Kentucky Derby Road: March 29 Arkansas Derby, Florida Derby, Fukuryu Stakes
G1 Arkansas Derby, 1 1/8 Mile
Sandman got a good setup for his late kick, and he took full advantage to win at 7-2 odds. Odds-on favorite Cornucopian (4-5) and two-time stakes winner Speed King (15-1) rumbled through taxing opening fractions of 22.46 and 45.21 to open up on the field by about 10 lengths in the backstretch. Heading into the second turn, second betting choice Coal Battle (3-1) and Publisher (7-1) started coming after them as Sandman began gearing up for his anticipated late run with six furlongs gone in 1:10.37. After the field turned for home, Sandman's momentum carried him to the lead. Perhaps unaccustomed to that position he drifted out into Publisher's lane, but he was two lengths ahead at that point, and new rider Jose Ortiz righted him quickly to stay on task and finish ahead by 2 1/2. The winning time was 1:50.08. Publisher was second, Coal Battle third, Cornucopian fourth and Brereton's Baytown a distant fifth. Order of finish: 6-3-8-9-1-5-7-4-4-2. Kentucky Derby points 100-50-25-15-10. Sandman is by Tapit out of Distorted Music, by Distorted Humor and was bred in Kentucky by Lothenbach Stables. Today's Florida Derby winner Tappan Street's dam is also Distorted Humor. Sandman is trained by Mark Casse for D. J. Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables.
Sandman racked up a 104 Equibase figure in the Arkansas Derby, a career best. He was given a solid 99 Beyer Speed Figure. Second-place finisher Publisher earned a 95 Beyer.
Sandman has now run eight times with three wins, a second and two thirds. He ran fifth in his debut (58 Equibase), a sprint at Churchill Downs, but rebounded at Saratoga to win at seven furlongs (93 Equibase). He was a badly-beaten fifth (77) in the one-turn G3 Iroquois at Churchill Downs. After finishing third in the two-turn G3 Street Sense (90), he won a high-priced allowance at Oaklawn (97). He's been in Hot Springs since, finishing a close second (100) to Speed King in the G3 Southwest and a fast-closing third (101) in the G2 Rebel.
Winning trainer Mark Casse: “I couldn’t believe (the fast early fractions), actually. I said, ‘Well, they’ll have to be superstars to keep going.’ The farther they went, the more confident I was. The faster they went, the more I smiled. I think that just shows how good he is (after lugging out in the stretch and still winning by 2 1/2 lengths). He wasn’t focusing and he was still able to draw away. As Jose said, he wants to get into a rhythm. And if you can get him into that rhythm, he’ll just go. Jose said he didn’t take a deep breath when he pulled up.”
Winning jockey Jose Ortiz: “We knew back then (when I rode him in the G3 Iroquois) that he wasn’t a one-turn horse. I was a little sad that I lost him because he came this way. But very excited to get him back. Today, a mile and an eighth, he’s proved that the two turns is his game. Very happy, very excited. Kentucky Derby – here we (come). He was a little shy from the whip from the left hand. I could see that from the replays the last time. I tried one time and didn’t try it again. So, he was rolling.”
Publisher trainer Steve Asmussen: “I’m very pleased with the progression he’s made. I love the class of that horse. I mean, he is meant for a big day. He is classy and calm. Wastes zero energy doing anything he shouldn’t be doing. Top class horse. (Did blinkers help?). I was hoping he would be a little bit closer, but he kind of got squeezed away from there again. You know what? With the pace scenario, we got a good trip. Winner outran us. At the head of the stretch, I’d have picked us and we ended up second. I’m very proud of how he ran, and we need to find more.”
Coal Battle trainer Lonnie Briley: “He was a little too fresh today. And you always think about the drawing board, going back to it. But in the paddock, he was a little anxious and stuff. So, I was worried about that today. He ran a good race. He ran third and Sandman had been coming from behind, so we knew that he would be a factor. When they added the blinkers to Publisher, he’s a good horse and he ran big. (Coal Battle) ran good against some good horses. We’ll have another shot at them soon.”
Coal Battle jockey Juan Vargas: “I think one thing that hurt my horse this time was he was very aggressive – like never before. I know he broke well from the gate, but this time he was very aggressive. I had to fight the horse and I think that cost me the race, for sure. If he had settled down, like normally he does, it was a perfect race for him. This time, I had to fight him a lot. You can’t fight him.”
Cornucopian jockey John Velazquez: “Nothing else you can say. We went fast.”
