Hangin' With Haskin

Haskin Series Part 1: Rachel Rocks the Spa

aspradling — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:38:00 GMT

Through the remainder of the year, I am going to recount some of my most memorable experiences/moments in racing over the past 40 years. Some will be recycled from past columns (at least 3 years old for those who didn’t read them the first time) with new material added. Some, such as this, will be long, but that should be expected from this often verbose column. We begin with Rachel Alexandra’s victory in the 2009 Woodward Stakes to kick off Saratoga’s 150th anniversary. Future columns will include Dr. Fager and Damascus in the 1968 Suburban/Brooklyn, Cigar at Madison Square Garden, a visit with Secretariat’s old grooms from Meadow Farm, Zenyatta the day after the 2010 Breeders’ Cup, Forego’s 1977 Woodward, Da Hoss’ Miracle Mile, Arazi’s long-awaited arrival at Churchill Downs for the 1992 Kentucky Derby, the saga of Canonero II, yet again, Touch Gold’s 1997 Belmont Stakes, Smarty Jones’ open houses at Philly Park, and more. This is what is known as PTCS (Post Triple Crown Syndrome).

Another Saratoga meet had passed into history, and all eyes were now on Belmont Park’s Super Saturday. But the one star who would have truly made it super was missing. Rachel Alexandra, racing’s reigning monarch had days earlier been forced to abdicate her throne and was now preparing to depart for another life.

The autumn leaves, in different shades of browns and yellows, were already falling in upstate New York. The Oklahoma training track was quiet, seemingly a million miles away from the cheers that greeted New York‘s own, Haynesfield, following his stirring victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. A little over an hour earlier, Life At Ten, who had finished more than 10 lengths behind Rachel Alexandra in the Personal Ensign Stakes, was being led into the winner’s circle with little fanfare after a workmanlike victory in the Beldame Stakes, a race Rachel had been pointing for.

There would be even less fanfare several days later as Rachel bid farewell to the racetrack and embarked on her journey to Kentucky and life as a broodmare. There were no trumpet calls, no banners waving, no cheering crowds. Those days were gone. It is unfortunate that Rachel’s adoring fans never got a chance to give her a proper goodbye. The last sounds Rachel should have heard were the cheers that had been so familiar to her in 2009 and on occasion in 2010.

Instead, she left Saratoga in silence. It had been some 13 months since those old rafters rocked like they had never rocked before. Thinking back to that emotion-filled September afternoon when Rachel Alexandra left part of herself on the Saratoga stretch, it was as if her 2010 campaign never happened. Misguided from the beginning, it surely will fade from memory with time. But even in her narrow defeats, Rachel never stopped giving her all, battling to the wire against foes she would have left reeling the year before.

The clouds that enshrouded her 4-year-old season will quickly dissipate, bringing clarity to a 2009 tour de force that likely will never be equaled by a 3-year-old filly.

And for as long as racing fans flock to Saratoga in droves each year, that final triumph in the Woodward Stakes will remain frozen in time, as will the deafening roar that greeted Rachel Alexandra following her gut-wrenching victory. Racing’s grand old lady has experienced many great moments in 145 years, but never has she been engulfed by such an eruption of sound as she was on this day.

But it came at a price. The Woodward would claim not only the victor, but those who dared to challenge her. Rachel would go on to win other races, but we would never again see that same grace and devastating power and the sheer joy of running we witnessed in the spring and summer of 2009.

As then 97-year-old racing legend John Nerud pointed out. “They sent two speed horses after her and made her go in :22 4/5, then they came after her one at a time and she put them all away. Those were tough older horses and they tried everything they could to get her beat and they couldn’t. I think she’s the best I’ve ever seen. I don’t compare her to anyone.”

The skeptics will point out that Macho Again and Bullsbay were just ordinary horses, and defeating them did nothing to boost Rachel’s reputation. A good deal of that skepticism was based on what they did, or didn’t do, after the Woodward. What they didn’t realize was that the horses who entered the starting gate to face Rachel in the Woodward were far different than the shattered fragments that remained after they looked Rachel in the eye. Macho Again and third-place finisher Bullsbay raced a total of 10 more times and managed only one second-place finish by the latter.

