup
Juvenile, and Japanese-bred Flag Day, the only nominee sired by 1989 Derby
and Preakness winner Sunday Silence. From the distaff side, Breeders' Cup
Juvenile Fillies winner Tempera, currently training in Dubai, is
nominated, along with You and Habibti, who finished 1-2 in the Grade 1 Las
Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita. Fifteen of the top 16 horses on the
Experimental Free Handicap are nominated, the exception being the retired
Jump Start. Sire Storm Cat topped the list with 12 nominees, followed by A.P.
Indy and Saint Ballado tied with 11 each.
The number of early nominees is 34 less than last year's record.
Godolphin indicated it is once
again pulling out all the stops for its first Derby winner by nominating 17
horses. Along with Tempera, they also nominated Dubai Tiger, the horse
Sheikh Mohammed named after Tiger Woods when the latter visited Dubai last
spring for a golf tournament. D. Wayne Lukas and former assistant Todd
Pletcher tied for most nominated horses with 19 each, besting Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor's 17.
They are followed by Elliott Walden with 16, Bob Baffert with 14, and Nick
Zito with 13. Irish-based Aidan O'Brien nominated a total of 10 including
Johannesburg.
Nominees listed by: Horse Name, Sire, Trainer, Owner, Late Nominees
Triple Crown quick links:
Photo ©2001,2002 Cindy Pierson Dulay, licensed to About
