Stronghold And Fresu Edge Imagination And Dettori In Santa Anita Derby's Battle Of Italians

Jockey Frankie Dettori was on a roll. On Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby day card at The Great Race Place in Arcadia, Calif., the Italian riding superstar won six consecutive races, equalling a record Laffit Pincay Jr. and Bill Shoemaker – two other riding legends – held. In the day’s marquee race, the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, Dettori would be aboard Imagination, the Bob Baffert-trained favorite, giving him a very good chance to join Pincay as the only two jockeys in Santa Anita history to win seven races in one day.

But at the end of the 1 1/8-mile fixture after a heart-pounding stretch run, it was another Italian, jockey Antonio Fresu, who would be thrusting his arm in the air in jubilation. Fresu, aboard Rick and Sharon Waller’s homebred Ghostzapper colt Stronghold, edged Dettori and Imagination by a neck, providing Fresu his first Grade 1 victory in the United States and sending trainer Phil D’Amato on the Road to the Kentucky Derby for the first time.

Imagination, the even-money favorite who gave up the lead in mid-stretch, then battled back gamely, finished second, with Mike Smith getting a big run from 23-1 outsider E J Won the Cup before winding up 3 1/4 lengths back in third. Curlin’s Kiss was fourth, with pacesetter Tapalo fifth, Baffert’s other runner, Wynstock, sixth, McVay seventh, and Tessuto last in the field of eight 3-year-olds.

The Santa Anita Derby is a qualifying points race for the Kentucky Derby, with eligible horses receiving 100-50–25-15-10 points. Because Churchill Downs has banned Hall of Fame trainer Baffert since a drug positive for Medina Spirit in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, horses he trains are not eligible to earn qualifying points.

Stronghold ran the 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:49.98. Fractions were :22.72 for the opening quarter mile, :46.73 for the half, 1:10.90 for six furlongs, and 1:36.88 for the mile.

Stronghold, second choice in the wagering, paid $6.40 to win.

An emotional Fresu said in a post-race interview that he dedicated the win to a friend, fellow Italian jockey Stefano Cherchi, who died last week from injuries sustained in a riding accident in Australia.

“Stephan was an amazing guy and I want to dedicate this to him,” said Fresu, who came to the U.S. from Dubai one year ago at the urging of trainer Doug O’Neill. He’s had great success, finishing second in the Del Mar jockey standings last summer and currently second behind Juan Hernandez at the Santa Anita meet.

Like D’Amato, this will be Fresu’s first Kentucky Derby, too.

“It’s just a dream come true,” he said during an interview on FanDuel Tv. “The Kentucky Derby is one of the best races in the world. I was always watching it as a kid and it will be fun to be there.”

D’Amato had similar sentiments. “I’m going to take it all in and enjoy it,” the trainer said.

Stronghold was produced from the Jimmy Creed mare, Spectator, who died giving birth to the colt on Jan. 24, 2021. He is the fifth generation in the family nurtured by the Wallers. Spectator gave the Wallers their first graded stakes win, scoring in the G2 Sorrento Stakes for D’Amato in 2017.