Next Stop Louisville for Girvin After Louisiana Derby Score

April 1st, 2017 by Alicia Wincze-Hughes

Content provided by BloodHorse

Girvin rolled to a convincing victory in the $1 million Louisiana Derby Saturday at Fair Grounds in his final prep race for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Joe Sharp knows full well what he’s getting into.

As a former assistant to trainer Mike Maker, the upstart trainer got a taste of the madness that is the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. There is nothing, however, that compares with throwing the saddle over a contender that is the product of one’s own program on the first Saturday May.

And after the display of talent his protégé Girvin put on in the Grade 2, $1 million Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby on Saturday, Sharp will now have a front-row seat to all the twists and turns that come with having a leading classic contender.

With his trainer screaming himself hoarse once again, Girvin surged up on the outside and solidified his status as one the main acts when the best sophomores gather five weeks from now, besting Patch by 1 1/4 lengths in the signature prep race at Fair Grounds.

Girvin’s ascent to the forefront of a parity-filled 3-year-old male division is one that has come from the clouds. The son of Tale of Ekati came into the 1 1/8-mile Louisiana Derby as the heavy favorite off his breakout win in the Feb. 25 Risen Star Stakes — what was just the third career start for the dark bay colt.

Where many well-regarded contenders have suffered setbacks in physical health or on-track form this season, Brad Grady’s colt proved he was no one-hit wonder Saturday as he reeled in Local Hero after that one struck the front with about a furlong to go and continued to respond to jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.’s urging en route to adding 100 qualifying points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard to the 50 he earned in the Risen Star.

“He’s such a talented horse and he puts a lot of confidence in you,” said Hernandez, who departed shortly after the race to head to Lexington where he will work his other leading Derby contender, unbeaten McCraken, at Keeneland Race Course on April 2.

“He makes you have confidence in him and he has enough athletic ability that he can put me in a good spot. When I saw Local Hero settle the way he did [in third] in wanted to give [Girvin] a target. Turning for home, he got to swapping leads back and forth some but he’s going to improve off of this. It’s great to win this race, for sure.”

Girvin (Eclipse Sportswire)

In an effort to make sure his stable star had an honest enough pace to run at, Sharp also entered longshot Hotfoot in the Louisiana Derby. That one did his part on the front end, breaking from the outside post in the nine-horse field and hustling to the front to cut quarter-mile fractions of :23.46 and :47 while his stablemate tracked along fifth, just alongside eventual runner-up Patch.

After rating in third on the backstretch, Local Hero made his move at the 98.90-1 pacesetter fading from his early exploits at the head of the lane. As well as Local Hero was traveling, Hernandez had his mount going that much better as Girvin wrested command inside the final furlong and edged clear in the final strides en route to crossing the finish line in 1:49.77 on a track rated fast.

“It doesn’t feel bad,” deadpanned Sharp, who went out on his own in 2014, when asked about having his own leading Kentucky Derby contender. “He’s a talented horse and we’re just enjoying the ride.”

Patch rallied up the rail to get runner-up honors over Local Hero, who nosed out Hollywood Handsome for third. Sorry Erik completed the top five as Girvin paid $4.60, $3, and $2.40 across the board.

Bred by Bob Austin and John Witte, Girvin didn’t debut until last December when he broke his maiden at first asking at Fair Grounds. When plans to run in the Jan. 21 Lecomte Stakes went awry due to a quarantine situation at the track brought on by an outbreak of the equine herpesvirus, Sharp started Girvin back on turf in the Keith Gee Memorial Overnight Stakes on Feb. 4 and the colt finished a good second in a steppingstone to his two-length Risen Star triumph.

In addition to his division-leading 150 qualifying points, Girvin improved his mark to three wins from four starts with $874,400 in earnings. He was purchased for $130,000 by Grand Oaks at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale.