Endorsement was considered a sleeper in the Sunland Derby. After the chestnut colt broke from the gate at 11-1 odds, he sure woke up in a hurry.
Endorsement pulled up to heavy favorite Conveyance on the final turn and beat him down the stretch for an upset victory Sunday in the $800,000 Sunland Derby.
Of course, it was an upset to everybody except winning jockey Robby Albarado. And now the 3-year-old will become part of the Kentucky Derby conversation.
``He put himself in the race early. He gave himself a chance,'' Albarado said. ``Going around the first turn, he was going really easy. Backside, he jumped in the bridle, which is fine, because it was time to go anyway.
``In the turn, I caught the favorite. He was riding but he wasn't gaining any ground. I knew when I'd call on Endorsement, he'd come from underneath me, and he did.''
The Bob Baffert-trained Conveyance, which left the gate as a 3-5 favorite, bolted to the front. The big gray colt, winner of the Southwest Stakes, hadn't been challenged until Endorsement pushed him on the final turn and sprinted ahead at the sixteenth pole.
``He ran a good race. We just got beat by a really good horse today,'' Baffert said.
The dirt track was fast on a sunny day on the border, and the victorious colt from WinStar Farms in Kentucky covered the 1 1-8 miles in 1:48.46, just one-fifth of a second off the track record set in 1961.
Endorsement claimed the $400,000 winner's share. The Sunland Derby is a Grade 3 race for the first time, and a record crowd of 18,564 fans turned out to see one of the strongest fields in the 8-year history of the race.
Trained by Shannon Ritter, Endorsement paid $25.30, $8.60 and $4.40. Conveyance paid $2.80 and $2.10 and Tempted To Tapit $3.
Conveyance has run strong in all four of his starts and he seemed determined to go wire-to-wire again with Martin Garcia in the stirrups, bolting immediately to the lead. But Baffert said the colt tired a bit, and with Endorsement running easy, it turned into a race for second place.
``The winner? He was really good. I think he's the real deal,'' Baffert said. ``Those two horses are both really good horses.''
It was the biggest victory as a trainer for Ritter, a former jockey who said the highlight of her 8-year career was once being the leading rider at Portland Meadows. Known as a hands-on trainer who often gets aboard on training rides, she can turn her mind to the Kentucky Derby.
``I'll discuss that with the WinStar crew and take it from there,'' Ritter said. ``We'll see how he comes back from the race. He's going to fly back to Kentucky on Tuesday morning. We're going to the Keeneland meet. We'll take things from there.''
The runner-up finish won't necessarily curb Conveyance, either. Baffert still is getting plenty of Kentucky Derby attention with the star of his stable, Lookin At Lucky, but he said Endorsement warrants a place in the discussion after Sunday's race.
``If Endorsement hadn't been in there, I think we would have looked like superstars,'' he said. ``We still have a way to go. I would have loved to win this race. But I think the horse that beat us, of all the others I've seen lately, that was pretty impressive. I think we saw a star born today.''
