Is there such a thing? For the most part Derby winners are extraordinary horses and for some the exertions of preparing and winning the classic takes it toll; injury and retirement soon follow. Is Street Sense your average Kentucky Derby winner, you know a horse that was more lucky than talented on Derby day. If I had to, I could name three horses that in my opinion were more lucky than talented on that first Saturday in May and Street Sense would not be one of them. Most would agree that Giacomo makes the list and while he placed in the other classics he only managed one more win in the Grade two San Diego Handicap during the balance of his career. Lil E Tee would also fall into that average category finishing fifth in the Preakness skipping the Belmont then developing bone chips. At age four he took the Grade two Razorback Handicap and that was all she wrote. Lastly Gato del Sol (pictured above) who managed to take only the Cabrillo at 4 and the Caballero at 6, by modern standards they would probably be Grade threes today.
While Hard Spun’s connections entertain the idea of turning the tables on Street Sense, the odds are against them. In the last twenty years only one horse who was second in the Derby has managed to win the Preakness, ironically that was Summer Squall who beat Unbridled in 1990. But for Hard Spun, whose trainer holds out hope that the surface and Pino’s experience at Pimlico will make the difference, Jones should remember that in a field of eight or ten horses and without any traffic to navigate and with Hard Spun clearly in his sights Street Sense will have an easier job to do at Pimlico than the one he just completed at Churchill.