2007 Tampa Bay Derby - Street Sense

James B. Tafel's 2006 juvenile champion Street Sense returned to action in gutsy style Saturday when he defeated 7-10 favorite Any Given Saturday by a nose in a tremendous finish to the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. III).

The winning time of 1:43.11 broke the track record for 1 1/16 miles by .02 seconds.

With regular rider Calvin Borel aboard, the stalking Street Sense crept up along the rail as Any Given Saturday, under John Velazquez. for trainer Todd Pletcher, took the lead in the lane on the outside. The two battled head-and-head to the wire with some brushing in close quarters as Street Sense gained a short advantage inside the eighth pole. Any Given Saturday refused to yield, fighting back to even terms while coming up just short in a valiant effort from both colts.

"He's been off for so long, four and a half months," Borel noted. "We had to start somewhere, and this seemed like the best place to start. Believe you me, he's 20 lengths better than he ran today."

Carl Nafzger trains Street Sense, who was last seen making a laugher of last fall's Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), winning by 10 lengths at Churchill Downs. That capped a season in which the Kentucky homebred son of Street Cry--Bedazzle (Dixieland Band) won two of five starts and was a clear-cut Eclipse Award winner as the nation's best 2-year-old male after his dazzling Breeders' Cup performance.

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