HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — Commandment broke his maiden last fall at Churchill Downs. He’ll soon be headed back there, looking for a much bigger victory.<\/p>\n
By the slimmest of margins \u2014 a photo finish \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s a racehorse, bottom line,\u201d said trainer Brad Cox, who saddled the Florida Derby winner for the second consecutive year. \u201cHe always shows up. … He’s a Grade 1 winner. Florida Derby’s a big race. Proud of the horse. Very proud of the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle too close for comfort,\u201d Cox said.<\/p>\n
Commandment returned $5.80 for the win. Chief Wallabee was third, favorite Nearly \u2014 the 7-5 top choice \u2014 was fourth and Wayne’s Law was fifth.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Law earned him 10 points.<\/p>\n
The Puma and Commandment went into Saturday\u2019s race with spots for the Kentucky Derby basically secured, based on their point totals coming in \u2014 The Puma had 56, Commandment 50, and those likely would be enough to make the field.<\/p>\n
Now, assuming both emerge from Saturday healthy and stay that way, they\u2019re locks for the Run for the Roses.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s got a great mind,\u201d 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. \u201cThat’s going to take him a long way, the first Saturday in May.\u201d<\/p>\n
History has shown there\u2019s a clear path from the winner\u2019s circle at Gulfstream Park to the winner\u2019s circle at Churchill Downs. The Florida Derby has been run by 26 eventual Kentucky Derby winners, more than any other prep race \u2014 most recently Sovereignty last year. Sovereignty was second in last year\u2019s Florida Derby.<\/p>\n
And Florida Derby winners have gone on to win 31 Triple Crown series races, including the Kentucky Derby on 15 occasions \u2014 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.<\/p>\n