Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Promises Fulfilled
STRENGTHS: Promises Fulfilled is swift from the gate and could end up the main speed. If the other jockeys allow Corey Lanerie to settle Promises Fulfilled on an uncontested lead, the colt could get brave when the real running begins. He showed that courage when beating 2-year-old champion Good Magic after shaking loose in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. With a debut victory and a Grade 2-placing under the twin spires under his belt, Promises Fulfilled is a proven commodity over this racetrack. If he is defeated, it won’t be because he doesn’t have an affinity for Churchill Downs.
WEAKNESSES: While his speed is a strength, it does seem unlikely that horses such as Justify, Magnum Moon, and others will let him waltz around the track. The early projection for the Derby calls for a fast pace, and that is what did Promises Fulfilled in last time out in the Florida Derby. Promises Fulfilled earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure when wiring the Fountain of Youth over a speed-friendly track. Take that out of his past performances and his best Beyer is a 76, light years away from his major competition. Although he did have the excuse of being cooked in that Florida Derby duel, he basically stopped to a walk on the final turn. That wasn’t an attractive final prep.
BETTING VALUE: He should be one of the longer prices. DRF’s Derby Watch quoted him at 50-1, and that seems like fair value despite his speed. If you believe the pace won’t be fast, you can upgrade his chances to hold on to a lower rung in the single-race exotics. – Dan Illman
SIRE: Shackleford won the 2011 Preakness, but his specialty was between a mile and 1 1/8 miles, having taken the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and Clark Handicap in that range. The young sire boasts an average progeny winning distance of 6.58 furlongs, putting him near the bottom of this year’s class of Derby sires. Promises Fulfilled is his first Derby runner. Other high-level runners of note by Shackleford include Malagacy, a Grade 2 winner at 1 1/16 miles; Wellabled, who earned a Grade 3 win at seven furlongs; and Dream It Is, who picked up a Grade 3 win at six furlongs.
DAM: Marquee Delivery raced on all surfaces, but did her best work on synthetic and turf, finishing second in the Grade 3 Gardenia Handicap at a mile on turf and third in the Grade 3 Arlington Oaks over 1 1/16 miles on Polytrack. Her longest winning distance is a mile and 70 yards. All four of her foals to race are winners, and Promises Fulfilled is the only one to have won at a distance greater than a mile and 70 yards, having taken the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.
OUTLOOK: Both sides of the pedigree appear to pose a ceiling, and Promises Fulfilled showed glimpses of that when tiring badly in the Florida Derby. – Joe Nevills