Geroux's successful run continues with Ete Indien

Jockey Florent Geroux on Sunday was about two hours into a drive from New Orleans to his home in Louisville – where he had hoped to spend a couple of days off – when he got a call alerting him that if he wanted to ride in the Florida Derby on Saturday, he needed to be in Florida by that night. As he has all spring, Geroux sped across the finish line with plenty of room to spare.

No rider has had a better Kentucky Derby prep season than Geroux, who last Saturday won the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds with Wells Bayou, that following a victory the previous month with Mr. Monomoy in a division of the Risen Star at Fair Grounds. This Saturday, he rides Ete Indien, the Fountain of Youth winner, in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. In both the Louisiana Derby and the Fountain of Youth, Geroux utilized his mount’s speed to lead from start to finish. But he’s making all the right moves in whatever spot he seems to be in these days, witness guiding Bonny South to a late-running victory in the Fair Grounds Oaks for Kentucky Oaks aspirants last Saturday.

With the Derby now postponed from May 2 to Sept. 5, Geroux and his agent, Doug Bredar, will have more time to sort out his Derby prospects, perhaps even Mr. Monomoy if he can return from injury by then.

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“It’s an incredible arsenal,” Bredar said. “We’re blessed to get so many top-notch 3-year-olds. It’s a situation a lot of top riders have been in in the past, but it’s the first time we’ve been in this situation.”

This year’s start is a welcome relief for Geroux, who missed most of last fall’s Keeneland meet, the Breeders’ Cup, and the start of the fall meet at Churchill Downs after suffering a broken sternum in a training accident at Keeneland. But he’s gotten all his business back, and more, even weathering the tragic death of the highly regarded 3-year-old filly Taraz.

“You always hope to do good. There’s so many highs and lows,” Geroux said in a telephone interview from South Florida. “We thought we had something special with Taraz, thought she was the next big thing, have a stellar season like Monomoy Girl,” he said, referring to the filly whose 2018 victories in races like the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff propelled her to a divisional Eclipse Award.

Wells Bayou – like Monomoy Girl, Mr. Monomoy, Taraz, and Bonny South – is trained by Brad Cox, who is one of Geroux’s biggest supporters. Both rider and trainer agreed that the 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby was a preferred spot for Wells Bayou compared to the previous week’s Rebel at Oaklawn, even though the distance was a furlong longer.

“We thought he was the quickest in the race,” Geroux said. “There was a question with the distance. We didn’t think the race would be as tough as the Rebel. It was a longer distance, but less speed. There’s no secret he has good tactical speed. That was the plan. It worked.”

There was even more urgency in the Fountain of Youth, owing to Ete Indien drawing an outside post with an abbreviated run to the first turn. Both Geroux and Patrick Biancone – who trains Ete Indien – agreed that they had to go if Ete Indien broke sharply.

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“It was circumstances with the bad post,” Geroux said. “Going a mile and a sixteenth, the turn comes up very fast. If he breaks good you have to use him. He broke on the lead, so I went for it.

“If he didn’t break, you go to Plan B very quickly. Tuck in, save ground. You don’t want to end up six wide into the turn.”

Geroux picked up the mount on Ete Indien when Luca Panici fractured his collarbone in February. Geroux was contacted by Biancone, who was instrumental in bringing Geroux to the United States in 2007. Geroux also rode Sole Volante, also trained by Biancone, to a second-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby while Panici was sidelined. Panici is back now, “but it was always understood that Panici would get one of the Biancone’s back, even if the Derby was still at its original date,” Bredar said.

Panici will be back aboard Sole Volante for his next scheduled start, the Arkansas Derby, now May 2. Geroux keeps Ete Indien. Geroux twice flew from New Orleans to Florida in the weeks since the Fountain of Youth to work Ete Indien.

“He’s done well. He’s a very nice horse,” Geroux said. “He’s gotten more confidence. He acts like he knows he did something.”