Super Stock captures $1M Arkansas Derby

The 100 points put horse in field for Kentucky Derby

Hot Springs, Ark.

Super Stock won the $1 million Arkansas Derby by 2 1⁄2 lengths in an upset Saturday to earn a berth in next month’s Kentucky Derby.

Ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., Super Stock covered 1 1⁄8 miles in 1:50.92 in front of 17,000 fans at Oaklawn Park. The 3-year-old colt is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, who won his fifth Arkansas Derby, and co-owned by Asmussen’s father, Keith.

“My confidence level was he was going to run really good,” Steve Asmussen said. “I’ve been in races like that, that you have no control over how good or bad somebody else runs. But I felt like that he was going to represent extremely well.”

Super Stock paid $26.40, $6.80 and $2.80. Caddo River returned $4.20 and $2.40. Favorite Concert Tour, trained by Bob Baffert, returned $2.10 to show. The two colts engaged in a speed duel for a mile before Super Stock prevailed.

“You get beat and try to figure out. They’re still young,” Baffert said. “Sometimes you learn more from a loss than a win.”

Super Stock earned 100 points toward Kentucky Derby eligibility and is ranked third on the leaderboard with 109 total points. Caddo River earned 40 points and is ranked 13th with 50 points. Concert Tour picked up 20 points and is ninth with 70 points.

Lexington Stakes: King Fury rallied from off the pace to win the Lexington Stakes by 2 3⁄4 lengths over Unbridled Honor at Keeneland. Trained by Ken Mcpeek, King Fury covered 1 ⁄16

1 miles over a sloppy track in 1:43.50 and paid $38.40 to win his season debut. He earned 20 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, but that won’t be enough to get him in the 20horse field. Starrinmydreams was third.

Grand National: A Hollywood fantasy turned into reality on Saturday when Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win Britain’s grueling Grand National horse race, breaking down one of the biggest gender barriers in sports.

Blackmore, a 31-year-old Irishwoman, rode Minella Times to a landmark victory at odds of 11-1 in the 173rd edition of the famous steeplechase at Aintree in Liverpool, northwest England. “I don’t feel male or female right now. I don’t even feel human,” Blackmore said. “This is just unbelievable.” Blackmore is the 20th female jockey to compete in a race that has been a mud-splattered British sporting institution since 1839. Women have only been allowed to enter the National as jockeys since 1975, making it a male-dominated event — until now.