Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
He’s the boss
41-1 shot hugs rail for Bravo
40-1 long shot Danza bursts through on rail to win Arkansas Derby.
HOT SPRINGS — Trainer Todd Pletcher and long shot normally aren’t used in the same sentence.
But Pletcher and winning are, especially on racing’s biggest stages.
Pletcher struck again on a warm and breezy Saturday afternoon at Oaklawn Park when lightly raced Danza, who went off 41-1, produced one of the biggest upsets in Arkansas Derby history in the $1 million Grade I race for 3-year-olds.
Under the skilled hands of “Jersey” Joe Bravo, Danza slipped through an opening turning for home and finished 4 ¾ lengths ahead of Ride On Curlin in the 11/ 8- mile major Kentucky Derby prep, contested before a crowd of a 63,186.
Bayern, previously unbeaten in two starts, weakened in the stretch to finish third, a half-length farther back, as the 8-5 favorite.
Danza ($ 84.60) provided Pletcher with his second consecutive Arkansas Derby victory, and his fourth overall, more than any other trainer.
Pletcher has also been
honored six times with an Eclipse Award as the country’s outstanding trainer and topped North American trainers eight times in purse money earned.
“I don’t remember winning a Grade I at 40-1,” Pletcher said on a media conference call after the race. “It’s not very often that our horses pay those type of mutuels.”
Bayern finished 2 lengths ahead of Tapiture, while Conquest Titan, Commissioner, Thundergram and Strong Mandate trailed.
Commissioner, also trained by Pletcher, but uncoupled in the wagering, became fractious in the infield after being saddled and had to return to the paddock for a bridle adjustment.
The starting field was reduced to eight when Knock Em Flat, as expected, was scratched to run in the $100,000 Northern Spur Stakes on the Arkansas Derby undercard.
Danza paid $84.60, $28.40 and $11. Ride On Curlin paid $7 and $4. Bayern paid $4.
Danza secured a spot in the Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., after winning for the second time in four lifetime starts. His only other victory came in a maiden special weights race last summer at Belmont Park in New York.
The Arkansas Derby offered 170 qualifying points toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby, with 100 going to the winner, 40 to second, 20 to third and 10 to fourth.
Points determine starting eligibility if more than the maximum 20 horses enter the race.
Tapiture was already safely in the field with 42 points.
“Hopefully, we’ll make Arkansas proud in three weeks,” winning owner Aron Wellman said.
Wellman is president of Eclipse Thoroughbreds Partners, a racing partnership formed less than three years ago.
Eclipse has never had a Kentucky Derby starter.
Danza didn’t make his 3-year-old debut until March 1 at Gulfstream Park near Miami, where he finished a well-beaten third in an entry-level allowance/optional claimer at 7 furlongs.
The Arkansas Derby was his first start around two turns.
“What we really just wanted to see if he could compete with these kind of horses,” Wellman said. Danza could. Breaking from the rail, Danza assumed a stalking position while saving ground throughout the race.
Bayern, in his stakes debut, was hounded on the outside by 55-1 long shot Thundergram through a modest :47.71 half-mile.
Bravo pushed the button on the second turn, and Danza accelerated toward the front turning for home. Bayern, who was ridden by Hall of Famer Gary Stevens, offered little resistance.
“Approaching the quarter-pole, the winner came up inside of me,” Stevens said. “I thought I was going to be able to stay with him, and I thought my horse was going to give him a little fight. But he didn’t.”
After cutting the corner turning for home, Danza was 1 1-2 lengths clear in midstretch and continued to pull away in the run to the wire.
“Joe rode an unbelievable race,” Wellman said. “He absolutely rode it to perfection, exactly the way Todd and I and he sort of envisioned it.”
Under 118 pounds, Danza ran 1 1-8 miles over a fast track in 1:49.68.
A son of Street Boss, Danza increased his earnings to $666,428 following his first stakes victory. He was a $105,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sales purchase.
Pletcher opted to run Danza in the Arkansas Derby over Saturday’s $750,000 Grade I Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.
“We were searching for the right race and the right option and it seemed like the Arkansas Derby was the race for us to step out and take our shot,” Pletcher said.