King's review: California Chrome dominant in slow Kentucky Derby

With near-perfect weather, 164,906 packed Churchill Downs for the 140th Kentucky Derby, the second-highest attendance in Derby history. And the large throng was treated to a decisive victory from California Chrome, who spurted away from the field to score by 1 3/4 lengths as the 5-2 favorite.

As in his preceding victories this year, it was his quick acceleration from the pack coming into the lane that broke the race open. After tracking the pace in third for much of the running, when asked to go by jockey Victor Espinoza, he jumped out to a five-length lead in midstretch and seemed to idle late.

About the only thing he didn’t do was run quickly. His time of 2:03.66 for the Derby’s 1 1/4 miles was slow, though the track appeared much drier than for early races and may not have been as well watered as it had been earlier in the day. There was a gap of 2 hours, 43 minutes from the preceding dirt race, the Churchill Downs Stakes.

He received a Beyer Speed Figure of 97.

Commanding Curve closed best to grab second, though for a late runner, he enjoyed a pretty smooth trip, largely avoiding traffic. Nevertheless it was a fine performance from a horse that is improving.

Third-place Danza had the rockier trip, though some was of his and jockey Joe Bravo’s doing. He was jostled about in the early stages, typical for many horses in the Derby, and bumped with Medal Count when angled out by Bravo for running room in midstretch.

The stewards looked at this incident several times with their head-on feed but did not find it sufficient to post an inquiry. If Medal Count, who weakened to eighth, had not been backing up at the time, there might have been an inquiry or a claim of foul by his rider.

Of the others, naturally there were some who experienced trouble in the 19-horse field, with 13th-place finisher Candy Boy seemingly taking the worst of it, getting checked sharply into the first turn. Ride on Curlin also was forced to make a belated rally for seventh when blocked in traffic on the second turn.

In other action on the day, Wise Dan scored a repeat victory in the Woodford Reserve, though not nearly as dominant as last year, winning by just a head over Seek Again; Central Banker gamely turned back Shakin It Up to win the Churchill Downs Stakes; Global View closed with a rush to win the American Turf over Storming Inti; Midnight Lucky dominated in the Humana Distaff; and Coffee Clique narrowly won the Churchill Downs Turf Mile.

Horse to Watch

Boisterous
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Last race: May 3, race 10
Finish: Third by 1 1/4
Beyer: 91

Though he never significantly challenged victorious Wise Dan and runner-up Seek Again in the Woodford Reserve, he didn’t have much chance to catch up to them after breaking last in the field of 10, then in a slow-paced race, having to run a bit wide. A better start should give him an excellent chance if he stretches out to 1 1/4 miles for the Grade 1 Manhattan on the Belmont undercard – a race not on the Wise Dan itinerary.