Goldencents colt comes up huge in $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2)
March 23, 2019
By My Standards earned a 97 Beyer, fastest in the Louisiana Derby in 10 years | Scott Serio/ESW
By My Standards thrust himself squarely into the Kentucky Derby (G1) picture with a hard-fought victory in Saturday’s $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds. He earned a 97 Beyer for the performance, marking the fourth fastest by a 3-year-old in 2019 and the fastest Louisiana Derby in 10 years.
The Goldencents colt, who broke his maiden by a convincing 4 ¼-lengths on Feb. 19, earned 100 points on the Road to Kentucky Derby, putting him atop the list and basically assuring himself a spot in the starting gate for the May 4th Run of the Roses.
“We’ve had confidence in this horse all along,” said trainer Bret Calhoun. “He’s been a different horse since his maiden win. He figured out how to win. We’re excited and ready to get him on the road to Churchill.”
Goldencents, last year’s #1 First-Crop Sire of winners, leads all Second-Crop Sires this year by both earnings and winners.
Hustled out of the gate by Gabriel Saez, By My Standards found a very good spot along the rail a couple lengths off the pace set by Lemniscate. Saez held his position until upper stretch, when he split horses to go head-to-head with Spinoff, who had taken over from the early leader. That duo pulled away from the field late, with By My Standards asserting himself in the final strides to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:49.53 on the fast main track.
“What can I say? Perfect trip right off the bat,” Saez said. “He broke right on top again, and I just kind of sat and saved as much horse as I can. When it was time to get running, it opened up perfectly fine for me on the rail, and he got the job done when I asked him to do it.”
By My Standards is now 2-2-1 in five starts and has earned $653,710 after Saturday’s payday. He is owned by Allied Racing Stable, LLC, which purchased the colt through adviser Josh Stevens as a 2-year-old for $150,000 at the 2018 OBS Spring Sale.
Bred in Kentucky by Don Ladd, By My Standards is out of two-time stakes winner A Jealous Woman.