Tag: Two Phil’s

Loveberry Injured, Will Not Ride Two Phil’s In Ohio Derby

Jareth Loveberry, who has ridden GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Two Phil's (Hard Spun) in all but one of his nine career starts, has had to take off the mount for Saturday's GIII Ohio Derby due to an injury. Gerardo Corrales has picked up the assignment for trainer Larry Rivelli.

Loveberry rode Wednesday at Canterbury Park and experienced some pain when his horse, Artemus Citylimits (Temple City), stumbled at the start of the Dark Star Turf Sprint S.

“I had a horse stumble out of the gate and jerk my left arm,” he said. “We're not sure the severity of it now. I am waiting to go back to the doctor to hear more. The X-rays came back clean but there might be some tissue damage. I am waiting for an MRI. I need an MRI to check the muscles and ligaments and all that to see if there is any damage there.”

Loveberry was booked to ride in the following race, the Canterbury Derby, but was taken off that mount.

The jockey's problems may have begun Sunday at Ellis Park during training hours when he was aboard a horse that stumbled and fell. He was not sure if both incidents contributed to his injury.

He said it was too early to know how long he would be out for.

“I won't know that until we know the severity of the injury and whether or not I will need therapy,” he said. “It's not so much that I am in pain. It's more discomfort. Talking to you right now, I'm not in pain. But there are certain positions I put my arm in and it starts to burn. There is a lot of discomfort.”

When reached by phone, Loveberry was clearly downcast. Though he's won 1,771 races and two riding titles at Arlington Park, he has not had many chances on horses capable of winning at the Grade I level. In addition to finishing second in the Derby, Loveberry has guided Two Phil's to wins in the GIII Street Sense S. and the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks.

“How am I handling it? Not very good,” he said. “It's part of the life of being a jockey. I'll just have to heal up. I have had quite a few injuries, unfortunately. You try to work hard and come back the right rime. It's important not to come back too early because then you can show weakness. But if I can come back at full strength I think I will be fine.”

He said he will be watching the Ohio Derby from his home in Chicago and will be pulling for Two Phil's.

“I'll be rooting for him. I love that horse,” he said.

Corrales rode Two Phil's in his first career start, finishing fifth in a maiden race at Churchill Downs. Loveberry was the leading rider at Arlington Park in 2020 and 2021.

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‘We Almost Shocked The World’

They know perfectly well, by this stage, that the apostrophe shouldn't be there. They've been asked, and told, about it often enough. But you know what? They're fine with that. They have come round to the view that it fits the horse, that quirky outlying touch; fits their whole story. Because really there's no way they should be here, either.

“Every year, 20,000 foals are born,” reflects Anthony Sagan. “And only 20 make it to the Derby. But not only did we make it, we were a length off winning it. We almost pulled it off, almost shocked the world.”

Sagan's father Phillip is one of the two octogenarian namesakes in the entourage who prompted the naming of Two Phil's (Hard Spun), that consoling sunbeam through the black clouds that had gathered over our sport last Saturday.

Even the 20 who drew a gate for the GI Kentucky Derby had not yet finally confounded the odds. No fewer than five were withdrawn between declaration and post time, three substitutes completing a field of 18. But Two Phil's, bred from the only Thoroughbred the Sagan family ever bought and ignored by every expert in the first session of the Keeneland September Sale, not only showed that he belonged. He actually took command turning into the stretch, and saw off every challenger bar Mage (Good Magic).

Second place, so near and yet so far, notoriously invites mixed feelings. But the Two Phil's team are still buzzing from an unforgettable day, even if it's only human to dwell on the bittersweet sense that Two Phil's touched, but could not quite grasp, the hem of turf history.

“Yes, we were happy and sad all in the same moment,” Sagan admits. “We were so proud of the horse and what he's accomplished. And we were sad because we just almost did it-and the odds of us getting ever back to there are… Well, it's like winning the lottery, will be in the billions. So many people try to get to the Derby every year, so many big-time owners and sheikhs and billionaires. And a little guy like us, we almost pulled it off.”

