Severa
Common sense ain't common
ESPN.com
John Velazquez won the Kentucky Derby by a broken nose.
An injury to Animal Kingdom's regular rider, Robby Albarado, cleared the way for Velazquez to pick up the mount and once he took the reins Saturday, he rode his good luck all the way to the winner's circle.
"For once, I'm on the good end of it," Velazquez said. The last three years, the New York-based jockey came to Churchill Downs with a colt considered a leading contender, only to have it withdrawn.
This time, he was supposed to ride Uncle Mo before the colt was scratched due to a lingering stomach problem. Then Albarado broke his nose when he was thrown off his horse and kicked in the face before a race.
"All of a sudden I pick up this one and he wins the Derby, so it was meant to be," he said.
Trainer Graham Motion got lucky, too.
His top Derby horse, Wood Memorial winner Toby's Corner, never even made it to Louisville. He had a leg injury and never left Motion's barn in Maryland.
Animal Kingdom, who'd never raced on dirt before, reacted to his new rider the way a champion should, charging down the middle of the stretch to win by 2¾ lengths.
Nehro was second and Mucho Macho Man was another neck back in third.
Dialed In went off as the 5-1 favorite, but finished eighth.
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1) RECORD crowd today of 164,858 which broke the record set in 1974.
After all the rain Kentucky has seen this year, it was nice to see the weather cooperate for the Derby.
2) Winning time of 2:02.04 - well off the record set by Secretariat in 1973.
Honestly, I don't see that getting broken ANY time soon.
3) I usually try to pick a Derby winner every year, with limited success.
Last year was a fluke. I picked Super Saver the morning of the race just cause he was good on sloppy tracks and he was being ridden by Calvin Borel.
I'm the type to heavily study bloodline + past performance, but just couldn't pick a horse this year that I thought, 'Yeah THAT horse is going to win'
John Velazquez won the Kentucky Derby by a broken nose.
An injury to Animal Kingdom's regular rider, Robby Albarado, cleared the way for Velazquez to pick up the mount and once he took the reins Saturday, he rode his good luck all the way to the winner's circle.
"For once, I'm on the good end of it," Velazquez said. The last three years, the New York-based jockey came to Churchill Downs with a colt considered a leading contender, only to have it withdrawn.
This time, he was supposed to ride Uncle Mo before the colt was scratched due to a lingering stomach problem. Then Albarado broke his nose when he was thrown off his horse and kicked in the face before a race.
"All of a sudden I pick up this one and he wins the Derby, so it was meant to be," he said.
Trainer Graham Motion got lucky, too.
His top Derby horse, Wood Memorial winner Toby's Corner, never even made it to Louisville. He had a leg injury and never left Motion's barn in Maryland.
Animal Kingdom, who'd never raced on dirt before, reacted to his new rider the way a champion should, charging down the middle of the stretch to win by 2¾ lengths.
Nehro was second and Mucho Macho Man was another neck back in third.
Dialed In went off as the 5-1 favorite, but finished eighth.
-------------------------------------
1) RECORD crowd today of 164,858 which broke the record set in 1974.
After all the rain Kentucky has seen this year, it was nice to see the weather cooperate for the Derby.
2) Winning time of 2:02.04 - well off the record set by Secretariat in 1973.
Honestly, I don't see that getting broken ANY time soon.
3) I usually try to pick a Derby winner every year, with limited success.
Last year was a fluke. I picked Super Saver the morning of the race just cause he was good on sloppy tracks and he was being ridden by Calvin Borel.
I'm the type to heavily study bloodline + past performance, but just couldn't pick a horse this year that I thought, 'Yeah THAT horse is going to win'