PA Derby – Grade I
1 1/8 Mile Dirt Stake Purse $1,000.000 Open 3 Year Olds.

1st Blazing Maxmillion Farm Dominguez Jo

It is a shame I cannot interview the winning trainer after the race because I would love to know whether this was a brilliant tactical decision to send this horse to the lead or whether it was a race engine decision. I am dubious to say it was instructions because the winning of this race was between the six-furlong mark and the mile when he caught them flat footed by putting the pedal down and we are told instructions only effect the first half of the race. Either way with the best horses looking like closers in this race, the horse that led the up was always going to have a chance and it worked out perfectly for this horse even though I had picked another front runner as the one likely to run this type of race. He had to go pretty hard to keep that advantage pushing the button at the right time between the halfway mark and the stretch he had them off the bit and was good enough to hold on as his lungs gave out inside the final furlong. He had just a quarter length to spare on the line but had done the job perfectly as everything else left their runs too late. I still maintain this horse is more of a BC Dirt Mile winner than a Classic winner, but it will be a nice decision to have to make for Maxmillion Farm as they head to the BC with some big scalps.

2nd Edward The Good Fractious Beschizza A

Seemed close enough in the early stages but was caught a bit flat footed by the winner as they kicked on the turn and just couldn’t make the ground up down the stretch. This was a great effort to beat the winners of two of the TC legs and he is seriously improving and could turn out to be a threat should he make the BC field.

3rd Walk Em Down Mb Stables Geroux F

The problem of closing on this engine rose its ugly head again for this brilliant three-year-old who had overcome that problem to win his last three but couldn’t today. It was the pace the winner ran between the 6 furlongs and the mile that caught him out as the early pace wasn’t strong and just when he normally starts making his run the winner sprinted into a lead that couldn’t be breached. He will lap up the Classic trip, so I don’t see this defeat as the end of the road for him and if you look at it as a tune up for the BC it was a pretty good run.

4th Good Memories Mb Stables Lezcano J

Stalked the lead as he did in the BEL but was one paced today as he struggled to keep up during the key moment in this race approaching the turn. Still an entire, I wonder if that is keeping him from concentrating at the end of his races, but he is worth too much as a stud to consider any hopeful operations, so I expect to him stay intact, certainly for now. The one thing I will say is this was a very hot race, and he was fourth beaten a couple of lengths, so it was not a bad run it just lacked the finish that he had shown in the past.

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES