Win Win Win Brings Derby Buzz Back for Trombetta

After coming to the Kentucky Derby 13 years ago with the favorite, trainer Michael Trombetta is back with a horse that appears to be gliding along just under the radar.

While Sweetnorthernsaint received the backside's attention in 2006 after winning the Illinois Derby (G2) by 9 1/4 lengths, Win Win Win arrived at Churchill Downs April 26 from Fair Hill Training Center having only placed in his past two prep races.

"To have everybody with huge expectations in a race such as this, right off the get-go, adds a lot more stress to already a stressful situation," Trombetta said April 27, the day after Live Oak Plantation's homebred settled in at the Louisville, Ky., track.

But traffic at Barn 43 picked up a few days later after Win Win Win hooked up with Bill Mott's Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) contenders Tacitus and Country House in his final breeze April 28 ahead of the May 4 target. The Hat Trick colt was taken four wide and completed his work in :47 3/5, fourth-fastest of 76 at the distance, and became the buzz horse of the day.

Jockey Julian Pimentel, who has the call in the Derby, came from Maryland for the work. He and Win Win Win began about a neck behind stablemate Souper Courage, another 3-year-old Live Oak homebred ridden by Trombetta's assistant Melanie Williams. While those two were starting their works, Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) runner-up Country House and Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2) winner Tacitus were also getting going for a five-furlong drill behind them before passing on the rail.

"I don't know how that all materialized the way it did," Trombetta said. "But just about the five-eighths pole, I could see it starting to shape up, and I even told (Williams) on the radio, I said, 'You're going to have a set right behind you.' No sooner than I got that part out, they were right on top of them."

The Trombetta horses made it a four-horse work in the stretch as Win Win Win kicked into gear after splits of :24 1/5 and :36, broke away from Souper Courage, and passed Mott's duo before hitting the wire. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:00 1/5.

"We brought (Souper Courage) along to have company," Trombetta said, "not knowing I was going to have that much company."

Trombetta, who is based in the mid-Atlantic, was exposed to horse racing early after his father partnered on racehorses with a friend. 

"By the time I was 15, I was running around on the backstretch and looking for my first job and started walking horses for someone," he said. "Next thing you know, I was a groom for a bit, and on down the line became a trainer."

Trombetta saddled his first winner, Amant De Cour, in 1986 at Atlantic City. He continued to make an impact in the region, earning the Maryland Trainer of the Year title in 2005 and hitting the Triple Crown trail the next year.

Sweetnorthernsaint won the Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel Park before running third in the Gotham Stakes (G3) and winning the Illinois Derby. He finished seventh at 5-1 in the Derby but improved to run second in the Preakness Stakes (G1) close to home. Sweetnorthernsaint was sent to another trainer early in his 5-year-old season and last ran in the summer of his 6-year-old season. He retired with earnings of $947,632, making $860,675 of that while in Trombetta's care.

Trombetta also trained Nearctic Stakes (G1T) winner Next Question, Commonwealth Stakes (G2) winner Eternal Star, Carry Back Stakes (G2) winner Not for Silver, and grade 3 winners Weigelia , Control System, Jimanator, Despite the Odds, Street Magician , and Now a Victor.

Though he has entered a few horses in major prep races in attempts to return to the Derby, Win Win Win has been the first since Sweetnorthernsaint to earn his way in.

The Florida-bred was sent to Trombetta last summer and left the gate running. He won his first two starts at Laurel before finishing second to Alwaysmining in the Heft Stakes. Win Win Win made headlines in his 3-year-old debut when he cruised to a 7 1/4-length victory in the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, setting a course record for seven furlongs in 1:20.89.

A third-place finish behind Tacitus in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) and a runner-up performance to Vekoma in Keeneland's Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) gave Win Win Win 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, placing him 16th on the leaderboard.

The 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby will be Win Win Win's longest effort yet after stretching to 1 1/16 miles in the Tampa Bay Derby and 1 1/8 in the Blue Grass, but Trombetta sees a colt who is still evolving.

"We're all still learning about our 3-year-olds and what their capabilities are," the trainer said. "It's one test after another until you get here."