Mike Smith to ride Daddy Nose Best in the Kentucky Derby
Right after Daddy Nose Best’s first two career starts, jockey Julien Leparoux took the saddle over Daddy Nose Best and made it his own by becoming the 3-year-old colt’s regular rider for eight consecutive races, but now Julien Leparoux and Daddy Nose Best
must part ways for the veteran Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who has been assigned to ride the colt in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on 5 May, 2012, at Churchill Downs.
Julien Leparoux , who was aboard Union Rags in the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby will be going into the Kentucky Derby coupled with Union Rags again, but he did Daddy Nose Best a huge favour for accumulating graded stakes earnings when it really mattered.
The pair has managed to stay undefeated in the 2012 campaign, kicking off the new season with a win in the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at 1 1/8 miles over the Golden Gate Fields’ synthetic surface on 18 February, 2012, defeating Lucky Chappy in second and
Handsome Mike in third, while covering the distance in 1 minute and 50.46 seconds.
They then completed the quest for an undisputed place in the Kentucky Derby, when they claimed the all important Grade 3 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park on 25 March, 2012.
Run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles on dirt, Daddy Nose Best under Julien Leparoux defeated Isn’t He Clever and Stirred Up in the deep stretch, covering the distance in 1 minute and 48.59 seconds.
The assistant trainer Scott Blasi revealed that Mike Smith will be ready to work the colt leading up to the Kentucky Derby.
“He’s a Hall of Fame jockey; I don’t think he’s gotten to the point where he’s at by not watching replays and doing his homework. I think he’ll be pretty familiar with him by the time he gets on him in the Derby. Our horse is really seasoned too," Blasi
said.
The Kentucky bred son of Scat Daddy, out of mare Follow Your Bliss by Thunder Gulch, Daddy Nose Best is already at Churchill Downs, and has already turned in a work over there on 9 April, going an easy five furlongs in 1 minute and 2 2/5 seconds.
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