Om Makes the Grade in Del Mar Derby
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On the same day American Pharoah paraded in front of an adoring Del Mar crowd, a name from the Triple Crown winner's past took a share of the spotlight at the seaside racetrack.
Previously known as the answer to a trivia question—who was the horse that beat American Pharoah in his first race?—K. B. Sareen's Om took the field gate to wire to win the $250,000 Del Mar Derby (gr. IIT) Sept. 6, flipping the script on rival Prospect Park, who took their last meeting in the La Jolla Handicap (gr. IIIT) Aug. 9.
Prospect Park, off as the 1-5 favorite in the field of seven with Kent Desormeaux aboard, pressed the pacesetting Om in the final turn, but did not have the kick he displayed in the La Jolla and tired to finish third. Royal Albert Hall, the longest shot on the board at 30-1, closed gamely from last to finish second, 2 1/4 lengths behind Om.
"He was right where we wanted to be," Desormeaux said of Prospect Park's trip. "He was just cantering. Then I asked him and he just kept cantering. No response. No response at all."
With first-time jockey Gary Stevens aboard, the 3-year-old Munnings colt pushed to the lead from an outside post, set fractions of :23.58, :47.71, and 1:11.86 through six furlongs while Prospect Park stalked in second, and kicked away exiting the final turn to hit the wire in 1:47.79 for 1 1/8 miles on firm turf. It was Om's first graded win for trainer Dan Hendricks.
"We pointed for this," Hendricks said. "It's just good when everything pays off. You do your due diligence and the harder you work, the luckier you get. He's what I would call a really old-school horse. He's just a coarse, tough, good-feeling horse and it worked out just the way we'd talked about for two weeks."
Stevens said dropping blinkers was a plus for Om.
"I’m just glad (Hendricks) gave me a shot and put me up on him," Stevens said. "I worked him three weeks ago and he went great without any blinkers. Then two weeks ago, I worked him again and they said blinkers on. I asked, 'Why?' They said he runs in blinkers. I worked him and told them I didn’t like him in blinkers at all."
The winner paid $15, $7.20, and $3.20 across the board. Royal Albert Hall brought $20.20 and $4.40, while Prospect Park delivered $2.10 to show.
Crittenden finished an even fourth, followed by Soul Driver, Papacoolpapacool, and Win the Space, to complete the order of finish.
Bred in Kentucky by Lavin Bloodstock, Bernie Sams, and William Farish Jr. out of the Tabasco Cat mare Rare Cat, Om has a 3-1-1 record from seven starts with earnings of $274,500. Hendricks purchased the colt for $125,000 at the 2014 Barretts March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training.