Well-traveled Trendsetter will need best effort to win West Virginia Derby
:quality(75))
Since rocketing up the 3-year-old ranks in April, Trendsetter has only gotten stronger for trainer Ben Colebrook, proving to be more than a fluky longshot and maturing into a consistent graded stakes contender. He will ship to his sixth different track this year as a potent presence in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby on Sunday at Mountaineer Park.
“He’s improved with two turns on the dirt, become kind of a grinder type,” Colebrook said. “He doesn’t show you much in the morning, but obviously shows up every afternoon. We’ve been very consistent and he’s always picked up checks. This looks like a good spot for him.”
The West Virginia Derby will be the featured race on Mountaineer’s biggest card of the year, one that also includes the $200,000 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes for 3-year-olds and up.
After trying all three surfaces in listed stakes to begin his career, Trendsetter made a major breakthrough in April when he scored a 32-1 upset in the Grade 3 Lexington at Keeneland. Colebrook said getting to stay home was a major factor that day, but Trendsetter has since shipped to finish third in both the Grade 3 Peter Pan at Aqueduct and Grade 3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown, earning a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure in his most recent outing.
“It seems like he’s improved almost every race,” Colebrook said. “He ran at 90 Beyer last time, and I think that kind of effort is probably going to be what it takes to win this race.”
While Trendsetter, the 5-2 second choice in the field of eight 3-year-olds, is well versed at the 1 1/8-mile distance, it will be a new test for J J Grey, the 2-1 morning-line favorite trained by Kenny McPeek. Since switching back to dirt in May, the colt has rattled off three straight victories, most recently powering home to win the $250,000 Iowa Derby by 1 3/4 lengths.
“He’s turned into a really hard-knocker, hard-trier, and he’s really really figured it out in the last several races,” McPeek said. “I’ve just been really pleased with all he’s done, and as a 3-year-old, he just seems to be getting better and better.”
J J Grey could vie for the early lead in the West Virginia Derby, but he will likely have to deal with Wayne’s Law, a Florida-bred speedster stretching out and adding blinkers. In his last start at 1 1/8 miles, the colt set the pace in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, and trainer Amador Sanchez said he plans to employ a similar strategy in West Virginia.
“We’re going to try to run in front,” Sanchez said. “I don’t see too much speed in the race – only one horse, but not too much.”
:: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!
If a duel materializes, Trendsetter is only one of several contenders who could benefit from a closing trip. Zihnal, a gelding trained by Jonathan Thomas, ran against winners for the first time in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby last time out and overcame early trouble to hold fourth.
“We had planned on being more forward, but for whatever reason, our rider decided to take him back after breaking well,” Thomas said. “Made a middle move into the fastest part of the race and then we got stymied down the lane a little bit. I don’t think he could have won, but I do think he could have finished third with a better trip.”
Thomas will add blinkers for Zihnal in his second graded stakes try, but the trainer said he trusts new rider John Velazquez to help the gelding more than any equipment change.
Maximum Effort, a maiden trained by Steve Asmussen, finished third in the $300,000 Texas Derby and $250,000 Iowa Derby in his last two starts. Though he is still looking for his first victory in his ninth career start, he has improved to a point where he belongs in stakes company.
“I like the spot for him, and he’s consistently getting a little bit better,” Asmussen said. “He’s due for a breakout race.”
The final contender coming out of stakes company is Bull by the Horns, who will go back to racing without blinkers after running a dull sixth in the Ohio Derby last time out. Before finishing sixth in the Preakness in May, he earned his lone stakes victory for Saffie Joseph Jr. on synthetic in the $250,000 Rushaway at Turfway Park.
Longshots Nehalem and Baytown Dreamer complete the field.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.