Finley Really Happy with Commanding Curve

For a brief moment on the first Saturday in May, as Commanding Curve came thundering down the stretch at Churchill Downs, Terry Finley allowed himself to get excited.

A former U.S. Army Ranger who founded West Point Thoroughbreds in 1991 and serves as its president, Finley watched as Commanding Curve rallied from well back to beat 17 other horses in the Kentucky Derby, finishing just 1 ¾ lengths behind winner California Chrome.

"It was incredible. Really, we had about six or eight seconds where I thought we were going to win the Kentucky Derby," Finley said this morning. "A good buddy of mine told me in most years, that move wins the Kentucky Derby. It was a pretty special feeling to know that we were in the running. All the credit to California Chrome; he got the job done. He outran us, no ifs, ands or buts."

After skipping the Preakness, Commanding Curve will get another shot at California Chrome in Saturday's Belmont Stakes. It is the second straight year West Point will be represented in the final leg of the Triple Crown, and fourth overall. Its best finish came with Macho Again, fifth in 2008.

"We could not be happier. You're not going to run in the Belmont Stakes if you're not really happy with the way the horse is doing," Finley said. "We know we have to run a mile and a half. That's a really tough test, and we wouldn't do that if we didn't think he was doing very well. All systems are 'go.' We're not going to have any excuses. We've had a good break, five weeks. We hope that is a little bit of a difference-maker, and that the difference puts us in front of California Chrome."

Finley said the Preakness was never really considered for Commanding Curve, third in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 29 for trainer Dallas Stewart, who also brought the Derby runner-up to last year's Belmont, finishing ninth with Golden Soul.

"Certainly with the euphoria and all the hoopla surrounding the Derby, you very quickly start thinking about the Preakness because it's only two weeks," he said. "The very next day we put a circle around the Belmont. We really wanted to take [the Preakness] off the table so we didn't get tempted and say, 'Let's just go to Pimlico.'"

Instead, Commanding Curve continued to train at Churchill Downs until his May 29 arrival in New York, where he had a sharp half-mile breeze in 47.38 seconds on Sunday. Seven Belmont winners since 2000 have won the race after running in the Derby and sitting out the Preakness.

"Sure we'd love to win," Finley said. "We know if we don't win, we're like most of the other connections; we want California Chrome to win if we don't. What I'm hoping for and wishing for and asking for, in my mind, is just to have a shot at the quarter pole. If we get there or not, that would be a really, really cool thing to have a shot at the quarter pole, so we have a rooting interest for the last 26 seconds."