Prayer for Relief wires Super Derby

Zayat Stables' PRAYER FOR RELIEF (Jump Start) uncharacteristically took

command of the

Super

Derby (G2) out of the gate on Saturday and proceeded to lead all the way to

the wire at Louisiana Downs.

Jockey Rafael Bejarano slowed things way down on the pacesetter, letting the

sophomore crawl through splits of :24 2/5, :50 1/5, 1:15 2/5 and 1:40. Prayer

for Relief turned on the afterburners in the stretch, though, to finish 1 1/8

miles on the fast main track in 1:52 1/5 for trainer Bob Baffert. The 6-5

favorite rewarded his many backers with payouts of $4.40, $3.20 and $3.20.

Awesome Bet (Awesome Again) and Populist Politics (Don't Get Mad) raced in

midpack down the backstretch before swinging wide around the turn to make a go

at the leader. The pair looked to threaten for a brief moment before Bejarano

let out another notch and Prayer for Relief easily shook loose. It was nip/tuck

on the line between the duo, with Awesome Bet just getting his nose down before

Populist Politics.

Alternation (Distorted Humor) followed those two by 1 1/2 lengths, with Mr.

Woodrow (Wando), Malibu Glow (Malibu Moon), Trubs (First Samurai), Meistersinger

(Yes It's True) and G. W.'s d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) completing the order of

finish.

Prayer for Relief is now three-for-three on conventional dirt tracks after

taking the Iowa Derby (G2) at Prairie Meadows and the West Virginia Derby (G2)

at Mountaineer Park. Before those two, the dark bay colt raced on the synthetic

surfaces in California, breaking his maiden and running second in the Real Quiet

S. last season at Hollywood Park. He opened his sophomore campaign back at the

Inglewood, California, venue, taking an allowance, before Baffert began

successfully shipping him around the country.

Prayer for Relief now owns an 8-5-1-0 career mark and the $300,000 winner's

share of the $500,000 Super Derby purse boosted his earnings to $955,500.

Bred in Kentucky by G. R. Aschinger, Prayer for Relief RNA'd at $39,000 as a

Keeneland November weanling before selling for $80,000 at the 2009 Keeneland

September Yearling Sale. He is out of multiple stakes winner Sparklin Lil (Mr.

Sparkles) and is a half-brother to dual stakes victor Twin Sparks (Twining), the

unraced juvenile Conundrum (Kitalpha), an unnamed yearling colt by Kitalpha and

a 2011 colt by that same sire.

This is the same female family as 1985 Vosburgh S. (G1) hero Another Reef

(Plum Bold).