Will the Kentucky Derby prove to be a bridge too far for Verrazano?
Favored at 4-5 in a field of nine for today’s Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby (post time 5:15 p.m.), the strapping bay son of More Than Ready has been so spectacular in his two starts for trainer Todd Pletcher — winning first time out by 7³/ lengths on Jan. 1, then taking a mile allowance by 16¹/ on Feb. 2 — that he was favored over 22 other 3-year-olds in the first two pools of Churchill Downs’ Derby Future Wager at 11-1 and 9-1, respectively.
“He trained so well before his maiden race, we anticipated he’d run well,” Pletcher said.
“Then he trained just as good or better for his second race. When you have one that trains as well as he does and has run as well as he has, you want to see more of the same.”
But to win the May 4 Run for the Roses, Verrazano will have to overcome one of the most inviolable streaks in racing history: Not since Apollo in 1882 has a horse won the Derby without racing as a 2-year-old.
But before Verrazano confronts that challenge, he faces a hurdle in the Tampa Bay Derby, his first time facing stakes foes and his first start around two turns, over a quirky track that has taken the measure of many favorites in the past.
With a victory, Verrazano would earn 50 points in Churchill’s new system to determine which 20 horses make the starting gate.
That would be enough to punch his ticket to Louisville. But a second-place finish or worse would mean that Verrazano would almost have to run 1-2 in his final prep, or otherwise wait for the Preakness.