G1 Florida Derby, 1 1/8 Mile
Tappan Street (2-1 second choice) broke alertly, got into good early and intermediate position, continued a good trip with a strong outside move on the turn, and left the field behind in the stretch under urging by Luis Saez to win the G1 Curln Florida Derby over favored Sovereignty. Sovereignty (8-5) finished second after ceding ground from post 10 and coming on late as expected, beaten about 1 1/4 length. Neoequos (11-1) was in second place through much of the race but finished third for the second consecutive time on the Florida road to the Kentucky Derby. Makaket Road (5-1), sans blinkers, finished fourth after setting an honest pace through six furlongs in 23.37, 47.22 and 1:11.61 into the far turn. Third betting choice Disruptor (3-1) was a belated fifth. Tappan Street crossed the finish line after nine furlongs in 1:49.27. Order of finish: 9-10-1-8-4-6-5-2-3-7. Kentucky Derby points 100-50-25-15-10. Tappan Street is trained by Brad Cox for WinStar Farm, CHC Inc. and Cold Press. He was bred in Kentucky by Blue Heaven Farm and is a son of Into Mischief out of the Distorted Humor mare Virginia Key.
Today's winning Equibase figure is 96. The Beyer is 94. Second finisher Sovereignty registered a 95 Equibase figure.
Tappan Street broke his maiden at first asking going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 28, earning an impressive 93 Equibase speed figure. He regressed a bit in the G3 Holy Bull (89 Equibase) on Feb. 1 to run second to Burnham Spare, who's expected next in the Blue Grass at Keeneland. Tappan Street skpped the Foutain of Youth in preparation for the Florida Derby.
I didn't realize it's pronounced Ta-PAN Street until today!
Winning trainer Brad Cox: “Anytime you have a young horse like this and you give them eight weeks between starts, it’s always a concern. But this is a very smart horse. He’s intelligent. I thought he would break very, very well today the way he was training, and he did. That put him in the race and put him in a great position.
“We have five weeks. We have to make sure he comes out of it in good order, first and foremost. Our plan right now is Monday or Tuesday to ship him to Churchill. Hopefully, he comes out of it in good order and we can march forward. I think he’s going to get a tremendous amount out of this.
“Luis was very high on him after he broke his maiden. He was very high on him after the Holy Bull. He had a lot of confidence in him and it all came together today. This is a step forward today. His numbers his first two starts were really good. I felt like the two-month lead up to the Florida Derby would propel him forward.”
Winning jockey Luis Saez: “Everything went to plan. He broke from there pretty well. He was in good position. The whole way I had a lot of horse. We knew the speed was inside and we followed the speed. Everything came out perfect. He was traveling professionally today. I saw [Sovereignty] and I let my horse go a little bit more, and he gave me a good turn of foot. When he came to the top of the stretch, I knew it was going to be tough to catch [us]. As soon as we broke from the gate, I had a lot of confidence the whole way. I knew he was going to give me a good turn of foot at the top of the stretch. He always does.
“I think it’s [Kentucky Derby] going to be a perfect race for him because he can sit anywhere. He can break and let the speed go, or he can be right there on the pace. It’s a good horse to be around. We had a good feeling about this horse from the first time I rode him. Today he proved he was a super horse. It would be the best. The Kentucky Derby for us is going to be everything. [Winning it] would be sweet.”
Winning President, CEO & Racing Manager Elliott Walden: “He really ran like we thought he would. We’ve given him the time after the Holy Bull because we thought he was this type of horse, and it was nice for him to show up. He’s taken that step now and I think he’s going to be a very live horse going into the Kentucky Derby.”
Second-place trainer Bill Mott: “He (Sovereignty) came with his run. He ran well. He had a pretty good trip. He got a little wide going into the first turn but he got in and got a pretty good trip. Manny said the ground kind of broke away from him two different times, once at the three-eighths pole and once at the five-sixteenths pole. He said he kind of lost it and gathered himself up, and then he did it again. But, look, he ran OK.
"The winner ran good. It was a good race. This doesn’t have to be his best race. Sometimes you can look at it and say, maybe that’s a good thing. You don’t want their best race before the big event. This is a very important race, but I think the fact that he ran very big last time and ran very well this time, maybe he’ll continue to improve. I don’t think the fact that he didn’t win doesn’t mean he didn’t run a good race.”
Second-place jockey Manny Franco: “I had a really good trip. I rode the horse the way he likes to run. I told Bill at two points he just didn’t get over the track. He bobbled on me and lost his stride. At that point I think I lost a little momentum to get him into the bridle again, into the rhythm, but he finished running. He’s going to be a good horse going forward.
“From the three-eighths pole he did it, and going to the quarter pole. I feel like he disappeared on me a little bit. But that’s the way it is. He kicked home anyway. When I hit the clear he was gaining ground.”
Edgard Zayas aboard Neoequos, 3d: “He ran a huge race. We got the trip we wanted. He set up perfect in a stalking position. We were able to slow the pace and he was great. He really finished up pretty nice. We wanted to get running out of there and then kind of get running to the outside and after that, if I had the horse, get it done.”
