Firing Line has 'all the tools' to win Derby
Gary Stevens knows what kind of horse it takes to win the Kentucky Derby, having done so three times in his Hall of Fame career. He thinks he has such a mount in Firing Line, who lost the Robert B. Lewis Stakes by a head to unbeaten Dortmund on Saturday at Santa Anita Park.
It was the second consecutive superb effort by Firing Line that ended in narrow defeat to Dortmund, having lost the Grade I Los Alamitos Futurity by a head. Both horses have raced only four times.
Bob Baffert-trained Dortmund took the lead on the backstretch Saturday, with Firing Line going after him on the far turn and into the stretch, edging away to a length advantage with an eighth of a mile to go. But Dortmund rallied again from the inside, usually a tactical disadvantage.
"A total of a short nose and a long nose difference between them," Stevens said by phone. "I'm on a big strong colt who is very intelligent. Having been there and knowing what kind of animal it takes, he has all the tools. But so does Dortmund. I've got a lot of respect for Dortmund. He showed a ton of grit."
I saw his feet first coming back at me, and thought, 'No way.' And then his knee. I went back to right-handed (whip) and tightened it up on (Dortmund). He actually accelerated; he liked it…. It was a huge race for both of them."
Right after the race, Stevens took the blame for the defeat, saying he moved too soon. He backs off that self-criticism now, having watched the replay many times.
"I learned a lot about him, first time I sat on him," he said. "I also learned something about Dortmund that I'll keep to myself for future reference. It was a great race by an extremely talented colt, and I like the position we're in right now. I'd expect him to move forward quite a bit."
Agreed trainer Simon Callaghan: "We're still early in his career and learning about the horse. I think we've got to draw a lot of positives for the future."
Callaghan said Firing Line wouldn't run in the March 7 San Felipe Stakes but would train up to the April 4 Santa Anita Derby or possibly the March 22 Sunland Derby in New Mexico. By a slim margin, Firing Line has eight Kentucky Derby qualifying points instead of the 20 that went to Dortmund for two stakes wins.
"This time of the year, you're conscious of Derby points," Callaghan said. "That's the objective with a horse like this, making sure he gets into the Derby. But, particularly with the system they have now, if you have the right colt, hopefully points won't be an issue."
Pletcher's juggling act:
When Todd Pletcher had his first Kentucky Derby starters in 2000, the Derby trail was a different ballgame, one in which horses generally needed seasoning and race experience at ages 2 and 3. But today Pletcher has contenders in horses that have raced once or twice this close to the Derby.
"It's changed dramatically over those 15 years," Pletcher said. "The trend is toward more lightly raced horses, and part of that is there is just less 2-year-old racing. If you get started too soon, you don't have anywhere to go after you break your maiden."
Jumping into the Derby fray from the Pletcher stable Saturday was Far From Over, who in his second start stumbled at the start, spotting the field open lengths with little pace up front, but regrouped with a scintillating stretch run to beat big favorite El Kabeir by 1¾ lengths in the Withers Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.
"I thought it was an ambitious move to take him from one start into a stakes, but he'd been training really well," said Pletcher, who had Far From Over training in Florida. "My first thought was, 'I can't believe we shipped all the way to New York and blew the race from the start.' But when the race unfolded, you could see he got into a good rhythm. ... and I thought, 'Well, maybe he can get a piece of it.' Then I got excited when turning for home it looked like he had some horse left."
Pletcher also has 2-for-2 Itsaknockout, who will make his first stakes start in the Feb. 21 Fountain of Youth. J S Bach, a big maiden winner in his second start, will run in the Feb. 16 Southwest at Oaklawn. Debut winners Materiality and Khozan (a half-brother to three-time champ Royal Delta) are likely to go back in a Gulfstream allowance race.
The Pletcher Derby depth keeps mushrooming. Stanford, who hadn't raced since he was sixth in the Aug. 10 Saratoga Special in his second start, won Sunday's six-furlong allowance race at Gulfstream, beating stablemate Blame Jim. Plans for Stanford are up in the air, but Blame Jim could run in New York's Gotham in what would be his third start.
Pletcher's "seasoned" veterans include Carpe Diem, who in his third start was second in last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile and will resume competition in the March 7 Tampa Bay Derby. Dare Devil, the beaten favorite in the Juvenile in his third start, should surface in Aqueduct's March 7 Gotham. Competitive Edge, winner of Saratoga's Grade I Hopeful in his second start before going to the sidelines, is working well for his return.
"Things are starting to round into shape," Pletcher said. "We've got a couple of different types coming at it this year, the seasoned ones with good foundation at 2 and the Itsaknockout types that now we're going to find out where they fit in the equation. They're training well but this is going to be their class test."
Kentucky Derby Top 20 poll
The (Louisville) Courier-Journal's consensus top 20 Kentucky Derby contenders, as voted on by a coast-to-coast panel of racing media experts:
1. Dortmund
2. Texas Red
3. Upstart
4. Carpe Diem
5. American Pharoah
6. Firing Line
7. Ocean Knight
8. Imperia
9. Ocho Ocho Ocho
10. Far From Over
11. The Great War
12. Frosted
13. Itsaknockout
14. Khozan
15. Gorgeous Bird
16. Competitive Edge
17. Prospect Park
18. El Kabeir
19. International Star
20. Daredevil
Rees writes for The (Louisville) Courier-Journal.