With a tremendous late rally under Julien Leparoux, Dialed In closed from the clouds to defeat 60-1 shot Shackleford by a thrilling nose in the 60th running of the $1,000,000 Florida Derby (gr. I).
Devoid of early speed, Dialed In found himself some fifteen lengths off of the early pace set by Shackleford and To Honor and Serve. Arch Traveler and Flashpoint were right behind them, with Soldat fifth along the rail in a very good spot early on. Then came Bowman's Causeway and Stay Thirsty, with Dialed In far behind them.
The opening fractions were very quick, with Shackleford running a :46.35 half-mile. The positions remained virtually unchange until the far turn, when Dialed In began to fly past horses on the far outside. Turning for home, it was still Shackleford and To Honor and Serve, but they were being joined.
Dialed In was closing fast. To Honor and Serve was beginning to weaken. Amazingly, Shackleford was gamely hanging on to the lead! But with every stride, Dialed In reeled in the pacesetter. It appeared as though a tremendous upset was looming. But in the final few yards, Dialed In stuck his nose in front and kept it there, defeating Shackleford in a dramatic photo finish.
The final time was 1:50.07. To Honor and Serve hung on for fourth, although he was many lengths behind the top two. Flashpoint finished fourth. Disappointing was Soldat, who never menaced as the 3-2 favorite.
Dialed In is trained by Nick Zito and will definitely be one of the favorites in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) five weeks from now.
-Keelerman
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