Luck of the Irish

I swear I did not plan things this way, but now that I look at things, I find it neat that the day I decide to write about Lookin at Lucky it happens to be St. Patricks Day, which of course has to do with the Irish, which are considered, "lucky." Anyhow, lets get to the topic at hand.

After being shuffled to the bottom of the deck, all but forgotten, Lookin at Lucky returned, giving a powerful reminder to the racing nation as to why he is the number one colt in America. The champion colt was last seen starting in the Cash Call Futurity, where he won his fifth race of six. That race capped a stellar season that led to his crowning of 2yr old Champion Colt.

Normally champions don't make a whole lot of changes to their game, but in this case, the connections decided the colt would sport blinkers in his 2010 season. The connections felt Looking at Lucky lacked that "killer instinct" and would begin to gear himself down after he made the lead. The decision to use blinkers was made in an attempt to keep Lucky focused down the stretch, that way he would keep running instead of gearing down.

Another significant decision was made when the connections of Lookin at Luck decided to take a road trip to Arkansas, to run in the Rebel Stakes, which is run over conventional dirt and not synthetics. This would be Lookin at Lucky's first ever race away from California, his first race over dirt, his first start in blinkers, and his first start as a 3yr old. If all the "firsts" about Lookin at Lucky didn't make you skeptical, the fact that he would be facing a stellar field, that included local star Dublin, and Lucky's very own rival, Noble's Promise might just make one think that this was too much to soon for the champion.

During the race, Lookin at Lucky's chances at winning seemed to wane by the second. After a chain reaction, caused by Cardiff Giant, Lookin at Lucky had a slow beginning. However the colt found his stride fairly quickly and settled on the rail about seven lengths from the leaders. Corey Nakatani, aboard Dublin, seemed to notice this and began to urge Dublin to pick up the pace, in an attempt to box Garret Gomez and his champion colt in. Gomez, realizing Nakatani's plan asked Lucky to keep pace with Dublin, but he had realized the plan too late, and Dublin quickly slid in front of Lucky.

Lookin at Lucky was unprepared for Dublin to move in front and didn't stop his momentum once the Lukas trainee slid over, causing them to clip heels. Lookin at Lucky responed by jumping straight up in the air. Somehow the colt managed to get back into stride, and after a few cautionary moments, Gomez and his mount continued their advance.

By this time the field was rounding the far turn, and Lucky was behind a wall of horse. Gomez swung his colt wide, while both Dublin and Noble's Promise began to separate themselves from the field. With a furlong left to go Noble's Promise had gained the lead, and looked like he was going on to an easy victory, but Lookin at Lucky was still charging hard in the center of the track. As they neared the wire, Lookin at Lucky proved exactly why he was a champion, wearing down Noble's Promise in the shadow of the wire. Lookin at Lucky had won.

Because of this performance Lookin at Lucky regained his spot atop my Derby list. He overcame much adversity and now has no questions leading up to the Kentucky Derby. His only loss was by the slim margin of a head. Both before and after that performance he has done nothing wrong. He deserves to be number one, he deserves to be back on top.