Post Parade (Debra Roma Photography)
Team Valor International and Mark Ford’s Went the Day Well encountered more than his share of trouble early in the 138th running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, but still managed to come barreling home to finish fourth, only 2 1/2 lengths behind winner I’ll Have Another.
All of Went the Day Well’s adversity came in the early stages of the 1 1/4-mile Derby. Following a poor break and traffic troubles that lasted through the first turn, after a half-mile Went the Day Well had only three horses beaten and the seemingly insurmountable task of making up 15-plus lengths on a speed-favoring Churchill track.
After relatively clear sailing along the backstretch, Went the Day Well made up some ground and fanned seven wide at the top of the lane for the run home, but still raced in ninth position and more than 10 lengths behind the leader. At this point the long-winded Proud Citizen colt launched an impressive bid.
Went the Day Well picked off horses, split horses and barreled home to cross the wire in fourth place, only 2 1/2 lengths behind Derby winner I’ll Have Another. Pacesetter Bodemeister and Dullahan finished second and third a neck apart 1 1/2 lengths behind the winner. The final time for Kentucky Derby 2012 was 2:01.83.
First pass, 17th position. Click to enlarge (Debra Roma Photography)
Detailing Went the Day Well’s early woes, Jockey John Velazquez said, “We didn’t break out of there well and it was screwed up from there on,” adding, “I was actually just beating Julien [Leparoux, aboard Union Rags in 18th position] into the first turn, so that’s how far back we were.”
Velazquez elaborated, explaining how trouble at the break got him and Went the Day Well involved in the tribulations of heavy traffic through the first turn. “The horse next to me [Prospective in gate 12] clipped heels coming out of the gate, so now I’ve got to steady and go inside of him. We go to the first turn and he gets pushed over and I have to steady again. Now I’m far back with Julien.”
After a final maneuver (“Now I have to go around the horse in the first turn, got outrun three-wide, went back to the inside”), Velazquez got his mount clear, but the track on Saturday at Churchill Downs was favoring speed rather than closers. Velazquez picked up the play-by-play: “I got a good trip from there, but I was so far back I couldn’t make up that much ground, no way, not on this kind of track the way it is today.” Velazquez added, “This was not my worst [Derby] trip, but it was a bad trip.”
Charging home 4th, just past the wire (Debra Roma Photography)
Acknowledging both his colt’s early troubles and strong finish, trainer Graham Motion said, “Johnny said he just had a tough trip. As good a trip as he got last year [on Animal Kingdom], he had a tough trip this year. He galloped out in front.”
Motion tweeted later Saturday evening “Huge run from Went the Day Well. Shame he didn’t get trip AK [Animal Kingdom] had last year, but that would be greedy!” Motion also added the all-important, “Came out of race in good shape.”
Went the Day Well’s Derby, which far outperformed his 30-1 odds, was a tribute both to his breeder, the late Austin Delaney, and his nursery, Keane Stud in Amenia. The only foal out the unraced Ontario-bred Tiznow mare Tiz Maie’s Day, a half sister to stakes winner Jah, Went the Day Well sold to British connections for $15,000 as a weanling from Delaney’s estate in the 2009 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. Pinhooked as a yearling, he went to Oliver St. Lawrence Bloodstock at the 2010 Tattersalls October Yearling sale for the equivalent of $43,385.
Went the Day Well made two starts in England for trainer Ed McMahon at two, attracting Barry Irwin’s attention in his debut. He was purchased privately by Team Valor after his second start and brought to the U.S. for his sophomore campaign. The Grade 3 Vinery Spiral winner earned $100,000 on Derby day bringing his career earnings to $415,344.
