Was that a thrilling weekend of racing or what? The 2023 rendition of the Louisiana Derby and the Jeff Ruby gave us a lot to talk about and provided some much needed clarity on the derby field as prep season winds down. Before we get started, I have a slight humble brag. On last week’s episode of Decadent & Depraved, I correctly predicted the winner of both races (despite my co-hosts hating on my picks) and was able to walk away from the weekend profitable.
Kingsbarns Stays Unbeaten in the Louisana Derby
Kingsbarns stays undefeated in his career, winning by an extremely impressive four lengths at 9/2 and earning 100 points on the road to the KY Derby. Kingbarns and jockey Flavien Prat broke cleanly out of the gate, went to the front and never looked back. Jace’s Road brought some early pressure off the outside, but Kingsbarns was never flustered and led the entire way. Give major credit to jockey Flavien Prat here who sent his horse to the front and provided some slow fractions in a race lacking of speed. Around the final turn you could tell Flavien knew he had a lot of horse left and boy, did he ever. Kingsbarns kicked away easily and will head to the first Saturday in May undefeated in his career.
Instant Coffee was your post-time favorite, and he was never able to get going from the back of the pack to provide a threatening bid. On last week’s episode of Decadent & Depraved we discussed that Instant Coffee looked vulnerable in this spot. Coming off a long layoff and running up against the best competition of his career proved to be too much to tackle for the Brad Cox trainee. It’ll be interesting to see what the connections do going forward here as Instant Coffee sits at #17 on the KY Derby Points Leaderboard. Will we see him again @ Keeneland? I think so.
Two Phils Runs Away @ Turfway Park
If you watched this race, it was hard not to be impressed with Two Phil’s performance on Saturday. Yes, I know this race was on the all-weather course but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he was able to run a 101-speed figure and win easily. Gaining 100 points to the KY Derby for trainer Larry Rivelli and jockey Jareth Loveberry is no small feat and it’s great to see this tandem get a shot at the run for the roses. I’m hoping this colt can build off this performance and fly a little under the radar heading into the big race.
Major Dude ran second in this spot for trainer Todd Pletcher and Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Despite the second-place finish, I do think it was important for this horse to gain 40 points on the road to the KY Derby where he sits in 12 th place. I’m not sure how many of the other contenders could’ve beaten Two Phil’s on the all-weather track, but Major Dude came around the final turn in great position and was able to put the pressure on for some of the stretch. Look for Major Dude to build off this and potentially run on a short lay-off at the Keeneland Spring Meet to solidify his spot in the KY Derby.
