Lava Man, the winner of over 5 million dollars, tied with the great Hall of Famer and fellow Cal bred Native Diver with three straight Hollywood Gold Cups. The richest claimer of all time, and 3rd richest Cal bred (behind Tiznow and Best Pal). Now in retirement, Lava serves as a stablepony for his trainer Doug O'Neill. In the mornings he takes the O'Neill trainees to the track for their workouts and back home. Today, his star pupil I'll Have Another (Flower Alley) shined on racing greatest stage.
Ridden by Mario Gutierez who was riding in his first Derby, I'll Have Another ran down Bodemeister who had a 5 length lead in the stretch. Dullahan who had wide trip was third. It was the first win for O'Neill, Gutierez who expected after the SA Winter Meet to head home to Vancouver where he was riding at Hastings, owner Paul Reddam.
The downside of I'll Have Another's human connections is that O'Neill and Reddam don't have great reputations. However, as much as I don't care for them, I'm happy for Lava Man. I know, I know I'm nuts for saying that. However, he has a Twitter account (which is at @IamLavaMan) and is a riot. So, kudos to them for running such a fun Twitter account for a very popular former racehorse/stablepony.
A few things:
*Bodemeister: Bode Baffert should be very proud of the horse named after him. He ran an awesome race, and he has nothing to be ashamed of. His dad Bob was crying because he was sad for him, for a horse that had many things against him (other speed, never running at 2) the son of Empire Maker ran his eyeballs out. I liked how Ahmed Zayat gave Mike Smith confidence in keeping the mount. And for those who said that Smith choked again like he did on Zenyatta, no he didn't. Bode was hounded all the way around by Trinniberg and was able to stay up. He could be this year's Hard Spun, a horse who is plain out game everytime he runs.
*Gemologist: The Wood curse continues. Way in the back and is no longer undefeated.
*Rousing Sermon: this was a shot in the dark, and it somewhat payed off. Okay he didn't finish in the top five, but he finished ahead of Hansen, El Padrino, Gemologist, Alpha and Daddy Nose Best, all of them among the contenders who where considered among the top picks. I'm okay with that.
*Hansen: Dear Mike Maker, Please tell Kendall to shush! Dr. Hansen is the new Mike Repole.
*Santa Anita: The 23 year drought is over. That's how long it's been between Sunday Silence and I'll Have Another that a SA Derby winner won the KY Derby.
So that's it, the Derby is now over. We know move onto Baltimore and the Preakness. Will Bodemeister go? Will how many new shooters will we see? Will Rosie Napravnik get a mount? Will Lava Man join the champ? We'll find out two weeks from today.
I will have Pedigree looks on Believe You Can and I'll Have Another's parents all this upcoming week.
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