Patience Game Pulls Surprise in Trial

Kentucky Derby heavyweights Bob Baffert, Wayne Lukas and Nick Zito had horses in the field, but the Saturday before the Derby belonged to trainer Alex Hassinger Jr., an emotional winner after his lightly raced colt, Patience Game, beat Prime Directive by 2 1/4 lengths in the $114,800 Derby Trial on opening day at Churchill Downs.

Patience Game, ridden by Corey Nakatani, gave Hassinger his first stakes win for Prince Ahmed Salman’s Thoroughbred Corp. Hassinger got the bulk of Salman’s horses, including Patience Game, when trainer Wally Dollase was fired March 13. Hassinger was in Kentucky, running out of horses and thinking about quitting as a trainer, when the Thoroughbred Corp. offer came along.

Prime Directive finished second, 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Baffert’s Straight Man, with Lukas’ Yes It’s True, the 19-10 favorite, running fourth.

Patience Game paid $9 after running one mile in a pokey 1:37 4/5 over a deep, dusty surface.

Horse Racing Notes

These are the Derby probables, in descending order of money earned in graded stakes races: Answer Lively, Vicar, Cat Thief, General Challenge, Menifee, Stephen Got Even, Kimberlite Pipe, Prime Timber, Adonis, Charismatic, Three Ring, Worldly Manner, Certain, Lemon Drop King, Desert Hero, First American, K One King, Aljabr, Ecton Park, Etbauer, Forty One Carats, Torrid Sand and Valhol. The possibles are the fillies--Excellent Meeting and Silverbulletday--from Bob Baffert’s barn. They’re 1-2 on the money list and would have no trouble getting in. . . . If more than 20 want to run, preference is given to the horses with the most graded earnings. Valhol’s total of $38,400 excludes his $300,000 for winning the Arkansas Derby. Arkansas authorities are investigating whether Valhol’s jockey, Billy Patin, used an illegal electrical device in the race. A decision in Arkansas may not come before the Derby.