SUPER STOCK A WINNER IN DERBY PREP IN ARKANSAS

Super Stock won the $1 million Arkansas Derby by 21⁄2 lengths in an upset Saturday to earn a berth in next month’s Kentucky Derby.

Ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., Super Stock covered 11⁄8 miles in 1:50.92 in front of 17,000 fans at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. 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 and owned by Rancho Santa Fe’s Gary and Mary West, returned $2.10 to show. The two colts engaged in a speed duel for a mile before giving way to Super Stock.

“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 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.

Upset in the Lexington

King Fury rallied from off the pace to win the Lexington Stakes by 23⁄4 lengths over Unbridled Honor at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

Trained by Ken Mcpeek, King Fury covered 11⁄16 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 20-horse field. Starrinmydreams was third.

Blackmore knocks down barrier

A Hollywood fantasy turned into reality 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.

“I never even imagined I’d get a ride in this race, never mind get my hands on the trophy,“Blackmore said.

After all, the 1944 Hollywood movie “National Velvet” was the story of a 12-year-old girl, Velvet Brown — played by a young Elizabeth Taylor — who won the Grand National on The Pie, a gelding she won in a raffle and one she decided to train for the world’s biggest horse race. In the story, Brown was later disqualified on a technicality, having dismounted before reaching the enclosure.