Kentucky Derby Maiden Watch: Highly Respected, Iconic Adventure post sharp wins

The final weekend in February produced a handful of promising three-year-old maiden winners at tracks across the country.

Since you never know when or where a Kentucky Derby (G1) contender might turn up, let’s recap two of the most noteworthy weekend winners:

Highly Respected

Contrary to his name, Highly Respected didn’t receive much wagering support when debuting in a six-furlong maiden special weight on Saturday at Aqueduct. The Chad Brown trainee was overlooked as the 7-1 third choice while squaring off against eight rivals.

But in the end, Highly Respected proved clearly best. With Manny Franco in the saddle, Highly Respected settled into second place early on, a couple of lengths behind quick fractions of :22.27 and :45.19. Then, when the real running began, Highly Respected gradually reeled in the pacesetter and edged away to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

Highly Respected reached the finish line in a respectable 1:09.69 over a good track that played fast throughout the afternoon. Owned by Klaravich Stables, Highly Respected is nominated to the Triple Crown, so don’t be surprised if this promising son of Florida Derby (G1) winner Dialed In winds up in a graded stakes this spring.

Iconic Adventure

The fourth time was the charm for Iconic Adventure. After finishing second, ninth, and third in his first three starts around one turn, the son of Ghostzapper relished stretching out around two turns for a 1 1/8-mile maiden special weight on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Iconic Adventure wasn’t in any hurry to get going under jockey Junior Alvarado, rating toward the back of the 10-horse field through slow splits of :24.46 and :49.54. But Iconic Adventure began to advance through six furlongs in 1:13.84, and down the homestretch he was resilient, wearing down the pace-tracking Magia Nera to win by a neck in 1:51.22.

A Godolphin homebred conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Iconic Adventure finished nicely down the homestretch (sprinting the final three furlongs in about :37 1/5) and beat a promising field including Road to the Kentucky Derby veteran Bourbon Heist. Although Iconic Adventure isn’t currently nominated to the Triple Crown, he could still be made a late nominee if he keeps progressing on his current promising trajectory.