Mike Smith aboard Madaket Road, 4th: “Right now I just felt like it was a bit far. It wasn’t like I went overly fast. I thought we got away really well and put him in a great place to kick on. Let me tell you something, those two or three horses in front of us are serious, man, because I was running. I could hear him and I could feel him, and it was getting to him a little bit, but it’s not because of a lack of try. He still kicked.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher (Disruptor, 5th): “We blew it at the start, came away last. I thought he ran really well considering it was only his third start to make up a lot of ground.”
Joel Rosario aboard Jimmy’s Dailys, 6th: “He had a good trip. It just looked like he was going to do something turning for home and then he got a little tired. The horses in front just kept running. For a little while it looked like we were going to be fine, but the mile and an eighth kind of tired him out.”
Jorge Ruiz aboard Indecisiveness, 7th: “He break sharp from the gate and I tried to relax him but he was very strong. I was closer than I expected but he was very excited.”
Trainer Jorge Delgado (Cool Intentions, 8th): “He was coming off the layoff and I know it was a challenging spot being a Grade 1, but I was hoping to see a better effort. I think when the kickback hit his face he kind of went from 10 to zero. He was too far back. We might have a chance to go on the grass and probably shorten the distance. It’s a long season. He’s a 3-year-old with five starts, so we have plenty of options.”
Javier Castellano aboard Cool Intentions, 8th: “I had a good trip. We broke out of the gate and got a good position in the first turn. I loved my spot. I think the key part with my horse was he didn’t like and appreciate the dirt in his face, and I started to lose my position. I felt like I had to give him a little break and I put him in the clear on the backside. He was traveling so good. My target was [Sovereignty]. I followed him but he couldn’t keep up.”
Dylan Davis (aboard Enterdadragon, 10th: “We were going back to the dirt from the grass, and we were just trying to keep his face clean. He just really didn’t show much on the dirt, so we’re going to go back to the turf with him. They’re running him at Keeneland next start. It depends on what’s going on with Keeneland and New York, I’m doing both tracks, but I’d like to stay with him. He’s a really nice horse.”
Fukuryu Stakes, 1 1/8 Mile
Luxor Cafe, favored at 3-10 (1.3 as expressed on the board locally), dominated the 11-horse field in the nine-furlong Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse in Japan. He has been invited to the Kentucky Derby, and a response is expected mid-week. Luxor Cafe laid in sixth during the early going while kept clear on the outside under Joao Moreira. He quickly separated himself from the field when roused at the top of the stretch. Luxor Cafe finished the final three furlongs in 36.3 seconds and was five impressive lengths clear at the finish. The race was timed in 1:52.1 on a dirt course rated good. Meisho Zuiun was second, followed by Golden Cloud, Levant Univers and Slazak. The winner is trained by Noriyuki Hori for Koichi Nishikawa and was bred in Kentucky by Orpendale/Chelston/Wynatt & Westerberg Ireland ULC. Luxor Cafe is a son of American Pharoah and is out of the More Than Ready mare Mary's Follies. It was the fourth consecutive win for Luxor Cafe.
Japan race chart The Fukuryu was run on a right-hand course. NOTE: My friend Roxy Roxborough advises Luxor Cafe never changed leads.
Luxor Cafe dominated the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, with his previous three wins including the one-mile Hyacinth Stakes, another Derby points race that was run on a left-hand course, American style. He took that one with a similar running style and was timed in 1:37.6 after going through the final three furlongs in a swift 35.1 seconds. He won the one-turn Hyacinth by only a half-length but was visually impressive. The Fukuryu gave Luxor Cafe two turns and more ground, and he responded by exponentially increasing his margin of victory.
T O Password won the Fukuryu last year and finished fifth, beaten 6 1/2 lengths, in the Kentucky Derby. In Louisville T O Password was in 18th place, 14 lengths off the pace, into the first turn, was checked there, and the jockey dropped his whip mid-stretch. The chart call: "T O PASSWORD (JPN) broke a step slow, checked in traffic into the first turn, settled off the inside into the backstretch, came under a ride nearing the seven-sixteenths pole, looped seven wide through the second turn and into the stretch, had the jockey lose the crop near the furlong marker and continued on well under a fierce hand ride."
Lap times* in the Fukuryu, presumably for the pacesetter at each furlong of the race:
12.8 - 11.9 - 13.2 - 13.0 - 12.2 - 12.3 - 12.5 - 12.2 - 12.0. The first three furlong pace was 37.9 seconds, slower than the final three furlongs, making the pace resemble that of a turf race. Except for the second call, the final furlong was run faster than any other.
*Lap Time is the time in between splits. The lap time is how long it takes you to get from one split to the next. The clock then starts over on the next split, or lap.
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