John Asher's Derby Update (Feb. 11th)

TOP STORIES:

•   SCORCHING RALLY LIFTS PYRO IN RISEN STAR

•   GEORGIE BOY SHARP IN RETURN FROM SHELF

•  SURPRISE IN TURF PARADISE DERBY

•   HALO NAJIB IN MONDAY’S OBS CHAMPIONSHIP

SOUTH/PYRO SCORES STAKES BREAKTHROUGH IN RISEN STAR – There were many attempts over the weekend to find the perfect words to describe the winning rally by Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Pyro in Saturday’s $300,000 Risen Star Stakes (Grade III) at New Orleans’ Fair Grounds.

But the reaction uttered most often was economical and to the point.  It was simply this: “Wow!

The Steve Asmussen-trained son of Pulpit, runner-up to unbeaten champion War Pass in last fall’s Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI), stamped himself as one of the major hopes for the 134th renewal of the $2 million guaranteed Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (GI) with his dazzling victory in the Risen Star. 

Last in the field of 11 3-year-olds at the head of the stretch and eighth with only an eighth of a mile to run, Pyro unleashed a powerful late charge under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan to win by two lengths over Lecomte Stakes (GIII) winner Z Fortune, his Asmussen-trained stablemate.  Visionaire finished third.

Despite a slow pace set by Rich Young Ruler, Pyro completed his surge with a winning time of 1:44.68 for 1 1/16 miles, which included a clocking by press box observers of his final quarter-mile in a sizzling :22.60.

“He’s a tremendous horse,” said Asmussen.  “How good is he?  He’s good enough to do what we just watched.”

“I was very patient,” said Bridgmohan.  “I was just looking for some daylight.  When I got it, he gave it to me.

The victory was the second in five races for Pyro and his first in a stakes race.  He had chased War Pass in his last three starts, including runner-up finishes in the Champagne (GI) and the Breeders’ Cup.  Assistant trainer Scott Blasi said on Sunday that both Pyro and Z Fortune came out of the race well.  He said that Pyro’s next start would likely come in the $600,000 Louisiana Derby (GII) on March 8 at Fair Grounds, but Z Fortune could ship out of town for another race rather than face his talented stablemate again.

The victory was impressive enough to vault Pyro past War Pass into first place in the weekly poll of Kentucky Derby 134 contenders published in the Louisville Courier-Journal. 

WEST/GEORGIE BOY RETURNS IN STYLE WITH SAN VICENTE WIN – George Schwary’s Georgie Boy had been away from the races for five months, but showed no signs of rust from that extended vacation when he launched a strong stretch rally and rolled to a 3 ¼-length victory over favored Into Mischief in a battle of Grade I stakes winners in Sunday’s $150,000-added San Vicente (GII) at Santa Anita.Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, the winner of the Del Mar Futurity (GI) in his most recent start covered seven furlongs in 1:20.01 over the track’s reworked Cushion Track surface.  Into Mischief was running for the first time since his victory in the CashCall Futurity (GI) in December at Hollywood Park.  Massive Drama was another length back in third.

 
Georgie Boy benefited from a pace duel that matched Into Mischief and Massive Drama and rolled past that duo in mid-stretch.  Trainer Kathy Walsh said that she gave Georgie Boy the time off strictly to freshen him for his 3-year-old campaign, but feared in the early going of the San Vicente that the gelded son of Tribal Rule could be a little too fresh.

“He was a little upset today,” said Walsh.  “He was a little rank the first quarter-mile, then he settled… he seems to always run better from off the pace.”

The 67-year-old Walsh would not commit to a Kentucky Derby campaign for Georgie Boy.  Her only previous Derby starter was the Irish-bred Hanuman Highway, who finished seventh behind Real Quiet in 1998.  Schwary, a 75-year-old retired appliance dealer from San Fernando, Calif., also declined to rush into any talk about the big race at Churchill Downs. 

“I don't want to jinx myself, but this is my first shot,” said Schwary. 

Walsh was unsure of the next race for Georgie Boy, who improved his career record to 3-2-1 in six races.  Trainer Richard Mandella said the next start for runner-up Into Mischief would likely come in the $200,000 San Felipe (GII) at Santa Anita on March 15.

TURF PARADISE DERBY – California invader Nikki’sgoldentsteed contributed to a happy 10th wedding anniversary for jockey Jon Court as he rolled to a 5 ¼-length win in Saturday’s Turf Paradise Derby at Turf Paradise in Phoenix.  Favored Ez Dreamer rallied for second as the winner covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.81 over a “fast” track.  

Court also won the Turf Paradise Oaks aboard California invader Briecat.

SOUTHEAST/CHAMPION WAR PASS WORKS – Robert LaPenta’s War Pass, the reigning 2-year-old champion and winner of the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI), continued to work toward a return to competition with a four-furlong breeze at Florida’s Palm Meadows Training Center on Saturday.

The son of Cherokee Run covered the distance in :47.60, the fastest half-mile move of the day over the surface.  The Nick Zito-trained colt is expected to take his first major step on the road to Kentucky Derby 134 in an allowance race later this month at Gulfstream Park. The work was the fourth for War Pass since he returned to serious training.

Meanwhile, a Sunday allowance race at Gulfstream that included a pair of highly regarded rising stars and possible Kentucky Derby contenders yielded a surprising result.   While pre-race attention was focused the Zito-trained Bordeaux Bandit and the Barclay Tagg-trained Jockey Ridge, the touted duo proved to be no match for Hey Byrn, who romped to a 14 ½-length win in the one-mile race.  Bordeaux Bandit finished second and Jockey Ridge was third.  

The Eddie Plesa, Jr.-trained son of Put It Back is not nominated to the Triple Crown. 

DARLEY-OBS CHAMPIONSHIPS SET FOR MONDAY – The Dale Romans-trained Halo Najib, runner-up in the Iroquois (GIII) at Churchill Downs, heads a field of 3-year-olds in the $150,000 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Championship on Monday at Florida’s Ocala Training Center.  The race is one of a series of stakes races on Darley-OBS Championships Day that are restricted to horses that passed through the auction ring at the Florida sales facility.

Other contenders in the 1 1/16-mile race include stakes winners Dynochracy and Ghostly Thunder.  Another horse of interest is Globalization, last in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in his most recent start.

DERBY 134 NOTES – Scoring begins Saturday, Feb. 9, in Churchill Downs “Road to the Roses” Fantasy Challenge, a free online contest that allows Kentucky Derby fans to manage a stable of contenders for the “Run for the Roses.”  The game’s grand prize is a VIP trip for two to Kentucky Derby 135 in 2009.  Registration is underway at www.roadtotheroses.com. …A clerical error has resulted in the addition of one horse to the roster of nominees to the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown.  Dream Maker Thoroughbreds’ Ode’s Tribute was inadvertently left off the original list and raises the early nomination total to 449, one fewer the record established last year.  … The Richard Mandella-trained Dixie Chatter, winner of the Grade I Norfolk, is nearing his return to serious training, but is a longshot to be ready for Derby 134.  He was sidelined by an ankle injury and Mandella said he is about 10 days from his first workout.  “He’s back in good shape, but we missed six weeks with him,” Mandella said of Dixie Chatter’s Kentucky Derby hopes.  “If he comes along and everything was to go absolutely perfect, we won’t hold him back from it.  But we’re not going to push him just to try and make it.”