ARCADIA, Calif. — Honor A. P. won the $400,000 Santa Anita Derby by 2 3/4 lengths on Saturday to move into the Kentucky Derby picture.
Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Honor A. P. ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.97 and paid $6.40, $2.60 and $2.20.
The West Coast’s major prep for the Kentucky Derby was run without spectators or media at Santa Anita because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Authentic returned $2.20 and $2.10, and Rushie was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third and paid $3.40 to show.
Honor A. P. earned 100 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, which has been rescheduled to Sept. 5 because of COVID-19. That moved him into second, two points behind leader Tiz the Law, on the Derby leaderboard which determines the 20-horse field for the race.
Authentic, trained by Bob Baffert, earned 40 points and is now fourth on the Derby leaderboard. Rushie earned 20 points. Anneau d’Or finished fourth and earned 10 points.