Monthly Archives: May 2013

The third and final leg of the Triple Crown promises to be one of the most exciting this year, as separate winners in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes look to claim two of the big three and stake their claim to horseracing glory.

In previewing this year’s “Test of Champions” from Belmont Park in New York, let’s take a look at a few of the predominant storylines.

Keeping an Eye on Orb
Led by Hall-of-Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, Orb captured the Kentucky Derby and had been running well enough prior to the Preakness to be viewed as a legitimate Triple Crown threat. An average showing at Pimlico – fourth overall  – dashed those hopes, but McGaughey is hopeful that his horse is back on track for a solid showing at Belmont.

Earlier in the week, Orb had a very positive one-mile gallop in anticipation of the Belmont, with exercise rider Jennifer Patterson calling the ride “beautiful” and suggesting that Orb might be rounding back into the form that made him successful at Churchill Downs.

Oxbow Running Strong
Oxbow was the story at Pimlico after Orb dropped back to finish fourth – the D. Wayne Lukas-trained horse captured the Preakness and put himself in prime position for a solid showing at Belmont.

This past week, Oxbow returned to the track (at Churchill Downs) for the first time since winning the Preakness, a light workout that Lukas said was mostly a formality after a few days off.

Lukas said Oxbow showed the most energy out of all his horses and expects him to have one more maintenance workout at Churchill Downs before shipping Oxbow off to New York.

In other news out of the Lukas camp, he confirmed that another of his horses – Will Take Charge – will run in the Belmont with jockey Jon Court chosen to saddle. Mike Smith had rode Will Take Charge in the Preakness after Court saddled at the Kentucky Derby.

Napravnik to Ride Code West
Jockey Rosie Napravnik has been tabbed by trainer Bob Baffert to ride Code West at Belmont.

Napravnik, 25, is looking to become just the second female to ever win the Belmont Stakes; Julie Krone captured the Belmont in 1993 while saddling Colonial Affair.

Krone remains the only female jockey to ever win a Triple Crown event, though Napravnik has shown the talent and pedigree to be the second.

Napravnik has shown a special affinity for riding Baffert’s horses – especially Mylute, who will be held out of the Belmont but showed extremely well while being ridden by Napravnik in the first two legs of the Crown.

Napravnik finished fifth at the Kentucky Derby with Mylute, then put forth a stellar third-place showing at Pimlico.
Smith to Ride Palace Malice

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will saddle Palace Malice at Belmont, according to Dogwood Stable president Cot Campbell.

While he only finished 12th at the Derby, Palace Malice was the early pacesetter and raised a lot of eyebrows by getting off to a remarkably fast start before eventually fading to the back of the pack.

The lead up heading into the 2013 Preakness Stakes was all about one name: Orb.

But at the end of the day, there was another horse that dominated the race – and the headlines – ensuring that there would be no Triple Crown winner this year.

On a solid day at Pimlico, it was Oxbow who surprised the field to capture the 2013 Preakness Stakes.

Oxbow dominated proceedings and gave yet another big-ticket win for trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Lukas, 77, captured his 14th victory in Triple Crown races and did it by winning the Preakness – the same race that he captured for his first-ever TC victory (in 1980, when he did it with Codex).

Despite Oxbow’s fairly solid pedigree and Lukas’ training acumen, the result was still something of a surprise. All eyes heading into Pimlico were on Orb, the Shug McGaughey-trained horse that captured the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago.

However Orb failed to materialize as a contender. Instead, it was Oxbow that stole the show.

The horse ran the 1 3/16 mile track in 1:57.54 and didn’t face much in the way of a challenge throughout the race. Oxbow came into the race as a 15-1 longshot but paid handsomely after holding off Itsmyluckyday and Mylute, both of whom showed well in what were considered decent conditions at Pimlico.

But still, you may be asking – what happened to Orb?

A heavy favorite coming into the race, Orb was unable to overcome a bad start position – he began the race along the rail – and couldn’t pick the best spot to make his move to take on Oxbow. Orb began his move along the backstretch, and temporarily, moved into third place – but it was at that point that jockey Joel Rosario failed to move out into open space.

As a result, Orb finished fourth.

Going back to Oxbow for a moment – this horse was not only a good story, but the jockey was as well.

Gary Stevens, 50, had been retired from horse racing for seven years. The Hall of Fame jockey was actually serving as part of NBC’s broadcast team for various races over the last few campaigns, but felt the itch to reunite with a fellow Hall-of-Famer – Lukas – who said his goal at these types of big races was to “spoil dreams.”

Stevens got the itch to ride again a few months ago and found the perfect partner in Lukas who, in the interest of spoiling dreams, ensured that there would be no Triple Crown winner for the 35th-consecutive year.

(Orb was considered a legit candidate to break that streak – McGaughey raved and called the horse one of the best he’d every trained, and had high hopes for a record-setting campaign.)

Here are your 2013 Preakness Stakes Results

1. Oxbow $32.80 $12.00 $6.80

2. ItsMyLuckyDay $7.80 $5.00

3. MyLute $5.20

4. Orb

5. Goldencents

6. Departing

7. Will Take Charge

8. Govenor Charlie

9. Titletown Five

The second jewel of the Triple Crown is upon us.

With the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby in the books, the focus of the horseracing community now shifts to Pimlico Race Course for the annual Preakness Stakes.

As you’d expect, all eyes are on one horse as the Preakness draws near – Orb, the winner of the aforementioned Kentucky Derby.

Led by Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, Orb made history at the Derby by giving McGaughey his first-ever win at Churchill Downs. That storybook finish – combined with Orb’s fantastic run down the stretch to capture the roses – has many thinking a Triple Crown is definitely within reach.

McGaughey sure thinks so.

“If Orb runs his race I think they’ll all have him to beat,” said the 62-year-old said on a national teleconference call. “It’s my job to get him fresh and ready again.

“We don’t need anything fast, just something that puts his mind back on what he’s doing. Then, we’ll get him to Pimlico and get him acclimated. There’s not much else we can do.”

It should be noted that in addition to the Kentucky Derby, McGaughey has never won the Preakness in his career either. So he’s got extra focus heading into the Preakness Stakes.

Here’s some other horses to keep an eye on:

Oxbow

Oxbow finished a disappointing sixth at the Kentucky Derby, but according to owner D. Wayne Lukas, will still be ridden by jockey Gary Stevens at the Preakness.

“Gary is learning more about Oxbow every day, and he is a difficult horse to ride, because he’s so aggressive and so responsive,” Lukas told Bloodhorse.com. “[At the Derby], Gary saw the rail open up and he moved a little early on him, but that horse ran huge. I thought both of them did.”

Lukas talked extensively about how aggressive Oxbow is, which can be a blessing and a curse. The renowned owner is hoping that aggression will be a blessing at Pimlico.

“We’ll live with it and go on to the Preakness. The most important thing for a horse trainer is to have a bad memory. Both horses pulled up excellent and I’m looking forward to the Preakness.”

Goldencents

Arguably the biggest disappointment at the Kentucky Derby was Goldencents, and many are expecting a bounce-back performance from him at the Preakness.

He finished a woeful 17th and looked lost at times during the Churchill run, but trainer Doug O’Neill chalked it up to the sloppy track conditions.

“I really think it was the footing,” O’Neill told Daily Racing Form. “I know that’s a lame excuse, but the last half-mile was in 53 seconds, so it wasn’t ideal footing. Fortunately, he came out of the race well. Thank God, Kevin [jockey Kevin Krigger] did a smart job taking care of our guy.

“It shows the horsemanship of Kevin, and the love he has for Goldencents, that once he realized it wasn’t his day, he took care of him.”

Goldencents was sent directly to Pimlico from Churchill and has been practicing steadily as the race draws near. It’s a similar strategy O’Neill used with I’ll Have Another in 2010, who captured both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

In the 2013 Run for the Roses, Orb (7-2 on the Morning Line, 5.4 at the close for those betting on the Kentucky Derby) placed first and won a purse of $1.4 million. Golden Soul (50-1 ML, 34.5 close) finished second and Revolutionary (10-1 ML, 6.4 close) came third.

Orb went into the race as the Kentucky Derby betting favorite, after a four-race winning streak including the Florida Derby on March 30. Despite being stuck toward the back of the pack in 16^th place for most of the first mile, after having drawn the No. 16 post in a field of 19 horses, Orb stormed the pack. The grounds and track were sloppy after a period of rain but this did not deter Orb in spite of his lack of experience in these conditions. Orb and jockey Joel Rosario took it up a gear at the eighth pole and moved up the pack, finishing first by 2 1/2 lengths.

