Steppenwolfer's second place is enough to join Ron, the Arkansas Derby winner, in Kentucky.
Lyndal Scranton
News-Leader
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Rarely has second place tasted so sweet.
Steppenwolfer's closing kick came up 2 3/4 lengths short of heavily favored Lawyer Ron in Saturday's Arkansas Derby, before an Oaklawn Park record 72,484 people. But the runner-up finish is enough to earn Steppenwolfer a trip to the Kentucky Derby in three weeks.
"He was running like we hoped he would (all spring) even though he didn't win," Robert Low said. "He did everything today but win this race.
"Steppenwolfer will fly to Kentucky on Monday and we'll be there in plenty of time for the race. We won't miss it," Low said of his first Kentucky Derby starter.
Steppenwolfer overtook Private Vow in the final strides for second and the $200,000 share of the $1 million earnings.
That's a key as it gives Steppenwolfer $230,000 in graded earnings, which will be plenty to get him into the Kentucky Derby.
If the Kentucky Derby has more than 20 entries, it's limited to the top 20 in graded money.
"I was rooting hard for second at the end, knowing how important it was," said Dan Peitz, Steppenwolfer's trainer.
While the Steppenwolfer party celebrated second, they were no match for the winning machine that is Lawyer Ron. With his sixth straight victory — including three in a row over Steppenwolfer this spring at Oaklawn — Lawyer Ron goes to the Kentucky Derby as one of the favorites.
Trained by Hot Springs veteran Bob Holtus and ridden by John McKee, Lawyer Ron earned $600,000 and increased his lifetime earnings to $1,220,008.
"Odds for the Kentucky Derby? I think he will be no worse than second choice," the 71-year-old Holtus said. "Of course, I might have a biased opinion."
McKee called it Lawyer Ron's best race of the streak. He finished the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.38.
"It was just a monster performance," McKee said. "He's a competitive little horse. All the credit goes to Bob Holtus. This is his hometown and it's a little bit overwhelming for him."
Lawyer Ron was sent off at 1-2 odds, shorter than the last two Arkansas Derby winners Afleet Alex and Smarty Jones. The strategy was to sit just off the lead, McKee said, but Lawyer Ron was eager to run and took the lead a half-mile into the race and never gave it up.
"I thought I'd be mid-pack," McKee said. "My horse got real aggressive and I had to go to plan B. He just kind of took over the race."
Said Peitz: "Lawyer Ron ran big, being rank and everything."
Lawyer Ron's owner, James T. Hines Jr. of Owensboro, Ky., died in February. The horse's winnings go into a trust overseen by Ron Bamberger, the lawyer the colt is named after.
As Lawyer Ron was passing High Cotton and Superfly quite early, pulling McKee with him to the lead, Steppenwolfer had only two of the 12 others beat after a half mile. The son of 2000 Belmont Stakes winner Aptitude, purchased last spring by the Lows for $375,000, then began to pick up momentum and pick off horses one by one entering the far turn.
But midway on the turn, about ? from the finish, jockey Robbie Albarado had to suddenly check Steppenwolfer as three horses in front of him slowed dramatically.
"If we don't get stopped on the turn, it's going to be very close," Peitz said. "He had all the momentum going and he had to steady up in there and for a a big horse like him, it's kind of hard to get back into stride again.
"It cost us at least a length, maybe a little more, but probably not enough to have cost us the race."
Private Vow, sitting behind Lawyer Ron most of the way, made a brief try for the lead on the final turn but was no match.
He wound up third, 7 1/4 lengths ahead of Simon Pure.
Lawyer Ron returned $3 for a $2-to-win bet. Steppenwolfer, off at 7-1 odds, returned $4.40 for a place bet with Private Vow, at 5-1, paying $3.60 to show. The Lawyer Ron-Steppenwolfer $2 exact was worth $13.80.
"We are very proud of the way Steppenwolfer ran," Robert Low said. "Lawyer Ron has just been a monster all spring. To close that kind of ground ... we've been talking about more ground, more ground and now we can say there is light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a freight train coming at us."
The Kentucky Derby will give him another quarter-mile of ground, which figures to suit his style even more.
It's time, Robert Low said, to catch a full-blown case of Kentucky Derby fever.
"We can't wait," he said.
A SPRINGFIELD WINNER
Okolona, owned by Springfield's Charles Chappell, won the final race of the meet, the 1 3/4-mile Trail's End. The 4-year-old earned $16,200 for winning the longest race of Oaklawn's season. Okolona was dismissed at 10-1 odds and paid $22.80 for a $2 win ticket.
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