For the reason that drama of Kentucky Derby 132 will continue to unfold, you will chose the stage packed with a refreshing cast of brand new characters searching out the glory option Run for any Roses. Jockey legends Jerry Bailey, Gary Stevens, and Pat Day, who, together, own six Derby winning mounts, have left the scene to curtain calls; John Velasquez, an heir apparent for the void left by these giants in the sport, is sidelined with a broken shoulder. Rising stars for example Rafael Bejarano, Garret Gomez, and John McKee, and stalwarts for example Corey Nakatani and Alex Solis are poised to finally grab the brass ring. Perennial Derby trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Nick Zito have not the audition, with no Derby mounts, replaced by upstart stand-ins Michael Matz, Dan Hendricks, and Michael Trombetta who bring their respective horses Barbaro, Brother Derek, and Sweetnorthernsaint, fresh and primed to tackle the mile and something quarter slugfest. However, the most intriguing of brand new faces about this Derby Day may well be the people you won’t see at Churchill Downs. Their impact might determine the end result of your wide-open affair. Their names are Benchmark, Sweetsouthernsaint, Point Given, Broken Vow, Aptitude, King Cugat, and Strategic Mission, sires whose progeny will probably be represented while in the Kentucky Derby for the first time, and who figure to gain from earning the imprimatur of sire on the Kentucky Derby winner.

Benchmark, the sire of Dan Hendricks trained Brother Derek, is himself a son in the great classic runner Alydar, who won the hearts of racing fans along with his memorable duels with Triple Crown winner Affirmed. Benchmark was both a graded stakes winner at 1 1/8 miles and graded stakes placed sprinter, and, in his first four crops to race has been a useful sire of California breds and a number of stakes winners. Brother Derek is in no way his most impressive son and is certainly the top part class of your year’s West Coast contingent. As talented and seasoned as Brother Derek is, the Derby would be the place where his flaws are revealed. In the only race outside of California along with an area larger than eight horses, the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile at Belmont, he finished a tired fourth. That has a penchant when getting worked up while in the post parade, jockey Alex Solis must help Brother Derek find a way to handle the important boisterous Churchill Downs crowd. Nevertheless, Brother Derek’s meteoric rise to prominence is often a hopeful sign that Alydar’s courageous blood has got a much needed revival.

Sweetnorthernsaint, a gelding son of Florida stallion Sweetsouthernsaint, has changed into a wild card of sorts while in the Derby mix. It appears to be the further the length Sweetnorthernsaint runs, the higher quality, which should give anyone handicapping the Derby something to take into consideration. His jockey, Kent Desormeaux, has practically declared the mile . 5 Belmont Stakes his to get rid of. Considering that the Belmont Stakes one is the most a jockey’s race than just a stamina test, he’d better be willing to copy his bold words. Sweetsouthernsaint, with two crops to race, became a precocious two year-old runner in Florida who never quite got within the Derby trail because of injuries. But, as being a son in the prolific late Saint Ballado, the sire of reigning Horse of year, Saint Liam, along with champion distaffer, Ashado, each of whom were grade 1 winners in the mile and quarter, and sporting a classic staying low dosage index of merely one.22 himself, Sweetsouthernsaint’s offspring seem able to uncover the length. Sweetnorthernsaint’s dosage of merely one.33 suggests the fruit won t fall far away from the tree, and, when the Michael Trombetta trained gelding gets a clean trip, the pickings could possibly be good.

Point Given, Broken Vow, Aptitude, Strategic Mission, and King Cugat are typically stallions represented while in the Kentucky Derby by people in their first crop, which undoubtedly pleases their breeding farms, but adds some the unknown for the handicapping calculus. Point Determined is often a Maryland bred son of Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Point Given, and is owned because of the Bob and Beverly Lewis Trust, that has won the Kentucky Derby twice before, with Silver Charm and Charismatic. Point Determined has knocked heads using the likes of Brother Derek, A.P. Warrior, and Bob and John all winter in California, and enters the Derby and not using a stakes win to his credit. However, his driving second place finish while in the Santa Anita Derby, several bullet works consequently, is actually Rafael Bejarano while in the irons, they re an unhealthy horse. Point Given entered the Kentucky Derby because the prohibitive favorite, and had he not been exposed to the torrid pace of your race, the following Horse of year will be a Triple Crown winner, a racing superstar, and worth significantly more than his $50,000 stud fee. Bob Baffert, who trained Point Given, along with Point Determined, is often a little more subdued right now, but, with three live shots in this particular year’s Derby, along with Sinister Minister and Bob and John, they re in Louisville loaded for bear. A spot Determined win would also be a poignant and fitting epitaph for any late Bob Lewis, among racing’s true gentlemen, who passed away this February.

