Mayor Marv leads all the way in Turf Paradise Derby

Michael Pegram's homebred MAYOR MARV (Distorted Humor) needed six starts to

break his maiden, finally graduating on January 17 at Santa Anita, but he needed

no prepping for his first stakes victory, drawing off to a convincing 4

1/2-length score while making his stakes debut in Saturday's $100,000

Turf

Paradise Derby. Trained by Bob Baffert, the three-year-old colt flashed to

the front under David Flores and led wire to wire, completing 1 1/16 miles in

1:43 1/5 over the fast Turf Paradise track.

The chestnut, who established splits in :23 3/5, :48 2/5, 1:12 2/5 and 1:36

4/5, paid $4, $2.40 and $2.10 as the even-money favorite in the

seven-horse field. Local hero Hidden Bounty (Hidden City), who brought a

two-race stakes winning streak into the race and left the gate as the 9-5 second

choice, made a run at the winner on the far turn but proved no match after

straightening into the stretch. He still easily held the place by 5 1/4 lengths

and returned $2.60 and $2.40. The salty exacta totaled $12.60. Just Jebicah

(Full Mandate) finished third at 26-1 and gave back $6. The trifecta yielded

$67.80, and the 5-6-7-4 superfecta, with the 38-1 Lesson in Deceit (Roaring

Fever) in fourth, was worth $458.20.

Pauper's Prize (Repent), Albacore Bob (Dance Master) and French Hit (Top Hit)

came next under the wire.

Out of the stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed Miss Wineshine (Wolf Power [SAf]), the

Kentucky-bred Mayor Marv has a pair of younger half-siblings by Roman Ruler, an

unnamed juvenile filly and an unnamed yearling colt. Miss Wineshine is herself a

full sister to Delta Wolf (Wolf Power [SAf]), a six-times stakes hero in the Midwest who

earned more than $400,000.

Mayor Marv, who led wire to wire in his maiden score, had finished second to

subsequent to Robert B. Lewis (G2) runner-up Papa Clem (Smart Strike) two

starts previously and second to next-out San Rafael S. (G3) winner The Pamplemousse (Kafwain)

in his start before that. The sophomore now sports a mark of 7-2-3-1, $119,208.