McAfee, runner-up to Hill Road in the Grade 3 Peter Pan at Aqueduct two weeks ago, will make his next start in the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown on June 21, Jake Ballis, managing partner of the group that owns majority interest in the horse, said Monday.
McAfee, a half-brother to reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, is not Triple Crown-nominated and it would cost a $50,000 supplemental fee to run in the Belmont Stakes. Ballis, managing partner for Black Type Thoroughbreds, said the Ohio Derby makes more sense than paying that sum to run against Kentucky Derby first- and third-place finishers Sovereignty and Baeza and possibly Preakness winner Journalism. Hill Road is also pointing to the Belmont.
“In all fairness, that race is going to be too tough for him right now,” Ballis said. “Even if we were Triple Crown-nominated we weren’t going to run there. He’s not as good as those horses yet. I do think someday he will be.”
McAfee, by 2017 Preakness winner Cloud Computing, has one win from five starts. He is coming off a strong effort in the Peter Pan where, with blinkers on, he raced in close contention to the pace, had the lead inside the eighth pole, but was run down late by Hill Road while finishing a half-length in front of favored Captain Cook. Both McAfee and Captain Cook are trained by Rick Dutrow.
Ballis said the instructions to John Velazquez in the Peter Pan were to be forward and he gave McAfee that type of trip.
“We got beat by a better horse, but I was so thrilled,” Ballis said. “We always liked the horse. He hasn’t gotten the right kind of trip. We told Johnny, you have to send the horse, make sure he’s forward, and he ran well.”
Prior to the Peter Pan, McAfee had finished fifth in both the Grade 2 Wood Memorial and Grade 3 Gotham.
Ballis said should McAfee run well in the Ohio Derby that the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 26 could be next.
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