Mage and Two Phil's | Coady Photography

There had been corresponding support for the team all week, on the backside, and above all during the coveted “walkover” with Two Phil's, and the 17 others elected by fate, from the barns to the paddock. Being relative novices–the Sagans had previously only dabbled in a few Standardbreds–they were taken aback by the emotional intensity of that ritual.

“We didn't even realize that it was such a big deal, and what it entailed,” Sagan acknowledges. “It was an incredible experience; I can't even describe it. People along the rail, yelling and cheering and high-fiving us, screaming for Two Phil's: 'Let's go!' I'd never seen anything like this in my life. We didn't know how many fans the horse had out there. I think he'd kind of become a fan favorite, kind of the hard-working, blue-collar horse.”

He was also a Chicago horse, in spirit at least. His trainer Larry Rivelli won every Arlington training title from 2014 until the track's heartbreaking closure in 2021 by the same corporation that now provided the stage for this fairytale. Co-owner Vince Foglia of Patricia's Hope LLC, meanwhile, had been leading owner there since 2015. And Jareth Loveberry, who started out round a “five-eighths bull-ring” at Great Lakes Downs 18 years ago, had won its last two riding titles. Cast adrift from Arlington, here they were coming ashore with a horse that asked no favors and gave no quarter.

Poignantly, the Sagan family had spent their harness days at another doomed Illinois circuit, Maywood Park. In dipping their toe into the Thoroughbred world, however, they gave $40,000 for an unraced 3-year-old filly by a failed stallion, General Quarters. She had been recommended by two seasoned horsemen, Jerry La Sala and Gene Lotti, and their judgement was vindicated when Mia Torri became a dual stakes winner and twice finished second in graded stakes.

At this point they reached the first of many junctions, many roads not taken, on the winding road that ultimately led to last Saturday.

“The smart move would have been to sell her,” Sagan concedes. “At one point, we were being offered $300,000–plus for Mia Torri as a broodmare prospect. But she always had a special meaning to us. We'd named her after my grandma. And I always had a gut instinct, even when she got hurt and had to retire, that she could be something more. Horses like this don't come around very often. If you take the money, and then go out and buy some others, what are the chances you'll find one as good as this? The odds are way against you.”

It didn't look as though the gamble would pay off after Mia Torri lost her first foal, but she went back to Hard Spun for her second cover. This priceless conduit to the great Danzig had been picked out for the Thoroughbred rookies by Steve Leving, another stalwart of the Chicago racing scene. (Indeed, he would eventually re-enter the saga as Loveberry's agent.) Hard Spun was tough, classy, versatile, and fairly priced-and he also complemented the mare physically.

“Fortunately, the foal got the father's body and frame,” Sagan recalls. “Mia Torri's well put together, but she's not a really big, powerful-looking mare. But right from when he was born, he also got his mom's head: her demeanor, her attitude, her mental fortitude.”

The colt was foaled, raised and broken by Elise Handler at Spruceton Farm, Kentucky: yet another instance, in this story, of someone seizing a rare opportunity and reaching the highest standards. Handler got him through some of the usual baby issues and by the time the Keeneland inspectors came, they wanted to put him into Book I of the September Sale. But here was another twist in the road.

“Because with his pedigree he probably didn't probably belong in that first book,” Sagan says. “These people were experts, they knew what they were doing, and obviously saw something they liked in him. But placing him where they did probably kept us involved in the horse. Because if he'd been in Book III, we would probably have sold for $100,000.”

As it was, Hip 62 didn't meet his reserve at $150,000. They tried again, at OBS the following spring, and Jimmy Gladwell has since told Sagan that the colt had outworked all his other charges that winter. But he didn't sparkle in his breeze and it was clear that he would fall through the market cracks.

“You know what?” Gladwell said. “He's better than this. Take him home.”

With the fathers of Sagan and La Sala both sharing the same name, the colt was registered as Two Phil's and entered training with Rivelli, whose main patron Foglia also bought into the horse.  (Latterly, the horse having put himself in the Derby picture, Madaket Stables came in for a piece too.) And the rest is history: Two Phil's emulated Hard Spun by winning the race now known as the GIII Jeff Ruby S., before finishing second in the big one.

