St. Louis Derby- $250.000 Purse
FP- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
August 20, 2022
It’s not very often that we get to cover a race from FP here in the SRF, but the St. Louis Derby is one of the highlights of the year from this Midwestern track. This is an ungraded stake, and it is only the second time that it has been run. In 2021, it also ran for a $250.000 purse, and would see Evergreen come away with the victory for Mb Stables. Until a win here a couple weeks ago in a $14.000 allowance, that had been the last time that the horse who once finished in a dead heat with Howl of The Hound in the Risen Star had won a race. That trainer does not have an entry in this race. We will have a field of seven going this year, up from five from with the inaugural version. Let’s meet the field!
#1- Hold My Beer (Mojica Racing, ridden by J J Castellano)- This gelding has been coming along gradually, and has been the subject of a couple of small transactions. Since arriving with Mojica, Hold My Beer has run well, showing signs of his potential at TAM before heading to CD over the spring, and getting one win in two starts there. Most recently was second at PID, and has hit the board in all five starts with Mojica. Now, he faces his toughest test.
#2- Croton Road (Invicta Group Llc, ridden by J Bravo)- Prior trainer Fractious thought highly of this horse from the start, running him in the Best Pal after winning his debut, but that would set off a string of eight races in a row of failing to hit the board, most being at the stake level. In his last race, he was dropped into a $22.000 claimer, where he was picked up by Invicta Group Llc. Now, it’s back into stakes as they race together for the first time.
#3- Creepy Joes Coup (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by M J Sanchez)- This colt by Creepy Time took a while to break his maiden, needing eight races to do so, coming at PIM. He would rest for about two months afterwards, and when he returned, he would run at SAR in a $103.000 allowance, but struggled. The trainer is obviously not deterred by running him here but it might take a bit of coup to get win in this one.
#4- Perfect Mambo (Nakamura Stables, ridden by Ci Murphy)- Broke his maiden cheaply during his second start, and $8.000 maiden claimer at TAM but after following that up with another victory, that being a statebred allowance, the trainer started having more confidence in him. At this point, we can’t call it a success story, because he hasn’t hit the board in a stake yet. He’s working well, though.
#5- Justice Is Coming (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by A Beschizza)- In February, Justice Is Coming broke his maiden in his fifth start at TAM. That’s all good, but every other race line, out his nine, is quite poor. Several of those were high placement, but this is much more than what he had been running in before. Obviously the trainer sees something privately, but I’ll need to see it on the track.
#6- Uranus (Smokey Stover, ridden by E T Baird)- If there is an “Evergreen” in this race, in regards to having run in a TC race. That’s about all the can be said about it, though, as he was fourteen lengths back in the BEL. He was at his peak in the late winter, winning the Grade 3 Lewis Stakes, then running second in the San Felipe. Then it got bad, but in his last race he was second in the Grade 3 Dwyer, giving the trainer hope for a resurgence.
#7- Prince Ferro (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by R E Eramia)- This is another horse that took a while to break his maiden, needing six starts to do so. That came in April, and while it is still his only win, he’s been a lot better since. He finished second in a $127.000 allowance at CD in June, and then was a respectable fourth in the Curlin at SAR a few weeks ago. Might be the safest pick in this field.
Prediction: 7-1-4-6
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
