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Sean Clancy The woman clutches her oversized plastic bag to her chest. Finally, the stewardess says the inevitable, “You can’t keep that bag there, it’s got to be stowed under the seat in front of you or in the overhead compartment.” The woman wavers, stammers…then a man flying to another Derby chimes in, “Is that your Derby … Read more
Derby Week. Doug O’Neill returns for another Derby. Shug McGaughey aims for his first. Bob Baffert sits one out. Todd Pletcher unfurls a handful. Gary Stevens is back. John Velazquez is back. Lines Of Battle landed. Verrazano is undefeated in four starts. Revolutionary has won three in a row. Normandy Invasion is brewing. No horse has trained better than Orb.
By now you know the story, jockey Kevin Krigger will try to become the first black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby since Jimmy Winkfield in 1902. The 29-year-old from St. Croix, the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, rides Goldencents for trainer Doug O’Neill. The horse and jockey have won four races, including the Santa Anita Derby in their most recent outing.
He’s the first rider you see on the track Thursday morning, backing up, chinstrap flapping, double-jointed knees and elbows dancing to the rhythm of the bay horse in a green and blue saddle towel. Three Derbies in the bank. Hall of Fame plaque at the engraver. Calvin Borel is living the American dream.
Garrett Gomez was not impressed. The Eclipse Award-winning jockey rode a 21-1 shot for trainer Richard Mandella in a maiden sprint at Hollywood Park in June. She finished fourth, beaten nearly 9 lengths. Three weeks later, Gomez was impressed, when Beholder took over.
First there was Gene Schmidt in 1940. Then the great Chic Anderson. Mike Battaglia came next for a nearly 20-year stint at the top of Churchill Downs. Kurt Becker took the helm for two years before the affable and talented Luke Kruytbosch made it his own for nearly a decade. In 2009, Mark Johnson became the sixth track announcer in Churchill Downs history, the native of Lincolnshire, England stepped into a big role, announcing his first Kentucky Derby.
It might be the best quote I’ve ever read from a trainer. In a Churchill Downs press release about Giant Finish running in the Kentucky Derby, Tony Dutrow said he “has agreed to support my owner’s decision to run in the Kentucky Derby.”
I have to admit, I’ve had fun going through the archives looking for new/old things to post here. I dug past three sets of old silks (Brandywine Stable, NSHA, Harbor View) and a box of curtains to find my old laptop, the iBook G4 that has archives from as far back as 2007. It looks like a VW van that climbed Mt. Washington, dings, dents and stickers all over it.
It’s down to days for the Kentucky Derby, as 20 horses aim at flat racing’s greatest prize. And it was certainly down to years in the Maryland Hunt Cup, as 14-year-old Professor Maxwell won the timber classic. Black Quartz upset Alajmal and Mr. Hot Stuff at Queen’s Cup. Dave Carroll raided Pimlico with Abstraction, who showed moxie to win the Federico Tesio (nice to see the name restored). Here’s your here and There for Monday, April 29.
Another three-meet Saturday as the jumpers disperse to Queen’s Cup in North Carolina, Foxfield in Virginia and the Maryland Hunt Cup, in you guessed it, Maryland. The best novices clash at Queen’s Cup, the best 4-mile timber horses clash in the Hunt Cup and a slew of hurdlers and maiden timber horses clash at Foxfield. Great racing all around.
