Draft Pick Looks to Extend Win Streak in Los Al Derby
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Draft Pick after his win in the Affirmed Stakes
The emergence of Draft Pick for owner C R K Stable and trainer Peter Eurton could not have been timed much better.
In the afterglow of the Triple Crown season—and with Justify's racing future now in question—hefty purses and prestige are plentiful and attainable in the East for a 3-year-old of a certain talent level.
Draft Pick, a Candy Ride colt who was a $450,000 purchase out of the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, could be well-positioned to capitalize in those races, but first comes a start at home in the $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby (G3) July 14.
The bay colt debuted in September 2017 and showed some talent in his juvenile season. He finished third (beaten less than a length) in two of three starts as a 2-year-old but was mostly flat in his first two starts of 2018.
"When I looked at him the first time I saw him as a 2-year-old, I thought he was a late-coming-around horse," Eurton said. "He had size but wasn't super athletic. He worked like he was getting there, but when we got to farther workouts, he was OK but nothing to write home about."
Then came a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight May 12 at Santa Anita Park. Draft Pick stalked the early leaders, pushed to the front in the final turn, and drew off to win by 5 1/2 lengths.
In stakes company for the first time in his next start June 10 in the Affirmed (G3), Draft Pick got an almost identical trip as his maiden breaker, but this time he got a class check as he turned for home. As Draft Pick went to the front at the top of the stretch, multiple grade 1-placed Solomini loomed to his outside, but the colt shrugged off the challenge and pulled away late to win by 2 1/2 lengths.
DAUGHERTY: Affirmed Stakes a Slam Dunk for Draft Pick
"The last few months he's changed. His energy level is higher," Eurton said. "It's 100% physical. Physically, he's just doing things easier. He's working with (Indiana Derby contender) Dark Vader and (Ohio Derby winner) Core Beliefs, and you can't tell who is better.
"He might be getting on a plane soon enough, but we really liked the extra distance (of the 1 1/8-mile Los Alamitos Derby) for him."
Draft Pick will have to contend with four challengers from the barns of Bob Baffert and Doug O'Neill—each trainer has two entered—at Los Alamitos Race Course Saturday, with the likely favorite Patti and Hal Earnhardt's Ax Man, who has been favored in all five of his races to inconsistent results.
The Baffert-trained Misremembered colt romped in his debut Jan. 1 at Santa Anita, then was dueled into submission in the Feb. 10 San Vicente Stakes (G2). Stretched out to two turns for the first time, he romped once again in an optional-claiming allowance April 8 at Santa Anita, then dominated the May 19 LARC Sir Barton Stakes in the slop at Pimlico Race Course. Ax Man's most recent start was another step back as he finished 12 3/4 lengths behind King Zachary in the June 16 Matt Winn Stakes (G3) on a muggy night at Churchill Downs.
Baffert also has maiden winner Once On Whiskey entered in the Los Alamitos Derby. The Bodemeister colt broke his maiden at second asking in a seven-furlong maiden special weight March 24 at Santa Anita and most recently finished third in an optional-claiming allowance at the same distance May 5 at Churchill. He'll stretch out to two turns for the first time Saturday.
Baffert has won two of the last three editions of the Los Alamitos Derby, with Gimme Da Lute in 2015 and West Coast in 2017.
O'Neill's pair is Peter Pan Stakes (G3) winner Blended Citizen, who came in ninth—beaten 51 3/4 lengths—in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) last time out, and maiden winner King Cause, who finished fifth in a pair of grade 3 stakes, the Lazaro Barrera and the Affirmed.
LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, Saturday, July 14, 2018, Race 8Entries: Los Alamitos Derby (G3)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Draft Pick (KY)
Joseph Talamo
122
Peter Eurton
3/1
2
2Blended Citizen (KY)
Kyle Frey
122
Doug F. O'Neill
9/5
3
3Ax Man (KY)
Drayden Van Dyke
122
Bob Baffert
6/5
4
4Once On Whiskey (KY)
Flavien Prat
122
Bob Baffert
6/1
5
5King Cause (KY)
Evin A. Roman
122
Doug F. O'Neill
15/1
