Perretti Racing Stable’s Forty Tales held off the late run
Although Forty Tales earned 20 points for his victory in
“I doubt it, but we’ll see how he comes out of it,” the
Pletcher already has five confirmed Derby starters —
Forty Tales was also continuing the unbelievable run of
|
The Derby Trial runner who was most eager to earn a spot in
the Run for the Roses, Titletown Five, loomed boldly but tired to fourth, likely
ending his Derby ambitions.
Titletown Five, representing the Hall of Fame connections
of trainer D. Wayne Lukas, jockey Gary Stevens and co-owner Paul Hornung of NFL
legend, argued with Zee Bros in the opening strides.
Zee Bros established some breathing room through fractions
of :22 2/5, :45 and 1:10, but Titletown Five ranged up menacingly leaving the
far turn. The front runner had more left, however, and repelled his challenge at
the top of the stretch.
Still two lengths clear at the eighth-pole, after seven
furlongs in a testing 1:22 2/5, Zee Bros began to weaken inside the final
furlong.
At the same time, Forty Tales was rallying from off the
pace, and the slight 3-1 favorite soon stormed to the front. Even wider out,
Capo Bastone was flying from the rear of the field, and it was apparent that the
finish would be an all-Pletcher affair.
Forty Tales had gotten the jump on Capo Bastone, and that
proved decisive. He maintained a diminishing neck margin at the wire while
finishing the mile in 1:35 3/5 on the fast main track.
The winner paid $8.20, $4 and $3.20.
“It was a perfect trip,” Rosario said. “He broke well. I
figured there was going to be some speed in the race and we’d be five, six,
seven lengths off the speed. That’s exactly where we were. When we turned for
home, I asked him to go and he went and put me in a good spot.
“I’m lucky to be here (in Kentucky). Things have been going
great and hopefully they’ll continue,” added Rosario, who rides Orb in the
Kentucky Derby.
“We felt like there was a little bit of speed in the race,”
Pletcher said, “and both of these horses’ styles are to settle and make one run.
It seemed like the track was playing favorably to those kinds of horses on the
night so we just let them do their thing and it worked out well.
“When we came here we were undecided as to whether to run in the Lexington (on
April 20 at Keeneland) or here, but I liked the way he worked over the track and
that was the deciding factor.”
Capo Bastone nearly overcame a poor start, where he lunged
and subsequently found himself far back early. Jockey Garrett Gomez was
delighted with how he finished.
“He was keyed up,” Gomez said. “First time under the
lights, a young three-year-old. But I got him to settle on the backside and then
when I asked him he came with a good run. Good race for him, for sure.”
Like Forty Tales, Capo Bastone had been out of the Derby
discussion going into Saturday night. His runner-up effort was good for eight
points, increasing his total to 12, but still putting him on the outside looking
in.
“We didn’t really think of it that way,” Pletcher said of
the Derby Trial as a springboard to the Derby. “We were thinking that if he ran
really well we could consider the Preakness or something like that. We’ll see
how he comes out of it.”
The 21-1 Ruler of Love was three lengths farther back in
third, followed by Titletown Five, Ruble, Zee Bros, Officer Alex, G. T. Tabu and
Tour Guide.
Forty Tales’ first stakes score improved his record to
5-3-1-0, $219,789. The bay colt captured his debut at Aqueduct last November,
and went two-for-two in an entry-level allowance at Parx on January 5. Sent off
as the 9-5 choice in his stakes premiere in the February 2 Hutcheson at
Gulfstream Park, he unleashed a furious late rally, only to come up a
half-length short. Forty Tales was expected to rebound in the March 2 Swale at
the same track and seven-furlong trip, but ran an uncharacteristic fifth.
Bred by the Randal Family Trust in Kentucky, Forty Tales
was sold for $80,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling. The Tale of the
Cat colt is a full brother to the stakes-placed Face the Cat and a half-brother
to multiple stakes scorer and Grade 2-placed Bear Character.
Forty Tales is out of the multiple stakes-placed Forty
Niner mare Forty Love, who is a full sister to multiple stakes queen and Grade
1-placed Footing. This is the family of Grade 2 winners Banned and Masseuse as
well as Argentinean Group 1 victress Peristaltica.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com