Zipse: Awesome Again favorite McKinzie has more to prove

We've known about McKinzie for some time now. It actually seems like longer than the 23 months since the bay son of Street Sense powerfully drew clear from the opposition in his career debut. It's been nothing but graded stakes racing for him ever since. On occasion, he's been near spectacular, and the record is strong: seven wins and four seconds from 12 career starts. Still, the highly respected colt from the Bob Baffert barn clearly has more to accomplish. Is he the best older dirt male in the land? With fall upon us and the 2019 Breeders' Cup a little over a month away, the time is now for McKinzie to come up with the goods, and once and for all live up to all the expectations he's carried since that Oct. 28, 2017, career debut at Santa Anita.
The table is seemingly set for the horse who already has exceeded $2.2 million in career earnings. He'll enter the starting gate in Saturday's Awesome Again (G1) at his home track heavily favored to win and come back five weeks later as the one everyone has to beat in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

Yet it may not be as easy as the old one-two for McKinzie. It never has been.

When thought to be a major threat to win the 2018 Kentucky Derby, a bruised hock knocked him out of the Santa Anita Derby, as well as any possible starts in the Triple Crown series.

It was a tough break for the promising colt who had already been on either end of a pair of controversial disqualifications in his first four races.

The layoff stretched to the very end of summer, though, and an early favorite for the Kentucky Derby had become the forgotten horse, while his stablemate, Justify, became the toast of the racing world as an undefeated Triple Crown champion.

When he finally made it back to the races, McKinzie proved worth the wait. He proved much the best in the 2018 Pennsylvania Derby (G1). With Justify since retired, he was once again back in style.

So much so, that his Hall of Fame conditioner chose to test the deepest waters of the Breeders' Cup Classic. Ten furlongs against a large field of top older horses in his second race in eight months proved too much for the inexperienced McKinzie to handle.

Respected to the point of starting as the race's second choice, he faded right out of contention, and continued to slow down the entire Churchill Downs stretch. A 12th of 14 finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic was a bitter pill to swallow for McKinzie supporters, but the talented colt again returned in style.

Seven weeks later at Santa Anita, he delivered a devastating late opening day kick. His electrifying run from well back in the Malibu Stakes (G1) left the other 13 horses in the field reeling.

The real McKinzie, it seemed, was back. A big year at 4 was expected for the horse who was forced to miss the Derby at 3.

This time, Baffert and team took the conservative approach and decided to forego a chance to face City of Light and Accelerate in the rich Pegasus World Cup in January.

Instead, they mapped out a plan to get to the 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic, this time scheduled to run in the colt's backyard. It was a good, sensible plan. Still, nothing has come too easy for the star-crossed colt.

He began the year with a pair of tough-luck, and hard-fought defeats at the hands of Battle of Midway and Gift Box in the San Pasqual (G2) and Santa Anita Handicap (G1), respectively. In both races, McKinzie ran big, only to be defeated by more experienced horses in narrow fashion.

As well as he ran, winless in two starts was not the beginning most had envisioned for McKinzie. Things got back on track in his third start, as he rolled to victory at Churchill Downs in the Alysheba Stakes (G2) on Kentucky Derby weekend.

Next came his toughest test of the season in a deep edition of the Met Mile (G1). This time, a traffic-filled trip cost the race favorite as top sprinter Mitole held him off in the one-turn mile. But if McKinzie had navigated through the congestion earlier, the 3/4-length decision could have gone the other way.

Once again McKinzie had to bounce back and prove himself. The opportunity came at Saratoga in the historic Whitney (G1). Facing a good field of older Eastern handicap horses, he was easily up to the challenge.

The strong performance was his fourth career Grade 1 victory. Still, without a Kentucky Derby or Breeders' Cup victory, it would seem his career is unfinished, but there's still time.

Just six weeks short of the ultimate goal, it seems that McKinzie is poised to prove once and for all what kind of horse he is. First comes the Awesome Again. After that, another shot at the Breeders' Cup Classic, and a likely Eclipse Award await.