Kentucky Derby 2023: Disarm will run after gaining needed points

Disarm will run in Kentucky Derby 2023 after getting the points he needed to qualify with a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Lexington on Saturday.

David Fiske, racing manager for owner Winchell Thoroughbreds, told Horse Racing Nation on Monday that Disarm “came out of the race great. And, as I said, going in, I think he's probably better and fitter now after that effort.”

With the caveat that “it's all predicated on how he does in the next three weeks,” Fiske said one factor in the decision to run in the Derby is the longer distance.

“I think he will stay in the mile and a quarter. That's a distance that not too many American horses want to tackle or excel at. … He's maybe one of the few horses in the field that should really like the mile and a quarter.”

He also said that the Gun Runner colt, who is trained by Steve Asmussen, might have been “a little disadvantaged at Keeneland – short stretch, backing up from a mile and sixteenth.”

In his start before the Lexington, Disarm was second in the Louisiana Derby (G2) at 1 3/16 miles.

Asmussen agreed with Fiske’s assessment.

Speaking to Steve Byk on At the Races radio Monday, he said, “Disarm is going to benefit from the races that he has had. We have not gotten the best from him yet, and he will compete very well at any level. I’m extremely excited about getting him out in the mile and a quarter. I love how he came out of the (Lexington). We will try and keep our wits about us but feel good about him going into the Derby.”

Asmussen also said Joel Rosario, who was aboard Disarm for the Louisiana Derby, will ride him at Churchill Downs. “With Rosario it’s the horse first, and I think that makes their future possible. Not acting like every race is the last race of their life.”

The field isn’t as formidable as in some years past, Fiske said. “The favorite probably won't be any shorter than 5-2. So it seems pretty wide open. Going into last year, Epicenter was a pretty solid favorite and had been for several weeks before. This year, Forte hasn't really done anything wrong, and you could say that about several other horses in the field. But it doesn't seem like there is a real heavyweight presence that's a definite standout.”

Epicenter, also owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and trained by Asmussen, was caught near the finish as the favorite in last year’s Derby by 80-1 shot Rich Strike.

And then there’s the matter that neither Winchell nor Asmusen has won the Kentucky Derby.

“Triple Crown races seem to be a kryptonite for us,” Fiske said.

Still, he said, “It's horse racing. There's a reason they let you bet on them, and that's because it's completely unpredictable.”

And it’s a different experience coming to the Derby with a colt who isn’t the favorite.

“As someone mentioned to me over the weekend, as big a disappointment as running second was last year, if we were to run second this year, that would be like a win,” he said. “That would be like, woo-hoo, let's go out to dinner.”