Firenze Fire begins life on Kentucky Derby 2018 bubble
Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire, the fourth-place finisher in Saturday's Wood Memorial, will go on to the May 5 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs as long as he has enough points earned for a start, said owner Ron Lombardi. The multiple graded stakes winner sits 18th with 39 points earned on the Kentucky Derby trail.
"Obviously, we're still on the bubble," Lombardi said. "We have to wait and see what happens next week, and let everything straighten out from there. We're sitting at 18 right now, so we just have to see, but it's been that way all season. We'll just wait for the rest, but if we do get the points we're going."
The son of Poseidon's Warrior made his ninth career start in the Wood, and finished a lackluster fourth amid the field of nine. The Florida-bred replicated his placing in the March 10 Grade 3 Gotham Stakes where he failed to close and ran fourth amid eight others. A better effort was expected in the Wood.
"As far as the race (Saturday), I was disappointed with how he ran," said Lombardi. "We knew that the 4 horse [Old Time Revival] was going to go out to the lead, but I wanted him to be closer. We always break well, but we were too far back and he just didn't have enough."
Firenze Fire broke his maiden first out at Monmouth Park before capturing the Grade 3 Sanford at Saratoga. He followed with a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Hopeful, but then rebounded with a victory in the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park. Firenze Fire earned 10 points in the Champagne towards a berth in the Derby then, after a seventh-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, earned an additional 10 with a victory in the Jerome in January.
A runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct earned four points padded by his two subsequent fourth placings with added five and 10 points respectively. After a tough campaign, the winner of four races with earnings of $669,100 will force his connections to wait before confirming his next start.
"It's funny, a reporter asked me the other day about how I feel about the points system," Lombardi said. "I joked that if we were in, I'd be fine with it. I think it's a good system, but I think it can be improved. Maybe horses that run more, or have higher earnings or a combination of both could get points, too.
"The way it's set up, you could have a horse win one race at 30-1, and he's in," he continued. "Maybe change the points system itself? I really don't have a problem with it, it works, but I think there are ways to improve it. We'll just have to see."