Giant Run lives up to his name in Tropical Park Derby

Robert Baker and William Mack’s Giant Run lived up to his name in Saturday’s $75,000 Tropical Park Derby, kicking through the stretch to capture the 1 1/16-mile turf event for 3-year-olds by 1 ½ lengths at Gulfstream Park.

The Tom Albertrani-trained colt was the recipient of a perfect trip from Joe Bravo and rewarded the career winner of 5,134 races with his first trip to the winner’s circle for the Championship Meet.

“You couldn’t have asked for a horse to have a better spot heading into the first turn. From there, he was just sitting by himself without anyone putting any pressure on him. It worked out in our favor. It looked like Joe had plenty of horse once he reached the 3/8ths-pole. I could see him looking over his shoulder, kind of looking for the competition. He really had an extra gear today and it was very impressive.”

Sent to post at 8-1 in a field of 12, Giant Run broke well from his No. 10 post to sit fourth around the first turn and along the backstretch as Franklin Towers set the pace, closely stalked by Stockyard and Mighty Mo. The son of Giant’s Causeway maintained his position until being sent four-wide on the turn into the homestretch. The multiple-stakes winner responded with a strong kick through the stretch to comfortably prevail over favored Oscar Nominated.

“When I walked into the winner's circle, I looked right at Tom in the eyes and said, ‘This is one of my favorite horses.’ It's just for the simple fact that he makes my job really easy. He's one of the horses that breaks great and puts himself in position,” Bravo said. “From the five-eighths pole to the wire it wasn't when, it was just how he was going to go about it. Tom had him ready. His last race was a bad and troubled trip – he never had a chance. We threw that race out and had him ready for today.”

Oscar Nominated produced a good late rally to finish a nose ahead of third-place finisher Two Step Time. Giant Run, who ran 1 1/16 miles over a firm course in 1:40.02, made amends for a troubled ninth-place finish over a soft Belmont course in the English Channel Oct. 23.

“His last race in the English channel was just dreadful. He had such a hard trip right from the start. He was checked three or four times during the race. Joe never had a chance to get him into a rhythm,” said Albertrani, who has yet to have decided on Giant Run’s next race.

“Today, he came back and showed he’s a talented horse. He’s always right there. Hopefully, as a 4-year-old we can make another forward move with him.”

Giant Run, who captured the $200,000 Centaur Stakes at Indiana Grand prior to his English Channel disaster, has now won three times and placed twice in five starts on the Gulfstream Park course, over which he broke his maiden, won the Cutler Bay Stakes and finished second in the Palm Beach (G3) during last year’s Championship Meet.

For Bravo, Giant Run’s victory ended a string of bad luck.