There’s a song from “The Crow,” by Jane Siberry, called “It Can’t Rain All the Time,” which in 2019 should become the official Kentucky Derby anthem. It’s not much of a sing-along, but it’s a lot better than trying to keep a straight face through lyrics like “… the sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home.”
Two years ago, Nyquist won in the wet. Last year, Always Dreaming won in the wetter, and last Saturday, as another 20 colts faced the music in the first leg of the Triple Crown, it was the wettest in recent memory. How wet was it? It was so wet the jockeys going postward saluted the judges with, “We who are about to drown salute you.”
The elements are part of the game and must be accepted with grace, although that does not mean the results always hold water. Still, the drama of the 144th Derby was fascinating, and the horses who coped deserve respect. So, by popular demand (which is to say the gang down at the local calamari bar who confuse me with Jay Privman), here is a stab at the 2018 Derby chart comments, with apologies to and undying admiration for the people who do it for real:
Off at 6:52 p.m., same as last year. Weather ditto.
JUSTIFY, by Zeus out of Leto, was away with brisk intent, brushed affectionately with GOOD MAGIC, went up to accompany sacrificial lamb PROMISES FULFILLED past the stands and into the first turn, after which he established a rhythm as steady as the falling rain, finally bid adieu to that one at the three-eighths mark while briefly indulging a delusional challenge from BOLT D’ORO, and thereafter maintained a safe distance between himself and the rest of the 2015 foal crop under a couple of left-handed spanks to win without a daub of mud on his fine, broad blaze. GOOD MAGIC recovered from a stutter-step start to scamper into immediate contention drafting the leaders, gave up any thoughts of slipping though inside on the far turn, inhaled BOLT D’ORO in one breath approaching the quarter pole and gave Chad Brown a mild stroke with an assertive move on the leader that eventually flattened out in the final hundred yards. AUDIBLE, away without fuss, soon found himself in the midst of a muddy scrum fighting for position passing the stands, threw a right hip check to stablemate MAGNUM MOON which would be dealt with later at the Pletcher barn, enjoyed a peaceful pocket down the backstretch and around the turn, and then, in full flight, ducked to the rail and squeaked through inside Promises Fulfilled, for which Javier Castellano will be eternally grateful to Corey Lanerie, even though he just missed catching Good Magic for second. INSTILLED REGARD, the meat in a MAGNUM MOON-MENDELSSOHN sandwich shortly after the break, raced far back in the muck and mire with VINO ROSSO, decided at the 7/16s he’d rather go play with the others, somehow sliced through a five-horse flying wedge and was finishing like a horse with a future to be fourth. MY BOY JACK broke on tiptoes, was angled left and then disappeared from the NBC telecast for the next minute or so before reappearing in dead last at the 5/16ths marker only to be stopped cold behind an on-screen graphic. He emerged into the stretch 12 paths wide, leaving the screen once again, then closed with bitter resolution to be fifth. BRAVAZO, wide throughout, failed to pad the Wayne Lukas Derby win total now surpassed by Bob Baffert. HOFBURG, keenly aware of his trainer’s record in the race, saved ground before altering course at the three-eighths and put in a decent run but otherwise saw no reason to expend excess energy when the goal is to win the Belmont. Right? LONE SAILOR appeared to shy from the sight of JUSTIFY at the break, was diverted immediately to the inside rail and stayed there, caked in debris, until he was allowed to stop running. VINO ROSSO, bereft of early speed or interest, ran as if the ground was giving way with every stride. SOLOMINI, once the Golden Boy of the Baffert barn, left the gate well enough but then hydroplaned away from INSTILLED REGARD and found himself in last place passing the stands, far from JUSTIFY, both literally and figuratively. From there he ran as if being hit repeatedly in the face with a dirty, wet gym sock and managed to split the field out of pure spite. FIRENZE FIRE, given a good trip from the inside post, had dead aim on the leaders for a mile but was able to pass only PROMISES FULFILLED. BOLT D’ORO motored away from the gate like he meant business, sat just behind and to the outside the leaders, but was never feeling the love. When Victor gave him a right-handed swat approaching the three-eighths, that was that. FLAMEAWAY pestered the pace and kept in touch to the top of the stretch, after which he folded like a cheap suit, costing the Grayson Foundation the donation promised by his owner if the horse had won. ENTICED, representing Godolphin, did better than Thunder Snow, which bodes well for next year’s Dubai World Cup. PROMISES FULFILLED found out what it was like to run stride for stride with JUSTIFY for 6 1/2 furlongs, then humbly retired. FREE DROP BILLY broke poorly but no one noticed. NOBLE INDY, winner of the Louisiana Derby, is still the winner of the Louisiana Derby. COMBATANT, hoping to add to Steve Asmussen’s more than 8,000 wins, was instead merely his 38,577th starter. MAGNUM MOON turned left at the start, ruining MENDELSSOHN’s day, continued to have steering problems and never handled the going, but at least had the class not to prop and dump Luis Saez when the rider gave him several whacks while in front of only one horse entering the stretch. That horse was MENDELSSOHN, whose opening quarter mile looked more like the Battle of Balaklava than a muddy day in Louisville. He was eased to a crawl at the end, prompting his people to vow they would return in the fall for the Breeders’ Cup. Nobody asked Mendelssohn.