Hard Spun Wins The Race He Had To Win

Plus previews of the Florida Derby and Dubai World Cup.

A Column by Steve Davidowitz
March 28, 2007

The once–beaten Hard Spun was one more defeat away from being completely eliminated from serious consideration for the 2007 Kentucky Derby. His trainer Larry Jones looked at his lackluster fourth place finish in the $250,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on February 19 and was mystified by the weak performance. Until that moment, Jones believed he had a genuine Grade 1 colt who just might be the one to beat in the Kentucky Derby.

The post–race exam uncovered nothing physically wrong with Hard Spun. Nor did Jones find fault with the ride by Maryland–based Mario Pino, a solid journeyman jockey who Jones has supported even though Pino isn’t among the handful of American jockeys in constant demand for rich stakes mounts. So without a clear–cut reason to pin the blame, Jones did what any self–respecting trainer would do after a bad performance. He blamed it on the track.

Blaming track conditions for a poor race has been a tiresome loser’s lament since the Emperor of Rome blamed the coliseum dirt track for Spartacus’ defeat in a chariot race. In this case, however, Larry Jones thought he had seen enough of Hard Spun’s failure to handle a noticeably hard Oaklawn Park dirt racing surface in a series of training drills to believe that his prized three–year–old deserved to be tested elsewhere.

Jones shipped Hard Spun to Turfway Park where the artificial Polytrack surface has been in use for a full year with good reports from a wide range of noted horsemen, including Patrick Biancone, the transplanted French trainer who twice won Europe’s most important race—Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe—with All Along in 1983 and Sagace in 1984, before establishing his presence in America.

Todd Pletcher, a three–time American Eclipse Award–winning trainer, is also convinced that Polytrack is contributing to the welfare of many horses in his high–class shed row.

So Jones abandoned Oaklawn for Turfway Park and believed he noticed the difference in Hard Spun almost immediately. “He trained as well over this track as he had before he got to Oaklawn,” Jones said. “I’m hopeful we made the right move.”

The $500,000 Lane’s End Stakes (G2) at Turfway Park on Saturday, March 24 was the equivalent of an ’all in’ poker showdown for Jones. If Hard Spun failed to recover his very best form, goodbye Derby Dream and hello Derby Nightmare.

Breaking from a seemingly disadvantageous outer post position (10 in a field of 12 with a short run to the first turn), Hard Spun couldn’t have been more impressive. He routed his field by 3 1/4 lengths with speed to spare. This, after he pressed a wicked early pace with a first quarter mile clocked in 22.78. That was much faster than usual for a nine–furlong race in which much of the first quarter mile was contested on a tight–spinning turn.

While barely urged to exert himself, Hard Spun took complete command of the race on the second turn and opened up on the field with a strong finishing spurt that speaks well for his chances to handle longer distances.

Make no mistake, this was a top–level performance by a colt who will now be pointed for the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 14 at Keeneland (which also has Polytrack), where he is likely to meet three of the highest ranking Derby prospects in America: Street Sense, Any Given Saturday and Great Hunter, unless the trainers of that group elect at the last minute to shift gears and go for one of the other key Derby preps at Aqueduct, Santa Anita or Oaklawn Park.

Stay tuned. Things are heating up on the Triple Crown chase, with the Kentucky Derby only five and a half weeks away. Indeed, I am at Gulfstream Park for another important Derby prep this Saturday—the $1 million Florida Derby (G1).

Last year, this nine–furlong race was won by the eventual Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro. This year, Scat Daddy, Stormello, Adore The Gold, Notional and the lightly raced, rapidly improving Chelokee are among ten probable starters in a race guaranteed to identify more Derby pretenders than Derby contenders. (Please check March 7, March 14 and March 21 columns in the ’Archive’ for my analysis of these horses’ most recent races.)

Some 6,000 miles away, in the United Arab Emirates Republic, another Derby is going to be run. The $2 million UAE Derby will probably have little or no impact on the Kentucky Derby. That notwithstanding, the UAE Derby is hardly the reason why most of the racing world will be paying attention to Nad El Sheba Racecourse in the morning hours in Europe on March 31.

Among several rich stakes, the 2006 American Horse of the Year Invasor will be meeting unbeaten Discreet Cat in the $6 million Dubai World Cup on the dirt track at Nad El Sheba, where he handed Invasor his only career defeat in last year’s UAE Derby.

Due to Muslim law, no betting will be permitted in Dubai. But plenty of action will be taken throughout the civilized world on this high–profile race and several other attractive events on the annual $21 million racing extravaganza sponsored by the ruling family of Dubai, owners of the powerful Godolphin and Shadwell stables among their far–flung racing interests.

Discreet Cat may be the only horse ever to have defeated Invasor, but after missing a prep race four weeks ago, he will be a clear–cut underdog in the rematch as both horses also have to deal with Premium Tap and several world–class performers in a most compelling contest.

On the undercard, a trio of top–flight American–based horses will face a strong international cast in the $5 million Dubai Duty Free at about nine furlongs on the turf. The high–class American trio includes 2006 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Miesque’s Approval, three–time Grade 1 winner English Channel, and Lava Man, a $4 million career winner on dirt and turf, mostly in California.

In addition to Lava Man, California–based trainer Doug O’Neill has shipped Spring At Last for the $1 million Godolphin Mile on dirt, a race that has been targeted by Julio Canani for the improving Dixie Meister. Both American–based milers will have to beat last year’s UAE 2,000 Guineas winner Gold For Sale, trained by Ian Jory, an accomplished world traveler who developed Best Pal during in the early 1990s when he was based in California.

Another intriguing race on the World Cup card involves 2006 Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion Thor’s Echo, who will try to improve upon his second–place finish in last year’s $2 million Golden Shaheen at six furlongs on a straightaway dirt course. Adding to the intrigue, Thor’s Echo was purchased during the winter by Dubai’s Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum specifically to win this race. His task is complicated by the presence of five top–flight American sprinters: Nightmare Affair, Kelly’s Landing, Harvard Avenue and Todd Pletcher’s pair of Bishop Court Hill and Friendly Island.

Of these, both Friendly Island and Nightmare Affair have scores to settle, having finished second and third to Thor’s Echo in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Sprint after both were forced to rally wide while racing against the grain of the fast inside rail path that was so dominant at Churchill Downs that day.

Todd Pletcher also shipped Grade 1 winners Host and Honey Ryder for the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic at about 1 1/2 miles on the turf. Both will be longshots to handle 2006 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Red Rocks, Neil Drysdale’s promising Obrigado and the well–traveled British–based Collier Hill.

For European horseplayers hoping to get some additional insight into the present condition of the principal World Cup contenders, I suggest visiting http://blog.dubairacingclub.com, where selected workout reports for World Cup contenders are posted daily.

Steve Davidowitz has written two highly acclaimed books on Thoroughbred racing---Betting Thoroughbreds and The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing. He also is a regular contributor to Daily Racing Form's Simulcast Weekly and DRF Plus and his columns appear in the Bodog Racebook each week.