Divining Rod draws off in Lexington

Divining Rod rolled to his first stakes win (Keeneland/Coady Photography)

Lael Stables’ homebred Divining Rod (Tapit) swung wide leaving the far turn
and ran past Donworth (Tiznow) and Fame and Power (First Defence) to post a
convincing three-length victory in Saturday’s $250,000

Lexington S. (G3) at Keeneland. The 1 1/16-mile race offered the winner 10
points toward a Kentucky Derby (G1) berth and Divining Rod put himself in the
mix with his first career stakes tally, increasing his ledger to 20 total
points,

“We’ll see how he comes back and we’ll make up our minds after that,” trainer
Arnaud Delacour said regarding the Kentucky Derby.

A neck second in the January 31 Sam F. Davis (G3) and a well-beaten third
behind leading Kentucky Derby contender Carpe Diem (Giant’s Causeway) in the
March 7 Tampa Bay Derby (G2), Divining Rod received a rider switch to Julien
Leparoux and changed tactics on Saturday, stalking behind the early leaders
after setting the pace in those aforementioned starts.

Fame and Power (First Defence) sped to the front at the break and showed the
way on a short lead through opening splits in :24 and :47 4/5. Divining Rod was
saving ground along the rail, 1 1/2 lengths back as the field made its way down
the backstretch.

Divining Rod could be eyeing a spot in the Kentucky Derby field (Wendy Wooley/EquiSport Photo)

“That’s another dimension to the horse,” Delacour said of taking back instead
of going for the early lead. “(Leparoux) just took back; he thought there’d be
plenty lot of pace. The horse relaxed well and was great with the (dirt)
kickback, and he came with a big kick at the end. Today he was very professional
and I’m glad he’s learning with each start.”

“We knew there were a couple of horses with speed in there and we wanted to
teach him something,” Leparoux added. “He was very proficient and very relaxed
behind. The dirt didn’t bother him at all, and he finished up very strong.”

Off as the 5-2 third choice in the seven-horse field, Divining Rod returned a
$7.80 win mutuel.

A Kentucky-bred son of leading sire Tapit, Divining Rod is out of the
multiple Grade 1-winning Precious Kitten (Catienus), an earner of more than $1.9
million who counts top sire Kitten’s Joy (El Prado) as a half-brother. Precious
Kiitten is also a half-sister to the multiple stakes-winning Justenuffheart, dam
of champion two-year-old filly Dreaming of Anna (Rahy); multiple Grade 2 victor
Lewis Michael (Rahy); and Grade 2 scorer and Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1)
third-placer Justenuffhumor (Distorted Humor).