Two Phil's | Coady Photography

The Turfway race also produced Rich Strike (Keen Ice) to stun everyone in the Derby last year, but Two Phil's arrived with far wider belief behind him–not least after taking to the track so well in the GIII Street Sense S. last fall. So, while the whole team was cognizant of their privilege simply in securing a Derby gate, they weren't just in town for the ride.

“Just qualifying for the race, yes, that was a major accomplishment for this horse,” Sagan says. “But we believed that we had a real chance to win. I got there on Monday, because I knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime shot and wanted to take it all in. And every morning on the backstretch people came up, wanted to take pictures and talk.”

A big Chicago crew assembled on raceday: Sagan's sisters, his nieces and nephews, a bunch of cousins and friends. And of course, Foglia had a lot of people with him, too, as did Rivelli. It felt like they had a long afternoon ahead, hanging out, walking around, soaking it up. The two Phils, characters both, did a spot on NBC. And before they knew it, it was time for the walkover.

Then a media group not only trained a camera on Sagan but hooked him up with a microphone and even a heart monitor.

“They said they wanted to share the experience of an owner watching the Derby,” Sagan recalls. “I said, 'Guys, I might swear a little bit!' They said not to worry, they'd get rid of that. But if we won, this would be all over the world news. My dad was down on the rail, but he couldn't even pick his head up. He was so nervous, he wouldn't watch it. He wanted to win for my mom. She just passed in December, she loved the horse, and would have been so proud to be a part of this. So, it was emotional for all of us.”

That heart monitor must have melted when Loveberry pounced from his stalking position.

“When he took the lead in the stretch, it really felt like we were going to win the Derby,” Sagan says. “I knew this horse has a huge heart, how hard he tries every time. Every other horse that had been near the front, they all finished 14, 25, 50 lengths back. But Two Phil's kicked on and got beat a length. The race he ran wins the Derby, like, nine out of 10 years. He ran a phenomenal race but hats off to Mage, we just came up short.”

Though Rivelli has decided to sit out the GI Preakness S., Two Phil's has put himself firmly in the elite of the crop and promises all kinds of excitement in the second half of the campaign. Meanwhile he has also brightened the future for his dam, who was bred back to Omaha Beach this spring. The Spendthrift stallion is already sire of her 2-year-old colt, apparently very handsome but just held up by a minor issue as a $32,000 RNA at Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky October Sale. He is in pre-training with Gladwell, while a yearling colt by McKinzie is being prepared for a likely appearance at the September Sale.

Sagan pays warm tribute to the way everyone involved, from farm to racetrack, has contributed to the development of Two Phil's.

“We're family-oriented people,” he says. “We try to stay with family businesses, and we're loyal. Everyone did a great job and we're happy that they got on the radar with Two Phil's. These horses don't come around too often, so it's pretty special for all of us. Jareth gave him a great ride. He saw the hole, he went for it, and almost pulled off an amazing upset. And with Larry, the horse always comes first. He gets them the best treatments, the best vitamins, the best feed. And he's got a great team.”

Team Two Phil's at Derby Draw | Coady Photography

After a fairly harrowing week for our community, this horse can help to keep the faith in the game's redemptive potential-if only we can do our bit right.

“Listen, I know there's a lot of black eyes around Thoroughbred racing right now,” Sagan accepts. “And these big tracks like Churchill make so much money, they should be doing everything they can to make conditions as safe as possible.

“But yes, horse racing needs these stories to keep the game going. How about Cody's Wish? That's another feel-good story. Some of these horses have a lot of meaning to people. We need to put that out there, make people realize that this game is not just about money and fame. Guys like us are a perfect example. This was sport, a hobby, something we love. Sure, it's awesome to succeed. But it wasn't our goal to make money. That's almost impossible to do. We managed to pull it off, but the horse did it, not us. He does all the work, and he deserves all the credit.”

Sagan is little too modest here. He's a poker player, after all, and has always been a gambler. And it took a risk-taker's instinct to keep his family aboard for this thrilling adventure. It would have been a more prudent option, no doubt, to take the money for Mia Torri; and not to persevere with her son when repeatedly rejected at market.

