Wells Bayou takes them all the way in the Louisiana Derby
Sent right to the front by jockey Florent Geroux, Wells Bayou never relented on his way to a wire-to-wire victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby.
The son of Lookin at Lucky, a pace player just denied when second in last month’s Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park, continued his emergence along the 2020 Kentucky Derby trail by this time holding on at an even longer distance.
Of course, he’ll have to wait before running in Churchill Downs’ signature race. The Louisiana Derby ran behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Kentucky Derby was likewise postponed until the first Saturday in September.
The 100 points paid out to Wells Bayou as the Louisiana Derby winner should make him — if healthy — a contender.
After the Southwest, Wells Bayou could’ve stayed in Arkansas for last weekend’s Rebel Stakes (G2). Cox earlier this week mentioned the Louisiana Derby’s distance – 1 3/16 miles, as opposed to the Rebel’s 1 1/16 – and potential for a “kinder” pace setup as factors in shipping him south.
“That was the plan to give him another week,” Cox said after winning the Louisiana Derby. “This was more ground which we thought he would enjoy and thought he could establish the lead here. We did some homework on the race to see who was going to be running.
“You try to put together a game plan and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. In horse racing a lot of time it doesn’t. But this time it did.”
Able to settle in after securing the lead, Wells Bayou held his opponents at bay through opening fractions of 23.56, 48 flat and 1:12.42 as they rounded into the far turn. Geroux waited to put him under a ride, and by then there was enough left in the tank to repel all comers.
The final time was 1:56.47.
“He’s very great leaving the gate,” Geroux said. “He stands there perfectly and then breaks super sharp. After that when he makes the lead he relaxes very nicely. We took a few breathers around the turn and then when you turn down the lane, he doesn’t lose his gear.”
Despite the elongated configuration, Ny Traffic, who followed Wells Bayou most of the way, ran second with Risen Star (G2) hero Modernist overcoming the outside post in a field of 14 to finish third. Major Fed was fourth in a race where the morning line favorite Enforceable missed the board.
Away at 3-1, Wells Bayou returned $8.40 to win and gave Cox a sweep of the final three races at Fair Grounds. Previously, Factor This upset in the Muniz Memorial (G2) on turf and Bonny South won the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) – the latter also coming with Geroux aboard.
“Well now he is riding the first Saturday in September so it’s a long way away and many things can happen,” Geroux said. “I am just hoping he comes back healthy and adjusts and goes from there. But we are going to enjoy those two very nice victories today.”
Ny Traffic, a Cross Traffic colt from the Saffie Joseph Jr. barn, improved off a third-place run Feb. 15 behind Modernist and Major Fed in the second division of the Risen Star. He’s got 50 points now on the Road to the 2020 Kentucky Derby, tied for fourth-most.
“The last couple races he really stepped up to the plate and the horse is just getting good,” Ny Traffic jockey Joe Bravo said. “The thing that makes him so good is that he listens. He broke great, put him in front, he relaxed off the other horse. He turned for home and my horse did not want to lay up.
“We are not fortune tellers, the horse is getting good and the sky is the limit.”
The Bill Mott trainee Modernist picked up 20 points Saturday, putting him alone in second place on the Derby leaderboard with 70. The son of Uncle Mo went off in the Louisiana Derby as a 12-1 shot despite his Risen Star triumph.
Major Fed notched another 10 points Saturday and now sits 12th on the Derby leaderboard with 30. The Ghostzapper colt from the Greg Foley barn could have more opportunities this summer to gain entry into the Kentucky Derby starting gates.
“He ran awesome,” said Travis Foley, assistant to his father. “I thought we would be fifth or sixth. He got left and I don’t know how he ended up where he did. It is kind of unexplainable as far as the trip we had. He was rolling and ran awesome. I think we ran the best horse.”