03/28/26 06:33:00
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03/28 18:31 CDT Commandment wins the Florida Derby, now eyes Kentucky Derby and
Triple Crown trail
Commandment wins the Florida Derby, now eyes Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown
trail
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) --- Commandment broke his maiden last fall at
Churchill Downs. He'll soon headed back there, looking for a much bigger
victory.
By the slimmest of margins --- a photo finish --- Commandment won the Florida
Derby on Saturday, completing a worst-to-first rally in the six-horse field and
overtaking The Puma with the final bob of his head.
It was the fourth consecutive win for Commandment, who had jockey Flavien Prat
aboard on Saturday. Next up: the Kentucky Derby, the start of the Triple Crown
series on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
"He's a racehorse, bottom line," said trainer Brad Cox, who saddled the Florida
Derby winner for the second consecutive year. "He always shows up. ... He's a
Grade 1 winner. Florida Derby's a big race. Proud of the horse. Very proud of
the horse."
The Puma took the lead at the top of the stretch and was maybe an inch or two
shy of keeping it the rest of the way. Bettors roared when the official order
of finish was announced, and Cox could finally exhale.
"Little too close for comfort," Cox said.
Commandment returned $5.80 for the win. Chief Wallabee was third, favorite
Nearly --- the 7-5 top choice --- was fourth and Wayne's Law was fifth.
Commandment got 100 points toward the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard.
The Puma got 50 for finishing second, Chief Wallabee got 25 for third, Nearly
got 15 for placing fourth and the fifth-place showing by Wayne's Law earned him
10 points.
The Puma and Commandment went into Saturday's race with spots for the Kentucky
Derby basically secured, based on their point totals coming in --- The Puma had
56, Commandment 50, and those likely would be enough to make the field.
Now, assuming both emerge from Saturday healthy and stay that way, they're
locks for the Run for the Roses.
"He's got a great mind," said Cox, just the fourth trainer to win the Florida
Derby in back-to-back years, joining Todd Pletcher (who did it three times),
Nick Zito and Horace Jones. "That's going to take him a long way, the first
Saturday in May."
History has shown there's a clear path from the winner's circle at Gulfstream
Park to the winner's circle at Churchill Downs. The Florida Derby has been run
by 26 eventual Kentucky Derby winners, more than any other prep race --- most
recently Sovereignty last year. Sovereignty was second in last year's Florida
Derby.
And Florida Derby winners have gone on to win 31 Triple Crown series races,
including the Kentucky Derby on 15 occasions --- the last of which was when
Always Dreaming pulled it off in 2017. Those 31 victories in the Kentucky
Derby, Preakness and Belmont have come from 21 different Florida Derby winners.
UAE Derby
On Dubai World Cup day at Meydan, Wonder Dean won the UAE Derby for trainer
Daisuke Takayanagi.
Wonder Dean is the fifth consecutive Japanese-trained winner of the UAE Derby.
All four of the others went to the Kentucky Derby and Takayanagi --- who guided
T O Password to a fifth-place finish at the Run for the Roses in 2024 --- said
Wonder Dean is on his way as well.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
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