A spot in the Kentucky Derby now looks quite possible for Mission Impazible.
The Todd Pletcher-trained colt pulled ahead just past the sixteenth pole to win his first race as a 3-year-old in the $750,000 Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds on Saturday.
Ridden by Rajiv Maragh and starting from the second post at 7-1 odds, he covered the 1 1-8-mile course in 1:50.32 on a dry and fast track.
Pletcher credited Maragh for executing ``exactly the trip we were hoping for.''
``That was kind of the way we had talked about it,'' Pletcher said. ``We wanted to secure a little bit of position from the inside and hopefully come away stalking the leaders. ... Then he was able to find a little more down the lane.''
Mission Impazible's first race of the year was a second-place finish in a six furlong allowance at Gulfstream Park. He followed that up with a fourth-place in the mile Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park last month.
Running in a 13-horse field in the Louisiana Derby, Mission Impazible was in the middle of pack in the backstretch, but moved up to third coming out of the final turn before passing A Little Warm for his second career victory in one of the final major prep races for the Kentucky Derby.
``My horse was always in contention and always tracking comfortably,'' Maragh said. ``He's got to be ranked among the top 3-year-olds now with a win like this. ... There was a lot left in the tank, there definitely was. He didn't seem worn out after the race.''
A Little Warm, trained by Tony Dutrow, held on for second, three-quarters of a length behind the winner and a neck in front of third-place finisher Drosselmeyer.
Coming off a second-place finish in the seven-furlong Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream Park, A Little Warm was racing around two turns for the first time with David Cohen in the saddle.
``I'm very excited,'' Dutrow said of his horse. ``He was in uncharted waters. He answered that question very well.''
Cohen also praised A Little Warm's performance.
``Obviously the horse proved he can run with this type of company. With this underneath his belt, you can imagine how fit he could be going a distance the next time.''
After breaking out of the gate in front and gaining the rail in the first turn, A Little Warm set the pace under pressure from Risen Star Stakes winner and 7-2 Louisiana Derby favorite Discreetly Mine, which ran with the leaders down the stretch but finished a neck behind Drosselmeyer for fourth.
Discreetly Mine, ridden by Javier Castellano, also is trained by Pletcher and still could be in line for a start in the Kentucky Derby in five weeks' time.
``I thought he ran real well,'' Pletcher said. ``It was a good effort, maybe not his best. Hopefully he'll come out of it well and make a step forward off of it.''
Drosselmeyer, trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, had been fourth in the Risen Star Stakes, a 1 1-16-mile race at the Fair Grounds in February.
Mission Impazible paid $16.20, $7.20 and $5. A Little Warm paid $8.60 and 5.80. Drosselmeyer, which started from the 13th post, paid $4.20.
Stay Put finished fifth and Ron the Greek, winner of the Lecomte Stakes at the Fair Grounds in January, ran sixth. The Program, trained by Bob Baffert, was seventh, followed by Mister Marti Gras, Fly Down, Wow Wow Wow, Hotep, Island Soul and Backtrack.
The race was a major disappointment for Fly Down, who was coming off a victory in a 1 1-8-mile allowance at Gulfstream Park in his first start as a 3-year-old. Starting in the third post at a little more than 6-1 odds, he never contended.
``He broke a little slow,'' jockey Jose Lezcano said. ``We had good position. He only went about a half mile and then he started pulling in. ... It wasn't his day.''
