Pyro wins the G2 Lousiana Derby with jockey Sean Bridgmohan aboard. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)
Pyro returned from his impressive win last month in the Grade 3 Risen Star to take yet another move forward for trainer Steve Asmussen by crushing the field in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on Saturday at Fair Grounds. I’ve been saying since the Risen Star that the “new and improved” Pyro is a serious threat to win the Kentucky Derby in May, and today only solidified that feeling.
Ever since the decision was made to train the colt with Curlin earlier in the year, Pyro has demonstrated a lethal “killer instinct” that he seemed to lack when chasing top rival War Pass as a 2 year old last year. This newfound killer instinct resulted in $360,000 for the win on Saturday, boosting his career earnings to $1,056,718 for owner Ron Winchell of Winchell Thoroughbreds.
What’s even more impressive is that we saw a more forwardly placed and actively involved Pyro today. In previous races, such as the Risen Star, Pyro had chosen to trail the field and do all of his running in the final stretch. Today Pyro showed that he can rate off the pace but still be involved in the early action without using up too much gas for the stretch. In fact, in my opinion you can look at the Louisiana Derby and still see room for the colt to improve. It looked like he caught a bit of traffic entering the top of the stretch, but was able to swing to the outside and gun down My Pal Charlie with ease when asked.
There was an article in the Daily Racing Form on Saturday that quoted Steve Asmussen as saying that Pyro was “as good as any horse I’ve trained.” That’s something when you consider that Curlin is his stablemate. What we’ve seen from Pyro these last two races seems to back up Asmussen’s words. Up next for the son of Pulpit will be the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on April 12.
My Pal Charlie got onto the lead early over J Be K and wound up finishing second at 60/1. Pyro finished the 1 1/16 mile distance in 1:44.44, returning $3.60 for the win. My Pal Charlie completed the exacta that returned $81.20. Yankee Bravo took show honors and rounded out a $556.00 trifecta.
Pyro romps to victory in the Louisiana Derby
Two other Derby contenders that were making their first runs of the 2008 season left us with many questions and few answers. Tale of Ekati’s connections were hoping for more from their colt, but some trouble at the start may have cost him a step. Tale of Ekati wound up a disappointing 7th. Likewise, Majestic Warrior never seemed to get uncorked as he wound up in 8th. Still, you could see Majestic Warrior moving into position at the final turn before he ran out of steam. Perhaps that’s not such a bad effort for Majestic Warrior though considering the long layoff he had endured?
With the win, Pyro has firmly entrenched himself as either the favorite or 2nd choice among the Derby contenders. We’ll find out some more about his main rival, the Nick Zito trained War Pass, next week in the Tampa Bay Derby.
Look for my updated Kentucky Derby rankings tomorrow to see if Pyro has moved forward past War Pass in my opinion.
I watched some races with Georgie Boy today. He reminds me a bit of Pyro. He likes to come from behind and he looks to have that extra gas at the end. Pyro, Georgie Boy and War Pass are looking good to me.
Sorry to be a contrarian, but I’m still not seeing it. How did Pyro “improve” today? The fillies ran faster than him—AGAIN—as Proud Spell defeated Indian Blessing in 1:44.01; Pyro won in 1:44.44. He ran the same kind of race as in the Risen Star—sluggish pace with quick close at the end against modest competition. He was forwardly placed only because the pace was so slow, and his Beyer is going to be low again. I know, Crist and others will say his low Beyer means nothing…I’m just not sold on him now with the Derby two months away.
Majestic Warrior should have been placed in a nice allowance race before taking on graded stakes company again; Tale of Ekati did look bothered at the start, as Blackberry Road swerved into him and Unbridled Vicar brushed him.
The crop was used on Pyro today for the extra speed; I think I remember when I watched him in the Risen on video earlier today he didn’t need the crop when he took off with that extra speed. Were they racing with the same jockey in both races?
Diss- same jockey. Sean Bridgmohan is his regular rider.
Val- No sweat, that’s what this sport is all about. I’m on the Pyro bandwagon obviously, but I can certainly understand what you’re saying.
Im not fully on with Pyro as probably others yet. The fields he has beaten are pretty weak. I had J Be K today thinking he can run the distance which he can’t as we all seen. Pyro was the only other horse really that can win if J Be K failed the distance test. The field as a whole was weak though, as is with most races this year for the Derby.
War Pass still has an edge because of his speed. Pyro is the only other horse which comes close in speed to him. I like to see what figure he ran today. War Pass still has to be able to go the distance, but so far I haven’t seen any signs of him not being able to go further.
Well, dunno about that. At the mile today, no one was faster than Autism Awareness. He also ran a 1 1/16 race today, a III race though, not a II race like the others we watched today. He hadn’t been figured for the Kentucky Derby, but now I’d like to see him in it. He finished the 1 1/6 in 1:43; faster than the fillies, and faster than Pyro.
Here is the race I’m referring to; he was @ 1:36 at the mile, and finished 1:43 at the 1 1/16
http://www.ntra.com/races.aspx?id=30357§ion=races
freakish.
Kstaff I think I may have just answered my own question, with your help of course! You had mentioned previously that one of the tactics used to help Pyro train this year was to train with Curlin. It’s surely helped if that is the case. But Pyro hasn’t been training with Curlin recently, since Curlin is in Dubai, preparing for the Dubai World Cup. That may well be why Shaun went to the crop this time. He knew he had it in him, that extra speed in the end, he just needed a wake up call; he didn’t need that in the Risen race. Hopefully they’ll have time to race together again prior to the Derby; the Dubai race is on March 29th I believe. That’s like 5 weeks before the Kentucky Derby.
I think I’m officially addicted to horse racing! At least I haven’t speant any money gambling, I’m only reading a lot. No habits (yet)!
The field for Louisiana Derby did turn out a bit weaker than it may have looked on paper, especially since Majestic Warrior and Tale of Ekati weren’t exactly on their A-game. Still, I can’ knock a horse for winning. I remember folks talking about how Curlin hadn’t really beaten anyone heading into the Derby last year.
Yeah Majestic Warrior’s obviously got the speed, but until I see him carry that around two-turns as impressively as he does around one-turn, he’ll still have something to prove. Pyro just seems to be blossoming.
It certainly looks like a two-horse race in May at the moment. Hopefully we can get a few more competitors to step up here soon.
Boy, just realized my new Derby rankings coming out today are going to cause quite a stir.
Pyro will be retiring to stud at the Darley barn, I believe after the Breeders cup in October. Here is the press release, stated on Darley’s website:
http://www.darley.co.uk/page/25937/News/Articles/Pyro-press-release-March-08
I just hope if he has a successfull 3 year old season that they bring him back as a 4 year old. It’s getting troubling watching all the good 3 year olds go right to stud at the end of the year. Keeping them around as 4 year olds can make for more big name/super star type races that draw more crowds, more betting interests, etc. It’s just bad for the game long term when they take them out so quick, but I certainly understand the financial reasons for doing so.