Once On Whiskey Springs Upset in Los Alamitos Derby

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Photo: Benoit Photo
Once On Whiskey (outside) passes Draft Pick late to win the Los Alamitos Derby

Draft Pick seemed to have put in the work required to win the $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby (G3) July 14.

The Candy Ride  colt had put away the horse to beat, the Bob Baffert-trained 3-5 favorite Ax Man, and had a 1 1/2-length lead with a furlong to run at Los Alamitos Race Course.

But there was one horse making a run from the back, carrying the familiar silks from another set of Baffert clients.

Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman's Once On Whiskey grinded away on the outside and found just enough in the final furlong to edge Draft Pick, the last-out Affirmed Stakes (G3) winner, by a head at the wire.

"I switched camps at the eighth pole," Baffert joked after the race.

Ax Man set a relatively slow pace in the 1 1/8-mile test—:24.52, :48.59, and 1:12.06 through six furlongs—while Once On Whiskey, in his first start around two turns, stalked in fourth and fifth in the five-horse field.

"I thought Ax Man coming in would do it. He was going well, but I could tell in the far turn. They all started ganging up on him," Baffert said. "Ax Man wasn't really responding, but (Once On Whiskey)—we've been wanting to stretch him out, and I was going to stretch him out at Del Mar—so for him to run like that, I've got to give a lot of credit to (jockey Flavien) Prat. I just told him to be patient with him."

After Once On Whiskey got past Ax Man around the eighth pole, Prat got the Bodemeister  colt to the outside and began his surge to the wire.

"When we turned for home, I asked him to run, and he responded pretty well," Prat said. "I didn't know if we could catch the leader, but I thought he could make a nice run. He just kept on going."

Once On Whiskey finished the distance in 1:48.93 to the dismay of Draft Pick's trainer, Peter Eurton. Draft Pick stalked the pace early on the inside under jockey Joe Talamo but got to the outside in the backstretch to track in second. With pressure on the far outside from 54-1 shot King Cause, the top three raced three wide in the final turn, and Draft Pick pulled away from the group in the stretch.

"Joe figured Ax Man was the horse to beat and used a lot of our energy chasing him," Eurton said. "He ran well. I can't complain. It's just frustrating, but I'll get over it."

Ax Man held third by a head over King Cause, and Peter Pan Stakes (G3) winner Blended Citizen finished last, another five lengths back.

Bred in Kentucky by Gabriel Duignan and Crosshaven Bloodstock, out of the Mineshaft  mare Crespano, Once On Whiskey broke his maiden at second asking going seven furlongs March 24 at Santa Anita Park, then shipped to Churchill Downs to finish third in an optional-claiming allowance May 5 at the same distance. He now has $140,300 in earnings.

In the five-year history of the Los Alamitos Derby, which was previously run as the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park, Baffert has won three times. His first two victories came in 2015 with Gimme Da Lute and in 2017 with West Coast.

Video: Los Alamitos Derby (G3)