Road to the Derby roundup

International Star brings Cajun seasoning to Kentucky

 William Buick, middle, on UAE-owned Prince Bishop, celebrates after they won the $ 10,000,000 Dubai World Cup during the Dubai World Cup horse races at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 28, 2015.
William Buick, middle, on UAE-owned Prince Bishop, celebrates after they won the $ 10,000,000 Dubai World Cup during the Dubai World Cup horse races at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 28, 2015.

NEW ORLEANS -- Jockey Miguel Mena guided International Star to a come-from-behind victory Saturday in the Grade II $750,000 Louisiana Derby, giving the horse a sweep of all three Kentucky Derby prep races at the Fair Grounds.

International Star, a son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, settled along the rail in the back half of the nine-horse field after breaking from the outside post as a 2-1 co-favorite. He then moved up on the inside down the backstretch, as 7-1 shot Stanford, trained by Todd Pletcher, and Oaklawn Park-shipper Mr. Z, trained by D. Wayne, Lukas, set the early fractions.

But Mr. Z, third-place finisher in the Smarty Jones and Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn who was racing without blinkers, faded at the head of the stretch and finished 9th, beaten nearly 21 lengths.

International Star surged into contention, dueling the length of the Fair Grounds stretch before beating Stanford by a neck. His winning time in the 1 1/8-mile race was 1:50.67.

War Story, the other co-favorite ridden by Joe Talamo, finished third.

International Star, trained by Mike Maker, paid $6.60, $3.60 and $2.60, adding the Louisiana Derby to victories in the Grade II Risen Star Stakes in February and Grade III Lecomte Stakes in January. Stanford returned $7 and $4.80, and War Story paid $2.80.

International Star (171) moved to No. 1 in the Road to the Derby standings after picking up 100 points for the victory. Stanford earned 40 and moved to 15th in the standings. War Story picked 20 points for third and is 12th with 44.

International Star might not be among the favorites heading into the Triple Crown, but Maker sounded confident that his horse, with career winnings now at $1.01 million, has a shot to win the Kentucky Derby.

"Definitely," Maker said. "He's a special horse. ... I might take some of the dirt from Fair Grounds up to Kentucky with us."

FLORIDA DERBY

Materiality materializes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- By the time Materiality and Upstart hit the top of the stretch, the other seven horses in the Florida Derby field were afterthoughts.

It was basically a match race, and Materiality, ridden by John Velazquez and trained by Todd Pletcher, never gave up the lead in the $1 million race.

Materiality, undefeated in three career starts, completed the 1 mile, 1/8th in 1:52.30.

The final margin was 1 1/2 lengths for Materiality, which was sent off at 9-5 odds. Upstart was the even-money favorite.

Under the points system now used to determine the Kentucky Derby field, Materiality now certainly has enough to get into the Run for the Roses. The Florida Derby victory was not only worth $600,000 in purse but 100 points in the all-important standings.

Ami's Flatter was third, 14 lengths back of the winner.

The rest of the finishing order had the previously unbeaten Itsaknockout in fourth, followed by Dekabrist, Indianaughty, My Point Exactly, Quimet and early leader Jack Tripp.

Upstart started on the outside of the field of nine, a post that trainer Rick Violette lamented having at the draw.

After the race, he said the post was too much to overcome.

"I don't want to hear from the guys that say 'Don't worry about the nine hole,' because it made all the difference," Violette said.

UAE DERBY

Derby horse discovered

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Mubtaahij pulled away from the field around the final turn and cruised to an 8-length victory in the $2 million UAE Derby at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday.

The overpowering victory convinced the 3-year-old's trainer that it's time to give the Kentucky Derby a try for the first time.

"We'll be there," said Mike de Kock, the well-known international trainer who rarely races in the United States. "This has given us a chance to get to the Kentucky Derby."

The UAE Derby victory was worth 100 Derby qualifying points -- more than enough to get into a field limited to 20 starters.

Mubtaahij, sent off as the favorite, followed pace-setters Golden Barrows and Tap That before Christophe Soumillon took off with his colt and blew away the competition. It was the colt's fourth victory in his last five starts, all on a dirt surface.

Mubtaahij's arrival at Churchill Downs would give the Derby a truly international flavor. The owner is Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, the trainer is South African, the jockey is French and horse was bred in Ireland.

Maftool was second and Golden Barrows third.

Sports on 03/29/2015

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