Mission Impazible charges to victory

By Jay Privman

Louis Hodges Jr.

Mission Impazible wins the Louisiana Derby, completing a sweep of the day's three graded stakes for trainer Todd Pletcher.

NEW ORLEANS - Perhaps Peter Graves, who died recently, might have had one last thing to oversee before the tape destructed. The colt Mission Impazible, named for the television show in which Graves endeared himself to Baby Boomers, ran his way right into the Kentucky Derby on Saturday with a tenacious victory in the Grade 2 $750,000 Louisiana Derby here at Fair Grounds.

Mission Impazible ($16.20) was given a gorgeous ride by jockey Rajiv Maragh, who had Mission Impazible on the rail in fourth, behind three dueling leaders, for the first six furlongs of the race. Mission Impazible eased out three lanes wide at the top of the stretch but had to call on all his reserves to catch A Little Warm, who battled bravely after being hounded on the lead the whole race by Discreetly Mine.

Mission Impazible won by three-quarters of a length in 1:50.32 for 1 1/8 miles on the fast main track. The Derby, five weeks away, is a furlong farther.

"I just sat a trip where he was comfortable," Maragh said. "The way he won going a mile and an eighth, and galloping out as strong as he did, I wouldn't doubt he could get a mile and a quarter."

Drosselmeyer, who was able to rally inside under a clever ride from Kent Desormeaux despite beginning from the far outside post in the field of 13, was a close third, just a neck behind A Little Warm. Discreetly Mine was fourth, a neck behind Drosselmeyer, in the blanket finish.

Trainer Todd Pletcher - who swept the three graded stakes here Saturday - sent out both Mission Impazible and Discreetly Mine, who were saddled by assistant Michael Dilger. Discreetly Mine had won the major prep for this race, the Risen Star Stakes, and went off the tepid favorite at 7-2. Mission Impazible was the sixth choice.

Mission Impazible, a gray colt by Unbridled's Song out of the Hold Your Peace mare La Paz, is owned by the Twin Creeks Racing Stable of Randy Gullatt. This was his second win in five starts, but he was coming off a deceptively good effort in the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn, in which he finished fourth despite racing wide the whole way.

"I'm not surprised he won," Pletcher said. "His race at Oaklawn was better than it looked. Nothing went right. He shipped down, the race was postponed, then he got hung wide on both turns the whole trip. Today he sat right in the garden spot and when called on he kept finding more."

A Little Warm, who finished second in the Louisiana Derby, was making his first start around two turns. His trainer, Tony Dutrow, was happy with the effort by A Little Warm -- "he gave it all he had," Dutrow said -- but said, if left up to him, he would not go on to the Derby. A Little Warm is owned by Ned Evans, who will make the final call, Dutrow said.

"It won't be my decision," Dutrow said. "If it was, I would not go."

Javier Castellano, who rode Discreetly Mine, said he had a "perfect trip."

"I wanted a target, and I got it," Castellano said. "He just didn't punch it in."

************************************************************************************************

Odysseus rerallies in Tampa Bay Derby

By Mike Welsch

Tom Cooley

Odysseus gets up to win the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby by a nose.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - At the quarter pole, Odysseus appeared to have no chance to win Saturday's $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby. Even at the wire, it looked like his frantic final surge had fallen short of catching Schoolyard Dreams. But the photo finish camera indicated otherwise with Odysseus eeking out a nose victory.

Odysseus, a son of Malibu Moon owned by Satish Sanan's Padua Stable and trained by Thomas Albertrani, prompted the pace of the 3-2 favorite Super Saver for six furlongs before dropping several lengths behind the leaders leaving the quarter pole. But once settling into the stretch under jockey Rajiv Maragh, Odysseus reasserted himself, angled inward to split the leaders inside the sixteenth pole and got his nose down first in the final stride.

Schoolyard Dreams, reserved about four lengths off the early lead by jockey Jeremy Rose, made a quick move from the outside to overtake Super Saver after six furlongs, then maintained a narrow advantage over that rival for much of the stretch before ultimately suffering a heartbreaking defeat.

Super Saver, making his first start since Nov. 28, set a realistic pace and continued on gamely once displaced on the lead by Schoolyard Dreams, finishing a half-length behind the runner-up in third. Gleam of Hope, who made a strong run to loom boldly in early stretch, was fourth, a half-length further back. He was followed by Uptowncharlybrown, Slammy Boy and Tuvia's Force.

Odysseus, who won an allowance race by 15 lengths here last month, completed the mile and one-sixteenth ini 1:44.31 seconds under jockey Rajiv Maragh and paid $6.

Albertrani, when kiddingly asked at what point he knew he'd won the race, said "when they put the 7 up on the board."

"I thought we were done at the three-eighths pole," he said. "I think when the horse outside [Schoolyard Dreams] ran by so quickly it took him by surprise and he lost his position a bit. But he kept grinding and grinding and by the eighth pole he was back in it again. He's really a gutsy horse. He showed a lot of determination to grind it out all the way like that."

Odysseus, who has now won three of his four career starts, earned $180,000 for capturing the Grade 3 Tampa Derby, which should give him more than enough graded earnings to give him a spot in the Kentucky Derby field.

"I want to see how he trains the next two weeks before making any decisions on whether we need to run him back again or just sit and wait for the Derby," said Albertrani.

Maragh also thought Odysseus had fallen just short of victory.

"Getting past the wire I said to Jeremy I think you won it," Maragh said referring to Jeremy Rose on Schoolyard Dreams. "He thought so too, so it was a surprise when they put our number up. I think this horse can run as far as they write the race. A mile and one-quarter in the Derby is not going to bother him."

The final decision was extremely disappointing for the connections of Schoolyard Dreams, trainer Derek Ryan and owner Eric Fein. Ryan had won last year's Tampa Bay Derby with Musket Man and Fein had won the previous two runnings of the race with Big Truck and Musket Man.

The all-sources handle of $10,807,264 was a record for a 12-race program at Tampa Bay Downs.