Sorting A Derby Without War Pass
Proud Spell, Eight Belles Possible; Pletcher Gets Monba, Cowboy Cal
Apr 20, 2008
Last season presented a fairly clear picture by the time the first Saturday in May arrived, but this year the reigning No.1, War Pass, is gone before he can Run for the Roses, two fillies, Eight Belles and Proud Spell, are qualified, Eclipse Award winning trainer Todd Pletcher got two qualifiers on Apr.12, and the outcome for the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby is a muddied guessing game verson of musical horses and jockeys.
Pletcher had zero qualifiers on the Derby Trail; then he had two -- Monba and Cowboy Cal -- plus one other winner in the final prep week, Behindatthebar, who snatched the Coolmore Lexington Stakes Saturday at Keeneland Race Course.
Curlin's trainer, Steve Asmussen, had Pyro blasting to wins one by one on the Derby trail; then he had a mystery Pyro finishing 10th in a Toyota Blue Grass field of 12. The 1-2 winner and runner-up were none other than Pletcher's Monba and Cowboy Cal, both suddenly Derby qualified.
Trainer Nick Zito had perhaps the most crushing disappointment of all. His fine 2007 Juvenile Champion, War Pass, bombed in the Tampa Bay Derby Mar.12, staggering last under the wire after running a fever the week before the race. Zito sent War Pass to the Wood Memorial Apr.5. There the young champion struggled mightily to hold his stretch lead, but was knocked out by Tale of Ekati's tough as leather challenge in the final furlong.
Then came the disastrous news this weekend. War Pass had sustained a fracture at the sesamoid bone in his left front ankle. A few days after the Wood, the colt's behavior became suspicious and an ensuing x-ray revealed the damage.
The Kentucky Derby was out of the question for the bright young champion who had dominated the spring season's Derby push.
Pyro, the thin, sits atop the list of graded stakes earnings necessary to qualify for the Derby. Only the first twenty highest graded stakes earners will enter the starting gate as they choose at historic Churchill Downs. Can Pyro regroup to wear roses?
Will it be the Pletcher colts who prevail? Or, can Big Brown, the Florida Derby phenom, run to another profound victory in the crowded Derby field? Will Tale of Ekati, the colt who ground down War Pass, get up for the Derby challenge?
Will the good son of Tiznow, Colonel John, take to the Churchill course dirt after triumphs on synthetic surfaces? Could Recapturetheglory repeat War Emblem's success by wiring the field as they both did in the Illinois Derby?
Will California boy, Gayego, catch up to his own speed, as he almost did in the Arkansas Derby? Could Smooth Air, or Court Vision take the next step from improvement to greatness? How good is Visionaire?
How about Cool Coal Man, Mineshaft's son? Is he Zito's best War Pass redemption?
A filly?
Don't forget Adriano. The son of the great A.P. Indy is Edgar Prado's choice. Can they beat the odds?
Could there be any more mystery?
