Queen's Plate hopeful Derzkii makes his 2021 debut June 20 in the Woodstock Stakes at Woodbine, traditionally an early prep toward Canada's most famous horse race.
An open six-furlong stakes race for 3-year-olds, the Woodstock also drew three stakes-winning U.S. invaders—Chasing Artie, Outadore, and Jaxon Traveler.
Owned by Fieldstone Farms and trained by Carlos Grant, Derzkii, a two-time winner from six starts, closed out his 2-year-old campaign with back-to-back scores last fall.
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Grant saw potential in the 3-year-old son of Frac Daddy early but waited until after the dark bay's first race to see if his confidence was warranted.
"Some of them will fool you, so you just have to wait until they start racing. When he was a yearling, he'd be running around the paddock like a madman. There would be ice and everything in the paddock, and he'd be going like a madman. I always told my wife and my brother-in-law, 'He's a freak.' Nothing will faze him. That's what you want in a horse.
"He just can't stand it when you leave him in his stall. I have to train him first in the morning and when he comes off the track, he's still full of energy. He's got no shortage of energy. He's a beautiful horse to be around."
After a third, fourth, fifth, and second to begin his career, Derzkii, bred in Ontario by Megan Allan and Lesley Kraus, hit his best stride in his past two performances.
Grant was thoroughly pleased with his rookie campaign.
"He had a beautiful year. He came out of all the races very happy, and he showed us all what he could do out there. I usually give my horses three days off, depending on how they come out of the race, but he was ready and raring to go again the day after his races. During his training, I realized he wanted to go further. After every work, I would say, 'This guy wants to go long.' In his third start, I noticed him looking around, so we put the blinkers on. We made that adjustment and that was all he needed."
This will be the second stakes appearance for Derzkii, who finished fourth in the 2020 Simcoe Stakes.
His connections are hoping it's the start of even bigger things to come.
"I dream about it (Queen's Plate) every day, every single minute," said Grant. "Racing in the Plate would be a dream come true. We have to keep our fingers crossed."
Derzkii figures to be a mid-priced runner in the betting behind the three U.S. invaders, all of whom are in sharp form, having won stakes this year at age 3.
Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Chasing Artie captured the Palisades Turf Sprint Stakes at Keeneland, Breeze Easy's Outadore the Animal Kingdom Stakes at Turfway Park on synthetic, and West Point Thoroughbreds and Marvin Delfiner's Jaxon Traveler the Bachelor Stakes on dirt at Oaklawn Park. Wesley Ward trains both Chasing Artie and Outadore, while Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen conditions Jaxon Traveler. The latter does not have any experience racing over a synthetic surface such as the Tapeta at Woodbine.
Other entrants include Master Spy, the multiple stakes-placed Sky's Not Falling, and Saturday George, who broke his maiden on turf last fall at Woodbine.
Woodbine, Sunday, June 20, 2021, Race 10Entries: Woodstock S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Chasing Artie (KY) Kazushi Kimura 122 Wesley A. Ward 4/1 2 2Outadore (KY) Justin Stein 122 Wesley A. Ward 2/1 3 3Saturday George (ON) David Moran 118 Michael P. De Paulo 20/1 4 4Jaxon Traveler (MD) Luis Contreras 124 Steven M. Asmussen 8/5 5 5Sky's Not Falling (MD) Gary Boulanger 120 Michael J. Trombetta 6/1 6 6Derzkii (ON) Emma-Jayne Wilson 118 Carlos Grant 12/1 7 7Master Spy (ON) Patrick Husbands 122 Mark E. Casse 10/1