Macho Again went into the Woodward having won the Stephen Foster Handicap and New Orleans Handicap and the previous year’s Jim Dandy Stakes, and Derby Trial Stakes with rousing stretch runs, and was second in the Preakness and Super Derby. He came into the Woodward off a fast-closing second to Bullsbay in the Whitney, run in a sharp 1:48 flat for the 1 1/8 miles. Bullsbay had finished a close fourth, beaten 1 ¼ lengths, in the Stephen Foster and had won the Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs. In the Whitney, his explosive of turn of foot, in which he went from 11 lengths back to the lead, was one of the highlights of the meet.

Also in the Woodward, making a threatening move on the far turn, was Asiatic Boy, the first horse ever to sweep the United Arab Emirates Triple Crown. He also was second in the Dubai World Cup to Curlin, second in the Stephen Foster to Macho Again, finishing ahead of Einstein, and second in the Suburban Handicap. Past the Point, who looked Rachel in the eye after she seemingly had been softened up by Da’ Tara and Cool Coal Man, had put a scare in Horse of the Year Curlin in the previous year’s Woodward, pulling up to his flank in the stretch, only to be beaten 1 1/4 lengths.

All these horses went into the Woodward coming off a win or a second. All made their moves at Rachel at some point, and none were ever the same. This was a race that gutted Rachel and all those who challenged her. Rachel gave every ounce of her being, turning back one challenge after another in testing fractions, and who knows in the long run how much of her heart spilled out onto the Saratoga track that day.

What made her victory even more impressive was that it was her eighth of the year, at seven different racetracks, and ninth in succession, including victories over the colts in the Preakness and Haskell Invitational.

It was her bravery in battle at the end of one of the most ambitious 3-year-old campaigns in the history of the sport that truly defined her greatness and set off the wave of emotion that greeted her after the race and the pandemonium that engulfed all those standing on the racetrack.

It was that same bravery that had her trainer, Steve Asmussen, weeping in his wife Julie’s arms, as he buried his head in her embrace. When his oldest son, Keith, said to him, “I’ve never seen you cry at the races,” Asmussen replied, “I never needed to.”

And it was that bravery that had her exercise rider Dominic Terry bawling behind his sunglasses and walking around in a daze, repeating, “She did it…she did it…she did it.” The following morning, he still was “physically and mentally exhausted.”

Noted veterinarian Dr. Mark Cheney said, “You don’t see many horses livin’ that could have won that race.”

Even the vanquished became caught up in the enormity of Rachel’s achievement. “She had everything thrown at her and she overcame it all,” said Graham Motion, trainer of Bullsbay. “I’ve never seen anything like it. You had that feeling of a horse trying for the Triple Crown. It’s the stuff of legends.”

Motion spoke as he and his wife Anita were driving away from the test barn and heading back to their barn a short distance away. Remaining behind was their 12-year-old daughter Jane, who was waiting patiently outside the gates of the test barn with camera in hand.

“She’s not worried about my horse,” Motion said jokingly. “She wants to stay and see the filly.”

All Jane wanted was one photo of Rachel Alexandra. “I just want to show my friends,” she said.

Rachel Alexandra will forever remain a part of Saratoga history. Prior to the Woodward, there were signs all along Broadway, reading, “Rachel Alexandra: Run Like a Girl.”

Saratoga mayor Scott T. Johnson proclaimed Sept. 5, 2009 “Rachel Alexandra Day.” Two days before the Woodward, Rachel received a huge ovation when she schooled in the paddock, as a horde of photographers, cameramen, and onlookers followed after her like a pack of paparazzi. All Asmussen could say was, “She’s a deserving diva.”

On race day, fans began lining up to secure their place around the paddock and along the path leading to the paddock several races before the Woodward. As the race approached, the cheers could be heard well off in the distance, signifying Rachel’s imminent arrival.

“I’ve walked over for a lot of big races – the Dubai World Cup, the Triple Crown races, last year’s Woodward,” said assistant Scott Blasi. “I have never felt that kind of adoration for one horse. I’m talking about people 10 deep on both sides walking to the paddock, and all they want to do is get a glimpse of her. If anyone thinks people don’t love horse racing they should have been in my shoes walking to the paddock.”

Asmussen added, “I’ve never seen them lined up like that. It was like a soccer game where everybody is pressed up against each other to get a look. When we walked Curlin over last year it was a big deal, but it wasn’t anything like this. They were three and four deep for Curlin, and they were at least 10 deep just to get a peek at her.”

