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Sinister Minister thunders in Blue Grass upset

Garrett Gomez celebrated after recording his first Blue Grass win on Sinister Minister (Joseph DiOrio/Horsephotos.com) Nothing devious about Bob Baffert's plans heading into Saturday's $750,000 Blue Grass S. (G1) -- SINISTER MINISTER (Old Trieste) was going right to the lead -- and there was no stopping his front-running colt at Keeneland. In a spectacular runaway performance, Sinister Minister opened a seven-length lead after a half-mile and increased his margin through the stretch, crossing the finish line 12 3/4 lengths the best. The three-year-old earned his first stakes victory and will now head to the Kentucky Derby (G1). "He's been here, he loves the surface, it's soft. We knew we were going to get the lead," Baffert said. "I was hoping to get like a :23 and change (first quarter). He's pretty fast, that's how he likes to run. Sometimes you're the bug, and sometimes you're the windshield. It all worked out." The bay colt led his rivals through rapid opening splits in :22 4/5, :45 4/5 and 1:09 4/5, and jockey Garrett Gomez never had an anxious moment, passing a mile in 1:35 2/5 with an eight-length advantage en route to covering 1 1/8 miles over the fast track in 1:48 4/5. Sinister Minister didn't attract much pre-race attention as Strong Contender (Maria's Mon), Bluegrass Cat (Storm Cat) and First Samurai (Giant's Causeway) entered the Blue Grass as highly rated Kentucky Derby prospects, but none could challenge the upset winner. "He was a little throttled up from (crossing) over on the field (from post 7), and I had his mouth gagged over going into the first turn," Gomez explained. "Once I headed up the backside, I just kind of let him out a notch and tried to just get him to find his stride and get comfortable."

He was very comfortable and dominant throughout.

Owned by Lanni Family Trust, Mercedes Stable and Bernard Schiappa, Sinister Minister returned $19.40, $9.20 and $5.80 to his supporters as the nearly 9-1 fourth choice. While the winner was cruising toward the wire in deep stretch, Storm Treasure (Storm Boot) rallied boldly up the inside to catch Strong Contender and drew clear by 4 1/2 lengths for second. The 65-1 longshot gave back $47.80 and $16. Strong Contender, who raced in midpack early and offered a mild bid to take second on the far turn, paid $4.20 at 5-2 odds. It was another four lengths to 9-5 favorite Bluegrass Cat, who wound up nine lengths clear of the 5-2 First Samurai. Next came Seaside Retreat (King Cugat), Sadler's Trick (Favorite Trick), Little Cliff (Gulch) and Court Folly (Royal Academy). The healthy $2 exotics were worth $601.40 (exacta), $4,412.40 (trifecta) and $11,857.20 for the 7-3-4-2 superfecta.

Bred in Kentucky by Mr. and Mrs. L. Michael Owens, Sinister Minister was acquired privately by his current connections following his eight-length win over high-priced maiden claimers at Santa Anita in mid-January. He recorded an unplaced effort in the San Vicente S. (G2) next out and entered the Blue Grass off an adventurous runner-up finish in the California Derby, where he hit the rail in upper stretch with a clear lead and lost his stride momentarily before recovering. Gomez kept him on a straight path Saturday, and Sinister Minister improved his lifetime mark to 5-2-1-0, $503,880.

The winner is the first foal out of the stakes-winning Sweet Minister (The Prime Minister) and has an unraced two-year-old half-sister named Sweet Sweet Spirit (Cherokee Run) and an unnamed yearling half-brother by Pulpit.

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