To view video of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, click here.
by Mike Curry
Owner and trainer Tom McCarthy had only one shot to get to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May and his one-horse stable, General Quarters, made the Derby dream a reality on Saturday.
The only horse in McCarthy’s barn, General Quarters emphatically rebounded from a fifth-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) with a 1 1/2-length win in the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Keeneland Race Course.
The Blue Grass win at 14.30-to-1 odds cemented the gray or roan Sky Mesa colt’s spot in the 20-horse field for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) on May 2.
“He trained like a champion all week, and after that breeze last week [five furlongs in a bullet :58.20] I knew I had him right where I wanted him,” said McCarthy, a former high school principal. “I think he exhibited the tenacity to go on to the [Kentucky] Derby.”
McCarthy claimed General Quarters for $20,000 out of his career debut on May 30 at Churchill Downs.
After finishing fifth in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 14 (click here for video of the Tampa Bay Derby), General Quarters was on the outside looking in for the Kentucky Derby prior to the Blue Grass because of graded stakes earnings, which is used to determine the field for the first jewel of the Triple Crown if more than 20 three-year-olds are entered. He ranked 27th on the graded stakes earnings list with $130,645 entering the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass, but the $465,000 winner’s share of the Blue Grass punched both his and McCarthy’s tickets to Louisville in three weeks.
Winner of the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) on February 14 (click here for video of the Sam F. Davis), General Quarters stalked pacesetter Join in the Dance from fifth under Eibar Coa through an opening quarter in :24.40 and a half-mile in :49.06.
Coa angled General Quarters to the outside entering the final turn, avoiding the logjam that cost him at Tampa Bay Downs, and the colt accelerated willingly. General Quarters seized command entering the stretch, powered clear, and held off a game late bid from Lane’s End Stakes (G2) winner Hold Me Back to prevail in 1:49.26 on the synthetic Polytrack surface.
“He broke sharp,” Coa said. “He placed himself in a very good position. In the straight, when I asked him, he gave me what he had. He showed up today, and he’s definitely going to be one of the horses to beat in the Derby.
“He was very professional today. He allowed me to settle behind horses and wait for me until I asked him.”
Bred in Kentucky by Robert David and Marylyn Randal, General Quarters is out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Ecology.
Sent off as the 2.20-to-1 favorite, Hold Me Back was 1 1/4 lengths clear of third-place finisher Massone, runner-up in the El Camino Real Derby (G3). Hold Me Back’s runner-up finish boosted his graded stakes earnings to $438,000, more than enough to ensure his spot in the Derby field.
Louisiana Derby (G2) third-place finisher Terrain finished fourth in the Blue Grass. Terrain has not won a graded stakes but has amassed $448,330 in graded stakes earnings and has also locked up a position in the field for the Kentucky Derby.
Previously unbeaten 2008 Futurity Stakes (G2) winner Charitable Man finished seventh. Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes winner Mafaaz (GB) faded to eighth in the 11-horse field, followed by Florida Derby (G1) third-place finisher Theregoesjojo.
For an Equibase Chart, click here.
For video of the Toyota Blue Grass, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor