ARKANSAS DERBY TAKES THE PLACE OF KENTUCKY DERBY- BAFFERT WINS BOTH DIVISIONS OF THE RACE

Today was the day that the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby was supposed to take place, but the attention was switched to Hot Springs in Arkansas for the running of the Arkansas Derby. The race was also split into two divisions with two budding superstars from the Bob Baffert barn headlining each of the fascinating races. The races were also worth 100 valuable points to each of the winners in anticipation of the big race taking place on September 5th at Churchill Downs. Racing was also held without spectators because of Covid 19, which is surely a situation that cannot linger on for a prolonged period of time.

CHARLATAN

First division featured the unbeaten and speedy CHARLATAN who went off at prohibitive 2-5 odds despite being made a laughable even money morning line favorite. Breaking from the inside post under jockey Martin Garcia, he immediately rushed to the lead and stayed there after crossing the line to win going away by six easy lengths. The other eight horses in the race were completely outclassed with Basin finishing second and Governor Morris taking the minor honors. The winning time was not particularly impressive but the manner of the victory stamped Charlatan as something special. It will be interesting to see the game plan of Bob Baffert for this outstanding colt in this extraordinary year, but for this writer and many others I think we already have the Kentucky Derby winner.

NADAL

Division Two featured another unbeaten Baffert colt in the form of NADAL that was coming into the race unbeaten in three hard fought starts. He was also familiar with the track having won the Rebel Stakes in March. At post time he was sent off at 4-5 despite being listed as a ludicrous 5-2 choice in the morning line. After breaking slowly he settled into second place behind Wells Bayou before taking over on the turn and then pulling away to win by 2½ lengths at the wire from King Guillermo. In some ways it was a more impressive performance than that of his stablemate Charlatan, as this horse knows how to scrap and being almost 1300 pounds in weight. This is a horse that no one can push around.
Also on the card was the famous Oaklawn Handicap for older horses and that went to BY MY STANDARDS, ridden by Gabriel Saez and trained by Bret Calhoun. The 9-2 shot is a son of Goldencents who stands for $25,000 at Spendthift Farm, and winning margin of victory was two lengths from the local star Warrior’s Charge. By My Standards has done the bulk of his running at the Fairgrounds in Louisiana, and is unbeaten in three starts in 2020 in what looks like a fairly weak division.