HORSE RACING ROUNDUP : Strike The Gold Spoils Fly So Free’s Mystique

Strike The Gold got his revenge, and Fly So Free is merely another horse headed for the Kentucky Derby.

Strike The Gold beat Fly So Free by three lengths in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Saturday, avenging a one-length loss in the Florida Derby last month.

“I said all week, if he waited for my horse, he’d be in trouble,” said Strike The Gold’s trainer, Nick Zito. Zito was referring to Fly So Free’s tendency to take the lead in a race, become bored and then wait for other horses to catch him.

The Blue Grass was the final prep for both horses for the May 4 Derby. The first stakes victory for Strike The Gold ended a streak of five stakes victories for last year’s 2-year-old champion.

If Fly So Free had won here, he probably would have been the Derby favorite. Now, that distinction is up for grabs.

Strike The Gold charged past Fly So Free at the head of the stretch, then put away the pacesetter, Nowork All Play. Fly So Free never had the lead but finished second, 3 1/2 lengths ahead of Nowork All Play. Big Courage was fourth, another 4 1/2 lengths back, followed by Sir Otto and Wilder Than Ever.

Fly So Free’s trainer, Scotty Schulhofer, said he probably made a mistake by telling jockey Jose Santos to stay slightly off the pace of Nowork All Play rather than letting his horse set the pace.

“There wasn’t enough speed in it to get him to relax,” Schulhofer said. “He was too rank all the way. You can choke a horse just so long, and then they say the hell with it.”

The race capped a disastrous week for the Schulhofer 3-year-olds. Two other Derby candidates, Scan (Santa Anita Derby) and Cahill Road (Preview Stakes) failed April 6.

Time for the 1 1/8 miles over a good track was a moderate 1:48 2/5, and now, the scramble is on to determine who will go to Churchill Downs as the favorite. It could be Dinard or Best Pal, who ran 1-2 in the Santa Anita Derby.

Nowork All Play, unraced as a 2-year-old and a surprise starter at Kenneland, took the lead coming out of the gate and sprinted ahead of the field, with Fly So Free stalking the pace.

Strike The Gold began to close ground on the backstretch, getting into position to challenge the leaders under jockey Chris Antley. Antley moved him to the outside and urged him to the front as the leaders came out of the turn for home.

As Strike The Gold passed Fly So Free, Fly So Free passed Nowork All Play.

“When my horse saw the other one coming, he did try,” Santos said.

Strike the Gold returned $7.80, $2.20 and $2.40, and Fly So Free paid $2.10 and $2.10. Nowork All Play, ridden by Shane Sellers, paid $2.40 to show.

Southland-based Festin, behind a wall of horses in the middle of the stretch, surged to the rail under Eddie Delahoussaye and won the $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap at Oaklawn Park.

Festin had only Unbridled beaten when the field turned down the backstretch, and those two were still together, and far behind, in the turn. In the stretch, Delahoussaye hit Festin right-handed to get him to the opening along the rail.

Festin, owned by Haras Sonoita and trained by Ron McAnally, finished three-quarters of a length in front of Primal. Festin returned $24.20, $9 and $4.20. Primal, a 25-1 shot, paid $15 and $5.80. Jolie’s Halo, the 8-5 favorite, paid $3.20.

Festin covered 1 1/8 miles of sloppy track in 1:48.

Jolie’s Halo won six consecutive races in Canada and Florida, but never had been on an off track. Unbridled, winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1990, was sent off as the second choice at 2-1. Unbridled finished fifth.

Farma Way, winner of five consecutive stakes on the West Coast, was the third choice. Trainer Wayne Lukas said that the son of Marfa often didn’t like mud.