3-Year-Old Colt Boosts Kentucky Derby Standing

SUNLAND PARK — Jockey Julien Leparoux rallied Daddy Nose Best in the stretch for a victory Sunday in the Grade III $800,00 Sunland Park Derby.

The 3-year-old bay colt pushed his lifetime earnings to more than $633,000 by winning the 1â…› miles Kentucky Derby prep.

Daddy Nose Best paid $9.40 to win for owners Bob and Cathy Zollars and trainer Steve Asmussen.

Daddy Nose Best was content to stay off the early pace, while 3-2 favorite Castaway, trained by Bob Baffert, and 5-1 Ender Knievel, conditioned by Todd Pletcher, battled. The opening quarter was run in 22.49 seconds, with the half going in 46.24. Isn’t He Clever (3-1) then took over the lead, running six furlongs in 1:10.83.

But Daddy Nose Best prevailed in the stretch, winning by three-quarters of a length in 1:48.59.

Isn’t He Clever, trained by Henry Dominguez, ran second, while Stirred Up, Bob Baffert’s other colt, was third.

It is the second straight Grade III win for the colt, who won the El Camino Real at Golden Gate Fields in February.

Meanwhile, Baffert’s Princess Arabella captured the $200,000 Sunland Oaks by eight lengths.
— This article appeared on page B3 of the Albuquerque Journal