Tappan Street made the leap and won the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park

The Into Mischief colt, Tappan Street, defeated the favorite Sovereignty by 1 1/2 lengths, with Panamanian jockey Luiz Sáez in the saddle

Tappan Street was the dominant winner of the Florida Derby / ADAM COGLIANESE

HALLANDALE BEACH, Florida (Special for Turf Diario).- Owned by WinStar Farm LLC, CHC Inc., and Cold Press Racing, Tappan Street took a significant step forward in his path to the Triple Crown, claiming a strong victory by 1 1/4 lengths in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1), held last Saturday at Gulfstream Park with a $1 million prize.

After finishing second in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) on February 1st, Tappan Street was kept out of the Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) on March 1st at Gulfstream, with the goal of aiming directly for the 74th edition of this prestigious 1800-meter classic, one of the major prep races for the Kentucky Derby.

The winners of the Curlin Florida Derby have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby 25 times, contributing to a total of 60 victories in Triple Crown races. With his win, Tappan Street secured his spot in the Derby starting gate, earning 100 points.

Tappan Street had debuted successfully on December 28th at this same track but lost his unbeaten record in the Holy Bull Stakes, so he started Saturday's race as the second choice in the betting (2-1), just behind Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the winner of the Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes and the race favorite with a 8-5 odds.

"There’s no question this is a huge step forward. His numbers in the first two races were very good, and I felt that the two months leading up to the Florida Derby would really help him take a leap in quality,” said Brad Cox, Tappan Street's trainer.

From post 9, just inside of Sovereignty's position, Tappan Street broke quickly and settled into an ideal spot, closely following Madaket Road (Quality Road), with Neoequos (Nelithic) and Indecisiveness (Decisive Moment) also in the mix. Under the experienced Mike Smith, Madaket Road set fractions of 23.37 for 400 meters and 47.37 for 800 meters. On the final turn, Neoequos moved up on the outside, while Indecisiveness faded, and Tappan Street began his move with Luis Sáez, followed closely by Sovereignty, who had managed to clear some traffic.

“Giving a young horse eight weeks between races is always a challenge, but he’s a very smart animal,” Cox explained. “I thought he’d break well based on his training, and he did. That put him in a good position to win.”

As Neoequos passed Madaket Road in the stretch, Tappan Street engaged him and quickly took control, surging ahead to claim his first graded stakes victory. Sovereignty also made a late charge to finish second, with Luis Sáez aboard. Neoequos completed the trifecta, finishing 1 1/2 lengths behind the winner.

“Luis has had a great sense of the horse since his debut win and even after the Holy Bull. He’s always had confidence in him, and everything went perfectly today,” Cox added.

Sáez was also confident in his mount's tactical position, which he felt would make it difficult for Sovereignty to get past him.

“He traveled very comfortably today. I saw Sovereignty and at that point, I asked for a bit more from mine, and he responded with great acceleration. Once we hit the stretch, I knew it was going to be very hard for anyone to pass us,” said the Panamanian jockey. “From the start, I had confidence in him. I knew in the stretch he was going to give me that final burst, as he always does.”

Sovereignty, who had been eighth early in the race, made a strong move from the middle of the pack and advanced in the final turn, but was unable to catch the winner.

"He ran well, had a good trip. He lost some ground on the first turn, but then he got into a good position," explained Bill Mott, Sovereignty's Hall of Fame trainer. “[Franco] said the track got to him a couple of times, around the 600-meter and 500-meter marks. He felt like he was losing traction, had to regroup, and it happened again. But the winner was better, he ran a good race.”

Mott also noted that the Florida Derby didn't need to be Sovereignty's best performance at this stage.

“Sometimes, it’s good for a horse not to peak before the big race. This was an important test, but the key thing is that he’s progressing, and we can expect more going forward,” the trainer added.

Meanwhile, Disrupter (Gun Runner), trained by another Hall of Famer, Todd Pletcher, aimed for a record ninth win in the Curlin Florida Derby for his trainer but could only finish fifth after starting from the last position. Madaket Road faded to fourth, 1 1/2 lengths behind Neoequos.

Tappan Street completed the 1800 meters in 1m49.27 and now has his sights set on Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby.

“We have five weeks. The first thing is to make sure he comes out of the race well,” Cox said. “The plan is to send him to Churchill Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully, he stays in good shape, and we can move forward smoothly. I think this race will help him a lot.”