As the field approached the starting gate, majority owner Jess Jackson took a final sip of his beverage and stared intently at his filly, as his wife, Barbara Banke, held her hand against the side of her face and continuously rocked back and forth in her seat. Several boxes away, an intense Asmussen leaned forward and sat there motionless while Julie clasped her hands together and rested them against her lips. They were well aware that Rachel was only nine furlongs away from entrance into the pantheon of the immortals.
A roar went up from the crowd of almost 32,000 as the field broke from the gate.

The race itself was amazing in that just about every horse in the field took a run at Rachel. First it was 2008 Belmont Stakes winner Da’ Tara, then his hard-knocking stablemate Cool Coal Man, who was coming off a 12 3/4-length romp in the Albert the Great Stakes. It was apparent from the start that Rachel had the proverbial bullseye on her back, and one by one, the darts were being hurled at her.

After a brutal opening quarter in :22 4/5, track announcer Tom Durkin bellowed, “There’ll be no free ride for Rachel Alexandra. They’re making her work for every step today.”

In the stands, Jackson’s bloodstock agent John Moynihan, like many, had a sinking feeling. “I put my program down and put my head in my hands,” he said. “All I could think was, ‘How could this have happened today?”

When Da’ Tara and Cool Coal Man began their rapid retreats following a half in :46 2/5, Past the Point took his run at Rachel, the three-quarters in a testing in 1:10 2/5. Rachel thwarted that bid, and then came the big final assault. Bullsbay, who was so explosive in the Whitney, pulled up to her flank turning for home, as Asiatic Boy and Macho Again moved in for the kill, expecting to encounter a softened up Rachel in the final furlong.

Rachel was set down by Calvin Borel, who hit her five times right-handed and then three times left-handed. She turned back Bullsbay’s challenge, but here came a fresh Macho Again, who had found a gaping hole at the top of the stretch. The charging gray stormed up alongside Rachel, who was now being barraged with a series of 13 desperate right-handed whips from Borel. Macho Again kept coming, but Rachel kept finding more. The crowd urged Rachel to hold on, their hearts pounding with every stride.

Rachel continued to dig in and would not let Macho Again get by. This was a filly who had won all her races eased up with her ears pricked, never feeling to sting of the whip. Now she had her ears pinned and was under a salvo of left and right-handed whips by a frantic Borel. Rachel would not be denied, hitting the wire a head in front. The place went crazy. Despite her early efforts, she still was able to close her final eighth in a respectable :12 4/5 to complete the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48 1/5, earning a 109 Beyer speed figure – this coming after a grueling campaign that saw her run a 108 Beyer in the Kentucky Oaks, a 108 in the Preakness, a 111 in the Mother Goose, and a monster 116 in the Haskell Invitational.

Rachel’s time still is the fastest Woodward in the seven years it’s been run at Saratoga – faster than Curlin, Quality Road, Lawyer Ron, Havre de Grace, Premium Tap, and To Honor and Serve.

Rachel returned to a deafening ovation, which reached a crescendo when a jubilant Borel led the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro into the winner’s circle. After the photo, Borel draped the blanket of pink carnations over his shoulder and dismounted.

Rachel Alexandra had become the first filly to win the Woodward. The last 3-year-old filly to even run in the race was Summer Guest in 1972. This was the equivalent of a 23-year-old girl beating 30-something males. No 3-year-old filly had ever defeated older males in a two-turn, grade I dirt race. The last to win a major two-turn dirt stakes over her elders was Misty Morn in the 1955 Gallant Fox Handicap.

As Rachel was led back to the barn and the crowd began to quiet down, Durkin announced, “Well, folks, if your heart can take it, we’ve got two more races.”

Jackson, who owned Rachel in partnership with Harold McCormick, summed it up best: “I think she’s something for the ages. The 56th running of the Woodward was a great one for the history books, and I’m so pleased for her. For her to hang in there like that with six giant males racing with her was something special.”

Asmussen said the early fractions “may have taken a few years off my life but it was probably worth it.”

After signing dozens of autographs, Asmussen hopped over the fence of the jockey’s quarters and headed to the test barn, receiving congratulations the entire way.

“You deserve all the accolades,” one person shouted. “No, she does,” Asmussen replied.

