Hovdey: Win a Space tries skipping a few grades

American Pharoah will be paraded, applauded, and long gone from the Del Mar stage Sunday afternoon by the time Win the Space is led over for the $250,000 Del Mar Derby. Good thing, too. The gray colt is facing enough of a challenge without experiencing an Arkansas flashback.

It was last April that Win the Space, a son of Pulpit, was rushed from a promising effort in a maiden race at Santa Anita into the starting gate for the million-dollar Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park. There he stood, with only two starts and no wins to his name, two stalls down from the future Triple Crown champ. Do horses get dry mouth and butterflies?

To their credit, Win the Space and Kent Desormeaux stayed as far away from American Pharoah as possible while still trying for some kind of placing. In the end, they finished sixth, beaten less than three lengths for second and not too far behind Far Right and Mr. Z, who were still in the scramble for Kentucky Derby berths at the time.

The horse disappearing off into the Arkansas twilight was American Pharoah, who won by eight lengths. From there, he went on to the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and racing history.

As for Win the Space, he was spared any further Pharoah abuse and returned to California, where he ran twice without winning, after which trainer George Papaprodromou listened to what the colt was trying to tell him and gave him a break.

“We asked him a lot, but he came through it okay,” Papaprodromou said this week between races at Del Mar. “Now I think he’s ready to run the best race of his life.”

He’ll need to be. The Del Mar Derby is topped by Prospect Park, who ran off and hid from eight outclassed opponents in the La Jolla Handicap on Aug. 9. This was the same Prospect Park who had classic ambitions earlier this year, especially after a second-place finish to Dortmund in the San Felipe Stakes lit up the Kentucky Derby radar.

Derby dreams died when Prospect Park came out of the Santa Anita Derby with a high white count and the blahs. But now, five months later, a second life on the grass is not the worst thing that could happen to a 3-year-old who missed the Triple Crown carnival. Turf opportunities abound during the second half of the season, and while the pursuit of the Triple Crown races tends to chew up and spit out talented 3-year-olds, grass racing has been known to nurture exciting stars who keep on giving, like Manila, Lure, Kitten’s Joy, and English Channel.

The Del Mar Derby has contributed its share. Past winners such as Relaunch, Tsunami Slew, Tight Spot, Da Hoss, and Twirling Candy launched grand careers with wins by the sea. Prospect Park seems poised to join them, and he will be heavily favored to do so on Sunday against a group that includes Oceanside Stakes winner Soul Driver, La Puente Stakes winner Papacoolpapacool, and Godolphin’s Indiana Grand stakes winner Crittenden, along with Win the Space.

After a brief respite, Win the Space went back to work at Del Mar on Aug. 1 with an attractive performance to take a $71,000 maiden race at a mile on the grass under Joe Talamo, who will be back aboard Sunday. As a “non-winner other than,” Win the Space can take his inspiration from Keen Ice, whose only victory before his Travers Stakes upset of American Pharoah came against maidens. The difference, of course, is that Keen Ice had been thoroughly tested against the best of his generation, while Win the Space produced a decent speed figure in his maiden score but not much more.

“I’ve galloped him a little longer for the Derby, but nothing else different,” Papaprodromou said. “This is what he was meant to be doing.”

A good effort by Win the Space in the Del Mar Derby would go a long way toward saving a grim 2015 for Papaprodromou, a native of Cyprus whose father also trained horses. A year ago, he was rolling along through his best season ever, topped by the victory of KM Racing’s Imperative over Game On Dude in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic. But then earlier this year, owner Kenji Morinaga transferred his horses to trainer Richard Baltas, effectively gutting Papaprodromou’s inventory.

“It’s been a building year since then,” Papaprodromou said. “I try not to let it get me down. I know it’s happened to a lot of other trainers.”

If nothing else, Papaprodromou can tap into the relentlessly positive vibes given off by the owners of Win the Space, Rustin and Julianna Kretz. They purchased the colt for $360,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s Florida sale of 2-year-olds in March 2014.

In the business only since 2010, Kretz Racing experienced the lowest of lows after its talented sprinter John Johny Jak broke a shoulder while pulling up from his victory in the 2012 Kerlan Handicap at Hollywood Park. The following June, the Kretzes entered the Hollywood winner’s circle with spirits high after Tale of a Champion won the Grade 1 Whittingham Memorial.

“They love to see their horses run,” Papaprodromou said, “and I really think they will see something special on Sunday.”