Derby News

The Tampa Bay Derby (GIII) promised to be a match-up between Street Sense and Any Given Saturday, two of the early favorites for the Kentucky Derby.  Those colts delivered on Saturday with a thrilling duel that lasted the length of the stretch and ended with a tense photo finish that gave Street Sense the slimmest of victories.

    The early stages of the race seemed inconsequential as longshot All I Can Get was allowed to dictate the early pace with fellow longshot Most Distinguished tracking a clear second.  It was another couple lengths back to Any Given Saturday and another few back to Street Sense in the strung out field of seven.  Both of the favorites made big moves coming into the stretch as Any Given Saturday swung three-wide coming into the lane and Street Sense made yet another bold move along the rail, reminiscent of the path he took to victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.  Street Sense gained the lead at the top of the lane and looked to be going slightly better than his rival.  Any Given Saturday was not finished and set his sights on the champion and continued to make up ground in the stretch.  The two hit the wire just inches part and stopped the clock in 1:43.11.  It took a photo finish to colt that had just broken the track record for the 1 1/16-mile distance was Street Sense.

    Street Sense, ridden by Calvin Borel, paid $4.40, $2.40, and $2.10 as the 6-5 second choice.  Any Given Saturday, piloted by John Velazquez, finished 6 ¼-lengths clear of third and paid $2.20 and $2.10 as the 3-5 favorite.  Delightful Kiss closed from last to snag third and paid $2.10. 

    Other than the two favorites, all contestants in the $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby went off at odds of over 20-1.  Most Distinguished finished fourth and was followed under the wire by All I Can Get, Optimistic Steve, and Lisselan Muse.

    The win marked a successful return to racing action by Street Sense, last year's champion 2-year-old who had not started since a record-breaking 10-length win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.  Owner James Tafel and trainer Carl Nafzger clearly hope that a return to that track is in the making for their sophomore star that is likely to have one more prep before that race.  With only two starts this season Street Sense will be bucking history.  The last horse to win the Kentucky Derby after just two seasonal preps was Sunny's Halo back in 1983; before that it goes back to Jet Pilot in 1947.

    Any Given Saturday's connections clearly have their sights set on the Kentucky Derby as well after their colt's big effort.  Owned by Winstar Farm LLC & Padua Stables and trained by Todd Pletcher, Any Given Saturday will also likely have one more prep before heading to Churchill Downs.  Padua Stables captured the Rebel (GIII) at Oaklawn Park later that day; Todd Pletcher continues to have a stable full of Kentucky Derby prospects.  The next start for Any Given Saturday will likely depend on how his connections will keep him from running into other stars in the stable.

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