Behindatthebar made a final furlong move to take the Coolmore Lexington Stakes by about a length on Saturday. The Todd Pletcher trainee now has enough graded earnings to make the field for the 134th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 5th. Samba Rooster set the pace and hung on for second. Riley Tucker, trained by Bill Mott, was third, and Racecar Rhapsody made an impressive surge for fourth--he clearly would have finished better if the race were longer. Fractions for the Lexington were 22.78, 45.21, 1:09.48, 1:35.47, and the winner, Behindatthebar, put the 1 1/16 mile race away in 1:42.14.

Bob Baffert's front-running Lexington entry, Samba Rooster, set a fast pace with Garrett Gomez on board, leading the field by three lengths. St. Joe followed the leader in second place, Big Glen and Riley Tucker not overtaking him until they came out of the final turn. Riley Tucker was very well placed throughout the race, with Johnny Velazquez taking the horse from post ten to a perfect trip behind the pace of Samba Rooster and St. Joe. Favorite Tomcito (3-1) did not try to stay closer to the pace, the Peruvian closer traveled near the back of the field again, moving on the leaders in the stretch, where he could not strike the front and was passed by a determined surge from Racecar Rhapsody. Tomcito finished sixth (Big Glen was fifth).

Behindatthebar surprised by beginning near the the back in the 11-horse field. David Flores remained patient on board before striking around the final turn. Behindatthebar picked off a long string of foes, with a very sharp move as the final turn completed. Here, Behindatthebar advanced by beating foes inside, then when confronted with the leading traffic, he struck them from outside in the four-path. The winner went from fouth to a strong first in the final furlong.

In what is an interesting side-story, this was Samba Rooster's first race for Baffert. The horse's previous trainer, Marty Wolfson, warned Baffert that the colt was mean, did not like the whip, and would not cooperate if his jockey had a whip, so Gomez was instructed to pilot Samba Rooster without a whip.

As I said in my analysis, I backed Behindatthebar. I bet him as the key in exactas, won with Samba Rooster hanging on. I did not play that many horses to fill out the exacta (could not sell myself on Big Glen after all), so I also put a win on Behindatthebar in case I missed the place-horse. I did have a saver on Tomicto over Behindatthebar in case that horse proved himself today. He needed a big race. Still too far from the pace, I think. He can take advantage of horses who can't last over a mile, but he hasn't shown a good sustained late kick. I think I might use him for fourth in the Derby, if at all. After failing time and again, 2008 Derby trail veteran Atoned was the second betting choice this time. He finished eighth.

Now I can really get down to the nitty gritty of capping the Derby contenders, and I hope to be ready--somehow ahead--when the posts are drawn on April 30th. I think the keys to the race are Big Brown, Monba, and Colonel John. Pyro is iffy, we need to see how he works at Churchill. I really need to look at Smooth Air again.

Tags: Behindatthebar Lexington Stakes Keeneland 2008 Pletcher Horse Racing

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