Smith back in Santa Anita Derby picture with Defunded

In 84 runnings of the Santa Anita Derby, only two jockeys have won the race in three consecutive years – Gary Stevens from 1993 to 1995, and Mike Smith in the last three seasons.

Smith, 55, looked poised for another win in Saturday’s Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on the two-time stakes winner Life Is Good until the colt was sidelined with an injury on March 20.

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“That let the wind out of your sail,” Smith recalled Wednesday. “He’s special, special. I think he was showing that, and people we’re seeing it. It was what I was looking for going into this Triple Crown.

“The good news is he’s okay and there is a good possibility he’ll be back later this year.”

Smith rapidly regained a mount in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on Defunded, who like Life Is Good is trained by Bob Baffert. Defunded will have his stakes debut and first start around two turns in the Santa Anita Derby, at 1 1/8 miles.

A gelding by Dialed In, Defunded was the sharp winner of a maiden special weight race at six furlongs on March 6 under Joel Rosario, who is riding at Keeneland this weekend. Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, Defunded was third in a maiden special weight race at Del Mar last August in his only other start.

Smith was aboard Defunded for the first time in a recent workout and knows the gelding must show significant improvement to be a factor in the Santa Anita Derby.

“He’s got that kind of ability, especially with his last race,” Smith said. “He’s shown he’s very talented.

“He’s up against it and he’s up against better horses. He’ll have to run that last race and every bit more. I know Bob loves the way he’s training. He had a lot of class and breezed well for me.”

Smith, a Hall of Famer, won his first Santa Anita Derby on Tiago in 2007. He won the 2018 running on eventual Triple Crown star Justify, in 2019 with Roadster, and last year on Honor A. P. The race was held in June last year because Santa Anita was closed due to the pandemic at this time in 2020.

Smith rides sparingly these days, emphasizing quality mounts. Through Sunday, Smith had 7 wins from 57 mounts at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. Four of those victories were in stakes, including the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds in December on Charlatan.

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On Feb. 20, Smith was aboard Charlatan for a second-place finish in the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia. Charlatan was beaten a length by Mishriff, who returned to win the Grade 1 Sheema Classic in Dubai last Saturday.

“With that colt coming back and winning in Dubai, it shows how great those horses ran in Saudi Arabia,” Smith said. “He beat some nice turf horses in Dubai. It really stamped how good that race was.”

Charlatan is back in training for an expected start in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes at seven furlongs on May 1, part of the Kentucky Derby undercard.

Smith could ride Defunded in the Kentucky Derby if the gelding runs well enough Saturday.

“At this point, you hope something comes along that gives you a chance, and this has,” Smith said. “It gives me a shot to see what he is. If he’s capable of beating this bunch, I’ll have a shot.”

The list of probable starters for the Santa Anita Derby field is led by Medina Spirit and Dream Shake, who were second and third behind Life Is Good in the San Felipe Stakes. Other projected runners are Back Ring Luck, Law Professor, Ottothelegend, Parnelli, Rock Your World, Roman Centurian, and The Great One.