Zipse: Two Phil's is on track for major summertime goals

After a bang-up performance by his stable star in the Kentucky Derby, trainer Larry Rivelli decided to pump the brakes a bit and let Two Phil’s rest and recover. With an eye on major summertime goals, the son of Hard Spun should be ready to roll when he returns in Saturday’s $500,000 Ohio Derby (G3) at Thistledown.

The only horse to press a hot Derby pace and stick around to be involved at the finish, it would have been easy to push the envelope and send Two Phil’s after further Triple Crown glory.

His veteran trainer would have none of it, and the decision to skip the Preakness and Belmont could pay big dividends for the multiple stakes winner.

With no clear leader, America’s glamor division is up for grabs. Races such as the $1 million Haskell (G1) at Monmouth Park on July 22 and Saratoga’s $1.25 million Travers (G1) five weeks later should go a long way in deciding the championship at the end of the year.

The Ohio Derby result will have little effect on an Eclipse award. But coming seven weeks after the Kentucky Derby and four weeks before the Haskell, it should be an ideal springboard for one of the nation’s top sophomores.

Owned by Patricia’s Hope, Philip Sagan and Madaket Stables, the biggest win to date for Two Phil’s came when he romped home in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) on March 25, which was his last race before the first Saturday in May.

That visually impressive Derby prep victory under regular rider Jareth Loveberry earned one of the highest speed figures of the year.

Although it did come on the all-weather surface at Turfway Park, two stakes wins on the dirt as a 2-year-old, not to mention his excellent race on the first Saturday in May, verify that the chestnut colt is right at home on the more traditional surface, which he will see in Ohio, New Jersey and New York.

Two Phil’s was good at the beginning of the season, with a second in the Lecomte (G3) in January and third in the Risen Star (G2) in February, both at Fair Grounds. But his his last two were a clear move forward. All indications point to him only getting better with racing.

Looking at his workouts at his home base of Hawthorne in Chicago, this is a horse who continues to thrive. He has turned in three moves since the Derby, and each one is better than the last.

Bred in Kentucky by Sagan, Two Phil’s seems to have been passed many of the best qualities of his parents. His sire, Hard Spun, was top class and could do anything. He is also the first foal produced from the General Quarters mare and 2017 Sunshine Millions Distaff winner Mia Torri.

His sire and dam both were hard-hitting stakes winners who rarely failed to fire. With four wins at four tracks in nine lifetime starts, the Kentucky Derby runner-up is living up to that standard.

If he runs anything like he has in his last two on Saturday, he should roll to victory in the Ohio Derby. From there, he likely will be a major factor in both the Haskell and the Travers.

He has been unheralded since being passed over as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale in 2021 and is brought to us by connections far removed from the everyday household names.

Two Phil’s has all the qualities to join Mage and Arcangelo as another breath of fresh air in an intriguing crop of 3-year-olds. Given time to recover from the Kentucky Derby trail, he looks poised and ready for a big summer.