Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade 1)

JOHN Velazquez and Bob Baffert texted back and forth, more than a week before the 147th Kentucky Derby and even before the final field was entered for the opening jewel of the American Triple Crown.

They went back and forth, about strategy as much as anything, and where Medina Spirit might be early in the 10-furlong Derby.

“Come out running and let him put you there,” Baffert said.

Velazquez, a Hall of Famer with a well-earned reputation for always coming to the paddock prepared, hadn’t taken a deep dive into the potential scenarios for the Derby just yet. He knew enough about Medina Spirit though, having ridden the Florida-bred colt by Protonico in back-to-back starts at Santa Anita Park.

“Do you think we can be on the lead?” Velazquez fired back.

“Just don’t take a hole of him,” Baffert said.

Velazquez, who put Authentic on the lead in last year’s Covid-19 delayed Kentucky Derby and never let favoured Tiz The Law go by in the stretch, dug into the race after post positions were drawn four days before the race. Medina Spirit drew post 8 in the field of 20 – 19 eventually ran after the scratch of King Fury – and to the inside of any potential frontrunners.

The favourite, Godolphin’s Essential Quality, drew post 14, while other possible pace threats Rock Your World (15), Highly Motivated (17) and Soup And Sandwich (19) were even further out.

Velazquez, who also rode Animal Kingdom and Always Dreaming to victory in the Derby, liked what he saw.

“I studied the race really well. After I studied the race, Bob was 100% right,” Velazquez said. “Bob said, ‘the horse may not break good anyway, so make sure you let him have it first.’ … We plan all we can plan and anticipate things, (but) the horse has to do the job as well. I’m only the pilot trying to do what we think is the best for the horse.”

Made the lead

Medina Spirit broke a smidge slow but still made the lead past the finish the first time, thanks to Rock Your World getting squeezed back at the break between Essential Quality and Highly Motivated.

Velazquez stayed quiet on Medina Spirit through the opening half-mile and after none of the other 18 riders applied any serious pressure the race unfolded just as trainer and jockey hoped.

“Strategy was very simple – break out of there and try to put him in the lead,” Velazquez said. “If somebody wanted to go faster than me, let him have it. I know we were quick. And the more I looked at the race, the more I studied the race, I knew he was faster than the rest of the horses.”

Medina Spirit proved fastest of the 19, holding off a late three-way challenge from 26/1 Mandaloun to win by a half-length with Hod Rod Charlie third and Essential Quality fourth. Dismissed at 12/1 and the fifth choice, Medina Spirit posted the eighth fastest winning time of 2m 1.02secs over the fast track.

Medina Spirit, who once sold as a yearling for $1,000 and cost Amr Zedan’s Zedan Racing Stable $35,000 as a two-year-old last year, gave Baffert a record seventh Derby victory.

He won his first in 1997, with the Florida-bred Silver Charm, and moved ahead of the legend Ben Jones as the race’s all-time leader.

“Today, this guy, he did it,” said Baffert, crediting the 49-year-old Velazquez for his precise analysis and razor-like execution. “He’s so cool, such a professional. When you work with the guys like him, like the Mike Smiths, they’re just so smart. They know every move. They know every horse, what they’re going to do. He knew exactly what he was going to do.

“I went to sleep last night; I didn’t think how Johnny V. was going to ride him. I said, ‘look, you ride him. I don’t care what you do. You know the horse really well now.’ ”

Medina Spirit, runner-up in the Grade 2 San Felipe and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby under Velazquez, returned $26.20 and second highest odds of any of Baffert’s Derby winners. Only War Emblem, at 20/1 and another front-running winner in 2002, paid more.

Baffert has said Medina Spirit will head to next week’s Preakness along with Concert Tour who was originally a shorter price for Kentucky.

Second place Mandaloun will miss the Preakness as will Essential Quality who lost his unbeaten record off a wide trip and will head to the Belmont Stakes.

An attendance of 51,8389 racegoers were in Churchill Downs for the Derby.

NBC’s Derby evening broadcast of the fabled race found an audience of 14.4 million, bigger than the Oscars. The 2021 Kentucky Derby was up 53% in viewers compared with the 2020 Kentucky Derby. It was an all-time first for the Derby to beat the Academy Awards, which usually are viewed by 20 million or more.