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High
Fly wins the Florida Derby
Blanked
with his 16 previous starters, trainer Nick
Zito finally won the Florida Derby (gr. I) when
his heavily favored High Fly rolled to a confident
victory for Jerry Bailey Saturday at Gulfstream
Park.
Zito has used the Florida Derby as a prep for
three of his four Triple Crown victories, including
both of his Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winners,
Strike the Gold (1991) and Go for Gin (1994).
Like the Belmont Stakes and Travers last year
with Birdstone, the popular conditioner was
able to put an end to a lengthy losing streak.
The
Zito-conditioned Noble Causeway ran on well
from far back to finish second.
Zito
was thrilled with both of his competitors.
"These
horses both ran really huge," Zito said.
"They both showed a lot of courage. All
the way down the lane I was yelling 'Show me
your heart. Show me your heart.' And they did.
They both can go a mile and a quarter. No question.
It was very gratifying to watch them today."
Live
Oak Plantation's High Fly, who was stricken
with a slight fever a little more than a week
ago, was ideally positioned between horses on
the outside of pacesetting B.B. Best. The chestnut
son of Atticus reached the front in the final
furlong and pulled away to a 1 1/2-length victory.
The final time for the $1 million race, contested
at 1 1/8 miles, was 1:49 2/5. They crawled home
the final eighth in :13 2/5 as High Fly finished
under a strong hand ride from Bailey.
The
race was a virtual carbon copy of High Fly's
victory in the Fountain of Youth March 5 at
Gulfstream when High Fly prevailed by three-quarters
of a length over Bandini.
"He
was just as impressive as he was in the Fountain
of Youth," said Bailey, who won his third
Florida Derby. "I let him run along the
last 100 yards. My plan was to lay off B.B.
Best and run to the wire. He's got a lot of
plusses. He gets you out of trouble.
"The
instant you move your hands on him, he's going
to know it. He's very impressive to me."
The
Fountain of Youth was High Fly's first effort
as part of Zito's barn. William White trained
the colt in his first four starts, winning the
first three before a third-place finish in the
Holy Bull (gr. III) Feb. 5, High Fly's only
loss in six lifetime starts. The $600,000 winning
purse swelled High Fly's earnings to $897,300.
B.B.
Best, third in the FOY, set a legitimate pace
with Jorge Chavez riding -– :22 4/5, :45
4/5, 1:09 4/5 and 1:36 – before giving
way to High Fly and finishing third again. Noble
Causeway, making his stakes debut with Edgar
Prado, made an impressive stretch run, finishing
two lengths in front of B.B. Best.
"You'll
hear from him in the future," Prado said.
"Nick has done a super job with him. I'm
very proud of him."
Park
Avenue Ball finished fourth, 1 1/2 lengths behind.
It was 7 1/2 lengths back to Mighty Mecke, followed
by Vicarage, Papi Chullo, Evil Minister and
Wallstreet Scandal, who was eased in the stretch.
The
Kentucky-bred High Fly paid $4.40, $2.60 and
$2.60 as the 6-5 choice in the field of nine.
Noble Causeway returned $3.60 and $2.80. B.B.
Best was $3.80 to show.
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