2010 Kentucky Derby Winner
March 18 - Super Saver
Years ago, I used to paint the winner of the Kentucky Derby to be presented to the winning trainer the following year at the Kentucky Derby Trainers' Dinner. Super Saver was the first KY Derby winner for Todd Pletcher. The owners of WinStar, Kenny Trout and Bill Casner along with Todd and myself line up for a firing squad. Well, that's what you'd think looking at Todd's face who appears just thrilled to be there.
Super Saver added another chapter to one of horse racing's most amazing recent runs when he won the 2010 Kentucky Derby and gave jockey Calvin Borel his third Derby trophy in four years. He was foaled in 2007, a son of the late stallion Maria's Mon out of the mare Supercharger. He raced in the bright pink and black silks of WinStar Farm, the powerhouse Kentucky breeding and racing operation, and he was trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. Calvin Borel picked up the mount during his Derby preps and would not let it go.
Maria's Mon had also sired the 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos, a fact that gave breeding fans extra reason to watch his big bay son. Super Saver built up his Derby resume through the spring of 2010 with a fast running second in the Arkansas Derby behind Lookin At Lucky. The Churchill Downs strip was sloppy on Derby day from heavy rains, conditions that played right into Calvin Borel's rail riding style and Super Saver's ability to handle a wet track.
Calvin Borel put on another Derby clinic, threading Super Saver along the inside as the field rounded the far turn. The colt found another gear in the stretch and rolled home the Kentucky Derby winner by two and a half lengths. The win gave Calvin Borel Kentucky Derby trophies on Street Sense in 2007, Mine That Bird in 2009, and now Super Saver in 2010, an astonishing run for the popular jockey from Louisiana. Todd Pletcher finally had his first Kentucky Derby win after years of close calls.
Super Saver could not turn the trick again two weeks later, finishing back in the field in the Preakness Stakes. He was retired at the end of his three year old year and sent to stud at WinStar Farm in Versailles, Kentucky. There he became a popular stallion and sired multiple Grade 1 winners, including the brilliant Runhappy, who would go on to be a champion sprinter in his own right. Super Saver is remembered as a Kentucky Derby winner who handled the slop, the third leg of Calvin Borel's astonishing Derby trifecta, and a horse who passed along his class to the next generation.
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