The Field of Dreams – The Kentucky Derby post parade
“When horses, or those who ride or train them, do rare things, they make the people who were present that day feel good,” wrote Les Carlyon. And he is right.
The privilege of witnessing, or very rarely having the chance to experience those moments, is what keeps us going to the track. When we pit the best against the best, the chances of seeing rare things happen increase exponentially. It’s not a guarantee mind you, but as someone once said, if you hang around a barbershop long enough, sooner or later you’re going to get a haircut.
In the USA, there are approximately 20,000 Thoroughbred foals registered every year. Out of those 20,000 only 20 can run in the Kentucky Derby. And of those 20, only one can win. You get one shot and only 2 minutes to do it.
20,000 is a pretty big number. And with the Derby worth a guaranteed $2 million this year, that’s pretty serious cash. Which is probably why racing is referred to less as a sport and more as an industry these days. But if racing is an industry, this isn’t the reason it matters. To borrow from Mr Carlyon again, racing is also a way of thinking and a way of living. It has its own language and its own humour. It is loaded with danger, physical and financial, and comes with the hint of conspiracy. It doesn’t build character but it does throw up characters. In short, racing matters not because it’s a big industry, but because it’s interesting. And if you want to know what makes it interesting, Mr Carlyon has the answer again. “Horses and people. These are the only things in racing worth writing about. The rest is dross.”
I may not be very good at tipping winners, but I’m pretty good at knowing a good story when I see one and this year’s Derby is particularly rich in terms of the stories behind the runners, riders and connections. I thought I would share a few favourites.
Patch
Patch (photo: Kentucky Derby/Coady Photography)
Firstly, there’s a one-eyed horse called (of all things) Patch. Randomly, he was named before he lost the eye and Patch is a play off his sire’s name, Union Rags. Patch is a Calumet Farm homebred and is trained by Todd Pletcher.
The colt lost his left eye last June, although the cause has remained a mystery. They simply found the eye swollen nearly shut and tearing heavily one day last summer, but other than that, there was no obvious sign of injury. Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital diagnosed an inflammation of the globe, but they couldn’t save the eye and eventually it was removed. Thinking the colt might need some time to adjust to his new circumstances, Pletcher sent Patch to his father for a break and reschooling. A few weeks later his father sent the horse back, saying he was fine and Patch hasn’t looked back since. He ran a good second on debut in mid January, followed up with a 1 ¼ length win over a mile second time out on 18 February, but it was finishing 2nd in his third start, the G2 Louisana Derby on 1 April, that earned him the right to claim a Derby starting berth. Pletcher describes him as “a really, really cool horse to be around. Very professional, very straight forward, easy to train. He’s just a consummate pro.” However, from the 20 draw, he will have it all to do. His Louisana Derby partner, Tyler Gaffalione has the ride.
Fast And Accurate
Fast And Accurate (photo: Kentucky Derby/Coady Photography)
Remember the 2012 Kentucky Derby trail and a beautiful big grey colt called Hansen? His owner, Dr Kendall Hansen caused something of a stir by dyeing his horse’s tail blue to match his silks ahead of the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. The stewards threatened to scratch the horse if it showed up with a blue tail and trainer Mike Maker hurriedly washed the blue dye out. In the end, Hansen finished second in the Blue Grass Stakes and earned a starting berth in the Kentucky Derby, where he ran 9th.
Fast And Accurate was bred by John R. Penn and Hansen parted with $85,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales’ April 2-year-olds in training sale to acquire him. Although there has been no blue paint this time round, Dr Hansen is still having fun and Fast And Accurate is named after Dr Hansen’s diagnostic and treatment methods.
The good looking grey was not nominated to the Triple Crown series, and cost $200,000 to supplement, so Skychai Racing (Harvey Diamond and Jim Shircliff) and Olympic star skier Bode Miller have come in as partners. Like his sire, Fast And Accurate is also trained by Mike Maker and will be ridden by Channing Hill. They have drawn 3.
Irish War Cry
Irish War Cry (photo: Kentucky Derby / Adam Coglianese Photography)
The son of Curlin is a New Jersey-bred and is trained by 2011 Derby winning-trainer, Graham Motion. He will be ridden by Rajiv Maragh and it is the rider engagement that makes the story really intriguing.
Maragh, a Jamaican native of Indian descent has always wanted to be a professional rider. “That’s all I aspired to be was a jockey. In Jamaica, other kids wanted to be basketball players and soccer players, but I wanted to be a jockey.” His parents would not allow him to ride professionally until after he finished high school, but after moving to the USA, Maragh’s career took off and from 2008-2014, he ranked in the top 20 jockeys in stakes earnings.
Maragh was involved in the 2011 Belmont incident in which his mount, Isn’t He Perfect, veered into the path of Mucho Macho Man and John Velazquez shortly after the jump. That caused a chain reaction which nearly took the legs out from under Motion’s Kentucky Derby winner and Belmont favorite Animal Kingdom, putting paid to any dreams of winning.
Velazquez subsequently accused Maragh of deliberately trying to sabotage Mucho Macho Man – a mount Maragh had lost after the Preakness – with Animal Kingdom being collateral damage. “It’s one of those things that was incredibly disappointing at the time, but I never really held a grudge against him for it,” Motion told the Daily Racing Form. And clearly there has been no grudge. Motion has put Maragh on the backs of many of his best horses since 2011 and the two have formed a friendship beyond the track.
