Kentucky Derby has restrictions, but Divisidero does not
Like a shot, Gunpowder Farms’ Divisidero exploded at the top of the Churchill Downs stretch to run to run to victory in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic. Coming one race before the Kentucky Derby, the performance should not be lost in the hoopla of America's most prestigious race.
Perhaps understating the effort, his veteran rider Julien Leparoux said this of the five-year-old's powerhouse finish, "When I came out, he kicked home super. He ran a really big race today.” From my perspective in the grandstand, it was bigger than big. It was both sensational and inevitable. Once the big horse started rolling like that, I knew nothing was going to get in his way.
Running big on Kentucky Derby Day is of course nothing new for the Buff Bradley trained son of Kitten's Joy and Madame Du Lac. Not only did he join stalwarts, Wise Dan and Einstein, as the only two-time winners of the important turf race, but he also turned a triple play of sorts. With the big victory, Divisidero has now won a graded stakes race for three consecutive times on the first Saturday in May. An amazing accomplishment considering the quality of competition on those spotlight afternoons.
Kentucky Derby horses might only get one shot for the roses, but clearly Divisidero has no such limitations on running on the huge day of racing -- and more importantly winning. His completion of the Derby Day triple dip, which includes an American Turf Stakes win in 2015, is obviously a source of great pride for one of the good guys of the game.
"Derby Day has really been good to us," said Bradley. "We're always happy to win on Derby Day before the biggest crowds."
The owner/breeder/trainer of such recent Kentucky favorites as Groupie Doll and Brass Hat, Bradley does not have nearly the size stable of the Kentucky Derby winning trainer, Todd Pletcher, for example, but he continues to win big races with horses he patiently develops.
While Bradley would love to someday take his own shot at the Kentucky Derby, his style of not rushing his horses, and letting them grow and mature into themselves, might not be best suited for the Derby trail. Although, given the right horse, I have no doubt that Bradley could win the big one someday.
For now, the fifty-something year-old trainer is more than happy to train horses to win big races that come a little later in their career than the Kentucky Derby. Horses like The Player, who Bradley has been very patient with since a minor setback following his good second in the Indiana Derby. While that son of Street Hero looms the next big winner in Buff's stable, it is his current turf star that deserves all the recognition right now.
As for Divisidero, Saturday's big win placed him into the elite millionaire status. With a record 13-5-2-3, the $250,000 yearling purchase pushed his career earnings into seven figures, at $1,047,950. While he may not be not be the best turf horse in the world, or even the United States, he once again has proven himself on one of the biggest stages of American racing.
Divisidero is one of the outstanding grass horses currently in American racing, and unlike last year, don't expect the Woodford Reserve to be his final win of the year. And let us not forget that the Breeders' Cup is coming back to Churchill Downs in 2018. In the patient hands of Buff Bradley, wouldn't it be nice to see Divisidero stick around for another 18 months and get a shot at the World Championships over his favorite turf course?