New Trainer Derek Hits Stakes Jackpot With $2,000 Claimer Diaspora

 

It didn’t take the Derek Carlson Racing Stable group very long at all to successfully hit the stakes jackpot in Derbyfever.

And, Derek, the owner of that group, did it with a four-year-old former $2,000 claimer he picked up last season.

When Diaspora came from dead last to cross the finish line first in the 14-furlong $100,000 Mizzen Dizzie Turf Endurance Stakes in only his tenth start for Derek’s barn, the proud owner had his first stakes winner ever since he started training in Derbyfever just a few short months ago.

“I couldn’t believe it, when I looked at my stable group and saw how many stables I had,” said Derek who oversees a sprawling 21-stable, 176-horse operation. “Since I am fairly new at the game, I do a lot of claiming as well as play the auction game. I just try to build up my stable and see if I can find a diamond in the rough like Diaspora.”

Derek, who found out about Derbyfever when he was surfing the Horse Racing Nation website while at work one day in a horse-wagering call center in Buffalo, New York, found a really big diamond, when he claimed Diaspora, a now four-year-old son of Canford Cliffs, in a 9-furlong $2,000 claiming race on the turf in Thailand in May of 2014.

“I realized after doing it (claiming) a little bit,” said Derek, “that sometimes all the horses need is just a fresh start with a new trainer, and it’s like they are brand new horses.”

Diaspora was coming off an impressive second-place finish as the longest shot in the 12-furlong Grade 1 Los Angeles Turf Cup in December, behind the second-ranked horse in the world in the Long Turf Division, Montjeuelry.

Derek said he picked the added distance of the 14-furlong Mizzen Dizzie Turf Endurance on January 10 “because it seemed like maybe 12 furlongs wasn’t enough” ground for his long-distance turf beast who is out of the Galileo mare Lianhan Shee.

Derek’s Irish-bred colt hit the lead for the first time in that race at the 12-furlong mark in a smoking time of 2:25.97, before he won the 14-furlong event on the Virginia turf course, geared down, by five lengths over Pharagua, another four year old Irish-bred colt.

“He was such a deep closer, coming from over ten lengths back in his previous race that I thought that’s maybe what he needed,” said Derek. “I knew with his pedigree, he was bred to get the distance. I just wasn’t sure if he’d want it. It was probably more of a feeling than (looking at) his DI and CD (on his wikipedigree), because it just felt like he was running out of real estate every time.”

Diaspora definitely found the right real estate in Virginia last weekend, when he was picking up the first stakes win ever for Derek’s brand new barn.

The big, bay colt was taken back to dead last early in the race, unlike his run in the $250,000 Grade 1 Los Angeles Turf Cup the race before, where he sat in third place most of that race before running a very game final two-furlongs while trying to gun down, Montjeuelry, one of the premier Turf Long Division horses in the game.

“I was nervous at first,” said Derek when he was asked to describe how he felt while watching Diaspora’s ground-breaking win for Derek’s barn on January 10. “But, after watching how the race was unfolding, I was excited because the horses up front gave me exactly what I was hoping for with Diaspora, and that was the speed duel.”

Diaspora quickly found another gear about the 7-furlong mark in Virginia, and he began to pass horses, almost as if they were standing still. “Then, it was almost like he turned on the Nitro and rocketed up the track,” said Derek.

Derek said he was impressed when he later found out his former $2,000 claimer hit the 12-furlong mark in the race in a time of 2:25.97, which would have put him at probably a 128-130 speed figure, had the 14-furlong stakes race stopped right there.

“Wow, I had no idea. That is absolutely crazy,” said Derek when he was informed of his colt’s time at the 12-furlong marker.

“I think 12 furlongs might be where you see Diaspora in the future,” said Derek, who was asked if his son of Canford Cliffs might aim for some of the bigger long turf races in 2015, including a run at Dubai at the end of March, or maybe the Breeders‘ Bowl Turf Classic come November.