Disaster struck on 10 July 2015 when Maragh suffered a horror fall when Yourcreditisgood fell on top of him after a spill at Belmont Park. He was initially diagnosed with broken ribs and a punctured lung, but the following day an MRI revealed eight broken vertebrae. Maragh spent the next 9 months in an upper body brace and was out of racing for over a year. However, when he was ready to make his comeback, Motion showed no hesitation in supporting him. “He has confidence in me,” Maragh said. “He’s always given me great opportunities.”
It took a while – and a 33-race losing streak – before Maragh rode his first winner, but after everything he’d been through, just riding was its own reward.
Motion commented: “I just have so much respect for him after what he went through. Honestly, I wasn’t sure he’d ride again. But it’s a passion for him.”
Irish War Cry began his career with three impressive victories, the third being the Holy Bull Stakes in February under Joel Rosario. But the colt bombed in the Fountain Of Youth Stakes in March, finishing seventh – “a debacle,” proclaimed Motion who turned to Maragh for Irish War Cry’s final Derby prep race, the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Maragh rode the horse three mornings that week to get a feel for him, then booted him home to a dazzling victory. Their Kentucky Derby ticket was punched and Maragh was back.
The strapping chestnut, who is not unlike Animal Kingdom in appearance, has been eye-catching in his morning workouts and the team have drawn 17th. Motion commented, “I’m happy with my draw. We’ll just take it as it comes.”
Gunnevera
Gunnevera (photo: Kentucky Derby / Adam Coglianese Photography)
With America’s best 3yo’s on offer, it’s unfair (and probably premature) to play favourites, but the story behind Gunnevera is irresistible.
Gunnevera was bred by Pam and Jim Robinson of Brandywine Farm in Kentucky. His dam, a 19 year old mare named Unbridled Rage, haemorrhaged while foaling and although she survived initially, her heart gave out a few days later and her colt was raised by a Paint foster mare named Jenny.
Although sad at the loss of their mare, Unbridled Rage had never produced a winner of any distinction and when her colt was second in the ring for the day and raised just $16,000 as hip 2336 at the Book 4 September 2015 Yearling Sale, they let him go. The docket was signed by Antonio Sano for Peacock Racing Stables.
Mr Sano, a third-generation horseman of Sicilian descent, was regarded as a colossus of the Venezuelan Turf. A 19-time champion trainer with 3,338 winners to his credit, he was known as the ”Czar of the Hippodrome”. However, his success would prove to be his undoing and in 2009, Sano was kidnapped. For a fortnight, his family had no idea of his whereabouts. When word finally came, it was with an offer to send them his fingers.
Construction company owner, Solomon Del-Valle who had been a friend and patron of Sano’s for 40 years, went around to Sano’s friends and peers and collected and delivered sufficient ransom money to secure Sano’s safe release after 36 days of being held captive. After recovering, Sano and his family left Venezuela for good and started over in Florida with little more than the clothes on their back.
Most fittingly, Del-Valle came to Sano’s rescue again in September 2015, when the client for whom Sano bought the $16,000 horse flaked out and Del-Valle and partners stepped in and purchased the horse.
Gunnevera has repaid his connections handsomely. His style of flying from off the pace has earned him a legion of fans as his devastating closing style saw him win the G2 Saratoga Special Stakes and $1 million G3 Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes in his 2-year-old season. Following an impressive win in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, the powerful chestnut was being touted as a possible Derby favourite. A third-place effort in the G1 Xpressbet Florida Derby on 1 April may have removed some of the gloss, but the affable Sano maintains the conditions did not suit his colt and he says, “When I was a kid, my father said, ‘One of these years maybe I’ll win the Kentucky Derby. Every day in Venezuela, I followed the racing here in America. Now I have the opportunity to win the race. In Venezuela, the Kentucky Derby is a big deal. The horse is a blessing. This is the biggest opportunity in my life.”
The colt has got in on merit and a dream result would not be without precedent. All the way back in 1971 Canonero II, the “Caracas Cannonball”, flew into town from Venezuela with a planeload of ducks and chickens to land one of the biggest shocks in Kentucky Derby history. It is perhaps here that I can add an interesting snippet.
I am privileged to be friendly with George Bernet, the long-time editor of the Daily Racing Form, America’s ‘Racing Bible’. In discussing this year’s runners, he related a fascinating Canonero story. It seems that they had a foreign editor at the time whose job it was to research past performances of every horse who came to the US from another country. In 1971, that person, described by George as ‘one of the smartest, most conscientious people at the Form’ created the horse’s file as soon as Canonero entered the US with intentions to race there, including his breeding, all previous races, and import info. So the horse had a file, just waiting to be published. Unfortunately the editor went on holiday just before the Derby and was not in the office when the horse was entered at Churchill Downs. In the pre-cellphone and pre-computer era he could not be reached and it was not until the day of the race that Canonero’s file was discovered in the bottom drawer of Frank’s desk. Too late to print. While the DRF staff knew Canonero had been successful over 1 ¼ miles, the rest of the racing world were left with their cryptic comment “Further information unavailable”.
So perhaps Gunnevera can set the record straight. Jockey Javier Castellano and two of Gunnevera’s three owners are Venezuela natives. And with Del-Valle part of saving Sano’s life, it really couldn’t have a more fairytale ending if things went their way. An orphan foal, bought for $16,000 by a trainer who is lucky to be alive.
They have defied the odds and here they both are at the 2017 Kentucky Derby.
Horses and people. These are the only things in racing worth writing about. All the rest is dross.
