Stronghold defeated favored Imagination in a furious duel to the finish to win the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby by a neck.
Stronghold defeated favored Imagination in a furious duel to the finish to win the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby by a neck on Saturday and earn a spot in next month's Kentucky Derby.
"I love this horse from the first time I sat on him," the Italian jockey said. "I was very confident that he could do it, and he did it."Imagination, the even-money favorite trained by six-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert, returned $2.80 and $2.20. His other entry, Wynstock, finished sixth in the eight-horse field in front of 32,089 on a sunny, cool and windy day.
Stronghold earned 100 qualifying points for the May 4 Derby. He now has 125 total points and is fourth on the Derby leaderboard. Imagination didn't earn any points because Churchill Downs has banned Baffert for a third consecutive year. Sierra Leone didn't want to enter the starting gate and after multiple attempts went into the No. 10 hole. He lagged behind for much of the race as 15-1 long shot Top Conor, another Brown pupil, and Just A Touch set the pace.Brown said Gaffalione told him the colt got stirred up being in the far outside post next to the large crowd.
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