3/23/2019
Race Round-Up: (R13) Gr. II Louisiana Derby (3yr M, 1-1/8 Mile Dirt, $1,000,000)
Track Condition: Fast
Final Time: 1:49.53
By My Standards punched his ticket to Kentucky Derby 2019 by besting a field of 11 at the Fair Grounds on Saturday. The son of Goldencents now sits atop the leaderboard with 100 qualifying points and barring any setbacks will be one of the 20 starters come May 4th.
Check out Today's Racing Digest for handicapping products, analysis, and more! By My Standards capture above courtesy of Today's Racing Digest.
The top four finishers of the race were By My Standards, Spinoff, Sueno, and Country House with each runner earning 100, 40, 20 and 10 points respectively. This was a key race for the quartet as each may have enough qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. Spinoff sits in 8th place with 40 points, Country House at 11th with 30, and Sueno in 12th with 28. At this point, there are 10 Kentucky Derby prep races left with three of them happening overseas.
Let’s look at the race round up for Saturday’s Gr. II Louisiana Derby:
#1 – By My Standards: Has steadily improved in his four career starts and broke through the graded stakes ranks with a rail hugging victory on Saturday. After a clean break, By My Standards sat in third, just off Sueno’s flank entering the first turn. Moving into the backstretch, Saez moved towards the rail where he sat for most of the race until the stretch drive. Down the lane, Saez shifted slightly off the fence to get by front runner Lemniscate, then moved back towards the rail where he finished about a length in front of second place finisher Spinoff. The fractions of the race were run in (23.63), (47.68), (1:11.54), (1:36.84) and they finished up in 1:49.53. By My Standards is by Goldencents out of a Muqtarib mare, A Jealous Women. Goldencents was a two-time BC Mile winner but did compete in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness back in 2013. He finished 17th and 5th in those races but later went on to be a force in races 8F or under. By My Standards dam, A Jealous Women was a turf horse with most of her wins coming at 8F and shorter as well. Even though he ran nicely on Saturday, I am suspect this horse wants to go 10F.
#2 – Spinoff: Was slightly bumped leaving the gate from post 10 but gathered himself nicely to end up in third after the first turn. He was never further back than a couple lengths from the front runners and had a clean trip overall. Entering the turn for home, Spinoff switched leads nicely and soon took over the lead from Sueno. He later relinquished the lead to By My Standards who came under a strong right-handed whip from Gabriel Saez. Given this was only his second start of 2019, coming up a bit short was reasonable. Spinoff is the son of Hard Spun who ran in all three classic races back in 2007 finishing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively. Spinoff’s dam, Zaftig was a miler at heart but I do think this can get the 10F distance.
#3 – Sueno: Kept his on-the-board streak alive with a respectable third place finish in which he finished about five lengths back of the top two. Like Spinoff, this one had a clean trip and was in good position throughout but ultimately could not keep up with Spinoff or By My Standards down the stretch. Sueno sat in second behind Lemniscate for most of the race until the leader began to retreat just before the turn for home. He briefly had the lead but was quickly taken over by Spinoff and finished a distant third. The fast start to Sueno’s career does not surprise me as both of his parents started off in strong fashion but neither raced past their three-year-old season. I think this distance is about as far as he wants to go.
#4 – Country House: After another slow start, Country House had to go three-wide entering the first turn and eventually settled in ninth entering the backstretch. The Chestnut colt made a six-wide move entering the stretch and it looked like he was going to make some noise, but he flattened out to finish fourth, about six lengths off the winner. He did improve from a visual standpoint as he was not weaving down the stretch like he did in the Risen Star, but he still must improve to compete with the top of this crop. Country House is by Lookin At Lucky by a War Chant mare named Quake Lake. Lookin At Lucky won several stakes throughout his career including the 2010 Preakness, Haskell and Indian Derby. He finished his career with a fourth-place finish in the BC Classic. Quake lake won twice in her career with both coming in 6F sprints over the synthetic surface. He should be able to go longer, and I imagine he’ll continue to improve as the year goes on.
#5 – Mr. Money: Had a solid start and ended up in fifth after the first turn. Kept in the three-path down the backstretch, Mr. Money raced behind Spinoff and next to War of Will until making a five wide move entering the final turn. Country House was right alongside him at the point and he essentially had no where to go from there. He did show some fight to get into fifth as he just edged out Roiland. Given he missed the LeComte with a sickness it will be interesting to see what Calhoun does from here as there is enough time for another prep should he feel the colt can improve from this start.
#6 – Roiland: Was a little slow out of the gate but that was a given considering his past performances. Most of the horses were off the rail entering the first turn so the fence was wide open leaving Roiland to settle in seventh. He essentially followed By My Standards up the rail for most of the race and later flattened out down the lane, just getting nipped for fifth by Mr. Money.
#7 – Bankit: Took a weird step out of the gate and ended up in last entering the first turn. He was about 10 lengths off the pace setters for much of the backstretch when he began to inch closer before the final turn. At the top of the stretch, the group was compact and Oritz had no where to go but wide. He passed a few horses down the lane but he ultimately looks like a sprinter in my eyes.
#8 – Hog Creek Hustle: Slightly bumped Spinoff out of the gate but I don’t think it was very detrimental to either horse. Since Spinoff scooted off towards the front, Hog Creek Hustle was able to make his way towards the rail and sat to the outside of Roiland entering the backstretch. Country House joined him to his right and Hog Creek Hustle was up against it at that point. Mena shifted the horse towards the fence down the lane but there was no where to go at that point, and he finished three-quarters of a length in front of War of Will.
#9 – War of Will: The post time favorite had a troubled start as you can see his hind legs dip about three jumps after the break. According to various sources, the son of War Front suffered a strained patellar ligament which was the likely cause of his dull performance. He would regain his stride and eventually settled in sixth down the backstretch. Racing between horses for the remainder of the contest, War of Will had little to give down the lane and retreated to finish in 9th out of the 11-horse field. One never wants to see a setback on the Derby trail but there is six weeks until the big race. Casse thinks he should be able to get him back into form, but I would not be surprised to see him skip the Derby.
#10 – Limonite: Broke slow for Jose Ortiz and settled towards the rear entering the first turn. On the backstretch, the son of Lemon Drop Kid raced in the two-path before going wide entering the stretch. This one had little to give down the lane and ended up getting beaten by 11 plus lengths. I would not be surprised to see Asmussen take one more shot with this guy as this was only his second start of the year.
#11 – Lemniscate: Had a sharp break and went on to set the pace during the early stages. Sueno was close throughout and as they entered the turn for home, Lemniscate began to retreat and ended up last of the 11-horse field. Would imagine the connections move him back to the grass after this effort.
About Josh:
Originally from Upstate New York, Josh (also referred to as Dr. Atlas in racing circles) has been a long time follower and supporter of the "Sport of Kings".
Mr. Chicorelli worked for Horse Racing Nation and DerbyWars from 2011-2013 and has been a local at the Saratoga Race Course for over a decade. In his spare time, Josh writes handicapping articles and has worked part-time for the NYRA Bets Squad over the past two years.
Josh received his BS in New Media Marketing from RIT in 2011 and recently completed his Masters in Business Administration from RPI (May 2018).
No comments:
Post a Comment