Redeemed makes late charge to take Oklahoma Derby
October 16, 2011OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Redeemed made a late charge and surged ahead in the final strides to beat Alternation and even-money favorite Prayer for Relief in the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park on Sunday.
Redeemed appeared to be boxed in coming around the final turn, but jockey Edgar Prado found an opening and the colt shot by Alternation and Prayer for Relief - both graded-stakes winners - in the final strides to win by a head.
``You're always concerned when you duck in and you see a couple of horses going by you,'' said Prado, a Hall of Fame jockey. ``All we had to do is make the right move at the right time, you know, and hopefully the horse will respond.''
Alternation, the Donnie Von Hemel-trained winner of the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park in May, held on for second by three-quarters of a length. The Bob Baffert-trained Prayer for Relief finished third under jockey Rafael Bejarano, snapping a four-race winning streak that included victories in the Grade 3 Iowa Derby, Grade 2 West Virginia Derby and Grade 2 Super Derby.
Socialsaul set the early pace before fading, but held on to finish a neck behind Prayer for Relief in fourth.
Prado kept Redeemed in the middle of the 12-horse field for much of the race. Prado moved to fourth at the start of the stretch and then sent Redeemed wide to make his late run. The Virginia-bred son of Include, wearing blinders for the first time, began gobbling up ground and edged Alternation.
``At the quarter pole, when I turned him loose, he gave me a kick,'' Prado said.
Redeemed covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.20 on a fast track. He's yet to finish out of the money in seven starts and now has four wins, although the Oklahoma Derby was his first stakes victory.
Redeemed went off at 5-1 and paid $12.80, $6.40 and $4.40. Alternation earned $5.80 and $3.80, while Prayer for Relief returned $2.80.
Chip Dutrow saddled Redeemed for his brother, trainer Anthony Dutrow. Redeemed has won four of seven career starts and boosted his career earnings to $424,140 for his owner, Jay Em Ess Stable of Santa Monica, Calif.
Infrattini was fifth, followed by Behold de Buy, Populist Politics, Malibu Glow, Awesome Bet, Dreaminofthewin, Meistersinger and Wally Van.