OK Derby (Grade 3)- $400.000 Purse
RP- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
September 30, 2018

It was a good day for longshots at the OK Derby, as the two with the highest odds would finish 1-2 in the race. It was not designed this way, though, as The Chief, from D J C Racing Stables was 50/1 in the morning line. Someone must have placed a ton of money on him, because he went down from that, to being the post-time favorite at 2/1. This left the two Mb Stables horses on the inside as the longest shots, but they would not disappoint. In the end, it would be Pass Me By, a proven entity at this level, getting the win for Mb, making it the third straight year he has won the race. Jockey L Saez is a first time winner. Congratulations to them! The time of the victory was 1:47.91, middle of the road with the stake’s history. Here’s a look at it!

(½ Mile- :47.45)- Audioslave was rocking out at the front early for Alydar Stables, starting well from his outermost post, and initially taking a lead of about a length and a half as they approached the opening turn. Eventually, he is joined by our eventual race winner, Pass Me By, from Mb Stables, on the front end, and he eventually gained around in the turn. At the top of the backstretch, these two begin running side by side at the time they hit a half mile. Quench My Soul would stalk the leaders on the outside for Mb Stables, while his stablemate, The Judge ran to inside. They continued in an orderly 2-by-2 fashion with Splash Mountain (John Henry) and Di Farley (Gdp Inc) next, with Bad English (Maxmillion Farm) and The Chief (D J C Racing Stables) at the back. For The Chief, this was a tactical change, he is usually a front runner. I’m thinking that after this, he will be a front runner again.

(3/4 Mile)- The orderly way in which the field was running carried out for almost the entire length of the backstretch. Pass Me By still led, and as they approached the turn, began to pull away a bit. Behind him, it looked pretty much like a stock car race on a restart where no one wanted to pull out of their lane, and were content to maintain their ground. Nearing the turn, only Bad English began to move out of line as he looked for a three wide move.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Moving into the top of the stretch, Pass Me By was able to extend his lead to a length and a half and seemed to be in very good position. There was no one, quite yet, that had making an aggressive move to the front. Audioslave had dropped back to running side by side with The Judge for second. The Judge had been in this spot behind his stablemate the entire time, and had not, as of yet, looked to run with him. The third Mb runner, Quench My Soul, was starting to drop out of it. Splash Mountain, the one that seemed to look so good heading into this race moved over to the third lane, but there was no push coming from him. Bad English, now four wide, had not made further practice. Di Farley was not showing much yet, and The Chief was making the morning line oddsmaker look smart.

(Finish- 1:47.91)- In the stretch, the length that Pass Me By had gained on the field throughout the turn had been very beneficial. This allowed him to stay ahead of the wall of horses that began setting up behind him. Towards the end, The Judge became the best of the wall and made a nice run at Pass Me By for the win, but Mb Stables was not concerned, because he owned them both. From there, it’s the wall a length back, and they get scored in this order: Audioslave, Bad English, Splash Mountain, Di Farley, and Quench My Soul. Of them, Di Farley was really the best runner, he just had no where to go in the stretch (or for some reason J J Castellano waited way too long to realize the rail was available). The Chief was not even part of the wall but likely had a lot of dirt kicked up at him in the end.

About The Winner: Pass Me By, trained by Mb Stables, and ridden to victory by L Saez, is a three year old gelding by Wreaking Havoc, and is out of Keep Moving. He was bred in Florida by Mb Stables as a second quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his sixth in nine starts, his fourth stake win, and third graded win. All graded wins are Grade 3’s. His career earnings are now $595.030.

Track: Fast
Time: :47²  1:10⁴  1:35   1:47⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 2 Paid 118.40
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 2 – 8 Paid 506.30

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES