Lookin At Lucky and Eskendereya went into their final preps on Saturday, the Santa Anita Derby and Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, respectively, as co-favorites for the May 1 Kentucky Derby. Each came away with a very different experience.
Lookin At Lucky, through no fault of his own, slips to number 2 on the Derby Dozen after topping the list from week 1. Because in the Santa Anita Derby, the only luck he had was bad.
As Sidney’s Candy, who would go on to win the race by 4½ lengths, set a soft pace (:24, :48.50) unmolested on the lead, Lookin At Lucky was tucked inside under Garrett Gomez, and you could see heading into the far turn he was headed for a jackpot. When Gomez tried to send him through a hole along the rail on the turn, it happened: Lookin At Lucky got squeezed into the fence and had to take up sharply. That he came on again to get third was a testament to his grit and talent.
Gomez blamed Victor Espinoza on 23-1 shot Who’s Up for shutting him off, on purpose, which almost led to fisticuffs when the riders dismounted. But Lookin At Lucky’s trainer, Bob Baffert, laid the blame squarely on Gomez’ shoulders.
“It was a bad trip,” Baffert said. “You can’t be on the inside on this track. His ride was horrendous. I cannot believe he rode him that way.”
Lookin At Lucky, whose only two defeats were the result of bad luck, overcame a rough trip to win the Rebel Stakes in his previous start. The upside is, he heads for Kentucky a battle-hardened pro, much like Baffert’s Silver Charm when he won the Derby in 1997.
As for the 1-2 finishers, Sidney’s Candy has won three straight stakes over Santa Anita’s synthetic Pro-Ride surface, but he’ll have plenty of company on the front end in the Derby — including American Lion, gate-to-wire winner of Saturday’s Illinois Derby — and has never raced on dirt. Setsuko flew home from last to be second, but might lack the graded-stakes earnings to make the Derby’s 20-horse cut.
Winning the Wood by 9¾ lengths, Eskendereya turned in his second straight “wow” performance, both at a mile-and-an-eighth, after taking the Fountain of Youth by 8½.
But it wasn’t just his margin of victory that was impressive. After relaxing nicely off the early pace, he took command when asked at the top of the stretch and drew off while still in hand under John Velazquez.
The fact is, he was in a common gallop the whole way, in perhaps the most commanding Derby prep since Point Given won the Santa Anita Derby in 2001. (Point Given, fifth as the Derby favorite, went on to win the Preakness, Belmont, Haskell and Travers.)
A son of the Irish “Iron Horse” Giant’s Causeway, out of a Seattle Slew mare from a stellar female family, Eskendereya has a powerful Derby pedigree. He’ll be favored at 3-1 or lower to give trainer Todd Pletcher, 0-for-24 in the Churchill Downs classic, his first garland of roses. And no, it’s not too soon to be thinking Triple Crown.