Long Florida Derby Odds No Concern for Zito
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Quimet may be a longshot in Saturday's Florida Derby but trainer Nick Zito has faced long odds before. (Photo by Coglianese Photography)
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito was never one to sweat the odds.
Louis Quatorze helped build Zito’s reputation when he delivered at odds of almost 9-1 in the Preakness Stakes in 1996. The new millennium brought far more shocking upsets, when Birdstone, 36-1, denied Smarty Jones’s Triple Crown bid in the 2004 Belmont Stakes and Da’ Tara rolled at 38-1 when Big Brown, yet another Triple Crown threat, was thoroughly beaten and eased in the Belmont four years later.
Zito, 67, may face long odds now as he works to restore his operation to prominence following the departure a couple of years ago of Robert LaPenta, a big-spending owner he counted on heavily. Not surprisingly, he is undaunted.
“If I could have one more shot at this thing on a high level, that would be more than enough, I guess,” he said during an interview at Palm Meadows Training Center.
LOUIS QUATORZE WINS THE 1996 PREAKNESS
Photo by HorsePhotos
Zito hopes to defy the odds once more in key prep races for the Kentucky Derby. Quimet, owned and bred by Zito and his wife, Kim, is among the longest shots in the nine-horse field for the $1-million Florida Derby on Saturday at Gulfstream Park at 20-1.
Frammento, who finished a much-improved third with the addition of blinkers in the Fountain of Youth Stakes despite being dismissed by handicappers, is on course to start next Saturday in the $1-million Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. He earned his lone win in six starts last October at Keeneland.
Zito is the first to acknowledge that he no longer has a string of well-bred and ultra-talented 3-year-old prospects. He is determined, though, to make the most of what is in his barn. “I’m grateful to still have horses to train,” he said. “Would I like to have what I used to have? We all would like to have what we used to have.”
Zito’s attitude when it comes to giving young horses opportunities when it seems they have no shot is simple. “I’m from the school that you’ve got to try,” he said.
Quimet, a son of Birdstone who was bred in Kentucky, is an improving youngster who responded to a switch to dirt after poor finishes in two starts on the turf in 2014. He gained his first victory on New Year’s Day, albeit in a claiming race at Gulfstream Park in which he ran for a claiming tag of $50,000. He followed that with a runner-up finish in an allowance race and a third-place showing in a $60,000 stakes race, both at Gulfstream.
He will be ridden by Edgard Zayas and may merit consideration only because of the stable he represents. Zito and John Veitch top all trainers with three Florida Derby victories each. Zito and Jimmy Jones (1957-58) are the only trainers to sweep the mile-and-an-eighth prep race in consecutive years. Zito won his first Florida Derby with High Fly in 2005. He was still flying high with Ice Box and Dialed In in 2010-11.
Zito, who started as a hotwalker in New York, never loses sight of how fortunate he has been in taking five Triple Crown races, including two Kentucky Derby triumphs, to go with wins in the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and the 2007 Juvenile. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2005, the same year he saddled a record-tying five starters in the Kentucky Derby.
“They can’t take the accomplishments away,” he said. “We did win all those races. We did do all those things.”
But Zito yearns to accomplish more, and no one should be all that surprised if he beats the odds once again.
$1 million, Grade 1 Florida Derby
Saturday, Gulfstream Park, Race 14 at 6:48 p.m. ET
1 1/18 miles on the dirt for 3-year-olds
Post Position
Horse
Jockey
Weight
Trainer
Owner
Morning Line
1
Ami's Flatter
Javier Castellano
122
Josie Carroll
Ivan Dalos
8/1
2
Jack Tripp
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
122
Dale L. Romans
Robert J. Baron
20/1
3
Indianaughty
Corey J. Lanerie
122
Dale L. Romans
Team Valor International
20/1
4
Itsaknockout
Luis Saez
122
Todd A. Pletcher
Starlight Racing
2/1
5
Quimet
Edgard J. Zayas
122
Nicholas P. Zito
Lucky Shamrock Stable
20/1
6
My Point Exactly
Juan C. Leyva
122
William A. Kaplan
Pinnacle Racing Stables, R. Norman, R. Justice and J. Hendricks
30/1
7
Materiality
John R. Velazquez
122
Todd A. Pletcher
Alto Racing
7/2
8
Dekabrist
Jesus M. Rios
122
Gennadi Dorochenko
Raut LLC
30/1
9
Upstart
Jose L. Ortiz
122
Richard A. Violette, Jr.
Ralph M. Evans
8/5