Brave Emperor, already a winner on the Europe road to Kentucky Derby 2023, earned the continent’s lone invitation to the May 6 race by
finishing second Saturday night at Chelmsford City, England, in the $129,000
Cardinal Stakes.
A gelding by Sioux Nation, Brave Emperor (9-2 in the U.S.) was
caught deep in the homestretch by Godolphin homebred Bold Act (3-1), who raced
from worst to first to win by a half-length in the last international points
prep for Derby.
A late nominee Monday for the Triple Crown, Brave Emperor is owned
by Middleham Park Racing and trained by Archie Watson. Only 2 1/2 weeks ago he
won the Road to the Kentucky Derby Conditions Stakes at Kempton, building his
base of qualifying points.
After being jostled coming out of the chute and onto the
main, all-weather track Saturday for the mile that covered two left-hand turns,
Brave Emperor raced in the middle of the 10-horse pack. Luke Morris then rocked
into his mount in the second turn and delivered emphatic, right-handed urging
to put Brave Emperor in the lead with a furlong to go.
All along, jockey Harry Davies had Bold Act rallying along
the rail, moving ahead with 50 yards to go and running on to victory for
trainer Charlie Appleby. The winning time was 1:37.23 without a run-up.
Bold Act and Brave Emperor were followed by Killybegs
Warrior (51-1) in third, post-time favorite Iconic Moment (2-1) in fourth and
Alzahir (5-1) in fifth. Those top five finishers earned 30-12-9-6-3 points toward
the maximum one bid that Churchill Downs reserves for Europe.
According to Churchill Downs, “only one invitation to
compete in the Kentucky Derby will be extended with preference given to the
horses with the most points in (Europe qualifying). No invitation will be
extended beyond the top four point earners.”
Still awaiting confirmation from Churchill Downs, these were
the final qualifying standings for the Europe series that included seven races
since late September:
| Europe road to Ky. Derby | Points | x Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Brave Emperor** | 32 | $59,217 |
| Bold Act | 30 | $76,958 |
| 2. Cairo* | 20 | $62,984 |
| Killybegs Warrior | 13 | $16,716 |
| Alzahir | 11 | $231,728 |
| Belbek | 10 | $279,323 |
| Auguste Rodin | 10 | $222,687 |
| The Foxes | 10 | $76,913 |
| Crypto Force | 10 | $69,768 |
| News At Ten | 8 | $8,478 |
| Iconic Moment | 6 | $39,387 |
| Tenjin | 6 | $5,914 |
| 3. Stormy Entry* | 6 | $4,239 |
| Gamestop | 4 | $101,588 |
| Epictetus | 4 | $64,909 |
| Adelaide River | 4 | $39,267 |
| Dubai Mile | 4 | $29,159 |
| Cash Out | 4 | $2,120 |
| Holloway Boy | 3 | $158,185 |
| Breizh Sky | 3 | $91,301 |
| Flying Honours | 3 | $39,968 |
| Young Ireland | 3 | $12,833 |
| Shartash | 2 | $160,989 |
| Dancing Magic | 2 | $26,226 |
| 4. Greenland* | 2 | $9,011 |
| Roaring Gallagher | 2 | $5,814 |
| Coco Jack | 2 | $1,864 |
| Miss Caruso (f) | 2 | $1,272 |
| Vicious Harry | 1 | $64,540 |
| Lakota Seven | 1 | $12,227 |
| Salt Lake City | 1 | $0 |
| *Triple Crown early nominee | ||
| **Triple Crown late nominee | ||
| x Non-restricted stakes | ||
| (f) filly |