Jet-setting Franco embracing Kentucky Derby mount on Spinoff
At the very least, 2019 Kentucky Derby season will bolster jockey Manny Franco's airline rewards account. The 24-year-old, who picked up the mount on the Todd Pletcher-trained Spinoff, traveled to Florida after Thursday's card to work his mount at Palm Beach Downs.
Spinoff breezed five furlongs in 59.99 on Friday morning with Franco up. The veteran rider then flew right back to New York, where he had mounts in six of the day's nine races Friday at the Big A.
"I'm trying to know the horse," Franco said Thursday afternoon. "You have to do what you have to do. If you want to ride these types of horses and these types of races, you have to do whatever they ask. They called me to work the horse, so I have to go."
Jet lag might be the only thing that can slow Franco, who won the Aqueduct winter meet's riding title with 98 winners. Entering Friday, Franco has 15 wins, one more than second-place rider Jose Lezcano, as he seeks to notch another title for the 12-day Aqueduct spring meet that concludes Saturday.
Wertheimer and Frere's Spinoff has 40 qualifying points to the Derby, ranking 19th on the leaderboard. His point totals are the same as Bodexpress, but Spinoff has the edge in non-restricted stakes earnings with $224,000.
The Hard Spun colt earned a personal-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure with a second-place finish in the Louisiana Derby (G2) on March 23 at Fair Grounds, hitting the wire three-quarters of a length behind By My Standards.
Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez was aboard for both the Louisiana Derby and the third-place finish in the Saratoga Special (G2) in August, but Velazquez is slated to ride Fountain of Youth (G2) winner Code of Honor for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey in the Derby.
That allowed Franco to pick up the mount on Spinoff, marking his second Kentucky Derby assignment.
"I've watched the replays of him and saw the way he runs," Franco said. "From the races I've seen, I think he has speed. I don't think he'll be too far out of there, because he puts himself close. We'll see how the race develops."
Franco's previous Derby experience came with Tencendur in 2015, when the 52-1 longshot ran 17th for trainer George Weaver.
"Because I broke the ice and rode in my first Derby before, I think I'll be a little more relaxed," Franco said. "It won't be a surprise. Man, when I came in off the paddock and I saw all the people screaming and the race started, it was unbelievable. It was a dream come true."