Derby City Distaff 2021 Results: Gamine wins but doesn't impress

Race 7 on the card on paper is one of the easiest to bet if you are simply looking for a winner. The Bob Baffert trained Gamine is an insanely short price and that scared away two of our team. Our turf-man went with Sconsin and our in-house handicapper went with Bell's the One. Our editor however has never not tipped Gamine since she blew away the competition at Belmont in the Grade I Belmont last year and whilst the price is too short - no-one in this field was in her class in his opinion.

The only slight concern going in was her only defeat coming in was under the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs in the Kentucky Oaks. The logical explanation for that loss was the distance and going two turns but could it be she didn't like the surface?

Breaking from the gate Gamine completely stumbled and took three or for strides before getting up to speed but still made it to the lead. She cruised through the first half mile with an extremely slow pace as Hibiscus Punch started to challenge her around the turn. Then came Sconsin who got right up to Gamine's side and looked like she had the chance to pull off the big upset. Gamine though is class and over the final furlong she went clear to take the Derby City Distaff.

John Velazquez said she slipped out of the gate and Bob Baffert speaking after the race reminded us that this was her first run in front of fans. He says she has a big summer ahead of her so I'm expecting to see a lot more of Gamine over the next few months - likely with another Breeders' Cup shot in November. She may not have looked like a 1-5 shot but a bad start and winning a Grade I race by several lengths isn't a bad thing...

Gamine paid out $2.40 for the win.

*The Kentucky Derby is coming up later this Saturday late-afternoon/early evening and you can bet on the race and get all our views on the 19 horses set to run via our Derby hub-page below...