Yesterday, April 6, was as thrilling a day of racing as anyone could ask for, with the Kentucky Derby picture finally becoming a little less muddy, and photo finishes in graded stakes races providing edge of your seat excitement. Bob Baffert, who might’ve been shut out of the Derby for the first time since the Late Jurassic Period, now has both Roadster and Game Winner going to the Derby thanks to their one-two finish in the Santa Anita Derby-G1, and Improbable poised to run in the Arkansas Derby-G1 next week.
The most fascinating and baffling elements of yesterday’s Grade 1 extravaganza were two third place finishes. The magnificent Instagrand, a son of Into Mischief, who appeared to be a man among boys in his two-year-old campaign, after which he was mysteriously laid up to graze and nap instead of confronting the other colts in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile-G1, has been a disappointment at three, and finished third, behind Baffert’s Derby duo, after taking the lead and then fading, ending his Derby hopes.
Another third place finish was Jaywalk, last year’s Champion Juvenile Filly and winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies-G1, making her freshman sire, Cross Traffic, a number one sensation. Her trainer, Jason Servis, has been sure of her three-year-old return, daring, before the Ashland S.-G1 at Keeneland yesterday, her rivals to catch her, so sure was he of her return to form after a disappointing debut earlier this year. Yet Jaywalk showed little of her two-year-old speed, and was lucky to finish third behind long shot Out for a Spin and chalky Restless Rider.
How do we account for stunning precocity that turns to three-year-old disappointment? Commentators and Servis alike have noted Jaywalk’s failure to grow into a larger, more mature version of her Champion-winning juvenile self, and perhaps that accounts for some of her lack of success. Instagrand’s being put out to pasture by owner Larry Best, while other colts continued to compete, was a surprising and interesting move. Best must have thought that he would conserve his fast colt for a three-year-old campaign, culminating in the Kentucky Derby, but this move seems to have achieved the opposite.
Perhaps trying to assign blame is the wrong approach. Some two-year-old phenoms just don’t pan out, the most famous of them being Arazi, who came out of nowhere, literally, to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile-G1 with Jerry Bailey aboard, who had never even met the colt until the race, and couldn’t even communicate with Arazi’s French connections to plan a strategy. Arazi disappeared after this memorable closing move. Another two-year-old champ who didn’t go on was Uncle Mo, who is now a pre-eminent sire. So the future may still be bright for Instagrand and Jaywalk. Just not in the way anyone would have predicted.
— Roberta Smoodin