Real Story Tells It Like It Is In The G3 American Derby

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL –  Real Story was the real deal in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 American Derby Stakes at Arlington Park. This was the first stakes win for the three-year-old son of Fast Bullet and his second consecutive victory.

From the start, it was clear that Real Story wanted the early lead as he immediately put several lengths between himself and the rest of the field. Tap Daddy was the closest contender, followed by Ezmosh and the rest of the drawn out field. Real Story had no issues maintaining his early lead and set comfortable fractions of :23.25, :47.45, and 1:11.45. Into the second turn, it was pretty clear that Real Story was going to be the best of the day as he continued to put distance between himself and everyone else. Real Story ended up cruising to victory by a comfortable 1 3/4 lengths with hardly any late urging by jockey Joe Bravo

In the race for second, it was the late runners that proved to be best. As they entered the second turn, it was Dubby Dubbie that made the first strong move when he ducked inside and shot up into second along the rail. Just seconds after Dubby Dubbie made his inside move, the 8-5 morning line favorite Captivating Moon made a similar move on the outside with Pont Du Gard set between the two. The trio battled hard for second place with Captivating Moon just getting the edge over Dubby Dubbie.

“The plan was just don’t fight with him,” said Correas of Bravo’s ride. “We knew he was going to go to the lead; there was no speed. The only question was if he would relax enough to go a mile-and-an-eighth. He’s shown since he was a baby that he was a very good horse that needed time to mature and put it all together.”

Real Story returned $16.80 to win, $6.60 to place, and $4.20 to show. Captivating Moon brought back $3.00 to place and $2.20 to show, while Dubby Dubie paid $3.60 to show.