Real Men Violin Aims to Pick up Tempo in Illinois Derby

Real Men Violin , Patriot Spirit , and Woodcourt —all off the board in Kentucky Derby (G1) points races this year—attempt to regroup against ungraded stakes competition in the $200,000 Illinois Derby April 21 at Hawthorne Race Course.

The 1 1/8-mile Illinois Derby, resurrected this year by Hawthorne officials after last being contested in 2017, drew only six 3-year-olds, one of them the twice-raced maiden Ravin's Town .

Titled Shamrock Stables' Real Men Violin, second in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) last fall at Churchill Downs for trainer Kenny McPeek, ran below expectations when finishing in the rear half of the pack in both the Feb. 17 Risen Star Stakes (G2) and March 23 Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

Mellon Patch's Patriot Spirit is the Illinois Derby's lone existing stakes winner but was unplaced in two prior routes.

Contreras Stable's Woodcourt, sixth in the March 23 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) on a synthetic surface at Turfway Park, returns to dirt, over which he was fourth behind Timberlake  in the Feb. 24 Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park.