It’s Not Odd That Zito ‘Even Has a Chance

After winning his stakes debut impressively in the $750,000 Gallery Furniture.com Stakes Saturday at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., Stephen Got Even looks to be a serious candidate to give trainer Nick Zito his third Kentucky Derby win of the decade.

Stephen Got Even, a son of A.P. Indy, overcame an extremely wide journey to win going away in 1:49 for the 1 1/8 miles. The 7-1 fourth choice beat K One King by 2 1/2 lengths.

Straight Man, the 2-1 favorite, finished fourth, 10 lengths behind the winner.

Straight Man, who won the first two races of his career at Santa Anita, set a slow pace (49 for a half-mile and 1:13 for six furlongs) while well off the rail, but offered little resistance when challenged.

“On the backside, I thought he looked perfect,” said trainer Bob Baffert of Straight Man. “He was in perfect position and then he got tired.

“I was getting my winner’s speech ready on the backside, but that’s horse racing. He’ll go to Churchill Downs and get plenty of time. He may run in something like the Lexington [Stakes at Keeneland on April 18.]”

Zito, who won the Kentucky Derby with Strike The Gold in 1991 and Go For Gin three years later, isn’t sure if Stephen Got Even will race again before the May 1 race at Churchill Downs.

“There’s no question this is a top colt,” said Zito, who has another top Derby contender in Florida Derby runner-up Wondertross. “This was only his fourth start and it was real impressive. I think when we go further he’s going to get even better.”

With Jerry Bailey in Dubai to ride Victory Gallop in today’s $5-million Dubai World Cup, Sellers-- who also rides Florida Derby winner Vicar and Risen Star Stakes hero Ecton Park--picked up the mount on the winner.

“It’s hard to compare,” Sellers said. “It would be unfair for me to do that. I’ve ridden different horses over different tracks and that makes a difference.

“But I don’t think we saw the best out of this horse.”

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Heavily favored Victory Stripes battled with 17-10 second choice Snowberg most of the way, then took charge in the final furlong and won by 7 1/2 lengths in the $81,903 Santa Lucia Handicap Saturday at Santa Anita.

Victory Stripes, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, won for the fourth time in 10 starts in this country. The 2-5 favoritecompleted the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43 2/5.

Cris The Swimmer, a 9-1 shot, got up late to beat a tired Snowberg by a neck for second. The badly outclassed Stewardi Can was a distant fourth and last, but earned $5,841 as the only other horse in the field. Fleeting Image was scratched Saturday morning.

Horse Racing Notes

Post time for the Dubai World Cup this morning is 8:15 a.m. PST. . . . Hawksley Hill is the likely favorite against 11 other turf specialists in the $600,000 Explosive Bid Handicap today on the closing-day program at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Kent Desormeaux will ride Hawksley Hill in the 1 1/8-mile race and the field also includes Lord Smith, who will be ridden by Garrett Gomez and Brave Act, with Goncalino Almeida aboard. . . . Yankee Victor provided jockey Shane Sellers with another victory in a 3-year-old stakes when he won the $61,500 Rushaway by a length over Black Mercury, who is trained by Bob Baffert. Yankee Victor was the 8-5 favorite. . . . There are six probable starter for next Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Derby. Besides the Baffert-trained trio of General Challenge, Finder’s Gold and Prime Timber, the others scheduled to run are the filly Honest Lady, Capsized and Desert Hero.