Pyro is lighting up the Derby preps
Maybe he has grown up. Three-year-olds do that quickly, especially in the supercharged atmosphere of a Kentucky Derby season, when every step is examined and analyzed.
So what if Pyro, a precocious 2-year-old last summer and fall, ran three times against War Pass and was beaten each time. Now he is 3 and perhaps when the rivals meet on the first Saturday in May at
The reason for this optimism is the race Pyro ran last week, roaring to a 3-length victory in the Grade II, $600,000 Louisiana Derby.
It wasn't easy, but Pyro had the right stuff, just like he did in winning the Risen Star in February.
The Louisiana Derby was a Kentucky Derby prep race because Pyro was entered, as were other Derby hopefuls - Tale of Ekati and Majestic Warrior, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Pyro had to maneuver through traffic last week, just as he did in winning the Risen Star. Although it was only a nine-horse field last week, Pyro's jockey, Shaun Bridgmohan, looked boxed in when he came into the far turn. But then, Pyro simply ran.
"I knew what I had under me," said Bridgmohan. "I wasn't panicking at all. I wanted to keep him close to see how he would handle that scenario. We saw what an explosive kick he had coming from far back [in the Risen Star]."
Pyro's trainer, Steve Asmussen, knows his horse is still a work in progress. In the Risen Star, Pyro was last in a field of 11 and exploded through the pack. Last week, Bridgmohan tried a different strategy and kept him closer to the pack, but trailing 60-1 long shot My Pal Charlie. Pyro was fourth and seemed like he was going to make his move, but he found himself boxed inside by stablemate J Be K, who eventually presented an opening that Pyro scooted through to chase down My Pal Charlie, who finished second.
"I'm very pleased with the fact that he put himself in the race," said Asmussen. "To get done what we're hoping to get done, which is to win the Kentucky Derby, he's going to have to be a horse who can make more than one move."
Pyro has since moved ahead of War Pass as the early Derby betting favorite.
Asmussen indicated he will give Pyro one more lesson - the Grade I, $750,00 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland April 12, and then it will be on to the Derby, where War Pass, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile champion, and several other contenders will be waiting.
Bridgmohan thinks Pyro will be up to the challenge.
"He's such a nice horse to ride," he said. "He waited for the hole to open up and when I pointed him to it, he just went about his business. Pretty professional."
Visions of grandeur
Could Michael Matz be working on another Kentucky Derby story? The trainer of ill-fated Barbaro was the feel-good and then feel-bad story two years ago. Barbaro became a legend with his victory in the Derby, but suffered a catastrophic and eventually life-ending injury in the Preakness.In last week's Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, Visionaire, trained by Matz and ridden by Jose Lezcano, moved into the Derby picture with a victory by a nose over Texas Wildcatter.
Matz could have entered Visionaire in the Louisiana Derby against Pyro, but chose to run in New York, and it paid off in the slop and fog.
Derby hopefuls Texas Wildcatter - who finished second - and Saratoga Russell will have to regroup.
Matz indicated that Visionaire's next race will be the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct April 5 or the Blue Grass Stakes April 12.
Material from wire services was used in this report.
