The AR Derby (Grade 1) (KYD)- $1,000.000 Purse
OP- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
April 10, 2021
The AR Derby represented the final chance for trainers to get a horse into the KYD. As many prepared for their last minute runs, Mb Stables was here to win a race with a $1,000.000 purse. The trainer has had an outstanding prep race campaign, and will go to CD on the first of May with three great horses. We don’t know which ones those will be yet, since he has five horses in the top 11, and can only pick three of them. One of those horses is Power Walk, a filly, who earned the win here in the AR Derby, stealing some of the thunder from Viral Breakdown. Interestingly, there are three fillies in the top 18 of the leaderboard. This would make Mrs Bombastic proud, as she was also an AR Derby winner. Where will Power Walk go after this? What kind of action will we see in private sales, if any, over the next couple weeks? For as clear as the leaderboard is with its top 20 right now, there are still questions to be answered off the track as to who our runners will be. Congratulations to Mb Stables with Power Walk here, earning his third win in the stake. E Jaramillo was aboard for this first win. The race was run in 1:48.03, the second fastest in its history.
(½ Mile- :47.64)- From the outside, Crack Stone starts real well for Mb Stables and claims the early lead. He would have some company at the front in the form of John Henry’s Turbocharged, but after half a mile, he would lead him by a length. Stalking the top two were a group of four that saw two horses by Fractious, Resident Fox and Greatest Game running the middle of it. To their inside, would be our eventual winner, Power Walk, as the filly held her line along the rail. In the fourth lane here was War Chant, out of Aer Stables. Sacred Order, from Alydar Stables, started to become more interested in running with this group of four as well as we got closer to the half mile and would be one to keep an eye on in the backstretch. Agassi (Mo Mentum Farm) was in the middle of the field, running along the rail, with Oleg (Arindel), Fauci (D J C Racing Stables), and Grayte Cruise (Gdp Inc). Trailing are Sensei (Saratoga Stud), Breath Of The Wild (Smokey Stover), and Kentucky Growl (Alabarda Stable), the last of which seeming to be sluggish out of the gate.
(¾ Mile- 1:11.40)- Crack Stone remains the leader throughout the backstretch and entering the turn, but things begin to close up pretty quickly on him within int. Turbocharged may be backing up, but Greatest Game is getting closer to be the first challenger, and he is bringing company in the form of War Chant to his outside, and his stablemate, Resident Fox. Power Walk had to move off the rail in order to keep from running into the back of Turbocharged, but did this well and is in a good position to move to the outside of her stablemate once she gets there. Sacred Order was also moving forward, but did not have the same clear lane in front of her to do so. Further back, not much is happening quite yet.
(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Crack Stone is doing all he can to hold the lead in the turn, but at the top of the stretch, Greatest Game has caught him and is about to go on by. The more impressive mover here though was Power Walk, who did not waste any time taking advantage of the lane that set up in front of her while on the turn. With a power stride, Power Walk capitalized on this, moving to third quickly, and was now half a length from the lead. Resident Fox was fourth, holding his own, and War Chant did what he could while being caught out wide. Sacred Order was in a good spot, and finally had a clear lane to take advantage of now in the stretch. For now, Turbocharged was trying to battle it out on the rail. Agassi looked like he could be a factor if he had some closing kick, and perhaps you could say the same for Grayte Cruise here, too. Everyone else was becoming an also ran.
(Finish- 1:48.03)- At the top of stretch, Power Walk was very impressive, having a gear that no one else had, and she started to run away from them. With a furlong to go, she was up by a length, and seemed to give everyone the slip. Though there was still one horse that she had to be concerned about, and that was Sacred Order. It took a little longer for a clear lane to present itself for this one, but once it did, he was full of run as well. He’d give it his best shot, but Power Walk had plenty left to be able to hold him off and win by half a length. Now, the question will be, will she be chosen by Mb Stables. Sacred Order won’t have the same dilemma, as Alydar Stables should be happy to enter him in the KYD with the 50 points earned from this second place run. A steady run through gives Resident Fox third, as the outside running War Chant takes the fourth place spoils. Greatest Game and Crack Stone officially dead heat for fifth, narrowly over Grayte Cruise. Rounding it out, it’s Fauci, Agassi, Turbocharged, Sensei, Breath Of The Wild, Oleg, and Kentucky Growl.
About The Winner- Power Walk, trained by Mb Stables, and ridden to victory by E Jaramillo, is a three year old filly by Walk Like A Man, and is out of Chai Special. She was bred in California by El Primero Rodeo as a third quarter two year old, and acquired by Mb Stables unraced in private sales for $75.000 in July 2020. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her third in five starts, and her first stake win. Her career earnings are now $721.950.
Track: Fast
Time: :473 1:112 1:353 1:48
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 1 – 7 Paid 90.30
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 7 – 10 Paid 1,555.60
Scratched: Devil Made Me Doit, Intolerable
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
