Kentucky Derby 2020 Radar: South Bend gets second chance

Sagamore Farm President Hunter Rankin considers South Bend’s effort in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) “a confusing race for us.”

The Algorithms colt entered the 2020 Kentucky Derby prep at Churchill Downs 3-for-3, put himself in position to win at top of the stretch but faded sixth once the real running began back on Nov. 30.

“I don’t know that he appreciated the surface,” Rankin said, with the going sloppy in the Kentucky Jockey Club. “He got pretty fired up pre-race and kind of stuck his feet in the ground for the first time. He was a little rank.”

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Previously, South Bend had broken his maiden Sept. 14 at Churchill when narrowly defeating Answer In, the eventual favorite in Sunday’s Springboard Mile at Remington Park. The colt beat winners at Keeneland and continued climbing the ladder to win the Street Sense Stakes back under the Twin Spires.

Given the record, Rankin knows the Kentucky Jockey Club wasn’t South Bend’s typical effort, and the speed figures agree. Next, it could be back to a winning trip for him going a one-turn mile with Gulfstream Park’s $100,000 Mucho Macho Man Stakes a possibility.

South Bend, who's wintering at the Palm Meadows Training Center for conditioner Stanley Hough, breezed a half mile in 48.20 seconds last Saturday.

“He’s doing very well,” Rankin said. “He’s handled the transition to Florida. He worked really good the other day.”

The Mucho Macho Man could match South Bend up with Chance It, the top Florida-bred 2-year-old who registered 90 Beyer Speed Figures in each of his three victories. The Jan. 4 race then leads into Gulfstream’s points-paying preps: the Holy Bull (G2), Fountain of Youth (G2) and Florida Derby (G1).

“I still think he’s a distance horse,” Rankin said of South Bend, “but that one-turn mile seems to fit him pretty well, too. That would be an option if he continues to train forwardly. As you know, there’s plenty of spots for 3-year-olds. We’ll try to pick the right one for him. We still feel like he’s a very nice horse.”

Sagamore Farm may have a second colt for the Derby trail in Necker Island, a son of Hard Spun who broke his maiden, then won an allowance race in succession at Churchill Downs.

“I sure hope so,” Rankin said. “We’ve thought a lot about him all along. He’s a big, beautiful horse. He’s different than South Bend; his mind is probably not as advanced, but he’s got a lot of natural ability.”

For a horse that “hasn’t figured out racing yet,” as Rankin puts it, Necker Island has impressed. On Nov. 30 at Churchill, he defeated Silver State, a Steve Asmussen trainee who figures to resurface in Fair Grounds preps next year.

“His trip was a little worse than ours, but I know they think a lot of that horse,” Rankin said, “so I’m thinking it’s going to turn out to be a pretty strong race.”

Hough trains and also co-owns Necker Island, a $250,000 yearling purchase stabled in south Florida. Owing to some needed mental maturity, he hasn’t adjusted quite as well as his stakes-winning stablemate to the new locale.

“We’re taking it a little slower because of that and trying to get him to come around,” Rankin said. “Hopefully we’ll work him in the next seven to 10 days. If he gets on a schedule, we can make a plan after that.

“We have high hopes for him. Whether he can do all that Derby stuff or not, you never know. Obviously, that’s the goal.”