Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Final Jeopardy in Derby mix
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The category is “Road to the Kentucky Derby.” The answer is “Final Jeopardy.” And the question is, “Who is trainer Jason Servis’s second and latest candidate for the $1 million Florida Derby on March 30 at Gulfstream Park?”
Final Jeopardy, a 3-year-old son of Street Sense, put himself in the mix for the Grade 1 Florida Derby with an impressive 3 1/2-length allowance win going a mile here Sunday over a field that included the previously undefeated and highly regarded Soldado.
Final Jeopardy earned a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure in only his third start. He was an easy maiden special weight winner in his debut before finishing third in the Limehouse Stakes in his second start, with both of those races at six furlongs.
Final Jeopardy joined Servis’s undefeated former $16,000 claimer Maximum Security on the list of horses eyeing the Florida Derby. Both Final Jeopardy and the homebred Maximum Security are owned by Gary and Mary West.
“I’ve always liked [Final Jeopardy] from Day 1,” said Servis. “I told the Wests I really wanted to run him short one more time after his maiden win, and I felt he was sitting on a big race on Sunday. He was up on the pace the other day, which is probably not his best game. And I don’t think he really got a break the entire race; he was really chasing the whole way.”
Servis is convinced Final Jeopardy will stretch out around two turns without any problem.
“He’s a good-looking horse, and he’s got some pedigree,” Servis said, noting that Final Jeopardy’s dam, Addison Run, was stakes-placed and that the family includes the multiple Grade 1-winning champion Midshipman. “I’m going to try to run something in the Florida Derby, either him or Maximum Security – not both since they’re both owned by the Wests. It will probably depend on who is doing better at the time.”
Maximum Security won his maiden under a $16,000 claiming tag earlier in the meet and is now perfect in three starts after freaking to an 18 1/4-length allowance win going seven furlongs on Feb. 20, for which he received a 102 Beyer.
“Maximum Security really got knocked for a loop by that effort. I really wasn’t happy with him winning by so far. It wasn’t necessary,” said Servis. “He’s just starting to come around now. I haven’t done much with him, but my rider said he felt real good this morning, so he should be ready to get back to regular training now.”
Servis is in the midst of a dream meet, winning at a 46 percent clip, with his 29 victories putting him third in the standings behind only Jorge Navarro and Todd Pletcher entering Wednesday.
“It’s been crazy. I never thought we’d be doing anything like this,” said Servis, who currently has 49 horses at Palm Meadows and another 36 at Belmont Park. “But we come down here in October, got in some starts at Gulfstream West, had some momentum coming into the meet, and then sometimes you just get into a groove. I’ve always been over a 20 percent trainer throughout my career, and the last two years, I picked up owners like the Wests and Michael Dubb. And it’s owners like that who can put you over the top since they are very aggressive.”
Servis said he plans to stick around locally until May 1, as usual, and is excited about some unraced 3-year-olds with “very good pedigrees” whom he hopes to start here before leaving town. He’ll also send out top contenders Vision Perfect and Samara in the $75,000 Silks Run and Captiva stakes on Saturday.
Two impressive maiden winners
Final Jeopardy’s allowance victory was just one performance of note on Sunday’s card, which also produced big maiden wins by Personal Time and Dunbar Road.
Personal Time, a full brother to 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb, switched to grass for the first time to win his maiden in his seventh start. Personal Time is a 4-year-old homebred son of Malibu Moon and Lady Liberty trained for Stuart Janney III and the Phipps Stable by Shug McGaughey, who sent out Code of Honor to win the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth the previous day.
“We tried him a couple times on dirt last year as a 3-yearold, and I really thought after a couple of his races he could be as good as any of the 3-year-olds not Justify,” McGaughey said. “He got a bone bruise and that kind of stuff, and we gave him some time.”
McGaughey said he got a bit concerned when Personal Time trailed the field early in Sunday’s race.
“I wasn’t thinking he was liking [the turf] too much going down the backside,” McGaughey said with a smile. “But I think he can run both ways, and he’s probably better on turf.”
Dunbar Road, a 3-year-old daughter of Quality Road owned by Peter Brant, drew off to an 8 3/4-length debut win going a mile on the main track for trainer Chad Brown.
“We’ve always had high hopes for her, but she had some tendinitis issues, so we did the right thing by the horse, kicking her out for a while,” said Brown. “She had been training well for this race, and fortunately she ran to her works. She’s pretty nice.”