Derby Dreams Really Start in Florida
Florida-bred Thousand Words And Florida Training Centers Showcased on Derby Day
By Tammy A. Gantt
The first and last horse to win the Kentucky Derby for Fred Hooper was Hoop Jr in 1945. The horse set him on a path to becoming one of the giants in the thoroughbred history. Living to 102, Hooper did not have much left to accomplish in the racing world. He had even received the highest honor in the industry, the Eclipse Award of Merit in 1992.
Even from that perch among racing’s legends, there was one goal that he did not accomplish. Even with the likes of Hall of Famer Susan’s Girl, champion sprinter Precisionist, and star juvenile Copelan, he did not produce a Kentucky Derby winner from his 1,100 acre Circle H Farm in Ocala. Hoop Jr was an early foray into the sport before he settled in Florida and the horse had been bought out of a sale in Kentucky.
Thousand Words may make that dream come true on Saturday when he loads into the gate in post position 10. Bred at Amy Tarrant’s Hardacre Farm, the very site of the original Circle H Farm, the talented Thousand Words might provide the seventh Derby winner for Florida.
Needles was the first Florida-bred to earn the roses in 1956 and the performance drew attention to the fledging upstart state raising thoroughbreds that could outrun their pedigrees thanks to the combination of top notch horsemen, limestone rich soil and spring fed aquifers.
Carry Back, Foolish Pleasure, Triple Crown winner Affirmed and Unbridled join him over the decades.
One of the oldest living Kentucky Derby winners, the now almost toothless Silver Charm was the last Florida-bred to win in 1997.
His success carried the hopes and dreams of many Central Florida horsemen just starting out like Scott and Diane Dudley (Parks), Dana Barnes, Janie Roper, the McKathan Brothers and Mary Lou Wootton with most still now household names in Florida’s thoroughbred business.
Sold for $1 million as a yearling and in the gifted hands of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, Thousand Words may be Florida’s best chance yet to bring the Derby vase home. Thousand Words was installed at 15-1 odds in the morning line, but already had moved to 9-1 odds by Friday morning. The attention may be because of his sire Pioneerof the Nile who sired Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Handicappers that see wagering value in his odds tout the classic stamina. Pioneerof the Nile placed second in the Derby in 2009.Thousand Word’s grandsire Empire Maker was also runner up in the race in 2003, later winning the Belmont Stakes (G1).
The fifth Derby winner from Florida, Unbridled is his great-grandsire. The Florida-bred has proven he can go a mile and a sixteenth in three stakes already.
He received his schooling and early training in the Ocala area at Barry Berkelhammer’s AbraCadabra Farm located. Along with longtime business associate Gary Mottola, they have overseen the growth of the farm to more than 240 acres and the business has produced six Kentucky Derby starters and six Breeders’ Cup contenders.
A closer look at his dam’s line shows that he has more in common with the 12th Triple Crown winner. Quality sprinters are strongly represented which was also true in Pharoah’s pedigree. His dam Pomeroy’s Pistol won three graded sprints. Her sire Pomeroy won two G1 sprints and her grandsire Boundary was a graded stakes-winning sprinter who also sired 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown.
Three of the horses that are likely to set the early pace are coming from the outside from starting positions 16 through 18. Riders Mike Smith, Manuel Franco on the favorite, and John Velasquez must decide whether to move their horses, respectively, Honor A.P., Tiz the Law and Authentic, forward or take a turn or two wide. Horses breaking from mid-gate set up well to take the lead or drop back to mid-pack. Smith and Velasquez breaking from either side of the Belmont Stakes winner and favorite might also break quickly enough to pinch Tiz the Law back at the start.
Several of the horses starting from posts along the rail are typically late closers and their riders will be making decisions as the gate opens whether to be in a forward position early in the race or to drop back as the pace is established. The dynamics of the race shape up for a horse comfortable to take the lead from a mid-gate post, rate, or drop back and make a late run which is a perfect scenario for the Florida-bred. Thousand Words coming from the middle of the new starting gate has the talent to sprint to the lead, rate, or fall back setting up a scenario that could get him to the winners circle.
Additional Florida connections in the race include six Ocala Breeders’ Sales graduates including Eclipse champion Storm the Court, Money Moves, South Bend, Sole Volante and Winning Impression. They are looking to join previous OBS grad-Derby winners Lil E. Tee (1992), Silver Charm (1997) and I’ll Have Another (2012).
David A. Bernsen LLC, Exline-Border Racing LLC, Dan Hudock & Susanna Wilson’s Storm the Court is looking to return to the form that won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and earned the Eclipse Award as 2-year-old champion. At three, he’s been third in the San Felipe (G2), third in the Ohio Derby (G3) and second last time out in the La Jolla Handicap (G3) at Del Mar. The son of Court Vision was consigned to the April Sale by Bryan and Holley Rice’s Woodside Ranch, Agent, and worked an Under Tack quarter in :21 2/5 before he was purchased for $60,000 by Marette Farrell, Agent for Exline-Border Racing LLC. Trained by Peter Eurton, he comes into the Derby with a 9-2-1-3 record and earnings of $1,310,451. He’ll break from post four in the 18 horse field and be ridden by Julien Leparoux.
