Irap showed rhythm taking the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland last Saturday and even Snoop Dog would have been proud of the 31-1 shot. The former non-winner just bought his ticket to hop on the Kentucky Derby train on May 6.
This was a short field but a field full of quality. The Blue Grass was being run for the 93rd time this year and the way Irap showed rhythm gives him a shot to become the eleventh runner that can pull off the Blue Grass/Kentucky Derby double.
Once again, the pace of the race was the pivotal concept in the Blue Grass and how the race unfolded showed that trainer Doug O’Neill knows how to read a Daily Racing Form.
O’Neill won the Kentucky Derby with Nyquist and I’ll Have Another and he was hoping that Irap showed rhythm on the big stage. Going into the race, the colt had not ducked anybody in his career but he still had to rise to the occasion.
The way the race looked on paper was that Wild Shot was the top speed horse and there was not a lot of velocity in the race at all.
That facts were not lost on O’Neill. The trainer talked to Irap’s jockey Julien Leparoux and a plan was formed.
Wild Shot’s trainer Rusty Arnold was not shy about his horse’s speed and indicated his runner would gun for the lead. That did not scare off O’Neill and he told Leparoux he wanted Irap to be right with the leader.
Wild Shot led early and he was in front after a half-mile in :48.34. That is when Irap was engaged. Leparoux jumped on Wild Shot after three-quarters of a mile in 1:12.36 an Irap finished the nine furlongs of the Blue Grass in 1:50.39. Practical Joke finished second, three lengths in front of McCraken.
As far as final time Irap has some things still to prove. Last year Brody’s Cause won the Blue Grass in 1:50.20. Even though Irap showed rhythm, this was the slowest Blue Grass since Brilliant Speed won the race in 2011 in 1:50.92. This was also the third slowest since 2003.
Irap showed rhythm earning a 93 Beyer Speed Figure. Brody’s Cause was awarded a 91 Beyer and in 2015 Carpe Diem won the Blue Grass with a 95 Beyer.
The way Irap showed rhythm was a joy to watch for every bettor that takes a swing for the fences at times.
McCraken was the Blue Grass favorite and his trainer Ian Wilkes was not distressed over his trainee’s performance.
Wilkes has the right pedigree for a trainer. He is a former assistant to Hall of Famer Carl Nafzger, who trained Kentucky Derby winners Unbridled and Street Sense.
The trainer knows about patience, Wilkes: “My hand was forced to me (missing the Tampa Bay Derby) but now I’ve got four weeks to have him ready. I don’t even know that I would call this a step backwards. I’’s too much emphasis on winning. You go back and look at past history (of Derby winners), how many won their last race and how many moved forward off a nice race, a good race?”
Can Irap win his second career race in the Kentucky Derby? Only time will tell but this will be a meteoric leap in class. Irap ran with the blinkers off in the Blue Grass and he had never made the lead before. He tired when sprinting in his sprint debut on grass and was fourth early on in his first dirt route. He had pressed the pace in a couple of his races early this year but it’s one thing pressing a pace in a short seven-horse field and dealing with the 19 rivals he will face in the Kentucky Derby.
As far as the pedigree is concerned, Irap’s sire Tiznow could run all day long. He won several Grade 1 stakes including the Santa Anita Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic (twice). His dam Silken Cat won a $107,000 stakes as a juvenile and was unbeaten in her three starts at the age of 2. Irap’s half-brother Speightstown was a champion sprinter that earned over $1.2 million. The only other sibling One Cut Above only won once, a turf sprint in Malaysia.
As potentially great as Irap may become he has a ton of work to do to match O’Neill superstar Nyquist. There is just a huge talent gap between Irap and the 2016 Kentucky Derby hero. Nyquist opened his career winning at 5 furlongs by a very game head. He was rested for a couple of months and entered the Grade 2 Best Pal, which he won by over five lengths going away as the even-money favorite. O’Neill kept the runner at Del Mar and the runner took the Futurity there going seven furlongs. Nyquist was stout enough to race back quickly.
He returned after the Futurity to try to stretch his speed for the first time in the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes and he did it in style when he sat just off the lead early and pounced when it counted. That set him up for his first run outside of California. The $400,000 purchase Nyquist entered the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile unbeaten and he came out of the race that way too, posting a then career best 89 Beyer.
At that point O’Neill knew he needed a rest and Nyquist did not run again until February. In that return he recorded his first triple-digit Beyer winning the San Vicente. At this point O’Neill had to make a decision to keep Nyquist at home or test him against the best the East had to offer. He sent the horse to Gulfstream Park and the Florida Derby. He was well backed that day, but was not favored. It was a mistake as Nyquist went to the lead and never looked back. In the Kentucky Derby, Nyquist broke from post 13 in the 20-horse classic and he came from four lengths off the pace to win by a length and a quarter. Nyquist never won another race but he set the bar high for the current O’Neill star Irap.
