Perfect Drive New Factor in Arkansas Derby Picture

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

On Saturday afternoon, October 24, trainer Steve Hobby saddled a speedy dark bay colt named Perfect Drive to win impressively in starter-allowance company at Keeneland and become the newest name in anticipation of the three-year-old class due in action for the 2010 live season at Oaklawn, beginning January 15.

Racing in the silks of Arkansas State Racing Commissioner, Alex Lieblong, and his wife, JoAnn, Perfect Drive sped away from the field and had plenty left to hold off the challenge of his highly-regarded challenger and heavily favored Workin for Hops.  Jockey Jesus Castanon replaced Fernando Jara as the rider the Hobby, but the change seemed to matter little to the speedy colt.

Perfect Drive is a son of Purge whose claim to fame at Oaklawn was as the pacesetter for the famed Smarty Jones in the Rebel Stakes, finishing second.  He later tried the same tactics in the Arkansas Derby, but finished off the board.  He later had a successful career, winning both the Peter Pan and Jim Dandy Stakes in New York.  Perfect Drive is his first winner as a stallion.

Bred in Kentucky by the owners, Perfect Drive has now won two of his three starts, but appears to be getting stronger with distance.  His win at Keeneland was at six-and-a-half furlongs.  Hobby is in search of a Derby contender and nearly pulled off an important win when he sent Isabull to a second place finish in the inaugural running of the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn in 2008.  Isabull also ran in the Lieblong silks, a factor which may lend a hint at the schedule Hobby will pursue with Perfect Drive once he arrives for the 2010 season.  The $100,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, at one mile, will be the feature on the Martin Luther King holiday card at Oaklawn, Monday, January 18, 2010. 

Trainer Hobby also has a standout two-year-old filly, Tiz Miz Slew, who finished second in the Arlington-Washington Lassie at Arlington this summer.