Tappan Street wins Florida Derby, setting up potential redemption story for famed rider

It’s been six years since jockey Luis Saez finished first aboard Maximum Security in the Kentucky Derby.

Six years since Saez stood and waited anxiously while stewards spent 20 minutes reviewing video of the race.

Six years since they disqualified Maximum Security and placed him 17th for interfering with another horse.

The 32-year-old Panamanian jockey – one of the nation’s premier riders – wondered if he would ever get another chance to win his first Derby for real, officially.

Standing inside the winner’s circle after piloting Tappan Street to victory in the $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, Saez sensed the real possibility that the colt could be his salvation – his redemption.

“It would be sweet,” Saez said.

Tappan Street stamped himself as a top contender to win the Run for the Roses on May 3 at Churchill Downs with a 1 ¼-length triumph over 8-5 favorite Sovereignty.

“The whole way, I had a lot of horse,” Saez said. “I had a lot of confidence the whole way. When he got to the top of the stretch, I knew it was going to be tough to catch him. Everything came out perfect.”

The Florida Derby has produced 25 winners of the Kentucky Derby and Tappan Street, a lightly raced colt with only three career races under his belt, could be the next.

“We have five weeks (to the Kentucky Derby),” said winning trainer Brad Cox. “This was a step forward today.”

Said Elliott Walden, president and racing manager of WinStar Farm, one of the colt’s owners: “I think he’s going to very live horse going into the Kentucky Derby.”

Tappan Street, who sold at auction for $1 million as a yearling, hadn’t raced even once until Dec. 28 when he made his debut, defeating a group of maidens at Gulfstream Park by just under two lengths. One month later, he returned with a second-place finish in the Holy Bull Stakes. The Florida Derby marked only his third start.

“Anytime you have a young horse like this and you give them eight weeks between starts, it’s always a concern,” Cox said. “But this is a very smart horse. He’s intelligent.”

Starting from Post No. 9 in the field of 10, Tappan Street broke well, allowing Saez to guide him into a close stalking position. Sovereignty, who broke to his outside, immediately took up the chase, two lengths behind Tappan Street.

But Tappan Street never allowed Sovereignty to go past.

“I saw him (Sovereignty) and I let my horse go a little more, and he gave me a good turn of foot,” Saez said.

Sovereignty, coming off a victory in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, finished well enough to likely earn a trip to Churchill for the Kentucky Derby.

“I don’t think the fact that he didn’t win doesn’t mean he didn’t run a good race,” said his trainer, Bill Mott. “This doesn’t have to be his best race. Sometimes you can look at it and say, maybe that’s a good thing. You don’t want their best race before the big event (Kentucky Derby).”

Even third-place finisher Neoequos could make a case for a trip to Kentucky.

“He ran a huge race,” jockey Edgard Zayas said of Neoequos, who finished 2 ¾ lengths behind Sovereignty.

For Saez, though, a Kentucky Derby would carry extra meaning.

“It would be the best,” Saez said. “The Kentucky Derby for us is going to be everything.”