Obligatory Punches Grade 1 Ticket in Derby City Distaff
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Obligatory (outside) catches Four Graces to win the Derby City Distaff Stakes at Churchill Downs
Minutes after 4-year-old Obligatory snagged the first grade 1 win of her career May 7 at Churchill Downs, trainer Bill Mott paused mid-sentence when fielding questions and pointed toward the jumbotron.
"Look at this. Just look at this run," said Mott to reporters in quiet awe as the filly's late-running drive to the wire in the $750,000 Derby City Distaff Presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery (G1) was replayed on the screens to the crowd.
"She just keeps coming. I mean that was impressive," said Mott. "I was impressed, and I'm very seldom impressed."
High praise from the Hall of Fame trainer who has seen his fair share of greats.
Among the favored runners in the seven-horse field, Obligatory entered the Derby City Distaff off a win in the March 12 Hurricane Bertie Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park in her season debut. But when the gate opened and the race got underway, the flashy gray filly dropped to the back of the pack and settled well off the pace of her competitors. To the lay observer, the move seemed a contrary one. But to Mott, it was on par with what he expected from his filly.
"She loves the stretch run here," said Mott. "I reminded him (jockey Jose Ortiz)—but I didn't have to remind him—that her stretch run here is her weapon."
Trailing the field well removed from the rail along the backside, Obligatory did her best to avoid eating too much dirt from her competitors while biding her time. At the front of the field, a very different strategy was playing out with leader Just One Time who had taken the early lead from the break and led the field through fractions of :22.36 and :44.95 for the half-mile. Pressing the leader early were Edgeway and Center Aisle , who kept within a half-length of Just One Time along the back stretch as they vied for second and third.
But at the quarter-pole, Edgeway and Center Aisle seemed to run out of gas and dropped back through the field. The opening allowed Four Graces the chance to move between horses and to take second. Unwilling to yield, Just One Time battled toward the finish under Flavien Prat.
Singularly focused on the wire, the pair were unprepared to fend off Obligatory who shifted six wide in the lane and pounded home with a massive late kick. With a clear path to the finish line, Obligatory stormed past Just One Time and then caught another late challenger, Four Graces, to take the title by three-quarters of a length. Final time for the seven-furlong dirt test was 1:22.17.
Obligatory's connections celebrate the victory in the Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs
"I never felt confident until they got to the 70-yard pole," said Mott. "But I saw she was running. When she was at the three-eighths pole and the others were at the quarter-pole, I said, 'We've got a lot to make up.' She was still quite aways back and she made up a lot of ground."
Four Graces held for second 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Just One Time in third.
“She tried very hard," said Julien Leparoux, who was aboard Four Graces. "The race set up perfectly for us. She sat nice early for me, made a big run, and never quit. She fought back but was just second best today.”
"I really thought we had it inside the 1/16th pole," said Four Graces' trainer Ian Wilkes. "She ran such a big race."
Bell's the One , Kimari , Edgeway, and Center Aisle completed the field.
"She's a very nice mare," said Ortiz. "I feel like she's getting better and better. I just waited and let her get into her own rhythm. They were going very fast on the front end. I was sitting at the back of the pack. I didn't want to sweep her off her feet to get a good finish. I was very happy with the trip I had. I swung a little wide because I felt like I had enough (horse)."
If her stretch run is Obligatory's weapon, then Churchill Downs is the ground on which she wields it best. The Derby City Distaff was the third win beneath the historic Twin Spires for the filly, who took the Eight Belles Stakes Presented by Smithfield (G2) and Chilukki Stakes (G3) at the track in 2021.
Already a multiple graded stakes winner, a grade 1 score had eluded Obligatory in three previous attempts prior to Saturday's Derby City Distaff. At 3, the Curlin filly finished second in the Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park and the Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing, as well as fifth in the Longines Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. Mott said he knew that if ever there was a place for Obligatory to earn a grade 1, Churchill would be the likely venue.
"A (grade 1) is the goal. She's won a grade 2 and a grade 3 and she's a nice filly," said Mott. "But the goal, if they're good enough, is to win a grade 1 and this was what we pointed toward. She loves the track and she loves the stretch and it worked out well just like it did in the Eight Belles and the Chilukki. She turned the corner last year here in the Eight Belles. She's been steadily holding her own and getting better, at least maintaining that good form.
"If we were going to run in the Breeders' Cup, (running it at Churchill) would be a bonus. For whatever reason, she loves the track."
At the mention of the Breeders' Cup, Mott remained cautious in his clarifications. While he admits the World Championships are always among the end-of-year plans for top-level horses, he doesn't plan to get ahead of himself.
"A lot of things can happen between now and then," said Mott. "You always look at it, and I think during the course of the year, as you're figuring out a schedule, you always look at the end of the year before the end of the year."
A Kentucky homebred for Juddmonte, Obligatory is out of the stakes-winning Macho Uno mare Uno Duo. Obligatory's win in the Derby City Distaff improved her record to 5-2-0 from 11 starts with $1,228,594 in purse earnings.