LOUISVILLE — While standouts like Verrazano, Orb and Goldencents bask in the media spotlight leading up to Saturday’s 139th Kentucky Derby, other solid contenders are coasting through Derby week incognito. One of these, who figures to be listed at 12-1 or higher when post positions are drawn today (NBC Sports Network, 5 p.m.), is a dark bay colt with the fortuitous name of Itsmyluckyday.
The fact Itsmyluckyday flies under the radar is just fine with his trainer, Calder-based Eddie Plesa Jr.
“That’s great,” said Plesa, 64, whose only other Derby starter was the filly Three Ring in 1999. “I love it. I truly do. I don’t take it as a slight or lack of respect. That’s the industry, that’s the game, that’s the media. I can certainly understand it. [But] I know what I have, and I wouldn’t trade my horse for any horse in the race.”
Itsmyluckyday established himself as one of the nation’s top 3-year-olds with a 6 3/4-length romp in the Gulfstream Park Derby on Jan. 1 (the same day Verrazano made his debut) and a two-length score in the Holy Bull on Jan. 26, when he handed 2-year-old champion Shanghai Bobby his first defeat. In those two wins, Itsmyluckyday ran back-to-back career-top speed figures.
“I don’t dwell on the numbers,” Plesa said , “but I know what they mean, and he did something horses usually don’t do.”
With 10 starts under his belt, seven of those as a 2-year-old, Itsmyluckyday is the most battle-hardened colt in the field. Yet he is also one of the freshest. Because after the Holy Bull, he did not race again until the Florida Derby on March 30, when he finished second to Orb as the 8-5 favorite, beaten 2 3/4 lengths.
How, Plesa was asked, can the son of Lawyer Ron close that gap when he meets Orb again in the Run for the Roses?
“It’s a matter of fitness,” Plesa said. “He had a 62-day break (between the Holy Bull and Florida Derby) to recharge his batteries. There was no injury, no problem, no hiccups. This Saturday coming up was our goal. The Florida Derby was only part of that goal. It would have been nice to win it, but it wasn’t what we’re here for.
“When you’re pointing for the Kentucky Derby, you don’t dance every dance, and we didn’t. Every day that I look at this horse, I say to myself ‘I absolutely did the right thing.’ He’s doing as good as he’s ever done. As he’s matured, he’s gotten bigger and better and faster. I don’t think we’ve hit bottom with him.”
Plesa’s infectious confidence in his horse extends to his jockey, Elvis Trujillo, who’ll be riding in the Derby for the first time.
“Elvis Trujillo is going to be in the next crop of top riders in the United States,” Plesa said. “He’s put his due-diligence in, he’s done his homework, he’s smart, he’s gifted. He’s been the top rider at Monmouth Park and south Florida, and hopefully this will catapult him into his next step. He’ll be coming here [to the Derby] often.”
Plesa hopes to follow in the footsteps of his brother-in-law, John Servis, who saddled Smarty Jones to win the Derby in 2004.
“He’s rooting like the rest of us, just like I was rooting for him when it was his day in the sun,” Plesa said. “It certainly changed his life in a positive way. [Winning the Derby] is all positives, and what they may be, I hope to find out.”