First Mission wins Lexington; Disarm secures Ky. Derby spot

Lexington, Ky.

A race at Keeneland that ended the road to the Kentucky Derby actually might have done more to mold the field for the Preakness.

Making his stakes debut in just his third start, post-time favorite First Mission (2-1) took jockey Luis Sáez on a tight, rail ride down the stretch on the way to a half-length win in the Grade 3, $400,000 Lexington Stakes.

Trained by Brad Cox, the Godolphin homebred colt by Street Sense stalked his way past pacesetter Arabian Lion (7-2), who finished second for trainer Bob Baffert. If and when they meet again, it might be in the Preakness on May 20 at Pimlico in Baltimore.

“I’d say it’s definitely the spot on the calendar that makes the most sense,” Cox said. “Obviously, we have to see what happens with the Kentucky Derby and who does what there. It would be the logical spot moving forward. We’ll get the numbers out of the race and see how he comes out of it first and foremost and go from there.”

Baffert, who watched the race from California, stayed true to his M.O. of not committing this far out from any race let alone the second jewel in the Triple Crown. That especially would be true for Arabian Lion, a $600,000 Justify colt owned by Amr Zedan with just a debut win and two seconds in five starts.

“I can’t think that far ahead,” Baffert said in a text message to Horse Racing Nation. “Happy with his improvement. Still developing.”

Since he is ineligible for the Kentucky Derby, Baffert could be loading up for the Preakness, a race that he and 19th-century trainer Wyndham Walden have won a record seven times each.

Asked if his two-time Grade 1 winner Cave Rock would be ready for the Preakness after last racing to a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November at Keeneland, Baffert said it was too soon to say.

Oh, yes. There is a rather large race between now and May 20.

Holding on to finish third on a beachy, 79-degree afternoon, Disarm (3-1) clinched a berth to start in three weeks in the Kentucky Derby. He needed a top-three result in the Lexington to bump Jace’s Road off the qualifying bubble.

“Let’s see how he comes out of this race,” breeder-owner Ron Winchell said. “He’s got an option to go to the Derby. We’ll see how he took this race. He was cutting back from the mile-and-three-sixteenths. Now it’s a mile-and-a-quarter, so we’ll go from there.”

At 1 1/16 miles, the Lexington was an eighth of a mile shorter than the Louisiana Derby (G2), where Disarm finished second to Kingsbarns on March 25. Any other year that would have been good enough to get the Gun Runner colt to Churchill Downs. But this was the first year of an expanded points format that had Disarm on the outside looking in before this weekend.

“Obviously the points system is a little different this year, which is funny,” Winchell said, “because if it was last year, it probably would have been a different outcome. But you know the rules are the rules, and we’ll figure out where it takes us.”

Finishing Derby qualifying with 46 points, Disarm dropped former Baffert trainee Reincarnate to the last qualifying position with 45. Three other colts had the same number of points, but the first tie-breaker is money earned in non-restricted stakes. Reincarnate has $263,250, and Jace’s Road has $200,350.

Now Jace’s Road, who finished third in the Louisiana Derby, is on top of the stand-by list. Historically, it should not be a problem, because there is always someone who drops out in the final weeks before the Kentucky Derby.

Since Jace’s Road is a stablemate of First Mission, it turned into a good-news, meh-news day for Cox.

“Where do we lie now, 21?” Cox asked. “Yeah, cool. It is what it is. I can’t control any of that. I don’t worry about anything I can’t control. Play the next play.”

He still could celebrate his third Lexington win in the last four years. First Mission rated the pace from third place and then second around the fast, main track. All the while Irad Ortiz Jr. and Arabian Lion led by no more than 1 1/2 lengths. Disarm made up four places on his way to hitting the board and finishing 4 3/4 lengths behind First Mission.

The winning time was 1:43.74 following early fractions of 24.12, 48.01, 1:12.48 and 1:37.53. First Mission paid $6.38, $4.00 and $3.16; Arabian Lion $5.14 and $3.52; and Disarm $2.96.

Holding off the late rally by fourth-place Denington (22-1), jockey José Ortiz and Disarm allowed trainer Steve Asmussen to get into the Kentucky Derby, a race he has tried to win 17 times with 24 horses only to go winless.

For the Hall of Fame trainer, it never was more frustrating than last spring, when eventual division champion Epicenter led late only to be passed by 80-1 long shot Rich Strike. Winchell, who owns the retired colt, also felt that pain.

“That hurt last year,” Winchell said. “That was a tough beat last year.”

While Asmussen was at Oaklawn to look after Clairière in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), Disarm represented his last chance to get into this year’s Derby. Winchell, himself 0-for-8 with Derby horses, was asked if he was glad Asmussen squeezed his way back for another run for the roses.

“Nah,” he said, eliciting laughs from a gaggle of reporters. “We’ve been in enough races. We want to win one. Being there doesn’t count anymore.”