Kentucky Derby Competition profile: Shoplifted

Experience paid off for Shoplifted at the 400,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes on December 15.  Although he wasn't favored, Shoplifted made a tenacious rally the Remington Park homestretch to win the one-mile occasion by a head.

The success marked a significant rally for Shoplifted and cemented the colt's status as a competition on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. 

A boy of Into Mischiefout of this Yes It's True mare Shopit, Shoplifted revealed potential throughout the summer at Saratoga, where he struck his maiden impressively and rallied to finish second at the Hopeful Stakes (G1).

However, when Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen attempted to elongate Shoplifted out at distance, initial results were disappointing.  Shoplifted flattened out if seeking to rally at the 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita, then faltered badly from the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), over precisely the same track and distance, to complete a distant seventh.

Therefore a question arose.  Did Shoplifted, together with his speed-oriented pedigree, lack the stamina to become aggressive in a two-turn stakes race?  Or did he just dislike the profound and exhausting main track at Santa Anita?  This was the latter belief that took about credence when Shoplifted rallied to success from the Springboard Mile.

By every metric Shoplifted ran a solid race at Remington Park.  Reserved in sixth place by jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., the colt gradually advanced broad and sprinted the final quarter-mile from:24 2/5 to border favored Answer In throughout the climax of a prolonged stretch battle.

Owned by Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stables and LNJ Foxwoods, Shoplifted has been a highly regarded prospect.  He sold for $525,000 as a yearling and also for $800,000 as a 2-year-old in training, and as Santana revealed after the race"I understood he could be something special if he broke his maiden at Saratoga."

It is still potential Shoplifted's pedigree will prove problematic about the Road to the Kentucky Derby.  His sire and damsire were equally high-class sprinters that have tended to sire sprinters and milers at stud.

But given the way Shoplifted completed from the Springboard Mile--powerfully and with determination--he may only be capable of outrunning his pedigree