Kentucky Derby 2018 trail: Mask dominates in Mucho Macho Man

The 3-three-olds got their first opportunity of the year to see if they fit on the 2018 Kentucky Derby trail in the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Park, and it was Mask, the 7-5 favorite, who led the one-turn mile every step of the way while drawing off to a 6 1/4-length victory.

The Mucho Macho Man, which attracted a solid field of seven, does not have graded stakes status nor does it carry any Derby qualifying points, but trainer Chad Brown opted to give the son of Tapit his second career start nonetheless at Gulfstream Park. Mask, who sold for $685,000 as a Keeneland September yearling, won his first career start at Belmont Park in October as a 2-year-old.

“He’s always earmarked himself as one of the best of our crop we had to work with,” said Brown. “Before he came in, even at the farm he was at…they loved him. He’s just been a star, really, since Day 1. Everyone who’s touched the horse has thought he had an incredible ability, so none of this is surprising, but I’m relieved to see him actually do it.”

Mask took control of the race as soon as the starting gate opened. Jockey Javier Castellano sent the Lane's End Racing colt straight to the lead, where he settled into a comfortable stride and put a length between himself and the rest of the field.

It quickly became clear that Mask was going to be very hard to beat after the early easy fractions of 24.43 and 48.13. Behind that half-mile, four horses, including the unbeaten Dale Romans runner Dak Attack, were spread across the track, while Bal Harbour sat back waiting to make a run.

Down the home stretch, Mask increased his lead under a hold by Castellano to finish the mile in 1:37.65. Bal Harbour, who had won the Smooth Air at Gulfstream in his last start, made a nice closing move while running nearest to the rail to pass Dak Attack to pick up the second-place money.

Looking ahead, Brown said the result "opens up a lot of doors. I think it’s time to send him two turns. I had some options, and I’m glad we elected to go a mile even though it wasn’t a (Derby qualifier). Now we can get him in a two-turn race and see how he handles it. The way he finished his race today, I expect him to be OK with it.”