Whitmore Busts Through in first race since Kentucky Derby

When last seen at the races, Whitmore was backpedaling through the field of the Kentucky Derby. Nyquist was the one draped in roses that first Saturday in May, while the promising son of Pleasantly Perfect finished at the other end of the procession. That was then, this is now. While the winner of Kentucky Derby 142 has taken up residence at Jonabell Farm as a brand-new Darley stallion, Whitmore looks for a racing renaissance. Today at Aqueduct, his career AD (after Derby) got off to a promising start.

Sent off as the preferred even-money choice against a group of allowance/optional claimers, Whitmore began from the one-hole under rider Manuel Franco. Breaking smoothly, the Ron Moquett-trained gelding settled into the 6 ½-furlong sprint near the back of the compact field. Never too far from the front, though, horse and rider watched an early pace of :23.86 and :47.31 unfold in front of them.

Waiting for room as the field of six approached the turn for home, you could see Franco had a lot of horse under him. When a small opening presented itself, Whitmore burst through, and the outcome was as good as decided. Staying close to the rail, he cruised on to victory in his first start in seven months.

Will Did It, a winner of two-straight sprint races at Aqueduct, finished up well to be second, but never was in danger of catching the good-looking winner. Whitmore hit the wire a 1 ½-length winner in a final time of 1:18.13 over an Aqueduct track labeled fast, but not yielding fast times.

You will remember, while not one of the favorites for this year’s Derby, Whitmore was a horse with plenty of potential early in 2016. An impressive allowance win at Oaklawn Park was followed by three-straight graded stakes attempts at the Hot Springs, Arkansas oval. Unfortunately, in the large fields of the Kentucky Derby preps at Oaklawn, he was never able to work out a perfect trip.

Still, he managed a second in the Grade 3 Soutwest, another second in the Grade 2 Rebel, and a third in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, while tussling with horses like Creator, Cupid, and Suddenbreakingnews. While all of them are multiple stakes winners, Whitmore has yet to be so lucky.

Produced by the Scat Daddy mare, Melody’s Spirit, Whitmore was bred in Kentucky by John Liviakas. A private purchase by his trainer, Moquett acquired him for an ownership team made up of Harry Rosenblum, Robert LaPenta, and himself. He named the young horse after a very athletic school friend, Wilbur Whitmore. With the victory today, Whitmore, the thoroughbred, improved his lifetime record to: 8-3-2-1, with earnings of $516,400.

Of course, the competition faced today was nothing like he dealt with in his last four races, but it was a starting point. Actually, it is a re-start to his career. Once very promising, Whitmore can be promising again. He sure appears to be a horse with far more talent than your average allowance winner.

Despite being a son of a long-winded Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, his record suggests that the three-time graded stakes chestnut may well prefer the one-turn trip. Today’s win was his third in as many starts while sprinting. Time will tell, but as he was this time last year, Whitmore is certainly a horse to watch in the coming year.