Mr. Speaker Wins Lexington Stakes, Skips Derby

Mr. Speaker wins the 2014 Coolmore Lexington Stakes but does not plan on running in the Derby: The 2014 Coolmore Lexington Stakes held at Keenland is often called the “Last Chance Derby,” because it is one of the last chances for horses to try to gain points on the road towards the Kentucky Derby. It was Mr. Speaker that ended up taking the win and points towards this year’s Derby on Saturday, April 19, 2014.

Mr. Speaker was ridden by jockey Jose Lezcano and earned a payout of $120,000 in the Lexington Stakes. Divine Oath came in second place with jockey Javier Castellano and Supermonic came in third place with jockey Joel Rosario. Ami’s Holiday and jockey Robby Albarado came in fourth place rounding out the top slots.

The grade 3 Coolmore Lexington Stakes is a race for 3-year-olds running at 1 1/16 miles on the Keenland poly track. Although Mr. Speaker earned 10 points towards the Kentucky Derby, he will stay out of the race and will not be competing in the Triple Crown. Mr. Speaker is trained by Shug McGaughey and was able to break away from the pack in the stretch and took a clean win coming in at 4 lengths ahead of the second place contender and posting a time of 1:44.18.

McGaughey said of Lezcano and Mr. Speaker, “I thought Jose rode a great race on him…He had him in the slot the whole way there and was just kind of waiting.”

McGaughey and team still plan on racing Mr. Speaker this year, perhaps in July but there are no plans for Mr. Speaker to run in the upcoming Derby.

Coolmore Lexington Stakes 2014 Results & Payouts:
1 Mr Speaker and Jose Lezcano $6.20 to Win/$3.40 to Place/$2.40 to Show
6 Divine Oath and Javier Castellano $3.80 to Place/$2.80 to Show
10 Supermonic and Joel Rosario $3.00 to Show
Also ran: 7 – Ami’s Holiday , 2 – Solitary Ranger , 4 – Poker Player , 5 – Z Lucky , 8 – Ride Away
Scratched horses: Global Strike (Trainer) , Dynamic Impact (Trainer) , Morning Calm (Trainer)

2014 Coolmore Lexington Stakes Mr. Speaker Replay: