American Derby ($225.000 Purse)
CD- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
July 1, 2023

After finishing either first or second in his four races since being gelded, Zakouski One had a chance to make his stake debut on Saturday in the American Derby. There would be steady rain at CD, and that would leave the turf course as a yielding surface, but it would not stop Zakouski One from being able to step up and defeat four rivals to win his first stake race. The gelding is trained by Smokey Stover, and for that trainer, it is their first American Derby victory. Jockey A Beschizza also takes home the race’s trophy for the first time. Congratulations to them! The race was run in a time of 1:43.04, which can’t be compared to other times due to being on the yielding surface as well as only being at CD for the second time. Here’s a look at how it happened!

(1/4 Mile- :23.90)- The race starts off with our eventual winner, Smokey Stover’s Zakouski One battling with Maxmillion Farm’s Five Shot Party for the race lead down the front stretch the first time and into the opening turn. They are even with one another at this point, and trying to stay with them is Duke Of Satire, for Nakamura Stables, and he is a length back here. Further back, we have Visionaire (Mb Stables), who is a length ahead of the post-time favorite, Chrystal Chai (Alydar Stables).

(1/2 Mile- :47.78)- Around the turn, and midway into the backstretch, nothing changes with our top two horses. They go back and forth with the lead, with Zakouski One looking like he may take the lead when the backstretch run began, but at that point, Five Shot Party was a little better, and has a head in front. Duke Of Satire is no longer able to run close to them and drops about a length and half back. That’s still ahead of both Visionaire and Chrystal Chai, as neither of them has done much yet.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- At the top of the final turn, we begin to see Zakouski One trying to pull ahead of Five Shot Party, and he will have success in doing this, pulling further ahead before entering the stretch with a lead of a little more than a length. No one else was making a move, so for the moment, Zakouski One was looking very good. Would it be a relaxing stretch run for him, or would a new challenger suddenly emerge with a great late bid?

(Finish- 1:43.04)- There would be no stretch drama in the American Derby. Once Zakouski One made the pass of Five Shot Party within the turn, the race was pretty much in the bag. All he had to do was maintain his stride, and he would accomplish that, going on to get a win of two and a half lengths. Five Shot Party gets another second place on his record, but ran out of gas in the stretch, and was nearly passed by Visionaire. Chrystal Chai and Duke Of Satire get the final spots.

About The Winner- Zakouski One, trained by Smokey Stover and ridden to victory by A Beschizza, is a three-year-old gelding by Zakouski, and is out of Harsh Mistress. He was bred in Ontario by Smokey Stover as a second quarter two-year-old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! It is his third win in six starts, and his first stake win. His career earnings are now $254.480.

Track: Yielding
Time: :23⁴  :47³  1:12   1:43

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 4 – 1 Paid 10.60
$1 Trifecta: 4 – 1 – 5 Paid 31.90

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded