What happened to Tapit Trice, Derma Sotogake and all the other Kentucky Derby also-rans?
Mage pulled off a major upset in the Churchill Downs stretch Saturday, hitting the wire first at 15-1 odds in to win the Kentucky Derby in just his fourth career race.
The son of Good Magic joined Justify as just the second horse since 1882 to win the Derby despite not racing as a 2-year-old and only the third horse since World War I to claim the roses with just three previous starts. Strangely enough, Good Magic finished second to Justify on that Derby Day five years ago.
It was also the first Derby victory for both Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, who was making his 16th start in the race, and trainer Gustavo Delgado — both Venezuela natives.
What happened to everybody else in the 18-horse Kentucky Derby field? Here’s a look.
Two Phil’s almost wins
As the horses turned for home, it looked like Two Phil’s might be the one wearing the roses.
The winner of the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park last time out — and owner of the fastest Beyer Speed Figure in this Derby field — took the lead from early front-runner Kingsbarns in the final turn and was at least a length clear of everyone else heading into the stretch.
Two Phil’s was jostled around a bit in the early going but settled into good position behind the pace-setting trio of Verifying, Kingsbarns and Reincarnate heading into the first turn. He raced in fourth down the backstretch — as the early leaders set a quick pace — before making that strong move into the stretch.
He was still in the lead at the eighth pole, but Mage — making a huge move of his own — put a head in front shortly after that and held off Two Phil’s from there, winning by one length.
“I was just saying, let’s hold on. Let’s fight off anybody coming, because they finish hard down this long stretch,” said Two Phil’s jockey Jareth Loveberry, riding in his first Derby. “And I had to make just a touch of a move early, but he fought back as hard as he could.”
Trainer Larry Rivelli, who was also in his first Derby, was happy with the effort.
“Man, he tried so hard and ran his heart out,” Rivelli said. “I’m so proud of this horse and everyone involved. He ran an incredible race.”
The favorite makes a run
Kentucky Derby morning-line favorite Forte was scratched from the race Saturday morning, and that status landed on Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire by post time.
The Derby favorite — a colt that typically comes from off the pace — was farther back than usual Saturday, going into the first turn in 16th place. From there, Flavien Prat rode Angel of Empire on the rail and then started picking off horses down the backstretch as he angled his way outside, ultimately making a wide move into the stretch and putting in a spirited run toward the finish line, still coming at the end but finishing third, a half-length behind Two Phil’s.
“Angel of Empire gave us a little thrill there, until about the eighth pole — he kind of leveled off,” trainer Brad Cox said. “But, overall, very proud of his performance. It’s a tough race to win, I know that.”
Long shots come next
Finishing fourth and fifth in the race were Disarm and Hit Show — at odds of 27-1 and 24-1, respectively — for two of the top trainers in the sport.
Disarm is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, who started his 25th Kentucky Derby horse Saturday, still in search of his first victory in the race. (Last year, Asmussen had favorite Epicenter, who looked like the Derby winner in the stretch before 80-1 shot Rich Strike caught him.)
Jockey Joel Rosario, who rode Epicenter last year, guided Disarm to a spot on the rail in the early going and appeared to get a clean trip there until it was time to make a move. He found plenty of traffic in the stretch but kept going, getting up for fourth with a strong run at long odds.
“Obviously, I was hoping for a better finish today,” Asmussen said. “I loved that he continued on, through it all.”
Hit Show, trained by Brad Cox, drew the far inside post but didn’t find much trouble down on the rail, settling into nice position in sixth place — not far off the pacesetters — and making a move into the stretch that indicated he might have a shot at the end. Once they all straightened out, Hit Show ran on but ultimately tired out, still holding for fifth place. Cox was proud of the effort, he said.
“Hit Show had a great trip, from what I could tell. He had a shot turning for home.”
Derma Sotogake comes up short
The Japanese mystery colt Derma Sotogake — impressive gate-to-wire winner of the UAE Derby last time out — broke awkwardly Saturday and was pinned in toward the back of the field in the early going. He settled in from there and looked like he might be on the verge of a big move around the final turn, but Mage had already run right by him by the time they made their way into the stretch, and Derma Sotogake ended up in sixth place, never really threatening for the lead.
“I was in the best spot to make a move,” jockey Christophe Lemaire said. “He stayed on but didn’t have the speed to make it closer late.”
Tapit Trice starts slow
Blue Grass Stakes winner Tapit Trice — presumed by many to end up as the Derby favorite after the scratch of Forte — instead went off as the 9-2 second choice and was slow to get going out of the gate, something that has plagued the big, gray colt in the past.
When the field crossed the finish line for the first time, Tapit Trice was 18th and last, a position he held until they were well into the backstretch, where the son of Tapit started to move.
Still, he had only six horses beat turning for home, ran up the middle of the track and passed tired horses to finish seventh, never getting close to the leaders.
“Our horse kind of broke a little slow,” jockey Luis Saez said. “In this kind of race, you gotta be right there.”
Saez acknowledged that Tapit Trice’s running style — fast when he gets moving, but taking some time to get to that point — didn’t work out Saturday.
“He takes a little while to get going. That’s how he is,” he said. “Sometimes he breaks like that. Sometimes he breaks better. But today we had a little bad luck.”
A fast pace
Leading up to the Derby, it was no secret that this was a field with no true pacesetters, leading some to predict the possibility of slow fractions out front and perhaps a chance for a horse to steal the victory by going to the lead.
That didn’t happen.
Verifying (14-1), Kingsbarns (11-1) and Reincarnate (14-1) went straight for the front. And they weren’t slow about it once they got there.
Verifying — also trained by Brad Cox — taking the lead, he set early fractions of :22.35 through the first quarter-mile and :45.73 for the half-mile.
“We wanted to be aggressive, but obviously not that aggressive,” Cox said. “I thought early on — when I saw the (times) — I thought, ‘OK. Fast.’ And then I thought, ‘Well, maybe we can slow it down in the turn.’ And they didn’t slow down much. And I knew Verifying would be up against it.”
Cox’s colt bowed out of the race completely before the final turn and finished 16th.
Kingsbarns took the lead from there but was passed by Two Phil’s a few seconds later. He hung around into the stretch but quickly faded from there and finished 14th. Todd Pletcher, who now has a record 64 career Derby starters with just two wins, trained Kingsbarns and Tapit Trice, as well as the scratched favorite, Forte.
Reincarnate was out of it before they hit the stretch and ended up 13th.
After the race, Cox said the early fractions surprised him but acknowledged that — once you’re out front in an 18-horse field — it’s tough to slow it down too much.
“At that point, you’re committed,” he said. “He was drawn down inside. He had speed. We thought that would give him his best opportunity, but he had pressure throughout the backside from Kingsbarns.”
The rest of the field
Long shots Raise Cain (eighth), Rocket Can (ninth), Confidence Game (10th) and Sun Thunder (11th) never factored into the mix, and their connections had no complaints afterward about their positioning or the way the race was run.
Mandarin Hero, another Japanese contender, was 12th and also never a factor.
King Russell finished 15th after a wide trip. Jace’s Road was 17th and never really in the mix. Cyclone Mischief, who ended up with top jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. after Forte was scratched, broke poorly from the outside and ended up 18th and last.
“He missed the break,” Ortiz said. “And after that, he never got involved.”
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