Lone Sailor Victorious at Last in Oklahoma Derby
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Photo: Dustin Orona Photography
Lone Sailor (outside) gets a nose in front in a photo finish of the Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park
GMB Racing's Lone Sailor finally got his Derby win Sept. 30, when he edged his rivals in a three-way photo finish to win the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby (G3) over 1 1/8 miles at Remington Park.
After competing in several major graded stakes for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds, the connections of Lone Sailor began to worry if they'd ever see the son of Majestic Warrior back in the winner's circle.
Edged by a neck in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2), followed by an eighth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) next out, the bay colt kept chasing the wire, hoping to add the title of "Derby Winner" to his résumé.
Second by a nose in the Ohio Derby (G3), Lone Sailor tried his luck again two starts later in his fourth Derby attempt Sept. 2 in the Super Derby (G3), but once again fell short, beaten 5 3/4 lengths by Limation. In between those attempts the Tom Amoss trainee also finished fifth in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and third in the betfair.com Haskell Invitational (G1).
Racing for the first time at Remington Park, Lone Sailor settled near the back of the field in the Oklahoma Derby, as Diamond King took charge to set the pace. Diamond King led the field through six furlongs in 1:11.21, and was stalked closely on his outside by Limation and Sea Foam.
As the field rounded the far turn, a hard-running Believe in Royalty moved up on the outside in third. Diamond King kicked away and managed to briefly open up his lead over Limation approaching the wire.
But driven hard on the far outside under jockey James Graham, Lone Sailor surged to the front, followed closely by Believe in Loyalty on his inside. Three abreast as they approached the finish line, Lone Sailor was declared the victor in a photo finish.
The final time was 1:49.97. Believe in Royalty finished second, a nose behind the winner, and was followed by Diamond King in third, another nose behind.
Sent off with odds of 3-1, Lone Sailor returned $8.80, $4.80, and $3.40.
The win marked the first graded score for Lone Sailor and his second win since he broke his maiden in September of 2017.
Lone Sailor improved his record to 2-5-2 from 14 starts for earnings of $873,237. Bred in Kentucky by the Alexander, Groves, Matz partnership out of the Mr. Greeley mare Ambitious, Lone Sailor was purchased for $120,000 as a yearling from Gainesway's consignment to the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.