APBreeding, talent and opportunity aside, this horse was doing so well, Pletcher couldn’t hold her on the ground, he said. The safer, more prudent Mother Goose was three weeks away. He had to run this feline powder keg before she blew a gasket in the stall.
She stumbled, stumbled, at the start. But Velazquez was Johnny B. Cool. He gathered her, allowed her her head, positioned her where she likes to be and applied pressure ever so slightly when the moderate pace had turned glacial.
The dawdling pace hurt Hard Spun, stoutly restrained by Garrett Gomez, the regular rider of Rags To Riches, who at that point had his regular mount sitting off his right shoulder. But he wasn’t the Hard Spun of the Derby and Preakness, appearing uncomfortable over “big sandy.”
But Velazquez, regular rider for Pletcher, was now on the filly after his agent, Cordero, spoke with Greg Fox about their agreement to ride Slew’s Tizzy. And sometimes the game is about more than just money.
Fox agreed to let Velazquez out of his commitment. Gomez honored his, after he agreed to ride Hard Spun while Pletcher was still on the fence with the filly. You couldn’t make this up.
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Amazing how disparate results can produce an unforgettable Triple Crown. Who needs a sweep when one of the three winners, at any time, could produce a magical mystery tour that was the 139th Belmont and the entire series, for that matter.
But that’s how the game is supposed to work when racing people are sporting enough to try. Jolly good show, eh what?
The first of three pools of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager begins its three-day run on Friday and the bet's opening scenario is very similar to each of its opening pools since the wager was created in 1999.
It's first time that Classic will be broadcast in primetime on Nov. 3.
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INTERACTIVE |
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Derby celebs Plenty of stars from the entertainment and sports world attend the 136th Kentucky Derby. more photos |
INTERACTIVE |
Triple Crown winners The horses that have won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in the same year. |