As he walked, he was able to reflect a bit more on what Rachel had achieved: “It’s hard enough to be brilliant once in a while, but every race? Oh, my God, she’s been doing it since mid-February. She showed she’s truly a champion today. I get nervous, I admit it. I wouldn’t go downstairs until they put her number up; that’s me.”

As Rachel left the test barn and crossed Union Ave. to the Oklahoma training track, the halted traffic was already backed up and a few lucky fans in the front cars were able to get a final look at Rachel as she headed home.

Back at the barn, Rachel was put away for the night, picking away at her alfalfa and occasionally eyeing all the activity outside the barn.

Jackson took great pride in having orchestrated a good portion of Rachel’s perfect season, in which she became the first filly to win three grade I races on dirt against males in a single year. “I’ve made more money as a handicapper than I did as a lawyer,” he said. “We kept looking for a better target and we kept finding one.”

As he was about to leave for dinner, Jackson said, “There’s an aura around her, isn’t there? It was quite a day. I think I’ll have a double scotch tonight.”

As darkness fell, assistant trainer Blasi tried to put everything in perspective. “She’s absolutely unbelievable,” he said. “There’s no comparing her to anyone. They all compare to her now. What she did today, you will never see anything like it again.”

The following morning, Asmussen arrived around 5:30 to find Rachel sprawled out in her stall. After she got up, Asmussen had the urge to lavish some affection on her but thought better of it.

“I’m a big sap, and I wanted to hug her,” he said. “And she was like, ‘Get away from me you big sap.’ She’s game on. She don’t belong in a petting zoo. I’m just proud as hell, but I’m happy for racing. The fans walked out of the grandstand smiling and not everyone walks out of the races smiling.”

And how did the Asmussens celebrate the night before? “We ordered out and watched the DVD of the race repeatedly,” he said. “And we just talked about how lucky we are to be around her.”

Rachel’s greatness was defined in many ways, including the remarkable statistics she compiled

Throughout 2009, Rachel constantly was flattered by horses she has trounced. Gabby's Golden Gal was beaten 29 1/4 lengths by Rachel in the Kentucky Oaks and came back to win the grade I Acorn Stakes in 1:34 3/5. Flashing was beaten 31 1/2 lengths by Rachel in the Mother Goose and came back to win the grade I Test Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths. Summer Bird was beaten six lengths by Rachel in the Haskell and came back to win the Travers Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Take the Points was beaten 32 3/4 lengths by Rachel in the Preakness and came back to win the grade I Secretariat Stakes. Just Jenda was beaten 11 3/4 lengths by Rachel in the Fantasy Stakes and came back to win the Monmouth Oaks by 4 1/4 lengths.

Bon Jovi Girl, beaten 14 3/4 lengths by Rachel in the Fantasy Stakes, came back to win the Susan’s Girl Stakes by eight lengths and place in the then grade II Cotillion Stakes and the grade I Gazelle Stakes. Malibu Prayer, beaten 19 1/4 lengths in the Mother Goose, went on to win the Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs, an overnight stakes at Belmont by 6 3/4 lengths, and finish second in the Delaware Oaks and Monmouth Oaks. In 2010, she won the grade I Ruffian Handicap. Past the Point, beaten 17 3/4 lengths by Rachel in the Woodward, came right back to finish second, beaten a half-length, in the grade III Bold Ruler Stakes. Although Munnings, beaten seven lengths in the Haskell, did not win a subsequent stakes, he did finish third in the grade I King’s Bishop and Vosburgh over sloppy tracks before being retired. Even Sara Louise, who was beaten 4 3/4 lengths by Rachel in the previous year’s Golden Rod, won the grade III Victory Ride Stakes at Saratoga in 1:09 3/5 in her 3-year-old debut and then captured the grade II Ladies Handicap.

In 2009 alone she:

Defeated eight Derby winners (Kentucky Derby, Santa Anita Derby, Arkansas Derby, Louisiana Derby, Illinois Derby, Tampa Bay Derby, Iowa Derby, and UAE Derby), plus the runner-up in the West Virginia Derby.

Defeated eight grade I-winning males, including the winners of the Belmont Stakes (twice), Travers, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Whitney, Stephen Foster, Blue Grass, and Secretariat Stakes, as well as the winners of the Oaklawn Handicap, New Orleans Handicap, Jim Dandy Stakes, Tom Fool Handicap. Woody Stephens Stakes, and Lone Star Handicap.

