Test Score ran a near-perfect race at 3-5 to win the Grade 2 Twilight Derby on turf on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.
Test Score stalked the pace and took the lead in the final furlong, a style that he has used with consistent success and will make him a deserving favorite in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Hollywood Derby on turf at Del Mar.
Only one of Test Score’s rivals from the Twilight Derby is part of the Hollywood Derby field – the capable Maaz, who finished second. The presence of other accomplished runners, such as the stakes winners Salamis, Tom’s Magic, and Tempus Volat, and the stakes-placed Friendly Confines, give Test Score a new list of opponents to beat in a field of eight.
Test Score is the only graded stakes winner in the 1 1/8-mile Hollywood Derby, which could easily unfold in a manner similar to the Twilight Derby.
“I thought he won comfortably that day,” trainer Graham Motion said of the Twilight Derby. “I certainly feel good about it.”
Juan Hernandez rode Test Score in the Twilight Derby and has the mount Saturday. Test Score, owned by John and Jerry Amerman, starts from post 3, which will allow Hernandez to gain a ground-saving position behind the leaders.
Test Score was fitted with blinkers for the first time in the Twilight Derby at the recommendation of previous jockey Manny Franco. Test Score will wear blinkers again in the Hollywood Derby.
“There is always the chance that moved him up a bit,” Motion said.
The Hollywood Derby, the leading race on an 11-race program that begins at 11:30 a.m. Pacific, drew a field of nine, but the New York-based Noble Confessor will be withdrawn after the shipping company FedEx announced earlier this week that it was suspending horse transport through the end of the year.
On Saturday, Test Score will have a target in Friendly Confines, who was second to Tempus Volat in the restricted Let It Ride Stakes at a mile on turf on Oct. 30 at Del Mar. Friendly Confines set the pace and was caught by Tempus Volat, who won by three-quarters of a length.
Tempus Volat, trained by Leonard Powell, is the only runner in the field with two wins on the Del Mar turf course, beginning with a maiden race in August. Tempus Volat will start at 1 1/8 miles and in a graded stakes for the first time in the Hollywood Derby.
Powell envisions Tempus Volat near the front.
“He broke his maiden on the lead,” Powell said. “Last time, he wasn’t fast enough to go to the lead, but he was able to stalk and close.
“I hope he can improve enough to be a factor. Test Score is the horse to beat.”
Salamis, trained by Chad Brown, is another contender being tried at 1 1/8 miles for the first time. Salamis won his stakes debut in his fifth start in the Gio Ponti Stakes at a mile on turf on Sept. 28 at Aqueduct and was fifth by two lengths in the Bryan Station Stakes at a mile on turf on Oct. 25 at Keeneland after a wide trip.
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Salamis runs from off the pace as does Tom’s Magic, who was second in the King’s Plate Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on the synthetic track at Woodbine on Aug. 16 and won the Breeders’ Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf Sept. 28 at Woodbine. Those races were for Canadian-breds.
Tom’s Magic starts in a graded stakes on Saturday for the first time since he finished ninth of 12 in the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes in April at 1 1/16 miles on a good turf course at Keeneland that the colt did not prefer, according to trainer Mike Stidham.
“I really think a lot of that had to do with the condition of the course,” Stidham said of the loss.
“We decided to give him a little time and get him ready. As the summer progressed, he’s developed from a boy to a man. You can see that in his races.”
Tom’s Magic has raced well on firm turf and will get that sort of course Saturday in his first start in a Grade 1 race.
“A Grade 1 is always a step up for a horse that hasn’t run in one before,” Stidham said. “I think this is a decent test. For a Grade 1, I don’t think it’s monster-tough. It’s a contentious and competitive race.
“I think that puts us right there.”
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