Joel Rosario is a Dominican Republic jockey, who also rode the winner of the Dubai World Cup (the world’s richest horse race) less than five weeks before the Kentucky Derby 2013. Orb’s trainer is Hall of Famer Claude R. “Shug” McGaughney III, who has trained multiple Kentucky Derby contenders and champion horses, and its owners are Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable. It was the first Derby victory for both the trainer and owners.

As always, the Kentucky Derby 2013 was a profitable one and this is definitely true for those who stayed loyal to Orb. On a standard $2 Kentucky Derby betting ticket, Orb paid out $12.80 to win, $7.40 to place and $5.40 to show. Golden Soul was $38.60 to place and $19.60 to show, while Revolutionary crossed the finish line third to pay $5.40.

Those who were lucky enough to nail an exotic bet on the Kentucky Derby should at least buy the next round of drinks with their nice winnings. The exacta of Orb and Golden Soul paid a solid $981.60. That’s pretty high compared to the 2013 Kentucky Derby where the exacta of I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister paid $306.60.

The 2013 Kentucky Derby trifecta, including Revolutionary in third, was a solid money maker at $6,925.60. If you happened to pick Normandy Invasion on the Kentucky Derby odds to finish in fourth place as part of your superfecta, you would’ve collected a huge $57,084. Have you ever considered getting into the horse racing business yourself? The 2012 Derby winner, I’ll Have Another, was purchased as a yearling for a mere $11,000.

2013 results including the jockey and the final Kentucky Derby odds to win:

1. Orb (J. Rosario, 5.4)

2. Golden Soul (R. Albarado, 34.5)

3. Revolutionary (C. Borel, 6.4)

4. Normandy Invasion (J. Castellano, 9.3)

5. Mylute (R. Napravnik, 15.3)

6. Oxbow (G. Stevens, 24.9)

7. Lines of Battle (R. Moore, 31.9)

8. Will Take Charge (J. Court, 36.4)

9. Charming Kitten (E. Prado, 33.2)

10. Giant Finish (J. Espinoza, 38.6)

11. Overanalyze (R. Bejarano, 16.2)

12. Palace Malice (M. Smith, 23.7)

13. Java’s War (J. Leparoux, 21.5)

14. Verrazano (J. Velazquez, 8.7)

15. Itsmyluckyday (E. Trujillo, 9.5)

16. Frac Daddy (V. Lebron, 25)

17. Goldencents (K. Krigger, 7.9)

18. Vyjack (G. Gomez, 18.8)

19. Falling Sky (L. Saez, 39.7)

Scratched: Black Onyx and Fear the Kitten

The 139th running of the Kentucky Derby provided all the drama and theatrics one would expect from the most famous horse race in the world.

In the end, it even had something of a storybook ending.

Trainer Shug McGaughey, the Hall of Fame trainer who’s never won a Derby, looked on as his prized colt, Orb, put together a late surge to capture the annual Run for the Roses.

Orb came into the race as a 5-1 favorite thanks in large part to a stellar stakes/prep race campaign. McGaughey was thoroughly impressed at how his horse had been running through most of March and April, and felt confident as Orb tore it up during pre-race training at Churchill Downs.

He also had a special “ace” in his pocket – jockey Joel Rosario.

Rosario was largely credited for pacing Orb and cleverly picking his spot to make a run. Orb was running as far back as 17th place halfway through the race, but kicked it into overdrive down the stretch to win by two and a half lengths.

Rosario was blown away at how strong Orb looked down the stretch.

“I was really far back,” he told the Associated Press. “I said hopefully he can go faster than that. I was saying maybe I was too far back, but it was so easy.”

McGaughey was over the moon with the result. The 62-year-old is revered in the horseracing community, largely because he doesn’t rush horses into races and prefers to stay out of the spotlight.

However on Saturday, it was all on him.

“I’m thrilled to death for (the owners), thrilled to death for the people who put so much time into this horse, and, of course, I’m thrilled to death for me,” he told the Washington Post.

