Derby Watch: Solomini has Zayat dreaming of more roses

It has been three years since American Pharoah swept the Triple Crown, time enough for him to already have yearlings on the ground. The time since then has made the colt’s majority owner, Ahmed Zayat, all the more appreciative of what he experienced with American Pharoah, including winning the Kentucky Derby after near misses with Bodemeister, Nehro, and Pioneerof the Nile, and has made him long to get to, and win, the Derby again.

“No doubt, I want to win another,” Zayat said in a telephone interview this week from his business office in New Jersey. “There’s nothing like it. We had been teased – second with Bodemeiser and Nehro and Pioneerof the Nile – and then American Pharoah sealed the deal. What I really want is to do it one more time.”

He’s not alone. Speak with just about anyone who has won the Derby – a trainer, owner, or jockey – and they say the moment is like nothing they’ve ever experienced in racing, and that they crave having that feeling again. For Zayat, his best chance this year at Derby success rests with Solomini, who had a strong 2-year-old campaign and makes his first start as a 3-year-old on Saturday in the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Solomini last year was second in the FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar before being disqualified from victory in the Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity. He has not raced since then.

:: Just reduced! Save on The Road to the Kentucky Derby Player's Package

But since that race, his ownership has changed. Zayat Stables, which bought Solomini as a yearling for $270,000, has now partnered with Coolmore’s troika of Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith. They have a history together, as Coolmore bought the breeding rights to American Pharoah while he was still racing and he stands at stud at Coolmore America. In this case, though, Coolmore has bought an interest in Solomini – a son of Curlin – for racing purposes, too.

“We’re very excited after American Pharoah went so well,” Robin Murray, a spokeswoman for Coolmore, said Wednesday.

Solomini is named for Zayat’s grandson, Solomon, 16 months, who in turn is named for the father of Zayat’s wife, Joanne. The grandson, Zayat said, is “like a mini Solomon.” Ergo, Solomini.

On Wednesday, Solomini drew post 3 in a field of 11. Bob Baffert trains Solomini and Flavien Prat rides. The race is worth 85 points overall – with 50 to the winner – under the system used by Churchill Downs to determine the field for the May 5 Kentucky Derby

Oaklawn seems an appropriate venue for a Zayat-owned runner. Zayat – who races under the Zayat Stables banner with his son Justin – has had great success in 3-year-old preps there. American Pharoah won the Rebel and Arkansas Derby in his two races before the Triple Crown, and Zayat also won the Arkansas Derby with Bodemeister in 2012. In addition, Oaklawn has a bronze of American Pharoah outside its admission gates that was unveiled before the start of the current racing season.

“We are there because Bob thought it was the best route,” Zayat said. “But I do like it there. You walk around, the people all say hi, they know if you have a nice horse. People 80 years old or 15 years old, they’re all racegoers there. It’s like Saratoga in that the whole town is totally into racing. As a race player, I love it. They have full fields. And for an owner, the purses are rich.”

Perhaps two years from now, Zayat will send a son of American Pharoah to Oaklawn. He said he has 12 yearlings by American Pharoah, adding that it would be “very gratifying if he’s as good a stallion as he was a racehorse.”

American Pharoah is one of just 12 horses to have won the Triple Crown. Three years removed from that feat, Zayat said he is all the more appreciative of what American Pharoah accomplished, and the joy he brought to the sport.

“You pinch yourself,” Zayat said. “How blessed you are, how lucky, to breed this freak and then to see him do something you could only dream about. Very few have experienced it. We’re one of 12. When I reminisce about him, it’s just sheer happiness what he brought to us, the Baffert family, the fans. You count your blessings.”

:: DERBY WATCH: Top 20 list | Kentucky Derby: Who's hot, who's not

In other Derby developments:

◗ In addition to the Rebel, the other race awarding points to the Derby this week is the Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on Saturday at Turfway Park. The race, run on a synthetic surface, has been downgraded in point value this year, offering just 20 to the winner, and there are no prominent Derby contenders among the entries.

◗ Greyvitos, who emerged from his victory in the Springboard Mile at Remington with a knee chip, continues to rapidly progress on the comeback trail. He’s already up to six furlongs in his works. He traveled that distance in 1:15.60 on Wednesday at Del Mar.

:: ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays, and analysis