My Boy Jack thrust himself into the Kentucky Derby picture with a decisive win in Monday’s $500,000 Southwest (G3) at Oaklawn Park. Trainer Keith Desormeaux always believed the juvenile turf stakes winner would be better on the main track and his faith was rewarded as the dark bay colt rolled home to a 4 ½-length victory on the muddy track.
“For him to run well (on dirt), we were ecstatic,” said Keith Desormeaux, who added the only reason My Boy Jack started his career on turf was so he could go a route of ground. “I told (his brother and jockey Kent Desormeaux) the horse would run well on dirt.”
The 1 1/16-mile Southwest was worth a total of 17 points as the final qualifier of the Prep Season portion of the Road to the Kentucky Derby series and with the 10-point prize, My Boy Jack now has a total of 12 points. He was exiting a third to well-regarded McKinzie in the January 6 Sham (G3) at Santa Anita and notched his first main track victory in the Presidents’ Day feature.
The winner left the starting gate as the 8-1 fourth choice in the 10-horse field.
Mourinho, the 6-5 favorite following a convincing tally in the January 15 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn, sped forward to establish splits in :23.46, :47.70 and 1:13.56 while being chased by Road to Damascus and Ezmosh. My Boy Jack settled toward the back of the pack, nearly 10 lengths behind the pacesetter through the opening three-quarters of a mile, and launched his bid along the rail on the far turn.
He flew into the lead while straightening for home, blowing past a tiring Mourinho. Combatant had rallied into a threatening position along the outside in upper stretch but could not match strides in the final furlong with My Boy Jack, who won going away under the wire and stopped the teletimer in 1:46.
“It was a complete turnaround effort from his last start,” Kent Desormeaux explained. “Today he was quite calm and let me ride him and that was the biggest difference. He didn’t waste any energy going around the race track, so he flew home. Great training job by Keith.
“(In the Sham), he was quiet as a church mouse in the gate, but got very aggressive early and I was just skiing around there. When I turned him loose, he just galloped home. He didn’t power home like he did today. The best part about (today) is he’s going to a Derby. It may be the (April 14) Arkansas Derby (G1), but he’s Derby bound.”
Combatant wound up a clear second as the 9-2 third choice but had to survive a stewards’ inquiry after bumping with Sporting Chance in midstretch. Sporting Chance delivered a respectable effort in his first start since winning the Hopeful (G1) in early September, winding up 2 ½ lengths back of Combatant and a neck better than fourth-placer Mourinho, and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained colt figures to improve off the comebacker.
“Good effort,” Lukas said. “He got shot down in the stretch, They came in on both sides and broke our momentum. Still came back to run third. Off a (5 ½-month) layoff, I was very pleased.”
Zing Zang, Kentucky Club, Seven Trumpets, Retirement Fund, Road to Damascus and Ezmosh completed the order of finish and Principe Guilherme was scratched.
Campaigned by Don’t Tell My Wife Stables and Monomoy Stables, My Boy Back is a son of Creative Cause and has proved to be quite the bargain after being picked out by Keith Desormeaux and purchased for $20,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale.
He was bred in Kentucky by Brereton Jones and became the first stakes winner for the unraced Mineshaft mare Gold N Shaft, a daughter of Grade 3 winner and Grade 1 runner-up Gold N Delicious.
With the $300,000 winner’s share, My Boy Jack has now earned $425,145 from an 8-2-3-1 record. He finished second when making his stakes bow in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf and followed with a victory in the grassy Zuma Beach in early October. My Boy Jack completed his 2-year-old season with a seventh in a salty edition of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1).
Keith Desormeaux said a return trip for the March 17 Rebel (G2) is a possibility.
