Overanalyze Wins Arkansas Derby

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Overanalyze made a three-time winner out of trainer Todd Pletcher at the Arkansas Derby.

The colt stormed down the home stretch to pull away and win the $1 million race by 4 1/4 lengths on Saturday.

Trained by Pletcher, Overanalyze trailed with a second group for much of the race before charging ahead after the final turn in the 1 1/8-mile race.

Overanalyze overcame the lead pack and held off Frac Daddy and Carve to earn Pletcher his first since win in the Kentucky Derby prep since winning back-to-back Arkansas derbies in 2000 and 2001.

Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, Overanalyze paid $9.40, $5.60 and $4.60. Frac Daddy paid $16.80 and $11 for finishing second, while Carve paid $8.60 in third.

Pre-race favorite War Academy, trained by Bob Baffert, pulled up on the back stretch. The colt did, however, walk off the Oaklawn Park track under his own power.

Overanalyze earned 100 points in the race for a spot in the Kentucky Derby, while Frac Daddy earned 40 and Carve 20.

The colt had raced only once previously this year after a stellar 2-year-old campaign that included three wins in five starts. He finished fifth at the Gotham Stakes on March 2, opening that race as the favorite before fading late.

The Repole Stable-owned 3-year-old had no such problems on Saturday in front of 66,158 in attendance at Oaklawn - running in 1:51.94 and holding off a field that included two Baffert horses.

Baffert's first horse, War Academy, garnered much of the pre-race focus after two wins in three races, but the colt backed out of the gate before the race and broke stride on the back stretch.

The Hall of Fame trainer's other horse, Den's Legacy, also generated plenty of attention as Baffert attempted to win his second straight Arkansas Derby after Bodemesiter's win a year ago.

It was Pletcher, however, who stole the show with Overanalyze. The former assistant to trainer D. Wayne Lukas, and 2010 Kentucky Derby winner with Super Saver, won his first Arkansas Derby since Graeme Hall in 2000 and Balto Star in 2001.

Overanalyze earned $600,000 with the win, while Frac Daddy - at 24-1 - won $200,000 and Carve $100,000.

The race's other favorite, Oxbow, never threatened. The Lukas-trained colt, second in the Rebel Stakes, finished a disappointing fifth.