Business as usual for Pletcher following Super Saver's Derby win

Last updated: 5/2/10 4:24 PM

Business as usual for Pletcher following Super Saver’s
Derby win

Calvin Borel grins as Super Saver sails under the Derby wire
(J.B. Faulconer/EquiSport Photos)

It was shortly after 5 a.m. (EDT) on Sunday following the Kentucky Derby (G1)
at Churchill Downs and trainer Todd Pletcher was at his barn and overseeing his
first set of horses as they readied for gallops on a stormy spring morning. The
previous day Pletcher had climbed the mountain he’d been working on for the past
nine years, winning the greatest two minutes in sports with a racy colt named
SUPER SAVER (Maria’s Mon) aided by a racing star named Calvin Borel.

The numbers flowed in almost stark contrast. Pletcher lightened the load of a
0-for-24 run in the Run for the Roses to a much sweeter 1-for-28, while Borel,
the Cajun journeyman who seemingly has been reborn at Churchill Downs,
registered an unprecedented third Derby tally in the past four years.

Borel somehow got a colt who never had been more than a few lengths off the
lead in any of his races to sit well behind a fast pace, then used a rail trip
that has become his trademark to zoom the bay clear of traffic and home by 2 1/2
lengths on a sloppy, sealed racing strip.

Referring to his four Derby runners, Pletcher reported they had all come out
of their 10-furlong battles in good order and each was walked on the shedrow at
Barn 34 as a hard rain fell outside.

Did the trainer sleep last night?

“A little bit,” he said.

How did he celebrate his big win?

Devil May Care finished 10th in her first try against the boys
(J.B. Faulconer/EquiSport Photos)

“We went back to our hotel and had some dinner with family and friend, like
we always do,” he said. “Though I must say this one was more fun.”

Super Saver, who races in the silks of WinStar Farm, is now likely bound for
the Preakness S. (G1) on May 15 at Pimlico in Baltimore as he takes the next
step on the Triple Crown trail, according to the conditioner. Indications were
that he’d ship him to Maryland on May 12.

In the case of filly DEVIL MAY CARE (Malibu Moon), who finished 10th in the
20-horse field, Pletcher said she would not be considered for the Preakness.
That was the case also with DISCREETLY MINE (Mineshaft), who finished 13th.
However, the jury is still out in regards to ninth-placer MISSION IMPAZIBLE
(Unbridled’s Song) going in the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

“We’ll take a couple of days and think about him running there,” Pletcher
said.

After reporting that both of his Derby starters were doing well Sunday
morning, trainer Nick Zito couldn’t help but wonder if he would have had his
third Kentucky Derby winner had ICE BOX (Pulpit) received a less troubled trip
under jockey Jose Lezcano.

“It was kind of great to see Ice Box run so well. You salute WinStar, but you
always say what could have been,” said the Hall of Fame trainer, who has saddled
Strike the Gold (1991) and Go for Gin (1994) for Derby victories. “If you just
read the chart, he was steadied three times — not once, but three times. So,
it’s got to be disappointing.”

Ice Box was steadied early before settling back in 19th during the early
going. The chestnut colt made a strong inside move before getting blocked and
steadied at the top of the stretch. He was steadied again during the stretch run
before making a last surge to fall short of winning by 2 1/2 lengths.

“It was a tough race to lose, obviously, but a great race to be thankful
for,” Zito said. “We have to be thankful for the horse we’ve got, and knock
wood, it looks like he came back good; that’s the most important thing. He
definitely had an excuse, that’s for sure. The winner was very good and Ice Box
was just as good, that’s for sure. He was just as good as the winner; he just
didn’t get the chance to win.

“I don’t like making excuses, but even if you read the paper a little bit,
you’ll see he was checked not once but three times. He ran a winning race. He
runs even harder than the winner.”

Zito was far from disappointed with JACKSON BEND’s (Hear No Evil) effort in
which he had to alter course under Mike Smith on the turn into the homestretch.

Paddy O’Prado just loss second in the Derby by a neck
(Wendy Uzelac/EquiSport Photos)

“Jackson Bend came back good. He’s a tough little guy,” he said. “Mike said
he didn’t beat him up. He had to be checked at a bad time.”

Zito didn’t sound enthusiastic of running Ice Box, who entered the Derby off
a nose victory in the March 20 Florida Derby (G1), back in the Preakness.

“I won’t make a decision until next week,” Zito said. “I want to see how the
horses are. If you start with Ice Box, he had six weeks for this race, so you
have to train him pretty hard, so it’s not necessarily easy to come back in two
weeks. Jackson Bend, believe it or not, is a tough little guy. We’ll see about
him and talk to (co-owner) Bob (LaPenta), but I’m not going to make any
decisions now, that’s for sure.”

Both Ice Box and Jackson Bend will remain at Churchill Downs while their
connections decide upon their next starts. Should he decide to pass on the
Preakness with Ice Box, Zito said he’d have no trouble training his charge up to
the 1 1/2-mile Belmont S. (G1) on June 5.

“That’s easy for Nick Zito,” cracked Zito, who brought back Birdstone from an
eighth-place finish in the 2004 Derby for an upset victory over Triple Crown
hopeful Smarty Jones in the Belmont.

Baldemar Bahena, assistant to trainer Dale Romans, reported that PADDY
O’PRADO (El Prado [Ire]) “came back fine and ate up” after his rallying third in
Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. “He is good this morning.”

Romans indicated that he had no immediate plans for Paddy O’Prado, who just
missed second in 10-furlong test by a neck, but that the Preakness was under
consideration with a decision possible later in the week.