COMMENTARY
MAY 3, 2012
Optimizer
by John Mucciolo
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has saddled four horses to win the Kentucky Derby, and
he will be represented this year with a longshot who has the breeding to make an
impact in this storied race in Optimizer. The sophomore colt was a sharp debut
winner on the grass last summer and hasn’t won since, but we’ve seen “The Coach”
pull off magic in the past and we shouldn’t completely discount the chances of
this well-bred youngster.
Optimizer has been inconsistent in his nine-race career, but he’s run very
well on a few occasions and could be rounding into a solid run in here, as he’s
also likely to receive the quick pace that the battled-tested colt will need to
aid his chances. The Bluegrass Hall LLC homebred has run fairly well in both
starts on this oval as a juvenile, and is one of the few in the field that could
actually peak going 1 1/4 miles in this historic event.
English Channel, the sire of Optimizer, might be one of the more under
appreciated runners in recent times. The supremely consistent son of top sire
Smart Strike banked more than $5 million in his lifetime, compiling a stout
23-13-4-1 line in the process. He bagged a six-pack of Grade 1 trophies in his
racing career, led by two wins in both the Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont
Park and the United Nations Handicap at Monmouth Park, and his tour de force,
seven-length destruction in his finale, the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Turf, was his
crowning achievement. It’s not easy for a horse to earn more than $5 million
running solely on the lawn in the United States!
The versatile and durable Kentucky-bred was a winner at trips from 1 1/16
miles to 1 1/2 miles, and picked up stakes wins at Belmont, Monmouth, Pimlico,
Colonial Downs, Gulfstream Park and Churchill Downs. Not bad for a $50,000
yearling purchase!
In his first year at stud, the now 10-year-old was listed 12th on the North
American Sire List, producing a dozen winners who have combined to amass more
than $500,000. While slightly modest numbers compared to his current $25,000
stud fee, it seems most logical that his progeny will improve with age and as
the distances increase. We’re seeing a glimpse of that this season with two of
his sons having major impacts on the road to the Kentucky Derby.
Blueskiesandrainbows made a colossal jump from a starter allowance win at one
mile to the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in the matter of two races, but the
sophomore proved that he belonged with a close third-place finish after leading
for much of that contest. Finishing ahead of him are a pair of prime Derby
players, Grade 1 winners Creative Cause and I’ll Have Another.
Optimizer, a sharp debut winner at Saratoga last summer, came back to finish
a nice second in the Grade 2 With Anticipation Stakes and third in the
subsequent Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity. Winless since his debut, the Lukas
trainee proved that he has plenty of quality and could surely relish the longer
trips with a flying finish to be second in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn
Park two back.
The grand-sire of Optimizer is none other than the sensational Smart Strike,
a two-time leading sire who was #2 on the Sire List for 2011. His top runners
have included two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, reigning Canadian Horse of the
Year Never Retreat, and recent champions Lookin at Lucky and My Miss Aurelia.
Smart Strike pulled off an historic feat that still boggles the mind. On
September 30, 2007, at Belmont Park, he sired the winners of the Grade 1
Vosburgh Stakes (Fabulous Strike), Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational (English
Channel) and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup (Curlin), all on the same card. That
versatility at stud — siring the winners of a six-furlong sprint, a 1 1/2-mile
turf race and a 10-furlong run on the dirt — is, in a word, remarkable at the
highest quality of racing.
Optimizer, listed at 50-1 on the Derby morning-line, is full of class on his
dam’s side as well, being out of the A.P. Indy mare Indy Pick. As a race horse,
that mare seemed to be coming in to her own in her first two-turn race, an 11
1/4-length romp in an allowance at nine panels at Saratoga, before an injury
concluded her career in the Grade 1 Gazelle Handicap next out. Indy Pick is out
of the classy Fantastic Find, heroine of the Grade 1 Hempstead Handicap in 1990
for owner Ogden Phipps.
This female line traces back to Optimizer’s third dam, Blitey, a key
foundation mare for the powerful Phipps breeding operation. Blitey was a dual
Grade 2 vixen on the track, but left an indelible mark in the breeding shed. The
daughter of Riva Ridge produced 12 winners from as many starters, including a
trio of Grade 1 stars — Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Dancing Spree; Fantastic
Find, who herself threw a multiple Grade 1 winner in Finder’s Fee; and Grade 1
Ballerina Handicap queen Furlough. She is also responsible for Grade 2 starlet
Dancing All Night and the unraced Oh What a Dance, who dropped champion Heavenly
Prize and Grade 1 Matron Stakes vixen Oh What a Windfall among her foals.
Optimizer will no doubt need a career best to be in the picture inside the
final furlong beneath the Twin Spires on Saturday. But with superb breeding, a
strong foundation and the presence of a four-time Kentucky Derby-winning
conditioner, it doesn’t seem so unlikely.