Formidable
Bob Ehalt on the power duo of trainer Bob Baffert’s Kentucky Derby string:
American Pharoah and Dortmund, mind you, have done nothing but win this year and between them have 10 wins in 11 career starts.
Once a hurdle as imposing Secretariat is cleared, a historian in search of a duo as formidable as Dortmund and American Pharoah would most likely have to head back to 1948 when trainer Ben Jones sent out Calumet Farm’s entry of Citation and Coaltown, who were dismissed as a 2-5 favored entry.
Citation won the Derby and went on to sweep the Triple Crown. The Hall of Famer retired as the sport’s all-time leading money earner. Coaltown, the other half of the entry, finished second in the Derby and developed into a Horse of the Year and a Hall of Famer.
It’s a heady comparison. Fortunately for bettors, the pair won’t be coupled.
