Monday notes: Einstein ponders Donn

After six-year-old Einstein breezed a half-mile at Gulfstream Park on Monday morning, trainer Helen Pitts confirmed that she will enter the Brazilian-bred in Florida’s most prestigious race for older horses on dirt, Saturday’s $500,000 Donn Handicap. He will join a cast that includes Daaher, winner of the Cigar Mile and Jerome Handicap in New York last year, and Brass Hat, winner of the Donn in 2006 and ad a definite layer of intrigue to the season’s first important race in the handicap division.

“He was awesome,” Pitts said. “It’s looking like a decent bunch will be in there, but he fits. He was supposed to just go easy but ended up catching a horse out there with him. That was good because it gave him some interest.”

Einstein, a Grade I winner on turf, comes off an impressive Jan. 11 allowance victory on grass, his first start since an eventful run in the Dixie Handicap in May at Pimlico when he lost his rider while attempting to avoid a fallen horse and emerged with an ankle injury.

Other prospective participants in the nine-furlong Donn: Student Council, upset winner of last summer’s Pacific Classic Del Mar and now trained by Steve Asmussen; Spring at Last, winner of the Godolphin Mile in Dubai last March; A. P. Arrow, hero of the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs in his most recent start; Magna Graduate, Dr. Googles Boogles, Kiss the Kid, Better Than Bonds and Wood Be Willing.

Zito Derby corps grows

Two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Nick Zito, has sent as many as five three-year-olds into the first leg of the Triple Crowns will almost certainly be represented by more than one on May 3.

While Zito’s most prominent Triple Crown hopefuls, undefeated Eclipse champion War Pass and Anak Nakal, have yet to make their seasonal debuts, several others from Zito’s barn have won races at Gulfstream that brighten their Derby prospects including Bordeaux Bandit, Da’Tara and Cool Coal Man, the latter an impressive winner over a strong field on Saturday. On Wednesday, the entry of Stevil and Web Pass will be given the opportunity to join the list in entry level allowance test at one mile.

Cool Coal Man is likely to advance to the Fountain of Youth Stakes next month after what Zito called, “A really good race. We’ll certainly look at [the Fountain of Youth]. There are a lot of options. We had things develop like this before. Hopefully this time it will work out.”