Whiskey Ticket handles class rise in Illinois Derby

STICKNEY, Ill. – There are the American Pharoahs of the equine world, natural stars who flash their talent long before their racing careers actually commence, and then, similarly rare, are horses like Whiskey Ticket, who fool their handlers, showing less during training than in actual racing.

Bob Baffert doesn’t get fooled very often, but Whiskey Ticket has been nothing but a surprise so far. He was nearly 15-1 in his career debut March 19 at Santa Anita. Baffert had two others in the race, and Martin Pedroza, rarely used by the Baffert stable, was aboard Whiskey Ticket.

“I was supposed to be on the worst one of the three,” Pedroza said.

But Whiskey Ticket is not bad – not bad at all. Pedroza sent him to the lead in the maiden race and Whiskey Ticket fought and fought for a debut win, and on Saturday at Hawthorne, employing a stalking style while traveling for the first time and stepping up to a Grade 3, $400,000 race, Whiskey Ticket won again, showing heart to hold clear a late, wide rally from Conquest Curlinate to get up by a nose.

Mark Casse trains Conquest Curlinate, and just was denied his second straight Illinois Derby win, one year after Dynamic Impact edged the Baffert-trained Midnight Hawk.

Phenomenal Phoenix finished third, four lengths behind the place horse, while Cross the Line, the 6-5 favorite, faded in the stretch and checked in fifth.

Whiskey Ticket, the second choice, paid $6.20 to win and was timed in 1:50.82 for 1 1/8 miles on a fast track. The surface, which appeared to favor outside paths Saturday, produced moderate to quick times, and the winner’s clocking wasn’t especially fast.

Still, a win is a win, especially with a horse from whom not much was expected, though he cost $200,000 at auction and is a son of Ghostzapper. Perhaps most impressive Saturday was Whiskey Ticket’s change of style. On the lead through a solid pace in his first start, Whiskey Ticket broke slowly Saturday and wound up in the second flight, Pedroza tucking him behind horses to take dirt in his face for the first time.

The pace, surprisingly, turned strong, with Kantune on the rail going for the front, pushed by Cross the Line, who was caught between horses into the first turn, and A Rod Again, who, out of nowhere, showed strong pace. The opening quarter went in 23.40 seconds, the half in a testing 46.89, and though jockey Florent Geroux had wrangled Cross the Line back to third by then, the damage probably already was done.

To make matters worse for Geroux and Cross the Line, Pedroza saw exactly what was unfolding as the field approached the far turn, letting Whiskey Ticket run up on the outside of the two leaders while putting Cross the Line in a box to his inside. Whiskey Ticket pushed steadily on, making the lead before the homestretch and drifting down to about the two path, and as that was happening, Conquest Curlinate finally was kicking into gear on the far outside.

Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, sitting last down the backstretch, started encouraging Conquest Curlinate before the half-mile pole, the colt steadily gathering momentum and for a moment before the furlong grounds looking like he might catch Whiskey Ticket. But Pedroza, seeing Conquest Curlinate out of the corner of his eye, switched to a left-handed stick and guided Whiskey Ticket toward the outside to eyeball his competition, as Whiskey Ticket, unheralded as he might have been, rose to the challenge.

Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, Whiskey Ticket is not Triple Crown-nominated, and, with Baffert sending American Pharoah and Dortmund to the Kentucky Derby, the colt seems unlikely to be pointed for a race like the Preakness.

But at this point, that doesn’t really matter. Whiskey Ticket already has exceeded expectations.