Robert V. LaPenta and Bortolazzo Stable LLC’s Money Moves will break from post seven under Javier Castellano for trainer Todd Pletcher. The lightly raced colt by Candy Ride (ARG) a winner at first asking at Gulfstream Park in February, has won two of three starts. At the April Sale, he breezed an Under Tack eighth in :10 flat and was purchased for $975,000 out of Kiaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables consignment by Steven W. Young, Agent.
Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, Peter Deutsch and Pantofel Stable LLC’s South Bend, acquired by his connections after a strong late run to just miss in the Ohio Derby (G3), was fourth in the Travers (G1) in his last start. A winner of the Street Sense Stakes over the Churchill surface at two, he brings a 12-3-2-2 record and $390,114 in earnings into the Derby. Tyler Gaffalione will ride the son of Algorithms for trainer Bill Mott. He turned in an Under Tack quarter in :21 3/5 before he was purchased for $70,000 out of the Courtney Roberts and Joe Pickerell’s Pick View LLC consignment at the March Sale.
Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Andie Biancone’s graded stakes winner Sole Volante has been on the board in six of his seven starts and earned $323,310 to date. He won Tampa Bay Downs’ Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) in February and returned to run second to King Guillermo in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2). At two, he took Gulfstream’s Pulpit Stakes on the turf. Patrick L. Biancone will saddle the son of Karakontie (JPN), who will be ridden from post 12 by Luca Panici. He was sold for $20,000 by New Hope AB LLC at the April Sale after working an eighth in :10 2/5 at the Under Tack Show. The Reeves have always had great Florida success, having owned Breeders’ Cup Classic winning Florida-bred Mucho Macho Man.
West Point Thoroughbreds and Pearl Racing’s Winning Impression will leave from post 14 and be ridden by Joe Rocco for trainer Dallas Stewart. The son of Paynter, third in the Arkansas Derby (G1), was purchased out of the Off the Hook consignment at the April Sale for $77,000 after an eighth in :10 1/5 at the Under Tack Show.
Off The Hook is the combination of Venezuelan trainer and horseman, Carlos Morales, and New York based entrepreneur and horse racing enthusiast, Joe Appelbaum
After receiving his early training at Barry Eisaman’s Eisaman Equine, Max Player has been a consistent performer as he heads into the race with two third place finishes in the G1 Runhappy Travers Stakes and G1 Belmont Stakes. He rolled in the Withers Stakes to victory at a mile-and-an-eighth on dirt back in June.
Authentic comes to the race with a power house of connections. Schooled at the Eddie Woods training center in Ocala by seasoned horseman Eddie Woods, trained by Bob Baffert and owned by Spendthrift Farm, Starlight Racing, MyRaceHorse Stable and Madaket Stables, the veteran connections have the G1 Haskell Stakes winner primed for tough competition.
If he can get back to the winners circle like he did on Jan. 18 in the LeComte Stakes, Enforecable may be a force to reckon with. His siblings New Year’s Day, Mohaymen, and Kingly are all graded stakes winners and he is trained by Ocala-based trainer Mark Casse. Casse was inducted in the Racing Hall of Fame last month. Casse has trained Eclipse Award winners Classic Empire, Shamrock Rose, Tepin, and World Approval, as well as Canadian Horse of the Year honorees Catch a Glimpse, Lexie Lou, Sealy Hill, Uncaptured, and Wonder Gadot. He has won a total of seven races in the Canadian Triple Crown series (the Prince of Wales four times, the Queen's Plate twice, and the Breeders' Stakes once), five Breeders' Cup races (the Mile twice, as well as the Filly and Mare Sprint, Juvenile, and Juvenile Fillies Turf), and the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot with Tepin. Casse has trained 18 horses that have won $1 million or more and has been the leading trainer at Woodbine (11 times), Turfway Park (four times), Keeneland (three times), and Churchill Downs (twice). The son of Tapit and owned by John C. Oxley, he starts from post number 3.
While 2020 has been a year full of change and the Kentucky Derby has been no different, one steadfast notion remains the same. Florida has produced more Kentucky Derby winners than any state outside of its namesake and Florida’s training centers and sales arenas are the foundation for top performers in the classics.
FLORIDA CONNECTIONS AT A GLANCE
Florida-bred Thousand Words (Amy Tarrant's Hardacre Farm), schooled and trained by Barry Berkelhammer at Abracadabra Farms, is joined by a number of other Derby starters with Florida connections including:
Tiz the Law (New Episode Training Center)
Ny Traffic (James and Torrie Gladwell at Top Line Sales)
Sole Volante (New Hope AB trained, OBS grad)
Max Player (early training at Eisaman Equine)
Enforceable (trainer, Mark Casse, Ocala-based)
Winning Impressions (early training and consignment by @Off the Hook, OBS grad)
Authentic (broke and trained by Eddie Woods Training Center)
Storm the Court (Bryan and Holley Rice's Woodside Ranch, OBS grad)
Money Moves (consigned by Wavertree Stables, OBS grad)
King Guillermo (trained with Gelfenstein Farm, OBS grad)
South Bend (OBS grad, Joe Pickerell and Courtney Roberts' Pickview Farm LLC).
More than 15,000 thoroughbreds pass through Central Florida for early training annually