I'll Have Another Wins Kentucky Derby - Wall Street Journal

By PIA CATTON

Associated Press

Jockey Mario Gutierrez rides I'll Have Another to victory in the 138th Kentucky Derby horse Saturday in Louisville.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—I'll Have Another won the 138th Kentucky Derby, beating the post-time favorite Bodemeister by 1 1/2 lengths.

Kentucky-bred I'll Have Another—named for the owner J. Paul Reddam's response to an offer of more cookies—went off at 15-1 odds under jockey Mario Gutierrez. He is the first horse in the history of the Derby to win from the 19th post position.

I'll Have Another, who paid $32.60 to win, finished the race in 2:01.83 for 1 1/4 miles. He's the first winner since Sunday Silence in 1989 to win the Derby after winning the Santa Anita Derby.

"Maryland, here we come, baby!" said trainer Doug O'Neill, referring to the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Photos: Seen at the Kentucky Derby

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I'll Have Another ridden by Mario Gutierrez comes down the final stretch on his way to winning the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.

Bodemeister, trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by jockey Mike Smith, led the field with an early, blazing pace that looked like it would hold through the wire. Bodemeister stood a chance to make history: He had not raced as a two-year-old and the last horse to win the Kentucky Derby without those juvenile races was Apollo in 1882. After being passed by I'll Have Another deep in the stretch, Bodemeister hung on for second, finishing a neck ahead of the fast-closing Dullahan.

The win by I'll Have Another brings some new faces to the winner's circle. "We don't come from the bluest of blood, and the horse matches that completely," said Reddam, who founded CashCall, which provides low-cost loans, and started out with harness horses. This is also the first Derby win for trainer Doug O'Neill, who is based in Southern California.

Additionally, it was the first Kentucky Derby mount for 25-year-old jockey Gutierrez, who beamed with a wide, bright smile in the post-race news conference. He is the 42nd jockey to win the race on his first Derby mount. After riding for a year in Mexico City, Gutierrez moved to Hastings Park in Vancouver, and then took mounts in Southern California, where O'Neill is based. "Nobody knows where I spent my six years riding in Vancouver. Top trainers, top owners they're not going to know anything about me" he said.

But Reddam took a chance: "He just really looked good in the irons, and we needed to try some new blood."

Not only did it pay off today, the newcomer was aboard for I'll Have Another's two wins at Santa Anita Park this year.

I'll Have Another was a relative bargain, having been purchased at auction for just $35,000. The average price at auction for this year's field of Derby contenders was about $100,000, and two horses were purchased for nearly $1 million. I'll Have Another was sired by Flower Alley, a stallion standing at Three Chimneys Farm. Before Saturday's race, Flower Alley's stud fee was $7,500. Now that he's sired a Kentucky Derby winner, that fee is likely to increase.

Write to Pia Catton at pia.catton@wsj.com