Daddy Nose Best brilliant in the Sunland Derby
Steven Asmussen trained 3-year-old colt, Daddy Nose Best, made a big statement by winning the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park on 25 March, 2012, and showed his versatility by taking on from synthetic surface to dirt in front of a massive
crown in New Mexico.
Cathy and Robert Zollars owned colt, Daddy Nose Best, under jockey Julien Leparoux turned in an eye catching performance in the business end of the race, when he came back from behind to take down the local favourite, Isn’t He Clever, in the dying stages
of the race to claim the $800,000 event.
Daddy Nose Best claimed the lion’s share of the purse by getting $400,000, and this amount of money will make the colt easily eligible for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, and a guaranteed spot is there for the taking in a 20 horse field set to go underway on
5 May, 2012.
“I got a fantastic effort from the horse," Leparoux said. "The pace was set up perfect for him. He had plenty left at the end.”
Sixth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, Daddy Nose Best, got his act together in his 3-year-old racing career. He started off the new campaign with a magnificent win in the Grade 3 El Camino Derby at Golden Gate Fields on 18 February, 2012, going
over a distance of 1 1/18 miles.
The Kentucky bred son of Scat Daddy, out of mare Follow Your Bliss by Thunder Gulch, Daddy Nose Best won the El Camino Derby on synthetic and prior to that race he turned in 6 starts on turf, and the Sunland Derby was run on dirt which show the colt can
win on any surface.
Next stop for Daddy Nose Best is the Kentucky Derby, and he fly down at Churchill Downs on 27 March, 2012.
“We have plenty of reasons for optimism," the trainer said. "We feel good about him handling the 1 1/8-mile distance in a respectable time. This is everything we had hoped for. The spacing of his races was right. This race fit perfectly with his timing.
He showed a great degree of maturity today and has improved a lot since his two-year-old season.”
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