Dialed In took a big step towards a start in the 2011 Kentucky Derby when he ran down the field in the final furlongs to win the Grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park. Dialed In is ridden by Julien Leparoux and trained by Nick Zito.
I loved Dialed In's deep closing maiden breaking score at Churchill Downs a while back but I thought that would be a difficult style to employ in today's Holy Bull given the strength of horses that were likely to be running out front early. None of that mattered as Dialed In once again dropped well back early and then made a huge run in the lane
It's easy to get carried away during Derby prep season, a time where every big performance seems to bring out excessive praise, but I think it's completely warranted in this instance. In my opinion, Dialed In's win today was better than anything I saw during last year's prep season. We'll have to wait for the chart to figure out how far back he actually was in the early stages but it had to be a good 10 to 15 lengths.
If I was impressed with his maiden performance I'm even more impressed with Dialed In's win in the Holy Bull. And this is a colt that should get better with distance.
The Derby isn't a great race to have a horse that will need to pass nineteen other horses in the final quarter mile but Dialed In certainly looks like he'll be a major player.
1st: Dialed In
2nd: Sweet Ducky
3rd: Gourmet Dinner