No shot to win Derby? You don’t know Jack
My Boy Jack has a chance to pull off shocker Saturday.
LOUISVILLE — My Boy Jack qualified for the Kentucky Derby with a last-gasp win in the final race of the prep season.
At morning-line odds of 30-1, he’s one of the longest shots. And unlike some of the big-name horses who were purchased for six and seven figures at auction, My Boy Jack cost a mere $20,000, the cheapest price in the field.
“I was thinking about that last night,” his trainer, Keith Desormeaux said outside his barn Wednesday. “I was surrounded at the training dinner by an impressive crowd of trainers and owners - hall of fame and such - and it’s easy for me to get intimidated. But guess what? I don’t have to run the race.
“Jack runs the race. And he’s not going to be intimidated.”
Desormeaux and My Boy Jack’s connections seem to relish the horse’s role as an underdog.
“We’ve always been kind of under the radar. That’s just kind of the way it’s been for us,” said Kirk Godby, managing partner of the amusingly named Don’t Tell My Wife Stables ownership group, which retains Desormeaux as their full-time trainer and bloodstock agent. Monomoy Stables and West Point Thoroughbreds also have a stake.
Godby’s group has a tighter budget than most of its Derby competitors, but My Boy Jack
was part of a veritable spending spree by its standards.
“I’ve known Keith for 25 years and he’s been picking these kind of horses for years,” Godby said. “Jack
was $20,000, but we bought another one for $70(K) and we bought another one for $160(K) in that same sale. ( Jack) just happened to be the best one of the bunch. Sometimes price doesn’t always dictate the end result.”
Godby managed Big Chief Racing who owned part of Desormeaux’s Exaggerator, the 2016 Preakness winner who finished second to Nyquist in the Derby. Exaggerator was also a yearling auction bargain by today’s standards at $110,000. For comparison, seven of this year’s Derby hopefuls sold for more than $400,000 with Mendelssohn topping the chart at $3 million.
Jack might not be so overlooked had his jockey, Desormeaux’s brother, Kent, had a different trip in March’s Louisiana Derby.
My Boy Jack went into the first turn dead last and fading out of camera view that day at the Fair Grounds. Everyone knew Jack was a late charger, but this start seemed off.
“Kent said he stopped for a hot dog at the turn,” Godby said laughing as he remembered it.
Jack didn’t regain contact with the field until midway through the final turn. Desormeaux swung him far to the outside in a startling burst that carried him all the way up the field before flattening out to finish third behind fellow Kentucky Derby hopefuls Noble Indy and Lone Sailor.
While somewhat disappointing, the display also offered inspiration.
“He has a very explosive turn of foot. He really, really does,” Godby said. “There’s a lot of great horses and they can usually carry a good burst of speed for a quarter-mile, but this guy can do it for three-eighths.”
Jack went on to win the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (Grade 3) at Keeneland on April 14, assuring his spot in the Derby field.
This week, Keith Desormeaux said he feels Jack has maintained the edge he’ll need to be ready for Saturday coming out of the No. 10 post. He’s hoping the front-runners set a fast pace, giving Jack a chance to lay back and then run them all down.
Desormeaux took special care Wednesday to make Jack comfortable, walking him around the barn and to his bath after his run in front of the morning crowd. He planned to school him in the paddock Wednesday afternoon.
“I don’t do that for everyday, but he’s more excitable than usual, so I wanted to get out there and act like an actual trainer,” Desormeaux said of his personal touch. “Maybe I’m a little different than most. I like to get my hands on them and be a leader, be there to comfort them.”
My Boy Jack is a son of Creative Cause out of Gold N Shaft. His pedigree includes horses such as multiple Grade 1 stakes winner Mineshaft, Belmont winner A.P. Indy and Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew (only three generations back). Jack has 10 races under his belt, making him the most seasoned horse in the field. Those include three wins, three seconds and two thirds.
As for what he’ll need to win the Derby?
“He’s got to get faster. Is that possible?” Desormeaux joked. “Keep in mind that just the pure ability to get a mile and a quarter - none of these 3-year-olds have run that distance before. The good thing for us is that My Boy Jack has got the pedigree to perform at his best at a mile and a quarter. And I would say half the field probably doesn’t want a mile and a quarter. That’s how we can beat ‘em.”