This Week in Racing: Pletcher strengthens Derby armada
And the rich get richer. Already holding Audible and Magnum Moon as top contenders for the 2018 Kentucky Derby, multiple Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher demonstrated just how strong his hand will be when the first Saturday in May rolls around once again with a win in Saturday's Louisiana Derby. At the eighth pole, it looked certain to be either My Boy Jack or Lone Sailor hitting the wire first, but Noble Indy was resolute on the rail. Proving tougher than a $2 steak, the son of Take Charge Indy fought back from the inside and scored his first stakes victory by a neck.
The Louisiana Derby winner is now 3-for-4 lifetime, and has never run a poor race. His gameness on Saturday points him out as a horse of quality, but I still rate him a cut below the very best of the crop, and in fact, only third best in his trainer's stacked barn. Moving forward, the horse with the most Kentucky Derby potential from Saturday very well could be the third-place finisher, My Boy Jack. He validated his nice win in the Southwest Stakes, and proved that he can run big on a fast dirt track. Keith Desormeaux had Exaggerator ready for the 10 furlongs of the Derby a couple of years ago, and after this extremely wide trip at Fair Grounds, I see no reason to believe that this son of Creative Cause won't be prepared as well.
My last thought from the Louisiana Derby involves the runner-up, Lone Sailor. My longshot play came up a little short late, but certainly ran his best race yet. With good form last year at Churchill Downs, you could do worse in finding a horse to fill out the exotics at long odds on May 5. It was easy to root for him Saturday after the connections lost their patriarch, Tom Benson. The affable owner of both the Saints and Pelicans was not only New Orleans through and through, but also a true sportsman. Benson passed away last week at age 90. It seems Lone Sailor ran his heart out in his owner's memory.
The other Derby prep of the weekend was far removed from the cultured grit of New Orleans. A field with no stars going in might just have come out with one after the running of Sunday's $800,000 Sunland Derby. Runaway Ghost, a homebred out of a New Mexican mare, has shown flashes of brilliance in his career, but has been unable to break through in his biggest tests to date. He also had previously displayed a strong desire to be out there battling on the early lead. That all changed Sunday. Displaying a valuable and newfound ability to rate early, the son of Ghostzapper unleashed an explosive turn of foot on the far turn to effectively end any suspense down the lane. Running in the thin air of Sunland Park seemed to be beneficial to both Mine That Bird and Firing Line in recent Kentucky Derbies. Maybe that, combined with his new running style, will make Runaway Ghost a horse to watch in Louisville. ZATT's Star of the Week, is ... Runaway Ghost!
Perhaps the most eye-catching run of the week came at Santa Anita in the Santa Monica Stakes. So much so, that the female sprint division is in danger of becoming a one-woman show. Lightly raced, but clearly talented at 3, Selcourt is becoming a monster at 4. Saturday's Grade 2 Santa Monica was her third straight stakes win already this year, and it was also her best race yet. Faced with some real competition, the John Sadler-trained filly blitzed to the lead right out of the starting gate and never looked back. The classy Paradise Woods tried her, but there was just no touching the daughter of Tiz Wonderful on this day. It will be interesting to see if she can retain this kind of form all the way to the Breeders' Cup in November. As for Paradise Woods, it looked like she wanted no part of chasing such a fast pace. I'd like to see her back at two turns where she can control the race early.
This week on the Kentucky Derby trail, the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park and the UAE Derby in Dubai will take center stage. Certainly the one north of Miami offers more real candidates for the run for the roses, but don't sleep on the showdown overseas. Both Mendelssohn, the hero of a strong edition of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, and half-brother to both Beholder and Into Mischief, as well as, the gelded son of Street Cry, Gold Town, who won the UAE 2000 Guineas like a very good thing, have the potential of being serious contenders in Kentucky. Hopefully, they both run their race at Meydan, treating us to an excellent race, with two strong international candidates to add just a little extra intrigue on the first Saturday in May.
As for the prep down Florida way, I think we are all interested to see what Audible can do after his huge, breakout performance in the Holy Bull. He's been away for a while, but that is typical of the trainer, Pletcher. The New York-bred will need to come back at his best to handle a field that also includes the likes of Catholic Boy, Promises Fulfilled, Strike Power and several other interesting hopefuls.
Derby mania is real this time of year, but the race I am actually most looking forward to on Saturday is the $10 million Dubai World Cup. Will West Coast confirm his new ranking as the world's top dirt horse? Can the mare, Forever Unbridled, do something truly special in her career finale? Can Gunnevera finally win a big one? Will Talismanic take his top game to the dirt? Can Pavel finally have a good trip? Stay tuned, race fans!