NEWS
Gone Astray grinds out Ohio Derby victory
Posted: Saturday, October 03, 2009 7:11 PM
GONE ASTRAY
Photo by Natalie Zamaiko
To view the Ohio Derby, click here.
by Patrick Reed
Gone Astray validated his eye-catching win in the Pennsylvania Derby (G2) nearly four weeks ago with a hard-fought 2¼-length score over stubborn pacesetter War Fighter in the $150,000 Ohio Derby (G2) on Saturday at Thistledown.
The Shug McGaughey-trained Dixie Union colt was sent off as the overwhelming 2-to-5 favorite. He continued his recent rise in the three-year-old male division by covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.56 on a track rated as fast.
With three horses scratched and three defections to the Indiana Derby (G2) at Hoosier Park, the Ohio Derby field was reduced to seven. War Fighter set a contested pace through an opening half-mile in :48.76. Petch and Ice Road followed closely behind and Gone Astray settled in fourth.
War Fighter, who entered the Ohio Derby off of an allowance victory at Presque Isle Downs on September 17, broke away from his challengers momentarily on the far turn. War Fighter charged into the stretch with the lead under Huber Villa-Gomez as Eddie Castro maneuvered Gone Astray into second position along the rail.
Castro angled his mount to the outside at the quarter pole, and Gone Astray and War Fighter dueled through midstretch before the victor pulled away with authority in the final strides.
“I got my position early and my horse stayed relaxed for me,” Castro said. “I wasn’t worried in the stretch. I knew my horse was running without asking him too much.”
War Fighter continued willingly to the wire for a game second-place finish, besting Ice Road by 7 ¾ lengths. Pennsylvania Derby runner-up Join in the Dance, the 2.90-to-1 second betting choice, was rank in the early going and finished an ineffectual fourth.
Gone Astray flashed potential as a two-year-old and even more so in several races during his three-year-old campaign, mustering close second-place finishes in the Coronado’s Quest Stakes at Monmouth Park and the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga Race Course this summer before romping by 9 ¼ lengths in a breakthrough victory in the Pennsylvania Derby on September 7.
Gone Astray’s more workmanlike effort in the Ohio Derby brought praise from assistant trainer Buzzy Tenney.
“[Gone Astray] has turned into a professional racehorse,” he said. “He’s kind of figured this game out.”
Gone Astray improved his career record to four wins in 12 starts with earnings of $854,657. The Phipps Stable homebred is out of the unraced Mr. Prospector mare Illicit and is a half brother to Group 3-placed winner Contentious. Illicit is out of 1995 champion older female and six-time Grade 1 winner Inside Information and is a half sister to 2005 champion three-year-old filly Smuggler.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Patrick Reed is a Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
