Derby News

Scat Daddy once again proved to his skeptics that he is a serious contender for the Kentucky Derby with an emphatic 1 ¼-length victory over Notional in the $1,000,000 Florida Derby (Grade 1) at Gulfstream Park.

The 3-year-old son of Johannesburg covered the 1 1/8-mile distance under Edgar Prado in 1:49.00 and paid $6.40, $3.40, and $2.80.  Notional, ridden by Robby Albarado, closed to finish second and paid $4.20 and $3.  Chelokee, given a rough ride by new jockey Ramon Dominguez, finished a tough luck third and paid $3.80.

As expected, the early pace was dictated by Stormello, who tore through fast fractions of :23.05 for the first quarter-mile and :46.78 for the first half-mile.  He held an unchallenged lead over Adore the Gold, who tracked in second, clicking off six furlongs in  1:10.82.  Scat Daddy tracked contently in third on the outside with Chelokee tucked in fourth along the rail.  Stormello began to retreat entering the stretch as Scat Daddy struck the front.  Ramon Dominguez aboard Chelokee had an opening along the rail to sneak past Stormello but waited far too long to make his move and watched that hole evaporate, forcing Chelokee to check hard and veer to the outside to find a path.  By the time Chelokee had any running room, Scat Daddy had amassed an insurmountable lead and Notional had snuck by into second.  Stormello held on for the fourth place money.

Owned by James Scatuorchio & Michael Tabor and trained by Todd Pletcher, Scat Daddy won for the fifth time in eight career starts and raised his lifetime earnings to $1,334,300.  The $600,000 he earned for his victory in the Florida Derby vaults Scat Daddy into second place on the list of graded stakes money earners pointing for the Kentucky Derby.  The Florida Derby was the second Grade 1 win for Scat Daddy in addition to his tally in last year's Champagne; he becomes the only 3-year-old male to chalk up multiple Grade 1 victories.

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