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Gotham Stakes win puts England-trained Awesome Act into Derby contention By Robert Knolhoff, Jr.
Photo: Sue Kawczynski/Eclipse Sportswire
H
e was born on land that has produced a majority of Kentucky Derby starters for over a century. Awesome Act, however, is by no means your garden-variety Derby contender. The Gotham Stakes winner departed from Belmont Park late this past week for the final leg of a journey that will take the Kentucky-bred full circle. The Awesome Again colt, third behind likely Derby favorite Eskendereya in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial, will bid on May 1 to become the first European-trained winner of the May classic. Fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, the Jeremy Noseda trainee officially joined the 2010 Derby Trail when flying from England to win the Gotham with speed to spare. The race marked Awesome Act’s dirt debut following five starts on the turf and one at London’s Kempton Park over an all-weather surface. In Awesome Act’s final pre-Derby start, although he finished nearly 10 lengths behind Eskendereya, missing second by a head to Jackson Bend, he exited the Wood with several legitimate excuses. Leaving slightly awkward from the gate, Awesome Act lost his left front shoe within the first few strides and soon found himself tracking a slower-thanpreferred pace. “Admittedly, the pace in the Wood wasn’t ideal,” said Noseda, who has entrusted Awesome Act’s care in New York to assistants Wayne Tanner and George Windsor, “but he’ll certainly have [a legitimate pace] in the Derby, along with an extra furlong to run.” The seeds of this intrepid mission were planted immediately following the Breeders’ Cup, where among the more overlooked performances was Awesome Act’s flying finish down the middle of the Santa Anita grass course. Noseda mulled over the colt’s future with British Horseracing Authority Chairman Paul Roy and his wife, Susan, co-owners of Awesome Act with Vinery Stud.
STRIDE MAGAZINE
April 17, 2010
39