Derek said he would love to see his colt get a shot at Dubai in the big turf event there and maybe even the BB Turf event in California at the end of the season. “But only time will tell if I can get him there. However, I definitely think he has what it takes to be a true rags-to-riches story.”

Diaspora’s dam, Lianhan Shee, a mare by Galileo who has Rainbow Quest and Affirmed back there in her pedigree, already has a lot of riches in her family. Derek’s colt is a half to last year’s Group 1 $2,000,000 Japanese 2000 Guineas winner Deadly Power and Group 3 winner Ganconagh.

“I would love to see him get to Dubai and have him continue to run against the best of the best, so that is definitely a short-term goal” said Derek. “But baby steps first. I am going to try for my first graded stakes win next month in either the San Francisco Capitan Handicap in California (if he can get in the big money Group 1 event in California) or maybe the Grade 3 16-furlong Diamond Stakes in Japan.”

Derek, who is originally from the “backwoods of Pennsylvania,” said he never knew how big real life horse racing was until he moved to Buffalo and landed his job at the wagering call center. “From there, I was instantly hooked. I’ve been playing the game for only a short time, but I am addicted to this game. It’s kind of neat that I could train my own horses while working at a place like that.”

He said he goes about the claiming game in Derbyfever in a pretty casual fashion. “It’s really more casual than anything else,” he laughed, “because there are so many races. If I have enough breeders’ points, I’ll take a look through the claiming races. Since Diaspora, I have tried to do it more often.”

Derek, who does some scratch-breeding and already has a couple of home-bred three year olds who were stakes-placed last season, said because he is so new to Derbyfever, he doesn’t have a lot of horses to breed, “other than the ones I am able to snag off the claim box or the auction block. However, I do have a few I’ve bred who have performed well with the hemares I have available.”

“I think, either way, you’re just satisfied you’re doing something right,” said the practical trainer who has displayed a very keen eye for quality horses already in his short time in Derbyfever.

Derek definitely is doing something right, given the number of stakes placed home-bred youngsters he’s got running around already.

But he had yet to enjoy a stakes winner until Diaspora, his former claimer turned stakes star, came along.

“Honestly, there are four things I look for when I claim horses,” said Derek. “First, the pedigree. After that, I look for lightly raced horses like Diaspora. Then, after that, I look at whether a horse maybe needs to try a different distance or a different surface.”

All four of those elements came into play when Derek picked up Diaspora from the claim box in Thailand for the modest $2,000 claiming tag. “The price was just a bonus, when I picked him up. I first looked at him, because I wasn’t real familiar with Canford Cliffs. So once I clicked on him and took into account the rest of his pedigree (Galileo x Rainbow Quest) and the horse not racing farther than 9 furlongs, I liked my chances of picking up some breeders’ points with him. However when racing the horses I claim, there’s a good reason I picked them. So, I don’t like to race them in claiming races, because I run the risk of someone picking them up.”

Derek debuted Diaspora for his barn in a 9-furlong $50,000 starter allowance in Minnesota, after shipping him back to the United States. The Canford Cliffs progeny had a record of 1-0-1 in ten career starts before Derek snagged him.

Since he’s been with Derek, the colt has a record of 2-4-2 in eight starts, never finishing out of the top three even once under Derek’s tutelage.

“It’s funny,” noted Derek. “But breeding is probably the single best thing about this game, in my opinion. I spent hours upon hours researching sires, CD’s and DI’s, just to get as much knowledge as I possibly could. With Diaspora, I absolutely love the back end of his breeding. And, with his sire, Canford Cliffs, I figured maybe he hasn’t been given a chance to produce a really high-quality race horse, or even given the chance to see what this particular horse could do, given the right surface and distance.“

After Diaspora’s big stakes win in Virginia last weekend, it looks like Derek might have just stumbled upon the right combination that could give Canford Cliffs his second graded stakes winner ever in Derbyfever.

And, that could happen sooner than later, if Derek and Diaspora have any say in the matter.