WinStar Farm's Elliott Walden said April 9 that River Thames came out of his third-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) fine and will be pointed to the Kentucky Derby (G1).
"He came out great. As of now we are looking at the Kentucky Derby and we'll see how it goes the next few weeks," said Walden, the CEO, president, and racing manager of WinStar Farm.
The New York-bred River Thames was third in the April 8 Blue Grass at Keeneland, three-quarters of a length behind the victorious Burnham Square.
The son of Maclean's Music , owned by WinStar, CHC, Pantofel Stable, and Wachtel Stable, was previously second by a neck to Sovereignty in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park.
He has 50 qualifying points and is 16th on the leaderboard for the 20 spots in the May 3 opening leg of the Triple Crown at Churchill Downs.
As of now, he is the only 3-year-old trained by Todd Pletcher among the 20 qualifiers for the Run for the Roses. Pletcher, who has had a starter in the past 21 editions of the classic, also trains Repole Stable's Grande, who is 22nd on the list and will need two defections to race.
Bred by CTR Stables, the son of the Discreet Cat mare Proportionality was bought for $200,000 from the Legacy Bloodstock consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Preferred New York-Bred Yearling Sale.
He has won two of four starts and earned $261,900.