“But if you've got a good product, you stick with it, and that's what we did,” Sagan says. “We did feel this mare was going to be special. But yes, it's like a fairy story. You have one horse, you breed her, and you almost win the Derby. I remember the day he was born. Elise sent me a picture. It was an awesome thing, like, wow. But never in our wildest dreams could we imagine that any of this could happen.”

Hence the connection people demonstrated with the horse, making that Derby walkover: here was living, breathing, hard-running proof that everybody has some kind of chance.

“In the betting line, he was not a longshot,” Sagan notes. “He was 9-1, actually the fourth choice. But the story of this horse is what makes him a longshot. How he was bred, where he came from, and all the things that happened to him along the way. He was the underdog.

“Everyone on the backside was saying how good it was to see a new face get to this spot in the game. Mostly it's Pletcher, Cox, Baffert, the same guys with three or four horses every year, and the same ownership groups. Nothing against any of them. They put a lot of money into the game, and deserve any success they get. But it's good that a small-time guy with one horse can get to the Derby. It gives hope to other people that play this game. It shows that anything's possible.”

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Preakness Update: Two Phil’s Out, Blazing Sevens, Perform and Chase the Chaos In

Two Phil's (Hard Spun), a game runner-up in the GI Kentucky Derby, will skip the May 20 GI Preakness S., according to a report from Jim O'Donnell in the Chicago Daily Herald.

“Too soon,” trainer Larry Rivelli told O'Donnell. “Phil came out of the Derby great. We shipped back to Chicago Sunday, but the Preakness is just 12 days away. That's just too soon.”

Two Phil's, coming off a win in the Mar. 25 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks, was the only runner close to the hot pace to still be around at the wire in Saturday's Derby.

“I'm not a guy who celebrates [second-place finishes], but this was an exception,” said Rivelli told O'Donnell. “So much had to go right for us and all came so close to going perfect. And you have to give major credit to [Jareth] Loveberry for the ride.”

Two Phil's, winner of last year's GIII Street Sense S. at Churchill Downs, opened 2023 with a runner-up effort in the Jan. 21

GIII Lecomte S. and was second in the Feb. 18 GII Risen Star S. before earning his spot in the Derby with his win in the Jeff Ruby at Turfway Park in March.

While the connections of Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) have yet confirm the colt's participation in two weeks, trainers Chad Brown and Shug McGaughey have both thrown their respective hats into the Preakness arena. Brown confirmed that Rodeo Creek Racing's Blazing Sevens (Good Magic), third last out in the Apr. 21 GI Toyota Blue Grass S., will head to Baltimore following one more work at Belmont Saturday.

“If he comes out of the work good, we'll go down to Pimlico either Sunday or Monday,” Brown said Tuesday morning.

After missing the Derby in 2017 with Cloud Computing and again last year with Early Voting, Brown returned to take the second jewel in the U.S. Triple Crown and he hopes to do it again with last year's GI Champagne S. winner.

“[Blazing Sevens] is coming into the race fresh,” Brown said. “He is coming in with a full tank of gas. Off his most recent work I see him moving forward off the Blue Grass. The horse is as good as I have ever seen him. I needed to see the horse really move forward and to see him at his very best. That is what I am seeing.”

Also confirmed for the Preakness, Woodford Racing, Lane's End Farm, Phipps Stable, Ken Langone and Edward Hudson's Perform (Good Magic) has been supplemented for $150,000.

This represents the first Preakness runner for McGaughey since his Derby hero Orb was seen finishing fourth in the 2013 Preakness.

“It's been a while,” said McGaughey. “Just haven't had the horse.”

A winner at Tampa in March, Perform followed up with a victory in the Apr. 15 Federico Tesio S. at Laurel. The colt will be accompanied by Feargal Lynch, who was also aboard in the Tesio.

“Two turns have helped him a lot,” McGaughey said. “Things changed when we started going around two turns. If I didn't think he fit with these, I would not be running him. We will have to wait and see, but his last two races around two turns have been pretty good.”

