Violence reigns in $750,000 CashCall Futurity

• Todd Pletcher has another Derby contender in Violence, who won the CashCall Futurity
• Pletcher already has the probable early Derby favorite in BC Juvenile champ Shanghai Bobby
• He's Had Enough came in a disappointing fifth in the CashCall

INGLEWOOD, Calif.--Nine years and 24 starters later, trainer Todd Pletcher finally won the Kentucky Derby when his Super Saver dusted the field at Churchill Downs in 2010.

There's many a slip, of course, twixt December and May, but if they ran the 2013 Derby today, Pletcher would be the odds-on choice for another sniff of the roses.

By virtue of a win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last month, the undefeated Shanghai Bobby had already given the Pletcher barn the pro tem favorite for the 139th running of the Derby. And Overanalyze made for a nice backup when that Pletcher trainee scored in the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct.

But talk about strength in numbers--a well-bred colt named Violence brought Pletcher from his East Coast lair Saturday and entertained the trainer to the tune of a 1 1/4-length win in the $750,000 CashCall Futurity at Betfair Hollywood Park.

In winning the CashCall, Violence outfooted a strong field of 10 rivals, including four from trainer Bob Baffert's formidable stable. Baffert, who has won the Derby three times but has been blanked with 11 starters since 2002, settled for third (Den's Legacy), sixth (Carving), ninth (Really Mr cq Greely) and last (Title Contender).

Another disappointment was He's Had Enough, who was second to Shanghai Bobby in the Breeders' Cup. Trained by Doug O'Neill, who won this year's Derby and Preakness with I'll Have Another, He's Had Enough didn't have the best of trips and finished fifth, beaten by nine lengths.

A couple of minutes before post time, an apparent substantial bet on Violence dropped the colt's odds from 2-1 to 4-5. He went off at 6-5 and paid $4.40 to win. Fury Kapcori, a 16-1 shot, finished second. The next two finishers, also longshots, were Den's Legacy and Oxbow.

Violence, now undefeated in three starts, ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.50 on Hollywood's synthetic track. Ridden by Javier Castellano, Violence was in fifth place, but not far behind the pace-setter, Fury Kapcori, after the opening half-mile. Castellano saved ground on the rail on the far turn, then came outside for the stretch run.

The winner collared Fury Kapcori in mid-stretch and won comfortably.

"The key to winning the race was being in a very good spot around the first turn," Castellano said. "You don't want to be too far back, particularly in a race for 2-year-olds."

This was Violence's first race around two turns, always a litmus test. Pletcher went slowly with the son of Medaglia d'Oro and Violent Beauty, resisting the temptation to run him in the Breeders' Cup. After Violence won his stakes debut by two lengths in the Nassau at Aqueduct in New York on Nov. 4, Pletcher made the decision to ship the horse to California.

"I had a lot of confidence in this colt," Castellano said. "He is so calm and handles himself very professionally. I think he is a special horse and I am really looking forward to big times." Pletcher said that Violence would probably run only twice before the Kentucky Derby, beginning in late February or early March.

The trainer sidestepped the question about whether this is his best Derby crop. "It's just a blessing going into next year with a solid group of young horses," Pletcher said.

As a yearling, Violence sold for $600,000. With his $375,000 purse in the CashCall, he has already earned $543,000 for his owner, Steven Marshall of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. Naming him came easy. "The dam was Violent Beauty," Marshall said. "And he looked like a bad-ass horse when we bought him."

With the Victory, Violence earned 10 points in the road to the 2013 Kentucky Derby standings.