NEWS
Ice Box cools off Rule in Florida Derby
Posted: Saturday, March 20, 2010 6:37 PM
ICE BOX
Coglianese Photos
To view the Florida Derby, click here.
by Mike Curry
The Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) picked up a new shooter on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where Ice Box closed from last to win the Florida Derby (G1) and vaulted from allowance winner to classics hopeful.
Multiple graded stakes winner Rule looked poised to extend his winning streak to five as the 1.90-to-1 favorite, but the Roman Ruler colt shortened stride in the final furlong just as Ice Box and fast-closing Pleasant Prince surged into contention.
Pleasant Prince seized command from between Rule and Ice Box, but the victor battled determinedly through the final strides to push his nose in front at the finish line under Jose Lezcano.
Trained by Nick Zito for Robert LaPenta, who teamed to win the 2008 Belmont Stakes (G1) with Da’ Tara, Ice Box completed the distance in 1:49.19 at 20.70-to-1 odds on a track rated as fast.
“I dreamt last night of the great Joe Hirsch, and when he came to me in the dream, I knew I was going to win the race,” said Zito, who also entered tenth-place finisher Miner’s Reserve. “He told me in the dream, at Charles Town, ‘Just keep trying.’ “
Bred in Kentucky by Denlea Park, the chestnut Pulpit colt is out of Grade 2 winner Spice Island, by Tabasco Cat. He is from the family of 1985 Horse of the Year and Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Spend a Buck.
Ice Box entered off a fifth-place finish on February 20 in the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), which was won by leading classics hopeful Eskendereya. Zito said he was not unhappy with that performance and thought he was eligible to improve.
“This horse is getting better,” Zito said. “He had the outside post and a rough trip in his last start, but he ran creditably.”
Ice Box earned $450,000 for the Florida Derby victory and his $457,500 in graded stakes earnings ranks sixth on the list of Kentucky Derby contenders, guaranteeing him a spot in the starting gate. The field for the first jewel of the Triple Crown is limited to 20 starters with preference given to horses with the highest career earnings in graded stakes.
“We’ll see how he’s training,” Zito said when asked if he would go straight to the Kentucky Derby with Ice Box. “I’d like to take him to Kentucky and then we’ll see what happens.
"I have to take it one step at a time with this horse and be thankful that he won this race. That's the way we're going to approach it. You can think about running him back in three weeks and then another three weeks [in the Derby], but we'll just have to figure that out. There is a possibility that we run a race before [the Derby], but this race obviously was a tough race.”
Pleasant Prince turned in a huge effort in defeat at 29-to-1 odds for trainer Wesley Ward. The Fountain of Youth fourth-place finisher has amassed $162,500 in graded stakes earnings and is one the bubble to make the Derby field.
"I've always thought a lot of this horse,” said Ward, who conditions the Indy King colt for Ken and Sarah Ramsey. “With a little more luck and a different trip last time [in the Fountain of Youth] he might have been second. He's trained brilliantly since then and had a sensational work.
“[Three-year-olds] at this time of year can take such leaps, improve day-to-day, and I think this horse is has been doing that. We just have to hope he keeps moving in that direction. We'll take him to Keeneland [Race Course to prepare for the Kentucky Derby]."
Rule, third in the THOROUGHBRED TIMES Road to the Triple Crown poll sponsored by Adequan, dueled for the lead with Pulsion through a half-mile in :46.46 and six furlongs in 1:10.76 before fading to third in the stretch. He ranks fifth on the graded stakes earnings list.
"[Jockey John Velazquez] just said that he ended up going quicker into the first turn than he really wanted to, that if he could do it over again, he would have gotten him to settle a little more and sooner. But he ran well,” said Todd Pletcher, who trains Rule for WinStar Farm. “This doesn't really change anything [in terms of moving toward the Kentucky Derby]. We'll work him a few more times here and head to Kentucky."
Lentenor, a full brother to ill-fated Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, finished a solid fourth in his stakes debut despite being bumped early.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
