Preakness: Patriot Spirit is uncertain after Illinois Derby win

Stickney, Ill.

Trainer Michael Campbell told owner George Mellon of Mellon Patch there would be no more excuses after Sunday’s Illinois Derby. If the Constitution colt did not stay on in the 1 1/8-mile race, then it would be back to sprints.

No excuses were needed after Julio Felix guided Patriot Spirit to the front and never looked back, winning Hawthorne’s marquee race by 5 3/4 lengths over Real Men Violin.

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“I expected him to lead coming out of a sprint,” Felix said. “He did it easy, and when I asked him to really run, he exploded.”

Patriot Spirit spurted to the front by more than a length through an opening quarter of 23.50 seconds and a half-mile in 47.78 seconds before opening up the backside and lengthening his advantage on the far turn. He was up 2 1/2 lengths turning for home and widened before completing the nine furlongs in 1:50.43.

“My horse ran his race, but (Patriot Spirit) got to the front and kept going,” jockey Rey Gutierrez said of 8-5 favorite Real Men Violin. “He was trying late and running away from the others, but we needed someone else to run with the winner. When that didn’t happen, he was gone.”

It was a well-strung out field with 9-5 second choice Woodcourt 10 3/4 lengths back in third and Le Gris and Raguel completing the order of finish. A total of 29 1/2 lengths covered first to last.

Campbell was worried he was running out of excuses to try Patriot Spirit in classic-type races after a disappointing ninth-place finish in the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) on Feb. 10 at Tampa Bay Downs. The plan that day was to contest for the lead, but Patriot Spirit had other ideas.

“Sometimes horses make mistakes, too,” Campbell said. “He got to looking around in the starting gate, and that wasn’t the start we were looking for. We went back to sprinting, and he ran well pressing quality speed. I worked hard on him here and told the owner, ‘No more excuses. If he tires in the stretch here, then we’ll stay sprinting.’ ”

In addition to the $200,000 purse, the Illinois Derby included a provision of $20,000 toward entry fees for the Preakness Stakes on May 18 at Pimlico. Patriot Spirit was not nominated to the Triple Crown, so that provision only would cover a fraction of his cost with the supplemental nomination.

“We have a good horse and thought he could be a classic type, but I'm not sure about taking on a $2 million Baffert,” Campbell said, referring to Zedan Racing Stables’ Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Muth. “That will be Mr. Mellon’s decision, but there are plenty of nice races we’ll consider beyond the Preakness, like the Ohio and Iowa derbies.”

Coverage of the Illinois Derby at Horse Racing Nation is made possible in part through a sponsorship by Hawthorne Race Course.