Perform is scheduled to work at Belmont on Sunday.

Also confirmed to run Tuesday, Adam Ference and Bill Dory's Chase the Chaos (Astern {Aus}) received the green light from trainer Ed Moger Jr. Chase the Chaos earned an automatic fees-paid berth in the Preakness with his victory in the Feb. 11 El Camino Real Derby on his home track at Golden Gate Fields.

Moger said that Chase the Chaos, who will be his first Preakness starter, will work Saturday and ship to Baltimore on Tuesday.

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Top to Bottom: Derby Rundown

This week's Triple Crown feature examines the trips of GI Kentucky Derby runners in detail from first to last:

1) Mage (No. 12 in TDN pre-race rankings)
Mage, the little horse who could, was a characteristic beat slow out of the starting gate. Javier Castellano let him roll with the flow as the field sorted itself out through the first furlong, then darted to secure the rail while fourth-last the first time under the wire.

Unhurried through the turn, this son of Good Magic ($235,000 KEESEP; $290,000 EASMAY) raced several paths off the rail down the backstretch. Castellano seemed content knowing a brisk pace was percolating in front of him while aware the two late-running faves were also still parked at the back.

Edging closer, Mage tagged on behind the rapidly advancing Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) entering the far turn. Sensing two rivals ranging up from the outside and not wanting to be locked in, Castellano committed his colt to an ever-widening arc to get clear of them. Mage was still 11th while four deep three-eighths out, but he was winding up for a move that would prove to be a better-timed version of the one he uncorked in the GI Florida Derby.

Building momentum, Castellano urged Mage with a more energetic cadence and steered for home in the eight path. He set down Mage as soon as they straightened away, advancing from fifth at the quarter pole to second three-sixteenths out. Zeroing in on a tiring-but not quitting-Two Phil's (Hard Spun), Mage accosted that pacemaker at the eighth pole, with Castellano cracking his colt once right-handed.

Mage didn't exactly blow by the pesky Two Phil's, who lingered a half-length back while Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) emerged as the lone remaining danger. Mage stalled for a stride at the sixteenth pole, but refocused quickly under Castellano's persistent (but never panicked) rousing, driving home with purpose to win by a length (105 Beyer Speed Figure).

2) Two Phil's (No. 11 in TDN pre-race rankings)
Two Phil's ($150,000 RNA KEESEP) broke decently from post three, but an eighth of a mile into the race, Jareth Loveberry wanted no part of being stuck inside, so he guided his colt several paths outward. A trio of speedsters had opened up by three lengths into the first turn, and Two Phil's was in the middle of a second flight of three that crept closer on the back straightaway.

The two waves soon merged, yet even as the pack tightened, Loveberry and Two Phil's appeared relaxed and comfortable. That spot two lanes off the fence proved to be prime positioning into the far turn, because when Verifying (Justify) was first among the duelers to crack, Loveberry shot through to claim the inside passage he vacated, and within three strides Two Phil's had put away Reincarnate (Good Magic) and Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo), who were both being driven while Two Phil's was opening up under hand urging.

At the head of the lane, all the spent horses were bogged down inside, and Two Phil's braced for the wide-and-driving Mage. Two Phil's was understandably fatigued from stalking the fast pace and getting first run at the leaders, and while he was no match for Mage, this colt never packed it in. He stayed on as best he could under Loveberry's urging and held second by a half-length, replicating the 2007 Derby finish of his sire, Hard Spun. He galloped out on even terms with Mage and co-earned a 105 Beyer.

3) Angel of Empire (No. 10 in TDN pre-race rankings)
Angel of Empire ($32,000 RNA KEENOV; $70,000 KEESEP) was sent away from the gate, but not so much to ask him for early speed as to put his head in the game straight from the start. He settled willingly for Flavien Prat third from last the first time through the lane, and seven-eighths out dropped from the three path onto the rail and rode it until the far turn, gradually picking off midpack stragglers as he advanced.

Prat wisely opted off the inside when Verifying began plummeting through the field, and this colt very much looked in it to win it at the top of the stretch. He was eight wide and right behind Mage, but the difference was that Mage kicked into a higher gear while Angel of Empire continued to grind along. This son of Classic Empire was still three lengths in arrears at the eighth pole when Mage made his winning move.

