Sidney's Candy Wins Rough SA Derby

Entering the April 3 round of Derby preps there were two horses, Eskendereya and Lookin At Lucky, who were clearly considered to be at the head of the class. Sidney's Candy was not one of them. However, after an effortless front-running score, Sidney's Candy seems poised to be looked at as one of the top contenders heading to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.

Despite facing nine rivals in the Santa Anita Derby, Sidney's Candy was allowed to set an uncontested pace and clicked off an opening quarter mile in 24 seconds flat before an opening half mile of 48 2/5 seconds under rider Joe Talamo. Who's Up, Skipshot, Lookin At Lucky, and Caracortado sat just off of these early fractions. Alphie's Bet was there as well after being forced extremely wide around the first turn and through the backstretch.

The race took a dramatic turn around the turn for home when 4/5 favorite Lookin At Lucky was checked hard when Who's Up was pushed inside by Skipshot and forced that rival into the heavy favorite. The bumping also cost Caracortado severely who was forced to the back of the pack and had just one beaten as the field hit the stretch.

The one horse completely unaffected by all the bumping was Sidney's Candy who maintained his advantage in the stretch to win by 4 1/4 lengths. Setsuko rallied from last to grab second 1 1/2 lenghts in front of Lookin At Lucky who regrouped after the the hard check to grab third. It was another 1 1/4 lengths to Caracortado who re-rallied to complete the superfecta. Skipshot, Alphie's Bet, Thomas Baines, Posse Power, Who's Up, and Cardiff Giant complete the field.

Sidney's Candy is owned by The Craig Family Trust and is trained by John Sadler. He covered the 1 1/8 mile over the Santa Anita Pro-Ride in 1:48.00 seconds. Sidney's Candy is by Candy Ride (Arg) out of the Storm Cat mare Fair Exchange.