History says that a horse with a turf background or pedigree can run well on the Churchill Downs dirt, including in the Kentucky Derby. Animal Kingdom made his first start on dirt winning the 2011 Derby, and 2006 hero Barbaro had been a stakes winner on turf as a juvenile before moving to dirt. Big Brown (2008), Mine That Bird (2009), and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (2015) also were early-career winners on turf or synthetic surfaces before moving to dirt.
Final Gambit and Flying Mohawk finished one-two in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby on Turfway Park’s Tapeta, the prep Animal Kingdom won when it was known as the Spiral. Both will be making their first starts on dirt in the Kentucky Derby.
Brad Cox, who trains Juddmonte homebred Final Gambit, noted the success of Turfway stakes winners in transferring over to dirt – including two-time Eclipse Award champion Idiomatic, who got her first stakes win on the Tapeta. More than anything, Cox feels that horses with turf-type pedigrees are often bred to relish distance.
“I think a lot of the Derby has to do with horses being able to handle the mile and a quarter,” Cox said. “He [Final Gambit] definitely has the stamina. I don’t think the mile and a quarter is going to be an issue.”
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Juddmonte’s Garrett O’Rourke also feels that Final Gambit’s extended family, which includes European champion Zafonic, suits the Derby distance.
“A lot of our [European] pedigrees, we breed them to American stallions,” O’Rourke said. “So by the time you come to him, yeah, a lot of people say it’s a turf pedigree, but there’s a lot of dirt sirelines mixed in with it now. Obviously, [the sire is] Not This Time and the mare is by Tapit, even though she ran on turf. And he’s gray, so the Tapit is obviously coming through pretty prominently. He’s bred to be a classic horse, whether its dirt or turf, and I hope it’s dirt this week.”
Whit Beckman, who trains Flying Mohawk, also feels good about his horse’s pedigree.
“If he didn’t like the dirt and we didn’t like the way he was working, we would not run him,” Beckman said. “Karakontie [is a grandson of] Sunday Silence, so he’s got a lot of dirt coming in there.”
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