Broken Vow, the sire in the Steven Asmussen trained Private Vow, is often a son in the memorable 1990 Derby winner Unbridled, who also sired Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone, Preakness winner Red Bullet, and Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker. Although Private Vow has run only twice this holiday season, beaten by Lawyer Ron both times at Oaklawn Park, he remains a seasoned horse with a graded stakes win within the Churchill Downs strip and a recent bullet work there, to start. Broken Vow became a late developing graded stakes winner with the impressive female family. His dam and grand dam, sired by Nijinsky II and Blushing Groom, respectively, were both stakes producers. After you add Private Vow’s dam sire, leading broodmare sire, Deputy Minister, there is a horse that, in some recoverable format, includes a classic winning pedigree.

The sire in the late closing Steppenwolfer, Aptitude, finished second within the Kentucky Derby as well as the Belmont Stakes, and is, himself, a son in the Horse of year and a producer of classic runner A.P. Indy. Wood a most intriguing of pedigrees, Aptitude delivers a variety of classic blood up close in his pedigree, such as the aforementioned A.P. Indy, Derby winners Seattle Slew, Secretariat, and Northern Dancer, along with inbreeding to Buckpasser. At four, Aptitude won two grade ones, the Jockey Club Gold Cup as well as the Hollywood Gold Cup, and a grade two, the Saratoga Breeder’s Cup, in the mile and a quarter. More anecdotal than everything else, Steppenwolfer’s great-great grand dam sire was the great Citation, a Triple Crown winner. Lawyer Ron often have had Steppenwolfer’s [named as soon as the rockband Steppenwolf] number all winter at Oaklawn Park, but, when the Derby pace will be as contested as you expected, he could be the one within the magic carpet ride for the winner’s circle.

Sailing his distance to the Derby is Seaside Retreat, a stakes winner in Canada who also placed in the Grade 2 Lane’s End on Turfway Park’s Polytrack surface. Seaside Retreat’s sire, King Cugat, became a graded stakes winner within the grass going 9 and 11 furlongs, and graded stakes placed going 12 furlongs. A son in the impeccably bred Kingmambo, who sired Belmont Stakes winner Lemon Drop Kid, King Cugat’s offspring seem a lot better suitable for running long within the grass. However, Seaside Retreat’s recent bullet act on Churchill Downs has convinced his Canadian based trainer, Mark Casse, and regular jockey, Patrick Husbands, to rendezvous on the Derby.

Listed, the lightly raced but gutsy winner in the Lexington Stakes, is often a son of Strategic Mission, a New York stallion whose first crop is made up of mere 14 named foals. Barclay Tagg trains the undefeated Listed, the lesser 1 / 2 of Roy and Gretchen Jackson’s Lael Stables’ two horse two trainer Derby delegation that includes another undefeated colt Barbaro, any morning line favorite who is trained by Michael Matz and are ridden with the always dangerous Edgar Prado. Tagg, who caught lightning inside a bottle with Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide, certainly has his work cut down on for him. Besides Listed simply have three career starts, but his sire, Strategic Mission, a son of Mr. Prospector, became a turf miler simply an okay one at that. Named for any old Woody Allen line that “80 percent of success is showing up,” Listed should do much more than that when he’s the main one using the Jackson family for the winner’s circle.

As difficult because the Derby trail is, just showing up is perhaps an achievement. Reaching the final line first, though, could be the Holy Grail, and, in this particular year’s edition, the fresh new faces that are smiling while in the winner’s circle.