Wimbledon Hawkeye ekes out $2.78 million Nashville Derby
U.S. debutant Wimbledon Hawkeye outdueled dirt convert Burnham Square in a thrilling stretch duel to win by a head Saturday in the Grade 3, $2.78 million Nashville Derby Invitational for 3-year-olds going 1 5/16 miles at Kentucky Downs.
Drawn widest in the 12-horse field, betting favorite Wimbledon Hawkeye (2-1) traveled in fifth place under Frankie Dettori going up the backstretch on the hilly turf course.
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The Great Britain-bred colt sired by Kameko and trained by James Owen took the lead in the homestretch and was joined by Burnham Square (13-1), the Blue Grass (G1) winner who finished sixth in the Kentucky Derby, second in the Matt Winn (G3) and fifth last month in the Haskell (G1).
Burnham Square and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. had the momentum, but Dettori found another gear in Wimbledon Hawkeye, who came out ahead in the photo finish.
“He jumped decent. I managed get him in a good spot,” Dettori said. “Half the field had only run on the dirt, so I knew I had a little bit of an advantage on them. When I got to the three-eighths, I said come and catch me if you can. Because I knew I’d get the distance. And the only one to come out of the pack was Brian. He came that fast. I thought he was going to pass me. But Wimbledon Hawkeye showed great determination, and he kept on fighting to the line. I wasn’t sure. When you get that close, you don’t know.”
Wimbledon Hawkeye paid $6.54, $4.82 and $3.32. Burnham Square returned $9.82 and $7.78. Hill Road (13-1) came home third and paid $8.60. Test Score (5-2) took fourth.
The winning time was 2:03.74 on the firm turf after early fractions of 24.52, 48.04, 1:11.08, 1:33.83 and 1:58.03.
Owned by the Gredley family, Wimbledon Hawkeye came into the race with previous wins at age 2 in maiden company and in the Royal Lodge (G2) at Newmarket. Last month he finished second in a pair of graded stakes in England.
It was a particularly emotional win for Dettori.
“I lost my best friend two weeks ago in Dubai. I was thinking of quitting. It was his strength that made me carry on. He would have wanted me to carry on,” Dettori said. “And Tim Gredley’s family has been friends of mine for years. They were actually my neighbors for 20 years. So the whole thing means a lot.”
For Owen, winning was not the only thing he was experiencing in the U.S. for the first time.
“I've never been to America, let alone race,” he said. “We'll enjoy Nashville tonight.”
The Nashville Derby had a baseline purse of $2 million with up to $1.5 million more for Kentucky-breds. Because Wimbledon Hawkeye was the only entrant who was not a state-bred horse, the prize money was reduced from its maximum $3.5 million.