Vicar's in Trouble returns in Iowa Derby
ALTOONA, Iowa – Vicar’s in Trouble, the Louisiana-bred star who had an excellent season at Fair Grounds, including a 3 1/2-length romp in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, will headline Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Iowa Derby.
Vicar’s in Trouble, unraced for trainer Mike Maker since facing the daunting task of breaking from the rail May 3 in the Kentucky Derby, has bounced back nicely from that 19th-place finish in recent weeks at the Churchill Downs Training Center.
“He came out of the Derby okay,” Maker said. “Just some minor issues. Nothing serious.”
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Maker followed a similar path with his 2011 Eclipse Award-winning juvenile Hansen, who ran ninth in the 2012 Kentucky Derby before obliterating his rivals by 10 lengths in that year’s Iowa Derby. Maker brushed aside comparisons between the two.
“I wouldn’t compare them, but their schedules are the same for now,” he said. “Vicar’s in Trouble is doing well, or he sure does look that way.”
Jockey Cornelio Velasquez comes in from Belmont Park for the assignment.
The opposition is headed by Embellishing Bob, who was promoted to first after running a brave race April 26 against the Bob Baffert-trained Bayern in the Grade 3 Derby Trial. Outpaced behind the same rival June 7 in Belmont’s Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes over seven furlongs, Embellishing Bob will try to stretch his tactical speed around two turns for the first time. Trained by Steve Margolis at Churchill Downs, the Northern Afleet colt drew the inside post in the field of nine.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Embellishing Bob. Trainer Steve Margolis is 2 for 9 with a $3.64 ROI going from sprint to route in dirt graded stakes over the past five years. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Jessica’s Star impressed May 31 when taking the local Iowa Derby prep, the $75,000 Prairie Mile, by a neck over fellow Iowa Derby entrant Tairneach. The Churchill-based Mike Stidham trainee steps up in class again, but he never has run a bad race in five appearances.
Six Spot, most recently a third-place finisher in Pimlico’s Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness undercard, also makes the trek up from Churchill for trainer Steve Asmussen. As with Jessica’s Star, consistency is an asset.
The locally based late runners Russellin and Smack Smack could get involved, with the potential of a demanding pace being set by the likes of Super Saver’s half-brother, Charge Now, trained by Bill Mott, or the quick Illinois-bred I Got It All, who ventures down from Chicago for conditioner Tom Swearingen.