Make It Big handles stretch-out in Springboard Mile

The 13-10 favorite after capturing both prior starts at his Gulfstream Park base, the Saffie Joseph trainee was reserved just off a contested pace here. Slow-starting Bye Bye Bobby rushed up to join the fray through an opening quarter in :24.77, then took the lead through a half in :49.22, only to fade on the far turn.

Pace-pressing Concept struck the front, but found himself tackled immediately by Osbourne passing the six-furlong mark in 1:14.94. The two battled to the top of the lane, when Osbourne put Concept away.

By that point, Make It Big was rolling up on the outside. Under new rider Jose Ortiz, the dark bay engaged a stubborn Osbourne down the stretch. Make It Big gradually asserted by a half-length while completing the fast-track mile in 1:41.23.

Osbourne picked up four Derby points for his hard-trying second. The respective third and fourth, Concept and Classic Moment, were ineligible for points because they raced on the medication Lasix. Next came Rowdy Rascal, Revenir, and Bye Bye Bobby. Rich Strike and Shamayim were scratched.

Now a perfect 3-for-3, Make It Big has bankrolled $303,828. He debuted with a smashing 8 1/2-length wire job and followed up with a stalk-and-pounce score in the Oct. 30 Juvenile Sprint, both at seven furlongs versus fellow Florida-breds. Thus the Springboard Mile marked his first try in open company as well as over a route.

Make It Big was bred by SHH Ventures and sold to his current connections for $120,000 at the OBS Spring Sale. From the first crop of Neolithic (a son of Harlan’s Holiday), he is out of the Congrats mare Ruby on My Mind.