Empire Maker strode to the head of the Kentucky Derby prep school class Saturday at Gulfstream Park with a 9 3/4-length victory in the $1 million Florida Derby. The performance was a study in excellence.
“He ran the way we thought he could run,” trainer Bobby Frankel said after collaborating with jockey Jerry Bailey for their sixth triumph in a race worth $1 million or more and their 13th Grade I since they took the 2000 Arlington Million with Chester House. “When we put the blinkers on, he ran like he trained.”
Frankel couldn’t resist looking ahead a bit. “If he runs this kind of race in the Kentucky Derby, he probably could win it,” Frankel said.
The 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby is the first of the four big prep races for the May 3 Kentucky Derby. Next on April 5 is the Santa Anita Derby, followed on April 12 by the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
Frankel had intended to run Empire Maker in the Wood. But in the wake of Saturday’s strong performance he is considering skipping the Wood and giving the colt owned by Saudi Arabian Prince Khalid Abdullah his next start at Churchill Downs. Historically speaking, that would be a bold move–the last Florida Derby winner who waited for the Kentucky Derby and won it was Needles in 1956.
“I’m going to analyze it,” Frankel said. “He’s a natural horse to get a mile and a quarter [the Kentucky Derby distance]. He’s not a horse you have to train to be fit enough to go the distance. It wouldn’t be difficult if I trained him up to the race.”
Frankel has been the most successful trainer in North America during the last three years but is 0-for-4 in the Kentucky Derby. It’s conceivable he could have three contestants this year. Peace Rules was an impressive winner in last weekend’s Louisiana Derby, and Midas Eyes, another stablemate performing Saturday at Gulfstream, made his first start since Aug. 17 and won the Grade III Swale in a 9 1/4-length landslide.
Empire Maker had raced three times before Saturday. He won his debut at Belmont last October, showed in the Grade II Remsen at Aqueduct a month later and placed in a minor stakes race at Santa Anita on Feb. 7.
Ignoring heredity (he is the son of 1990 Florida Derby, Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup winner Unbridled and the brilliant broodmare Toussaud) and environment (Frankel and Bailey), bettors made Empire Maker the 2.10-1 second choice in Saturday’s seven-horse race and dispatched front-running Fountain of Youth winner Trust N Luck as the even-money favorite.
As expected, Trust N Luck took an immediate lead. Midway Cat stalked him in the early stages, while Empire Maker took up the chase in fourth place. Approaching the eighth-pole, Empire Maker began his mighty move and the race ceased being a contest.
He won in 1:49.05 and paid $6.20, $2.80 and $2.40.
“I was kind of sitting on high octane,” Bailey said. “In his earlier races without the blinkers he was a little hesitant. Bobby had a feeling they would help and they did.”
Trust N Luck held on to finish second, a half-length in front of third-place Indy Dancer.
Midway Cat broke down on the far turn with a serious injury to his right front leg. The colt had to be destroyed.
Jockey Jorge Chavez was taken to a nearby hospital for X-rays. According to his agent, Ron Ebanks, the rider was in stable condition and his vital signs were good, but he was complaining of back pain.
