Girvin wins another in the Louisiana Derby

Girvin continued his winnings ways when he powered through the stretch to take the $1,000,000 Louisiana Derby (G2) at the Fair Grounds Racecourse. The Joe Sharp trainee has now won two 2017 Kentucky Derby prep races, a feat that only one other horse has been able to accomplish in this calendar year.

Girvin broke alertly from the eight post position but was forced to go three wide into the first turn as he chased the runaway pacesetter, the appropriately named Hotfoot, who quickly opened up a three length lead. Regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. was content to initially settle Girvin in fifth place about six lengths behind the frontrunner. Hotfoot, at odds of 98-1, was followed by the 17-1 shot Monaco and Local Hero sat in third.

Patch, who lost his left eye in a training accident early in his career, is another lightly raced Todd Pletcher trainee. He was racing a length ahead of Girvin just to his inside. The early fractions were 23.46 and 47.00 and the longshot leaders began to tire nearing the three-quarters mark.

Hotfoot and Girvin are both trained by Sharp and run in the colors of owner Brad Grady. If Hotfoot was in the race to ensure a strong pace for his stablemate, the strategy certainly worked.

Local Hero inherited the lead, but Girvin and Patch were beginning to make their moves. Girvin was first to go and went wide around the final turn, easily got the lead from Local Hero in the stretch, and drew off to win by a 1¼ lengths in a final time of 1:49.77 for the nine furlongs. Patch was able to close also and pass Local Hero to get second.

“He’s such a talented horse,” Hernandez said. “He puts a lot of confidence in you. Today my biggest thing was when I saw Local Hero settle as well as he did, I wanted to stay behind (him) and give myself a target. Every time I needed him he was there for me. Turning for home, he got to switching leads back and forth, but he was kind of just messing around.”

Looking at the toteboard and the Kentucky Derby points standings, Girvin paid $4.60, 3.00, and 2.40 across the board. The victory puts Girvin on top of the Kentucky Derby qualifying leaderboard with 150 points. Patch completed a $2 exacta that returned $23.80 and this Calumet Farms runner got his first 40 Derby points, which is usually enough for a spot in the gate. Local Hero finished a $2 trifecta of $85.50 and with the today’s 20 points upped his total to 30, which probably puts him on the bubble.

Girvin's career record now stands at 4-3-1-0 with earnings of $874,400. The son of Tale of Ekati also won the Risen Star (G2) at the end of February.

“It doesn’t feel bad [to have a Kentucky Derby horse],” Sharp added. “He’s a talented horse. We’re enjoying the ride. It’s great connections and a great owner and it has been a real team effort.”