Finishing second to Orb was Golden Soul, a little-known entity from trainer Dallas Stewart. Golden Soul had only captured 14 Derby points in stakes races (under the new Derby points system) and was largely viewed as an afterthought.

By placing, Golden Soul played $38.60 and $19.40, and pleased his trainer in the process.

“This is one race you hate to be second,” Stewart told USA Today. “But you know what? I’m so proud of him.”

Third place went to Revolutionary.

This was an interesting story in itself as Revolutionary entered the race as a co-favorite (5-1) and was one of the five horses representing the powerhouse Todd Pletcher stable.

Revolutionary also had the advantage of being ridden by jockey Calvin Borel, who teamed with Pletcher to ride Super Saver to victory at the 2010 Kentucky Derby.

Revolutionary got lost in the pack to start the race, and like Orb, had to make a strong push to get back into contention. While he was able to place, he simply wasn’t able to make up enough ground to capture the Roses.

Not that Pletcher was disappointed.

“I thought he ran super. He got shuffled back farther than we thought and he had to keep waiting to try to make up ground,” he explained. “But when he could start running, he did really well.

“He closed strongly and just ran out of ground.”

Here are the full 2013 Kentucky Derby Results

1. Orb
2. Golden Soul
3. Revolutionary
4. Normandy Invasion
5. Mylute
6. Oxbow
7. Lines Of Battle
8. Will Take Charge
9. Charming Kitten
10. Giant Finish
11. Overanalyze
12. Palace Malice
13. Java’s War
14. Verrazano
15. Itsmyluckyday
16. Frac Daddy
17. Goldencents
18. Vyjack
19. Falling Sky

With the field of 20 now set for the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby, let’s take a look back at the stakes and prep races that led up to Churchill Downs, and examine which horses did what.

Goldencents

This horse has made as much noise for his on-track exploits as he has with his off-track ones.
No, not the horse itself – rather, one of his minority owners.

University of Louisville men’s basketball head coach Rick Pitino is the aforementioned stakeholder, owning a five percent interest in Goldencents. As such, one of the biggest weekends on the racing calendar coincided with one of the biggest weeks of Pitino’s life.

Goldencents captured the Santa Anita Derby on the same weekend Pitino’s Louisville team held off Wichita State in the NCAA Final Four. Shortly afterward, Pitino would capture his first national title at Louisville with a championship game victory over the University of Michigan.

That story captured a lot of headlines, and with good reason. Both Pitino and Goldencents have shown winning pedigree lately, though it’s Goldencents who has the bigger stakes ahead as he comes into Churchill Downs as one of the favorites in terms of Kentucky Derby betting.

Palace Malice

Palace Malice hasn’t received a ton of buzz leading up to the Derby, probably because he’s third (or even fourth) in the pecking order of Todd Pletcher’s powerhouse stable. With most of the headlines going to Verrazano and Revolutionary, Palace Malice has hung back and remained quiet, though that’s not to say he hasn’t impressed those looking to bet on the Kentucky Derby online.

In January, he finished second on a sloppy track at Gulfstream, a result that gave him some much-needed momentum for Derby qualification. That was followed by a disastrous outing at the Grade II Louisiana Derby – Palace Malice got stuck inside behind traffic, and finished seventh – followed by somewhat of a “regroup” by Pletcher.

Rather than go back to the drawing board, the veteran trainer threw Palace Malice back into the mix, and the move paid off. He recorded a solid second place finish at the Grade I Blue Grass at Keeneland, running close with eventual winner Java’s War.

That result was enough to qualify Palace Malice for the derby, and keep “Pletcher’s Army” going strong.

Oxbow

Oxbow’s a curious case study. He was one of the stars of the early stages of prep races, but fell a little bit back to earth as the Derby drew closer.

That said, the highlights were plenty for this Kentucky Derby contender.

Oxbow captured the first points race in Louisiana – the Louisiana Derby – under the new Churchill Downs qualifying system for 2013. Given it was the inaugural race under the new system, many eyes were fixated on the race, and Oxbow picked a perfect time to run smooth.

He cruised to an 11 1/2-length victory, earning high praise from jockey Jon Court.

“I wasn’t contested on the front end, so I was able to dictate the pace the way I wanted,” Court told USA today. “He’s really progressed. It’s just a matter of how he progresses forward.”