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Title: Gomez's 2009 Derby horse ain't just a river in Egypt
Tags: garrett-gomez kentucky-derby 2009 pioneerof-the-nile zayat baffert mott
Blog Entry: Garrett Gomez will ride Pioneerof the Nile in the Grade 2 CashCall Futurity on December 20th, which means he has dropped Real Quiet Stakes winner Chocolate Candy . In fact, Gomez's agent Ron Anderson explained to the Daily Racing Form that they think Pioneerof the Nile--most recently fifth in a crowded run to get a piece of the money in this year's Breeders Cup Juvenile--might be a 2009 Derby horse . Pioneerof the Nile has been trained by Bill Mott for Zayat Stables, and with the horse's California-based Derby campaign set to start in the CashCall Futurity, Ahmed Zayat has moved the horse to Bob Baffert's barn as of November 24 . Last year Zayat took horses from Baffert because of severe problems with Santa Anita's Cushion Track, which has since been replaced with Pro-Ride. Besides the fact that I already hate writing this horse's name (is it "Pioneerofthenile", "Pioneer ofthe Nile", is "the" capitalized? what is a good abbreviated nickname? "Pioneerof" is lousy...), I think that whatever you can make about the move from Chocolate Candy to Pioneerof the Nile is going to be mostly anecdotal. Generally, most horseplayers don't take too much stock in what mount a jockey chooses over another. On the other hand, when it's a top jockey like Garrett Gomez, it can sometimes feel like it has more gravity. And Gomez is "it". He is the reigning Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Jockey. Last year he broke Jerry Bailey's record for most stakes win in a year, and this year he set a new record for three Breeders Cup Championship wins the same day (he won four Championships altogether, with one on Friday's card for the fillies and mares). Everybody's betting him, everybody's giving him the top mounts... I just hope I can beat him. What did Gomez get? Pioneerof the Nile has won one of four starts. In his maiden debut at Saratoga, he ran 1 1/16 miles of turf and finished fourth by 1 1/2 lengths--that race was won in a dead-heat to Ninth Client and Skipadate. Pioneerof the Nile was the favorite when he won his next one, and it was under the same conditions. He defeated Lime Rickey by one length, completing the 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.59. At Keeneland's Polytrack he ran five-wide to finish 3rd by eight lengths in the Grade 1 Breeders Futurity, which was won by Square Eddie (Terrain was second). That brings us back to his last race, the Grade 1 Breeders Cup Juvenile on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride, where he finished fifth by about three lengths--Bob Baffert-trained Midshipman was first, Square Eddie was second (Street Hero third, Terrain fourth). The BC Juvenile finished in 1:40.94 [ 2008 Breeders Cup Juvenile replay ]. If there's anything to doubt it's the transition of a turf/synthetic horse to dirt. Horses from California performed well when trying dirt on the 2008 Derby trail; even in the Arkansas Derby, where second-place Z Fortune and winner Gayego left an impression--after all, Oaklawn's track has earned a tough reputation (everyone probably still remembers how Larry Jones said Hard Spun didn't like it in 2007). Those performances on dirt maintained a substantial level of confidence going into the Kentucky Derby, at least for Santa Anita Derby winner Colonel John--who was piloted by Garrett Gomez, of course. He went off as the second favorite to Big Brown in this year's Kentucky Derby, but finished fifth, and he finished the best of the California synthetic track veterans. Pioneerof the Nile is a son of Empire Maker, out of Star of Goshen. The short rundown on Empire Maker: winner of 4 from 8 starts, including the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and Florida Derby, and his winners include Mushka, Country Star, and Roman Emperor. Star of Goshen won 3 of 5 starts, including the La Troienne Stakes. She has at least 3 winners from as many runners (7 foals). Get this, Pioneerof the Nile was actually born the day of the 2006 Kentucky Derby, May 5th! Of course, Gomez could ultimately choose another mount for the 2009 Kentucky Derby, or maybe even get back on Chocolate Candy. Do horses ever hold a grudge against a rider? Chocolate Candy, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, has actually had a different rider in each of his five lifetime starts. He won his last two starts and remains on target for Hollywood Park's CashCall Futurity, with a new rider to be named soon.