Stay Thirsty, a handsome bay colt that Mike Repole bought for $500,000 as a 2-year-old in training, was ranked No. 7 on last week’s Derby Dozen, despite the fact his only win came in a maiden race last summer at Saratoga, and he hadn’t raced since finishing fifth in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
In Saturday’s Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct, the son of Bernardini awarded our confidence with a resounding 3 1/4 -length victory.
Two important things you look for in a classic contender are the ability to relax and settle off the pace, combined with a strong closing kick. Stay Thirsty, who broke his maiden gate to wire and set the pace before finishing second in the Grade 1 Hopeful, displayed both in the Gotham.
After a rough start when he came away last in the field of seven, Stay Thirsty, favored at 4-5, raced wide around the clubhouse turn, then stalked the moderate pace (:24.79, :49.18) down the backside. He was wide again rallying around the far turn under Ramon Dominguez, dug in to battle to the front by mid-stretch, then bounded clear through the final furlong. After a mile in 1:38.37, he came home fast to complete the mile-and-a-sixteenth in 1:44.78.
“I was very pleased with the way he finished,” trainer Todd Pletcher said.
If Stay Thirsty continues to improve, and if his stablemate Uncle Mo — who makes his seasonal debut Saturday at Gulfstream — maintains his 2-year-old championship form, Repole Stable could have the strongest 1-2 punch in the Derby since the Phipps family’s Easy Goer and Awe Inspiring finished 2-3 as the odds-on entry in 1989.
In the weekend’s other Derby prep, Nick Zito’s Dialed In suffered his first defeat when he finished a fast-closing second going a mile-and-an-eighth in an allowance race yesterday at Gulfstream Park.
Making his first start around two turns while facing three older horses in the field of five, Dialed In — who rallied from far back in his first two races — was much closer to the tepid pace (:24.96, :49.40, 1:13.89) while racing in traffic down the backside under Julien Leparoux. He split horses turning for home and fell a half-length short of catching the 4-year-old Equestrio, also trained by Zito, who spurted clear at the top of the stretch. The final time was 1:51.12.
“We got a good teaching trip,” Leparoux said. “He’s going to have horses next to him in the Derby, so he’s got to learn that.”
