Two Very Satisfying Results
Bandini wins the Blue Grass Stakes, Afleet Alex the Arkansas Derby, both with brilliant performances.
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What I like about both the Blue Grass and the Arkansas Derby is that there are no questions attached to the winners — there were no sloppy tracks, no shocking performances, no concerns about the quality of the fields. Bandini did come in slowly, running the last eighth in :13.4, and the race’s final time was 1:50.16, hardly the speediest prep race we’ve seen, but the way he took the lead in the stretch was commanding and in keeping with the improvement he’s shown in each race this year. Afleet Alex was considerably zippier, making it to the wire in 1:48.8, running the final eighth in :11.7, proving that his poor performance in the Rebel was legitimately due to a lung infection and dispelling any doubts about his ability around two turns.
The biggest disappointment of the day was Sun King, who ran fourth in the Blue Grass. Blood-Horse reports that a dismayed Nick Zito “criticized Sun King’s jockey, Edgar Prado, saying he didn’t follow instructions. ‘I told him to make a left turn and try to save some ground, as much as you can, and we’ll take our chances with him,’ Zito said. ‘He never saved an inch of ground. I guess he couldn’t get over. I don’t know. He was so wide.'” Prado blamed the horse.
There is one question hanging over yesterday’s results — will Jeremy Rose keep the mount on Afleet Alex? Trainer Tim Ritchey squirmed when asked this in an interview following the race. “Who knows,” he said. “We just want to enjoy the moment right now.”
