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

A small field of five will head to the starting gate for the 19th running of the American Derby, a race that has probably seen better days but can still give us an entertaining race. It first appeared on the calendar in 2005 as a Grade 2, and saw its purse get as high as $300.000 for a couple years. In 2012, the race would be downgraded to a Grade 3, and then in 2020 it lost its graded classification altogether. This is one of those races that was held at AP up until last year. That race was won by Oh Brother, for Rampage Stable, in what was also a smaller field. The gelding remains active, and was recently sold in the auction for $45.010 to Spankys Barn. Let’s take a look at those that are taking part.

#1- Five Shot Party (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by C J Hernandez)- When I saw this one last month for the Grade 2 Audobon, I’m sure I said something to extent of wanting to see him prove that he belongs in this type of race, especially considering that he is still a maiden. Five Shot Party would run very well in the Audobon, almost going wire to wire before he was caught in the final strides. This is pretty much the same race, just a little shorter and with a different cast of characters to go up against. Why break your maiden conventionally when you can do so for $225.000?

#2- Duke Of Satire (Nakamura Stables, ridden by L Saez)- Last year, he ran second in the always very difficult Grade 1 Summer Stakes, and a couple of starts later, he finished in that same spot at the BC Juvenile Turf. As a three-year-old, he was moved to the main track, pursuing TC preps, and that did not go well. Finally, in his last start, Duke Of Satire was very excited to be running on grass again (even if it was soft) and would win an FL-bred N1X allowance. He’s run well before on the grass, and it will be good to have the confidence booster from the last race.

#3- Chrystal Chai (Alydar Stables, ridden by J Loveberry)- Relatively lightly raced, with just six career starts and he has never failed to collect some portion of the purse for his trainer. This would include in April at KEE for the $250.000 Palisades Turf Sprint where he ran second, and then placed third in the Grade 2 PEN Mile. Now, before you look too favorably on that, do consider that he was still beaten by four lengths in that race. Others in here are working a little bit better than he is at a mile, so Chrystal Chai must be at his best here.

#4- Zakouski One (Smokey Stover, ridden by A Beschizza)- Another horse that is lightly raced to this point, having made just five starts. Two of them are victories, including his last race where he won an allowance up at WO at nine furlongs. That effort will earn him his stake debut, and if the trainer was having any second thoughts about this, they would have been erased with an outstanding work at BEL before heading here.

#5- Visionaire (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- It took this one a little while to break his maiden, and unlike Maxmillion Farm with Five Shot Party, prior trainer Fractious kept him in maidens until he did so. Once he did get that first win, he was put in a claimer, where Mb Stables put in the $45.000 to pick him up. He would win on debut in his new silks, and that would send him to his first stake race, the $150.000 Snow Chief for CA-bred, where he was a strong third. Those races were also the first time that he was given Lasix, and if he did just need a little something more, that may have been it.

Prediction: 1-4-5-3

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded