Although a start in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) has not officially been ruled out, it looks as if Astrology is more likely to run in either the $150,000 Jerome Handicap (gr. II) April 23 or the $200,000 The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial Stakes (gr. III) April 30 as a prep for the Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
“We’ll work him at Churchill Downs on Monday before making a decision,” said co-owner George Bolton, who also is majority owner of Arkansas Derby (gr. I) favorite The Factor . “We lost a month with him because of an illness and he’s been behind all year.”
If Astrology, who is co-owned by Jess Jackson, did run in the Derby, he would have to do so off only one race this year, a second-place finish in the $800,000 Sunland Derby (gr. III) after pressing a blistering pace.
Bolton and
Last year, Astrology, a son of A.P. Indy – Quiet Eclipse, by Quiet American, captured the Iroquois Stakes (gr. III) at Churchill Downs before finishing a close second in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II). It was after that race that he underwent a procedure to correct an entrapped epiglottis that was curtailing his breathing.
Astrology is trained by Steve Asmussen, who finished fourth in Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) with Steve
