Jackie's Warrior and Dream Shake battle again in Woody Stephens
ELMONT, N.Y. – Arguably the best show at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day – aside from the main event itself – was the near race-long duel between Jackie’s Warrior and Dream Shake in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile. Despite setting a blazing-fast pace, Jackie’s Warrior held on tenaciously to a narrow advantage the length of the stretch and won by a head.
On Saturday, Jackie’s Warrior and Dream Shake will take their show to another big stage, Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes Day, where they’ll try to duplicate those performances against perhaps an even tougher field in the $400,000 Woody Stephens. The Grade 1 dash for 3-year-olds lured a stellar six-horse lineup that also includes the multiple Grade 3 winner Drain the Clock, Arkansas Derby runner-up Caddo River, the improving Nova Rags, and lightly raced but promising Tulane Tryst.
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Jackie’s Warrior kept his record perfect in one-turn races with his gritty victory in the Pat Day Mile. His only two losses in seven starts came at 1 1/16 miles, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (fourth) and Oaklawn’s Southwest (third). If he has an advantage over Dream Shake in their rematch, it may be his familiarity with Belmont Park, where he won the Grade 1 Champagne by 5 1/2 lengths last October. In his previous race, he won the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga.
Dream Shake never started at 2 but was an instant success once he turned 3, winning his career debut with a 96 Beyer Figure at Santa Anita. He has gone winless in three subsequent starts, including third-place finishes in the San Felipe and Santa Anita Derby, and like Jackie’s Warrior is perhaps better suited to one-turn races.
For those who feel the gut-wrenching battle on Derby Day between the two likely favorites may take its toll moving forward, the logical alternatives in the Woody Stephens would be Drain the Clock and Caddo River.
Drain the Clock has won 5 of 7 starts, with one of those losses coming when his rider fell off during the running of the Jean Lafitte last fall at Delta Downs. His only other setback was a second-place finish behind the odds-on Greatest Honour when he tried to stretch his abundant speed 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. The Florida invader wasted little time rebounding from that loss, shipping to New York for the first time and registering a wire-to-wire 1 3/4-length triumph in the Grade 3 Bay Shore at Aqueduct.
“He’s in good form, although on numbers he’s a little slower than some of the others in this field and this is going to be his toughest task,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “But he’s never really had to be extended fully going one turn, which leads me to believe he still has a better race in him. He’s going to need to run a lifetime best to win, but I feel like he’s sitting on that.”
Caddo River might be the biggest question mark in the field while adding yet another potential pace candidate to the mix. Caddo River will also shorten up in distance after finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Rebel going 1 1/16 miles and second in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at 1 1/8 miles while fighting for the early lead in both races. He breaks from the outside post on Saturday.
“Obviously, I think the cutback is a positive and I like the post,” said trainer Brad Cox. “He’ll be sitting off of them, and hopefully if there is a hot pace and they come back a little bit he’s going to be a player. What happens Saturday should determine where we go with him moving forward.”