NEWS
Super Saver wins the Kentucky Derby
Posted: Saturday, May 01, 2010 6:37 PM
SUPER SAVER
PhotosByZ.com/Thoroughbred Times
To view the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, click here.
by Tom Law
Calvin Borel scraped the paint in his first, second, and now amazing third victory in America’s most important race and in the process gave trainer Todd Pletcher his coveted first win in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) aboard Super Saver in front of a rain-soaked crowd on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Borel, who rode the rail to win the 2007 Derby on Street Sense and again in ’09 on longshot Mine That Bird, came up the inside yet again to defeat an evenly-matched group in the 136th Kentucky Derby on his home track. Nicknamed “Bo-rail” for his tendency to stay on the inside, Borel said he guided Super Saver past only one horse on the outside en route to victory.
Super Saver, a Kentucky-bred by Maria’s Mon out of the A.P. Indy mare Supercharger, won the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at Churchill’s 2009 fall meet and came into the Derby winless in his only two starts this season. He finished a late-running second to Line of David last time out in the Arkansas Derby (G1) when reunited with Borel.
“Everyone kept saying we had one with our name written on it, but we didn’t take anything for granted,” said Pletcher, whose saddled four starters in the Derby as he sought his first win after sending out 24 runners in the race since 2000. “I’ve said before that Calvin is a great rider anywhere, but he’s five lengths better here at Churchill.”
Super Saver did not win the Derby by that five-length margin—as he did last fall’s Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at Churchill—but he was 2 1/2 lengths better than Florida Derby (G1) winner Ice Box.
Paddy O’Prado finished third, Make Music for Me was fourth, and Lookin At Lucky a troubled sixth after being shuffled back at the start. Final time on the sloppy surface saturated by Saturday’s rains was 2:04.45.
“I had him where I wanted him,” said Borel, who now ranks tied for fourth for most Derby wins in history and only behind legends Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartack (five each) and Bill Shoemaker (four). “I got him off the pace and he relaxed good. I learned a lot the last time [in the Arkansas Derby]. The first time I rode him, I won on the lead, but in the last race I took him back and learned a lot about him.”
Super Saver also is the first Derby winner owned by WinStar Farm, who bred 2003 Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide.
Kenny Troutt’s and Bill Casner’s Versailles, Kentucky-based operation purchased Super Saver’s dam, Supercharger, in the name B.T.A. Stable when she was carrying the Derby winner in utero for $160,000 at the 2006 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. The deceased stallion Maria’s Mon, who previously stood at Pin Oak Stud in Versailles, also sired 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos.
“It’s an unbelievable journey,” Casner said of his long relationship with Troutt. “This is almost a surreal moment. I think of the first Kentucky Derby I ever saw in [1956], it was Needles and that vision is still in my mind.
“I’m still in shock. You dream about winning the Kentucky Derby, but to win the Derby in this business is just unbelievable.”
Super Saver started his 2010 campaign with a third-place finish, beaten by a half-length, in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) on March 13. He was beaten by only a neck on April 10 in the Arkansas Derby, a race Pletcher felt set him up ideally for the Derby.
"Since the Arkansas Derby, this horse has just gotten better and better and better," Pletcher said. “We were playing catch up early in the year ... the Arkansas Derby just put him right there.
"It’s a race I've dreamt about winning my whole life. It's all soaking in right now."
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Tom Law is managing editor of Thoroughbred Times
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: kahu, Lahaina, HI on May 03, 2010 at 12:48 AM
When ever it is a muddy or sloppy track, I look for a horse with water in its name. The horse I liked was Icebox, get it "Ice." It got squeezed in the beginning along with the one horse and had to make up a lot of lengths. But was it flying late. Try my madness of horses with water in its name. You may pick up a couple of bucks.
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Posted by: Jose, San Juan, PA on May 02, 2010 at 11:31 AM
I just change my mind for this awesome horse, as soon as I saw this 2 losses this year. SUPER SAVER is a real winner, battling all his races til the end.
And when we talk about Bo-rail, the best in here, and hottest jockey in last week! You cant escape bet on SUPER SAVER. But, as clean as the race was for him, we need to take a look at LOOKING AT LUCKY and ICE BOX for the Preakness!
Im still with SUPER SAVER!
Thanks!
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Posted by: John, Somerset, KY on May 02, 2010 at 10:18 AM
Over a dry, fast track, the results of this Kentucky Derby would have been dramatically different than they ultimately turned out. IMO.
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Posted by: Suzanne, Advance, NC on May 02, 2010 at 09:55 AM
I had picked Ice Box and in a few more strides, Ice Box would have had it. That jockey should have made his move sooner. Ice Box was eating up horses just like Mine That Bird did last yr. He had the most impressive run, I think. I know he didn't win but his run was impressive.
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Posted by: bill, vallejo, CA on May 02, 2010 at 04:02 AM
Why does Churchill Downs position the starting gate such that the #1 hole is at such a disadvantage?
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