Angel of Empire did find his best stride in that final furlong, but it was too late. Even with an untroubled trip and zesty fractions setting things up for him, this Pennsylvania-bred's usual closing kick wasn't quite good enough to reel in Two Phil's for second-and that's despite upping his best lifetime Beyer by 10 points, from 94 to 104. The top three galloped out more or less together.

4) Disarm (No. 8 in TDN pre-race rankings)
'TDN Rising Star' Disarm (Gun Runner) broke inward from post nine and love-tapped Reincarnate, with neither large-framed colt fazed by the contact. Joel Rosario took every opportunity in the early running to shift this Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred deeper down toward the rail, and he found the fence within the back third of the pack by the time the field crested the clubhouse turn.

Disarm kept bettering his position while eating a fair amount of kickback, but he was never able to cut loose with a sustained run and often appeared “on hold” or on the verge of getting pocketed. He split horses on the far turn, but was walled up near the inside off the final bend, which in this year's Derby was not the place to be because of the cluster of tiring horses taking up residence there.

In upper stretch, Rosario tried to dive outward through a hole that Hit Show (Candy Ride{Arg}) got to first, so Plan B was to slice back inside, which only yielded more tight traffic for a precious half-furlong. Disarm shouldered aside the capitulating Kingsbarns, but when he finally go clear running room inside the final eighth, he had no finishing flourish.

Beaten 4 ½ lengths, Disarm was the final Derby horse in the race to be awarded a triple-digit Beyer, and that 100 represented a respectable 10-point jump off the 90s he paired in his previous two races.

5) Hit Show (No. 9 in TDN pre-race rankings)
Although he never fired despite attaining a no-excuse trip from the difficult one post, this Candy Ride (Arg) homebred for Gary and Mary West ran a commendable race, especially considering he's a May 9 foal.

Hit Show broke fluidly from the inside gate, affording Manny Franco the luxury of positioning him where he wanted in the early part of the race. Initially fifth, Hit Show got geared back to seventh through the turn, then was eased off the fence to the four path so Franco could claim a sweet, uncrowded stalking spot behind the speedsters with no one covering him up and plenty of room to maneuver.

Sixth into the far bend, Hit Show started to pick it up with a four-wide run 3 ½ furlongs out under urging from Franco. He looked poised to pounce from third turning for home, but had no response to three left-handed swats in upper stretch. In the manner of a few strides, Hit Show went from attack mode to being under siege. Mage blew by to his outside, and Hit Show stayed on doggedly, with Franco keeping him to task to get fifth money.

6) Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (No. 14 in TDN pre-race rankings)
Derma Sotogake (Jpn) broke toward the back with his head briefly turned inward. There was no rush by Christophe Lemaire to contest the pace. This ¥18,000,000 JRHJUL son of Mind Your Biscuits seemed okay placed farther back in the pack than expected despite getting pelted with kickback.

Lemaire moved decisively 4 1/2 furlongs out, splitting horses at the entrance to the far turn and initially picking off Disarm toward his inside and targeting the on-the-prowl Hit Show in front of him. Derma Sotogake seemed to be drawing a bead on the top trio off the turn, but he was quickly overtaken by Mage and Angel of Empire, whose full heads of steam stood out in contrast against his one-paced action.

“He didn't break as fast as last time but I was able to put him on the inside and save ground,” Lemaire said. “Gradually, we gained position on the final turn. I was in the best spot to make a move, he stayed on and but didn't have the speed to make it closer late.”

The field leaving the starting gate for the 2023 GI Kentucky Derby | Coady

7) Tapit Trice (No. 5 in TDN pre-race rankings)
You can watch the Derby replay as many times as you want, but trainer Todd Pletcher aptly summed up the trip for this 'TDN Rising Star' in his immediate take right after the race:  “Tapit Trice did what he always does-he broke slow and then he had to check a couple of times heading into the first turn. When it came time he couldn't get going well enough. Farther for him-we're thinking [GI] Belmont [S.].”

