East Hall Shows Speed in Indiana Derby Upset
Image:
Description:
East Hall, winner of the listed Ohio Derby two starts back, shipped back north from his Florida base to win the $507,100 Indiana Derby (gr. II) for 3-year-olds at Indiana Grand Race Course the evening of Oct. 4 .
Trained by Bill Kaplan for Jack Hendricks and Roger Justice, East Hall displayed unusual early speed to race just off the lead early under new rider Luis Saez. The move paid off in a big way for his owners, longtime friends who live in Lexington, as East Hall collared pacesetter Vicar's In Trouble in deep stretch to score by one length at 16-1 odds.
East Hall, a gelding by Graeme Hall out of the Sultry Song mare East Long Lake, was bred in Florida by Mary Haire.
Vicar's in Trouble was gunned to the front by Rosie Napravnik and was stalked early by East Hall through fractions of :24.42 for the opening quarter-mile, :48.06 for the half-mile, and 1:11.91 on a fast track. C J's Awesome was a close-up third, with Just Call Kenny in mid-pack on the outside in a field of seven.
Vicar's in Trouble, winner of the grade II Super Derby in his last start (East Hall was sixth in that race) opened up by two lengths through one mile in 1:35.97 and appeared home free. But East Hall, who was under urging entering the lane, switched leads near the eighth pole and surged late to nail the leader in a time of 1:42.24.
East Hall had to survive a claim of foul by Paco Lopez, rider of Just Call Kenny, who was in the midst of an outside rally when East Hall switched leads and drifted out. The stewards let the order stand.
"In the stretch, he switched leads," Saez said of East Hall. "I saw the other horse coming, but I don't think I bothered him."
Just Call Kenny finished 2 1/4 lengths behind Vicar's in Trouble and had two lengths on C J's Awesome in fourth. Saa Mi finished fifth, followed by even-money favorite Atreides and the maiden Cryptopirate. Quiet Ruler and I Got It All were scratched.
Atreides, 3-for-3 heading into the Indiana Derby, didn't have the best of starts and was in tight heading into the first turn in his first try around two turns. He raced evenly in sixth throughout.
Though East Hall does well outside of his native Florida, his connections aren't sure where he will resurface. They will leave that up to Kaplan.
"He has been campaigned heavily but he loves to run," Hendricks said. "We're so proud of him. He does everything we have asked him to do. And the training job by Bill has been fabulous."
East Hall grabbed a quarter in the Super Derby. His connections believe that's why he didn't put in his late run.
"He really didn't get to run his race in Louisiana," Justice said.
East Hall, who now has four wins in 17 starts with earnings of $662,545, paid $35.80, $10.60, and $13.40 across the board. Vicar's in Trouble returned $3.60 and $4.80, while Just Call Kenny was worth $7.80 to show. The $2 exacta paid $132.80 and the $2 trifecta $441.20.