Real Story cruises to first stakes win in American Derby

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Trainer Ignacio Correas and jockey Joe Bravo won the second race Saturday at Arlington with a horse named Cuestion de Tiempo, who led wire to wire. “Just run it back, Joe,” might as well have been Correas’s instructions before the Grade 3, $100,000 American Derby, where Real Story shot straight to the front under Bravo and never was threatened, winning by 1 3/4 lengths over favored Captivating Moon.

And this was no case of a front-runner taking advantage of a false pace. Real Story set splits of 23.25, 47.45, and 1:11.45, all very legitimate for 1 1/8 miles on the Arlington turf course. He went one mile in 1:35.43 and stopped the timer in 1:47.61. Real Story cut the last corner with verve, pushed his margin to an apparently insurmountable advantage at the eighth pole, and cruised impressively under the wire.

“I didn’t think it was that easy,” said Correas. I was scared of the stretch.”

Real Story ran the best race of his life in his stakes debut. A debut winner at Tampa on Dec. 17, he flopped on dirt at Gulfstream second out, was a solid pace-setting third in a Keeneland allowance race in April, and ran the only poor turf race of his career at Churchill Downs when Correas said he instructed the rider to try and take a hold of Real Story and relax him off the pace. Back to front-running tactics, Real Story easily won an Arlington allowance race June 15 before running even better Saturday.

“Relax on the lead is the only way he knows how to relax,” Correas said.

Captivating Moon, who came down the center of the course, appeared to be all out to finish second over rail-rallying Dubby Dubbie. Correas's second entrant, Pont Du Gard, finished fourth and was followed home by Tap Daddy, Kitten A Gettin, a disappointing second-choice Ezmosh, and Proquestor.

Real Story paid $16.80 winning for the third time in six starts. A gelding by Fast Bullet out of My Own Story, by Lasting Approval, Real Story was bred and is owned by Jeffrey Amling and Merriebelle Stable. My Own Story already had produced a 3-year-old turf-stakes winner, My Afleet, who won the 2014 Dueling Grounds Derby.

Real Story has good gate speed for a turf-route horse and, getting into a good rhythm with his head held nice and low, galloping strongly down the backstretch, he showed an impressive ability to carry a strong pace over a distance of ground. He’ll try to carry that pace another furlong next month, since Correas said if all is well Real Story will start in the Grade 1 Secretariat here.