Luis Saez had to implore this $1.3 million KEESEP son of Tapit straight out of the starting stall, and he briefly lost momentum when Mage dropped in front of him a furlong into the race. Tapit Trice was last into the turn, but was already on the move six furlongs out, which is how he won the GI Blue Grass S.

He picked off three rivals at the back before another minor stutter-step stall a half mile out; Saez seemed conflicted going into the far turn about whether inside or outside would be best. But it really didn't matter because Tapit Trice had left himself too much work to do.

This colt did respond to far-turn rousing, but it takes Tapit Trice quite a while to fully unwind. He spun nine wide into the lane, and when it was evident he not within realistic striking distance, Saez decided to save Tapit Trice for another day.

8) Raise Cain (No. 19 in TDN pre-race rankings)
This son of Violence ($180,000 KEESEP; $65,000 RNA OBSOPN) ran a sneaky-good eighth. He broke running from post 13 and could have made the front vanguard, but Gerardo Corrales took a firm hold and guided him back, eventually latching on to a midpack spot at the fence through the first turn.

Raise Cain showed a nice ability to pick off selected targets down the backstretch, always bettering his position, and when the far turn arrived, he had achieved a tactically advantageous spot behind the too-fast frontrunners down near the inside.

Corrales pulled off a deft move when shifting outside of the tiring Verifying, then reclaiming his spot at the rail. But when the field straightened, the need to get off the plugged-up inside suddenly became desperate, and Raise Cain had to waste forward momentum by repeatedly shifting laterally through the lane. He only encountered more and more traffic, enduring some bumping that stalled his late run for good. Overall though, the effort rates much better than it looks on paper.

9) Rocket Can (No. 13 in TDN pre-race rankings)
Junior Alvarado said post-race that, “I think I had one of the best trips in the race,” and he's probably right-at least for the first mile of the journey.

Rocket Can, a $245,000 FTSAUG RNA gray, was initially a touch keen while briefly running up on heels in the first few strides, but he settled in seventh, inching closer to the action as the two front packs merged into one. He came out to the four path and enjoyed similar uncovered placement as Hit Show while edging to within four lengths of the leaders into the last turn.

After saving ground, this blinkers-on son of Into Mischief tried to punch through between rivals three-sixteenths out, but he had tiring horses on both sides and it wasn't initially apparent if Two Phil's ahead of him was stopping or staying on. By the time Alvarado called on Rocket Can for another burst, the colt had nothing left to give.

10) Confidence Game (No. 18 in TDN pre-race rankings)
Judging Confidence Game's try based on how close he was to a hot pace and how long he hung in there, his Derby 10th at 21-1 odds comes off as a likeable effort.

This $25,000 KEESEP Candy Ride (Arg) colt threw himself right into the race by breaking with good energy and securing a primo position, fourth at the rail into the turn behind a trio of eager  pacemakers.

He was fifth, then fourth for most of the backstretch run, attending the brisk splits while waiting to see how the duel would come undone. Confidence Game attempted to follow the dive-between move of Two Phil's five-sixteenths out, but Two Phil's was into the bridle with more alacrity, relegating this colt to chase mode turning for home closest to the rail.

At the eighth pole, Confidence Game was still within three of the leaders when Mage powered past Two Phil's. But he had that “spinning his wheels” look to his stride, and couldn't sustain his bid. He wasn't hammered on by James Graham when it became evident he wouldn't attain a placing.

11) Sun Thunder (No. 15 in TDN pre-race rankings)
Even with blinkers added, this late-running Into Mischief colt ($400,000 KEENOV; $495,000 RNA FTSAUG) was unhurried out of the gate, settling into stride second from last the first time past the finish.

Sun Thunder gained a few positions on the far turn and into the stretch, primarily from passing horses who had no forward momentum.

“I think we'll point to the Belmont after this,” trainer Ken McPeek said. “He was a little up against it today, but we'll come back to fight another day.”

