Shock Santa Anita Derby win shakes up Kentucky Derby market

Honor AP (John Shirreffs/Mike Smith) shook up the market for September’s rescheduled Kentucky Derby by coming out on top in the $1 million Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby at the expense of odds-on favourite Authentic.

Honor AP was able to turn the form around with Authentic from their last meeting in March, with the favourite racing wide and caught up in a burn-up on the lead, allowing his rival to come surging past in the home straight.

"He ran great. It was a super effort," John Shirreffs, best known as the trainer of Zenyatta, told bloodhorse.com. "I'm just happy for everybody involved.

"We were happy with the way Honor AP was training for the race. We knew that he has tactical speed, and Mike can put him pretty much where he wants. On the backside, we hoped he would get comfortable to have a nice little kick in the end, and it all worked out well."

Honor AP was cut to 7-1 (from 20) for the Kentucky Derby on September 5, with the market headed by favourite Tiz The Law.

Authentic’s defeat capped a miserable few weeks for trainer Bob Baffert and his potential contenders for the Kentucky Derby.

First, Nadal was retired after sustaining a leg injury, while it was revealed that Charlatan, who could be stripped of his victory in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby due to a positive post-race sample, is set to be sidelined with an injury for at least six weeks.

"I was worried about [Authentic] having the outside post," Baffert said.

"He got parked wide, which you don't want to see, and he got tired at the end after doing some heavy lifting. But you have to give credit to the winner. He ran a good race, and he's a good horse.

"Authentic better come out of this race good. I'm running low on horses."

Sol Kumin, co-owner of Authentic and Charlatan, added: "It's a tough game. When you start feeling good, you get knocked down. It's nothing major with Charlatan, but 45 days doesn't mean they run in 45 days.

“A lot of things went wrong today. Bob's [Classic] hand doesn't look the same now."

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