Owner of Pollard's Vision hopes Derby win is in sight

The horse, blind in one eye, hasn finished third or better in four races this year.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Pollard's Vision trainer Todd Pletcher and owner David Moore figured they had blown $70,000 on a hopeless, half-blind horse when the colt lost by 221/2 lengths in his first 2-year-old start at Belmont Park last July.
The colt added to their angst by unseating jockey John Velasquez after crossing the finish line.
"At that point, we thought we might have a problem," said Moore, a retired investment banker.
When the race was over, Moore's 7-year-old daughter, Charlotte, reassured her father.
" 'It'll work out' is what she said," Moore recalls.
So far, the girl is right.
Handicap
Despite total blindness in his right eye, Pollard's Vision has won the Illinois Derby on April 3 to secure a spot in Saturday's Kentucky Derby. The dark brown son of Carson City hasn't finished worse than third in four races this year.
"Other than his first start, he's been very professional," Pletcher said.
Pletcher and Moore purchased the colt for what they both considered a bargain price at Keeneland's 2-year-olds-in-training sale in April 2003. Pletcher liked the horse's physique, while Moore had a more personal connection.
The colt began going blind three months after his birth, Pletcher said, a result of Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome. The disease wiped out hundreds of Kentucky foals and caused thousands of mares to abort in 2001. Many of the foals that survived the outbreak developed heart disease or blindness.
Moore has been blind in his left eye for 12 years and felt instantly attached to the stricken animal.
"There was a little kinship there," Moore said.
Outside of his vision problem, Pletcher said the colt behaves normally.
Temperament
"He acts like every other horse," he said. "He's a little bit aggressive, he can be a little mean sometimes, but it has nothing to do with the fact that he has only one good eye."
After the Belmont debacle, the colt stormed to a 12-length win at Saratoga a month later. But Pletcher said he first saw Pollard's Vision's potential in his third outing, when he surged inside of a horse to finish third in a six-furlong allowance.
Pletcher and Moore had been trying to think of every situation where the horse's blindness would hinder him.
"His third start was kind of when we knew we were OK," Pletcher said. "Once he was able to do that, we figured we had covered all the scenarios."
Pletcher noticed the horse learned to compensate for his blind eye by tilting his head to the right. He still can't see horses to his outside and Pletcher said that hurt him in the Louisiana Derby.
Velasquez, his regular rider, moved him into the lead heading into the stretch, but Wimbledon passed Pollard's Vision on his right to win.
Compensation
"Just like anyone else, if they don't have vision on one side, they're going to have a little keener senses," Pletcher said. "He can hear and feel other horses outside of him. He can't see them."
Pletcher and Moore were reassured in the Illinois Derby a month later. With Eibar Coa substituting for Velazquez, who was racing elsewhere, Pollard's Vision led wire-to-wire to win by 23/4 lengths.
Even if he falters Saturday, Pletcher and Moore believe they've gotten more than they ever expected from the horse.
"Regardless of what happens, he's been a success story," Pletcher said.
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