12) Mandarin Hero (Jpn) (Unranked also-eligible in TDN pre-race rankings)
Mandarin Hero (Jpn) (Shanghai Bobby) was a hard-charging pace presence out of gate 17 without really being hustled. He suffered only slight momentum loss when Rocket Can knifed in front of him through the stretch.

Midpack and between rivals onto the backstretch, Kazushi Kimura rode him with confidence, then shook the reins at him with a sense of urgency when fellow Japanese invader Derma Sotogake ranged alongside and quickened into the far turn.

Mandarin Hero was asked for run four deep through the bend, and he came in close quarters with the brawny Tapit Trice. But this colt kept getting passed even though he was responding to his rider.

13) Reincarnate (No. 6 in TDN pre-race rankings)
This $775,000 KEESEP son of Good Magic had Disarm bounce off his outside flank a few jumps out of the gate, but Reincarnate's natural speed carried him straight to the front, where he hooked up as the outermost horse in a three-way go.

John Velazquez tacked him back behind Verifying and Kingsbarns down the back straight, and even though this colt was incrementally edging up a half mile out, he couldn't make much of a dent in the margin because the fractions were so demanding.

Reincarnate's best chance came on the far turn when Verifying was the first to crack, but he couldn't muster an authoritative response to put away the ready-to-cave Kingsbarns. Two Phil's slipped through to his inside instead, and Velazquez concentrated on keeping his own regressing mount out of the way of onrushing contenders once he realized no final kick was coming from Reincarnate.

14) Kingsbarns (No. 7 in TDN pre-race rankings)
Kingsbarns, now a 3-for-4 son of Uncle Mo ($250,000 FTSAUG; $800,000 FTFMAR)  won a couple of in-race battles after getting a good jump out of starting stall six.

After establishing a wicked pace, Kingsbarns dueled Verifying into defeat while still in hand entering the far turn under Jose Ortiz, and then kept next-closest pursuer Reincarnate at bay.

But by the midway point on the far bend Kingsbarns had no real response when Two Phil's swallowed him up and a sizable portion of the field careened by. Although out of the race by upper stretch, Kingsbarns managed to contribute to an inside logjam that adversely affected several contenders, although none of them truly had a winning shot.

“I sacrificed going a little bit faster than I wanted to in order to be in a good spot,” Ortiz said. “I wish we could have given him a breather on the backside.”

15) King Russell (Unranked also-eligible in TDN pre-race rankings)
This $60,000 FTKOCT gray by Creative Cause overcame a wide draw from post 18 but could only scrape together a mild mid-race spurt after going four wide on the clubhouse turn.

“He made a nice move from the five-eighths pole to the three-eighths pole, and then after that, he started to get tired and give up,” said jockey Rafael Bejarano.

16) Verifying (No. 4 in TDN pre-race rankings)
Post position two sealed Verifying's fate as a Derby frontrunner, even though he is probably more accomplished and comfortable as a pace-presser.

Tyler Gaffalione let him rumble through torrid opening quarters of :22.35 and :23.38 while forced forward by the speed-centric Kingsbarns and Reincarnate. When Verifying had no more left to give, his rider did a good job wrapping up and letting him coast back through the field along the inside without incident.

The Blue Grass S. and the Derby have now made for two difficult races in a row for this May 11 foal by Justify ($775,000 KEESEP), who still figures to be a fighter at the upper echelon of the division given his underlying talent and the stout seasoning he's gotten over the past six weeks.

17) Jace's Road (No. 17 in TDN pre-race rankings)
'TDN Rising Star' Jace's Road, a $510,000 KEESEP son of Quality Road, was sent away from gate 10 and landed a key stalking spot sixth on the outside heading into the turn. But he couldn't hold his position, and lost touch by the half-mile marker.

“He broke sharp and I tried to hustle him but he could not keep up with the three horses in front,” said Florent Geroux. “He was not trying. Before I knew everyone started passing him.”

18) Cyclone Mischief (Unranked also-eligible in TDN pre-race rankings)
This $450,000 KEESEP son of Into Mischief  broke sluggishly and was widest and last a furlong into the Derby. He zoomed by nine horses before the pack hit the first turn, but got hung out five deep on that bend and soon regressed to the tail of the field.

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