No Surprises In $500,000 Jersey Derby

A very speedy three year old Bluegrass derby prep was one of two Grade 1 races on the 16-race card here Saturday at New Jersey Racecourse, where a very impressive Canadian-bred tried to punch his ticket to the Bluegrass Derby with a come-from-behind win in the Grade 1 $500,000 Jersey Derby.

It was certainly not a very big surprise at all here Saturday when Seek Irish Roots rallied from fifteenth place in the 16-horse field to win the first-ever mile and one-eighth Jersey Derby sponsored by late kick stables and possibly earn his way into the Bluegrass Derby on the first Saturday in May.

The Canadian-bred son of Seeking The Best (IRE) went off as the post-time favorite here in New Jersey and came from out of nowhere to rally past some pretty hot early fractions set by the pace-setters and take down the score in the Jersey Derby.

For the danscand-trained colt, it was his sixth win in 12 career starts, but this was by far the biggest, and most impressive, score of Seek Irish Roots’ career.

Not only was it the biggest payday of this young colt’s career, but the win in the Jersey Derby was also the highest speed figure (104) ever run by Seek Irish Roots in scoring the two and one-half length win.

Distant Horizon, an Illinois-bred managed by dixiedotc, finished second after leading most of the way and setting a pretty fast early tempo, only to watch Seek Irish Roots make a powerful move in deep stretch and blow by him.

The inaugural Jersey Derby went pretty much as expected with Distant Horizon, Forty Love and Quickzilla all dueling in a breakneck battle on the front end for the first three calls of the Jersey Derby.

With those three battling for the lead on the front end, Seek Irish Roots and jockey T. Williams were content to lay back almost dead last, following in the wake of Predestination until the horses hit the far turn.

That’s when Williams asked Seek Irish Roots to make his move, and the Canadian-bred didn’t falter. He and Predestination glided through horses to engage the front runners on the turn for home.

Try as he might, Distant Horizon just couldn’t hold off the late charging Seek Irish Roots. Predestination finished third, about fourth lengths behind Distant Horizon. Forty Love and Quickzilla had to settle for the fourth and fifth spots.

As the nearly 6-1 post-time favorite, Seek Irish Roots paid $13.40, $7.70 and $5.30 across the board.

And there were some pretty big exotic payouts in the Jersey Derby. The 15-5 exacta combination of Seek Irish Roots and Distant Horizon (who went off at 16-1) paid $258.80. The trifecta of 15-5-6 paid a whopping $3,878.30.

It was a pretty quick Jersey Derby. Seek Irish Roots ran it in a time of 1:48.4, and the top twelve finishers in the 16 horse field all ran speed figures of 90 or above.

Seek Irish Roots upped his career earnings to $462,026 with his $300,000 share of the winner’s purse in the Jersey Derby.