My Boy Jack thrust himself squarely into the Kentucky Derby (G1) picture with an eye-opening performance in the $500,000 Southwest S. (G3) over a muddy Oaklawn Park surface.
The 3-year-old Creative Cause colt took the traditional President’s Day feature with a stirring move up the rail, coming from some eight lengths back with three furlongs to run to blast past the field, finishing up 4 1/2-lengths in front of Combatant.
“The best part about the race is he’s going to a Derby. It may be the Arkansas Derby, but he’s Derby bound,” said trainer Keith Desormeaux.
My Boy Jack raced six times as a 2-year-old, all on the turf. He broke his maiden in the $100,000 Zuma Beach S. and was second in the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Turf, then was beaten just three lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1).
He made his 3-year-old debut on Jan. 6 in the Sham S. (G3) and finished third in his first main track start, which prompted Desormeaux to send the dark bay to Oaklawn.
“For him to run well on dirt, we were ecstatic. I told (jockey Kent Desormeaux) the horse would run well on dirt,” the trainer said after Monday’s win.
My Boy Jack is now 2-3-1 in eight starts and improved his earnings to $425,145 for owners Don’t Tell My Wife Stables and Monomoy Stables. He also earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Challenge Series.
Pedigree Notes from the TDN:
My Boy Jack is the third graded stakes winner for ascendant Airdrie Stud stallion Creative Cause from his two crops to race thus far, following in the footsteps of GIII Smarty Jones S. victor and TDN Rising Star Pavel and GIII Miss Grillo S. heroine Significant Form.
His unraced Airdrie-bred dam is a halfsister to SW Precious Kiss out of GSW/GISP Gold N Delicious, who was Brereton Jones’ entree into the family when snatched up for $310,000 at the 2004 Keeneland November sale. Gold N Shaft is responsible for a juvenile filly named Play for Gold by fellow Airdrie stallion Cairo Prince, an unnamed yearling filly by the same sire, and a filly by The Visualiser foaled Jan. 25.
