Favorite Trick, North America’s 1997 Horse of the Year, was the bum of the month of May for those who bet on him in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
The last 2-year-old to be selected Horse of the Year was Secretariat in 1972, and the following year he went on to win the Kentucky Derby in record time and sweep the Triple Crown.
It’s now apparent that Favorite Trick is no Secretariat. With no excuses, the 4.40-1 second choice in the betting finished eighth in Saturday’s 15-horse race, the worst performance of his 11-race career. Never far back in the early going, he was fifth with a quarter-mile remaining in the 1 1/4-mile race. But when Favorite Trick hit the stretch, there was nothing left.
Before the race much was made of Favorite Trick’s pedigree, and the fact that the son of two sprinters seemed genetically ill-equipped to compete at the American classic distance of 1 1/4 miles.
But neither trainer Bill Mott nor jockey Pat Day was blaming heredity for the outcome.
“He got good position,” Mott said. “Pat was able to take him in hand and settle him as they went down the backstrech. He got through, but when they turned for home he came up flat. He had position to win the race, a perfect trip. He just didn’t do it.”
“As easy as he got to the three-eighths pole I thought he’d at least have carried me to the eighth-pole or thereabouts,” said Day, who has ridden Favorite Trick in all 11 of his races. “But between the three-eighths pole and the quarter pole he emptied out. When I called on him there was no response.”
The only prior blemish on Favorite Trick’s record came in his previous start, when the winner of his first nine races finished third in the Arkansas Derby, losing by a neck to Victory Gallop.
Good move: It looks like trainer Niall O’Callaghan made the right move when he decided to run Witchful Thnking in one of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby warmup acts, the Grade III $120,800 Aegon Mile on the grass, rather than Sunday’s Grade III $300,000 Sixty Sails Handicap at Sportsman’s Park.
The 4-year-old filly, who was entered in both races, won the Aegon by 1 length as the 5.40-1 third choice in the betting.
O’Callaghan ran Witchful Thinking in the Aegon instead of the Sixty Sail for two reasons: He thinks she’s a better horse on the grass than on the dirt, and he didn’t want to mess with Glitter Woman, who figures to be the heavy favorite, and defending champion Top Secret in the Sixty Sails.
For the ages: Mott, trainer of the legendary Cigar, was named to the National Thoroughbred Hall of Fame. In addition to Cigar, Mott has won Breeders’ Cup races with Theatrical, Paradise Creek and Ajina. However, Cigar will be the horse Mott is best known for training. Cigar ran off a 16-race winning streak, equaling Citation’s record.
Jockey Jacinto Vasquez was the only other human named to the Hall. Other inductees were Riva Ridge (contemporary male horse), Bayakoa (contemporary female horse) and Fort Marcy (horse of yesteryear).
Early favorite: Yes It’s True established himself as the favorite for next year’s Derby. The son of Is It True won the WHAS-11 Stakes, the first major race for 2-year-olds, and tied the track record for 5 furlongs with a time of 57 3/5 seconds. Western Dreamer ran the same time in 1995.
Pat Day rode Yes It’s True to a nose victory over over stablemate Tactical Cat, ridden by Jerry Bailey.
“It’s almost asking too much to ask these horses to be back a year from now,” trainer Wayne Lukas said of his tandem. “But this game is built on high expectations and hopes. I wish it had been a dead-heat.”