From $10,000 Claimer To The Richest 3-year-old Filly Sprint

It has been a while since I wrote about racing, but this is just too cool. Can anyone tell me where the richest sprint race for 3-year-old fillies is held? Saratoga? No. Del Mar? Nope. Churchill Downs? Not even close. The richest race is the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks. It isn't graded yet, but it will be.

Next question. Before last night, would anyone really have known who Derwin's Star is? I doubt it. Those really in the know could tell you she set the pace in the Delaware Oaks against Blind Luck back in July, but that's it. After last night, the 3-year-old chesnut filly by Wildcat Heir is probably on the radar of a few more people.

She was a $15,000 purchase in 2007 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. From there she went on to rather inauspicious beginnings. You could have picked her up for a $10,000 tag as recently as last November. Trainer Steve Klesaris and Puglisi Racing picked her up privately shortly thereafter.

After her win, Klesaris called Derwin's Star an overachiever and stated he thought she had to be one of the top fillies in the country. Her plans for the future are not set quite yet.


The fact remains, she held the lead on Blind Luck (who is the top 3-year-old filly in the country) for close to a mile and held on for third against her. Then she managed to shake off clunker on the synthetic at Woodbine to win at Charles Town. She beat some solid sprinters in the likes of Beyondallboundaries, Belle of the Halls and CC's Pal. She also manages brisk fractions for the Charles Town surface of 23, 46 3/5, 1:10 4/5 and finishing out the 7-furlongs in 1:24 3/5.

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche was aboard for the win. He seems to be the upset jockey of record these days at Charles Town. He won the inaugural Charles Town Classic last year at the oval and now added this win to his resume on the 4.70-1 winner.

Klesaris was rather muted about the next race on Derwin's Star's calendar, but where do you go from here? Only in horse racing, right? From $10,000 claimer to Breeders' Cup F&M Sprint winner? Does a horse racing story get better than that? She is on my short-list for a feel good story for 2010.