Illinois Derby: Currency Swap Faces Full Field for Kentucky Derby Berth

Morning line favorite Currency Swap will be facing a full field of opponents this upcoming Saturday on the Gr. III $500,000 Illinois Derby at the Hawthorne Racecourse in Cicero, IL.

Currency Swap, a son of High Cotton out of the Pine Bluff mare Echo Bluff, won his maiden race and the Hopeful in his two starts last year.

He was one of the top two-year-old prospects in the nation but was sidelined because he had to undergo surgery to remove a chip from his left ankle last fall.

Trained by Terri Pompay, Currency Swap made his highly anticipated return in an allowance race at Gulfstream Park last month, facing Todd Pletcher's undefeated colt Gemologist.

The one-turn one-mile duel of undefeated colts never materialized as Gemologist—who will likely be favored at the Wood Memorial on Saturday—demolished Currency Swap going away by seven lengths.

Currency Swap was by far the second best in the race and easily settled for his place finish.

The Illinois Derby presents Currency Swap with his first true test at two turns and going the distance beyond a mile. He has been working lights out for this race, with timed workouts of 1:00 for five furlongs and 1:11 2/5 for six furlongs.

The colt, owned by Klaravich Stables Inc and William Lawr, is by far the class of the field and will be ridden for the first time by Shaun Bridgmohan.

His closest opponents should be the Todd Pletcher-trainee Our Entourage, Pretension and Hakama.

Our Entourage is a son of Street Cry (IRE) out of the multiple-turf-stakes-winning mare Sand Springs. He is owned by Mike Repole and is one of two horses that have run the nine furlong distance.

He did it—along with Done Talking—at the Remsen last year when he finished a tiring fifth.

He then returned to race in late February in an optional claimer on turf at Gulfstream and won easily, going out as the favorite. He is perfect in two tries on turf, which seems to be his best surface, but this race is on dirt.

The colt ran against top company last year, but the other question with him could be distance handling. Eddie Castro will take the controls for the first time and should stalk the pace early with the hopes of overtaking the leaders down the stretch.

Keep your eye on Done Talking.

This horse didn't fire on his last race, which was his three-year-old debut. Before that we saw him finish a late-rallying fourth at the Remsen—same distance as this race—just a head behind Derby contender and Risen Star Stakes winner El Padrino.

Done Talking might have needed that race for both physical and mental fitness. Since then, he has been improving on his workouts, and his last two have been outstanding. I will have him on all my bets. 

Pretension comes from finishing an outmatched fifth to Hansen and My Adonis in the Gotham. Prior to that, with Javier Santiago aboard, he had defeated the then-highly-regarded Swag Daddy in the Sweet Envoy Stakes.

He is an intriguing prospect due to his inconsistency, but at least he seems to run his best with jockey Santiago, who will ride him again in this race.

He has not shown much on his recent workouts, something he did well prior to winning the Sweet Envoy.

Hakama seems to be the speed of the race, and as such, the question with him is whether he can get to the nine furlongs distance. It won't be easy as there are many stalkers that won't allow him to settle an easy pace.

In his only race on Graded Stakes competition, he finished a tiring sixth to Alpha in the Withers, beaten by 15 lengths.

He has defeated third-choice Pretension, when he held on at 8.5 furlongs, but he was able to establish a slow pace up front. That will not be the case here.

The best Beyer in the race (96) belongs to the Donnie Von Hemmel-trained Z Rockstar. He did it in his last race, an allowance at Oaklawn Park where he pressed the leader early and was able to get by him and win driving.

Prior to that, he finished a tiring sixth, 14 lengths behind Secret Circle, in one of the divisions of the Southwest Stakes. He will be hard-pressed to repeat his best Beyer performance here.

The horse I like as the possible surprise is Ring It Up, who is at morning line odds of 15-1. He has run two steady Beyers in the high 80s and done it against Graded Stakes company.

In his last race at the first division of the Southwest Stakes, he finished fourth, 4.5 lengths behind Castaway. He was one of the three horses moving forward behind the winner, but he had to take the wide trip on the turn.

In his previous race, he was second best to stakes-placed Cyber Secret, in a race where Cyber Secret set a slow pace and won driving.

He has been working out very well for this race, and jockey Lindey Wade is familiar with him and will be aboard.

The hometown favorite tag has to go to Fastestwhogetspaid, who is two-for-three at Hawthorne. He is three-for-six lifetime and comes from winning the Gazebo at Oaklawn Park, but he is making a big step-up in class here.

EXPECTED WINNER: Currency Swap

PLACE: Done Talking

SHOW: Ring It Up

Illinois Derby | Grade III | Purse: $500,000 | Distance: 9 furlongs | Post Time: 5:42 p.m. CT

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	ML Odds
1	Romancing the Gold	J. Englehart	I. Ortiz Jr.	15/1
2	Hakama	M. Trombetta	J. Pimentel	6/1
3	Ring It Up	C. Richard	L. Wade	15/1
4	Currency Swap	T. Pompay	S. Bridgmohan	4/1
5	Pretension	C. Grove	J. Santiago	5/1
6	Skyring	D.Lukas	R. Vazquez	20/1
7	Saturday Launch	K. McPeek	C. Emigh	15/1
8	Z Rockstar	D. Von Hemmel	Q. Hamilton	10/1
9	Fastestwhogetspaid	B. Williamson	I. Ocampo	30/1
10	Frankie Is Rock	R. Aguilar	E. Perez	30/1
11	Our Entourage	T. Pletcher	E. Castro	9/2
12	Morgan's Guerrilla	M. Maker	R. Napravnik	10/1
13	Done Talking	H. Smith	C. Russell	20/1
14	Slamit	T. Ice	C. Hill	30/1
15-AE	Explain	B. Cox	F. Torres	20/1
16-AE	Arm Force	E. Harty	E. Castro	15/1
17-AE	Defiant Flyer	L. Davis	S. Martinez	30/1

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