The Road to the Kentucky Derby: Pletcher comes to the party

USA / Mike Joyce / 11 March 2010 / Leave a comment

Todd Pletcher has another wonder horse in his yard

Todd Pletcher's Super Saver starts his Derby campaign in Tampa and Mike Joyce intends to back his 'buzz' horse

"Super Saver’s got the pedigree, the class and the connections, and the word is that he’s been working like a machine in the mornings. I’d love to try to beat him, but I don’t know if I can. Take any price. It will look like easy money after the race."

I hope you didn't do what I did this past week and try to beat Awesome Act in The Gotham. He had every reason to lose. He only had three days at Aqueduct. He'd never run on dirt. It was his first start of the year. It was his first race beyond a mile. The weather in New York is miserable this time of year. Surely [3.5] was much too short a price for this chestnut colt?

Apparently not. He won with such ease that, despite the lack of competition in this race, he is now widely considered a top-10 Derby prospect. In the final turn he passed almost the entire field, jockey Julien Leparoux barely giving Awesome Act his head while his rivals were under a furious drive. He opened up in the stretch briefly, but Julien geared him down again and the colt loped to an easy length victory. Next stop: The Wood Memorial on April 3.

As for the Sham Stakes this past Saturday at Santa Anita, Alphie's Bet upset a marginal field of Derby hopefuls to further muddle an already muddled field of Derby prospects in California. The lack of a standout in the west coast prep races this year makes the San Felipe at Santa Anita a wide open affair this weekend.

The top-three finishers from the Robert B. Lewis Memorial Stakes will all be back in action, and even though winner Caracortado in perfect in five starts, he's still looking to legitimize his status as a Kentucky Derby prospect. The field also includes the third place finisher from the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Interactif. He could only muster a second place finish in his lone start this year against allowance foes at Gulfstream Park and he will be making his first start on a synthetic surface in the San Felipe.

But after Awesome Act's performance last weekend Interactif demands respect and I'm not letting a horse coming out of the Breeders' Cup beat me two weeks in a row.

The most anticipated prep race this weekend, perhaps the most anticipated prep race so far this year is the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Champion two-year-old Lookin At Lucky makes his 2010 debut against an old foe in Noble's Promise. They were second and third respectively in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and this will be their first start since Lookin At Lucky defeated Noble's Promise in the Cash Call Futurity in what turned out to be a race for the Eclipse award.

They'll both have their hands full with D. Wayne Lukas' late running Dublin who was an impressive second in the Southwest Stakes over this same racetrack. But the bet for me is going to be Uh Oh Bango. He was a forwardly placed second in the Delta Jackpot in his last race as a 2yo, and the winner of that race, Rule, came back to win Sam F. Davis earlier this year.

Schoolyard Dreams and Uptowncharlybrown, the second and third place finishers from the Sam F. Davis are back at Tampa Bay Downs for the Tampa Bay Derby. They'll be facing the "buzz" horse of the Todd Pletcher stable in Super Saver. Another superiorly talented horse making his 3yo debut, Super Saver has stolen the marquee from his six rivals despite the fact that he's the only horse in the field that hasn't raced yet this year.

He's got the pedigree, the class and the connections, and the word is that he's been working like a machine in the mornings. I'd love to try to beat him, but I don't know if I can. Take any price. It will look like easy money after the race.