COLLINSVILLE — Florent Geroux was prepared for any possible scenario.
The veteran jockey calmly took the easiest possible route in guiding Disco Time to a 5 1/2-length win in the $250,000 St. Louis Derby on Friday afternoon.
Disco Time, racing for the first time in 244 days, bolted to the lead and never looked back to record a gate-to-wire triumph in the 1 1/16-mile test.
The race was part of the 100th anniversary of Fairmount Park, which now goes by the name of Fairmount Park Racing and Casino.
The track is holding a century celebration this weekend with pony rides for kids and plenty of giveaways for the adults. It runs through Saturday.
One of the famous Clydesdale horses was there to pose for pictures Friday.
Geroux, who was a dominant rider in France before achieving major success in the United States, came in from his current base at Churchill Downs just to ride Disco Time.
Despite his front-running success, Geroux was prepared to come from just off the pace if necessary.
The 3-year-colt simply took command from the opening strides.
“It’s not always this easy,” Geroux said.
Geroux would have a hard time convincing the festive crowd of 3,200 of that fact.
“If he breaks not so fast, we were still prepared to come off (the pace),” Geroux said. “He broke very sharp for me and that was pretty much it.”
Disco Time, who remained unbeaten at 4-for-4 in his career, reeled off front-running fractions of 23.87, 47.42 and 111.51 seconds before cruising home in 1:43.87.
The Kentucky bred went off at even money and paid $4.20 to win. Hypnus was second followed by Excite.
Disco Time is trained by Brad Cox, who claimed the Eclipse Award for the nation’s top trainer in 2020 and 2021. His son, Bryson, came up to handle the horse, which was competing for the first time since Jan. 18.
Ironically, Disco Time had trouble getting out of the gate in the first three races of his career. He started 10th in the Lecompte Stakes at Fair Grounds outside of New Orleans before charging down the lane to win by a neck.
“He wasn’t a good gate horse in his first three starts,” Bryson Cox said. “We wanted to be the aggressor and we took it to everybody the first turn. Great trip and great ride.”
Disco Time came out as though he wanted to shake off the rust.
Bryson Cox said his father first thought that Disco Time was a Kentucky Derby contender.
But something happened after or during the Lecompte win.
“He had a minor setback,” Bryson Cox said. “So we decided to give him the time to (recover) this summer. There was no point in pressing it. We waited, took our time with him. He’d been breezing well and he turned in a great effort today.”
Disco Time earned $150,000 for Juddmonte Farm and owner Fahad Bin Khalid.
“The horse did it all, put me in a great spot and took control of the race,” Geroux said.
Local favorite Spellmaker, a maiden trained by Heather Irion, finished a credible fifth in the eight-horse field. Mickswager was fourth.
The track took in a handle of $1.5 million, largest in the history of the event.
Haste won the first Fairmount Derby in 1926. This was the fifth successive running of the race, which has had several years breaks throughout the years. There was no Fairmount Derby from 2007 to 2020.
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Steve Overbey | Post-Dispatch
High school sports reporter
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