Thomas eyes another derby win with Zihnal in Oklahoma
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With a better post away from the rail, trainer Jonathan Thomas might have been willing to take a chance with Zihnal in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby last weekend. Instead, he will break from post 4 with a stronger chance in the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sunday at Remington Park.
“He’s doing really well, trained right along,” Thomas said. “He was able to put in an extra work on Monday and he shipped to Remington [on Wednesday] night. We’re going to have a couple days to get our feet under us, and everything seems pretty good.”
The Oklahoma Derby is the featured race on a 12-race card that will include eight stakes offering $1.3 million in purse money.
Thomas, an opportunistic trainer this summer, has taken full advantage of a minor series of age-restricted stakes around the country. While Grade 1 races like the Travers and Haskell commanded more attention on the summer schedule, the late-blooming Zihnal made his breakthrough when he won the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby by 6 1/4 lengths in August. Thomas also won the $250,000 St. Louis Derby with Sharons Beach.
“We’re all, as trainers, beholden to how our horses are doing in their own time,” Thomas said. “I have no control over that, but it’s great to have all these spots you can count on every month to show up for if everything’s going well.”
While most in the field of 10 3-year-olds were running in softer stakes fields in August, Silent Tactic watched the Travers unfold in front of him. He was never involved in the 1 1/4-mile race at Saratoga and was eased, failing to finish.
The Oklahoma Derby will be the Mark Casse trainee’s first Grade 3 attempt since winning the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park in March. He is the 5-2 morning-line favorite at Remington, having finished in the money in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, Grade 2 Jim Dandy, and Grade 3 Rebel this year.
Jockey Cristian Torres, who sustained minor injuries in a multi-horse spill at Churchill Downs last weekend, was originally scheduled to ride Silent Tactic. Casse said Jose Ortiz will fly to Oklahoma to ride in his place.
J J Grey, the 4-5 favorite in the West Virginia Derby, will be rematched against Zihnal after struggling at Mountaineer Park. The $250,000 Iowa Derby winner failed to use his tactical speed in West Virginia, fading to sixth by 19 3/4 lengths.
“He did not handle the racetrack very well in West Virginia,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “That was the problem there.”
The Hell We Did, the seventh-place finisher in the Preakness, has been looking for the right pace scenario ever since. Trainer Todd Fincher said he did not get his way in the Iowa Derby or St. Louis Derby, though he came within two lengths of a victory in both races.
“He never got any ground, and the speed was holding,” Fincher said of the St. Louis Derby. “There just wasn’t much pace. Hard to figure that race.”
Tricky Business and trainer George Weaver will go for “a bigger pot” after a commanding three-length victory against New York-breds in the $200,000 Albany at Saratoga.
Trainer Steve Asmussen, who has eight horses entered in stakes Sunday at Remington, said he was taking a chance with Vintage Cowboy, who scored a gutsy 16-1 upset in a $102,000 allowance at Ellis Park last month.
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