Became the first filly to defeat three classic-winning males, and defeated the 1-2-3 finishers of the Kentucky Derby, the 1-2 finishers of the Whitney , the 1-2 finishers of the Stephen Foster, and the 1-3 finishers of the Belmont Stakes.

Her last six victories in 2009 all had historical significance.

Fantasy Stakes -- Biggest margin in the history of the race (8 3/4 lengths).

Kentucky Oaks -- Biggest margin in the history of the race (20 1/4 lengths).

Preakness -- First filly to win the Preakness in 85 years and the first horse in history to win from post 13.

Mother Goose -- Biggest margin in the history of the race (19 1/4 lengths), previously held by Ruffian, and ran the fastest time in the history of the race (1:46 1/5) -- I cannot recall ever seeing a horse run so fast (four-fifths off Secretariat’s track and then-American record) so easily, with the possible exception of Dr. Fager’s world record mile at Arlington.

Haskell -- Second biggest margin in the history of the race (six lengths), and second fastest time (1:47 1/5) in the history of the race by one fifth of a second, and two fifths of a second off the track record set by Spend a Buck 24 years earlier.

Woodward -- First filly in history to win the Woodward, and ran the fastest time since the race was moved to Saratoga.

Even winning the Woodward by a head and the Preakness by one length, Rachel’s average margin of victory in 2009 was an astounding 8 1/4 lengths.

People, of course, will remember Rachel for her devastating victories in the Kentucky Oaks and Mother Goose, her classic score in the Preakness, and her romp in the Haskell. But what truly defined Rachel’s greatness was her courageous victory in the Woodward at the end of an ambitious, unprecedented campaign.

No one will ever know for sure what toll the Woodward took on her. There is no doubt she was not the same horse in 2010, and there is no denying the fact that, although she remained in Asmussen’s barn over the winter, she did not have a single work in five months.

We can only speculate just how much of her she left on the track that day. But there’s one thing that is certain. She left behind a moment in history.

In “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” Hemingway asks, “But did thee feel the earth move?

Just ask those at Saratoga on Sept. 5, 2009.

Happy Father's Day, Dad

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:49:00 GMT

I’ll never forget the night my father walked into my bedroom and asked me a question that would change my life forever. I had left Wall Street and had been out of work for nine months. My mother no longer was speaking to me, and my father finally came in and asked me point blank what I wanted to do with my life.

“What are you interested in; what are you passionate about?” he asked. I told him I couldn’t go back to Wall Street and my only interest and passion was horse racing. “Then, try to get a job in horse racing,” he said.

It had never dawned on me that racing could actually be a profession and not just a passionate hobby. To make a long story very short, I was hired as a copy boy at the Morning Telegraph, which I bought every day, moved into the library as head librarian, and eventually began writing freelance. The rest, as they say, is history.

Two years after being hired by the Telegraph my father passed away suddenly. Considering how proud he was of me being a librarian, always bringing in the terrible horse photos I took to show his co-workers, I can only imagine how proud he would have been over all these years.

I have been waiting many years to print what follows, as I find it to be one of the most compelling pieces of writing I have ever read. It doesn’t matter that is has nothing to do with racing, and it doesn’t matter if not a single person other than family and friends reads it. To me, it is something that needs to be in print, even in a relatively obscure column such as this.

I have typed the following from the original, written in green ink. It is a letter written by my father to his boss from the South Pacific in the closing days of World War II, just days following the historic invasion of Luzon in the Philippines. I was inspired to type out and print this letter by the WWII veterans from the Normandy invasion I met who came to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby at the invitation of Rick Porter, owner of the horse Normandy Invasion. It was one of the most moving experiences I’ve had in a while, and I decided then it was time for my father’s remarkable letter to be printed. After all these years I still feel like I was there.

It is a tribute to him and what he meant to me, and as I mentioned earlier, even if it is only read by my family and friends it will always be preserved, as a piece of me and of history.

January 21, 1945
Far East

The Navy may move slowly, but once they get started, things really begin to roll. We picked up our ship, which incidentally is an amphibious craft known as an L.S.M. (Landing Ship Medium (Tanks) at a Chicago shipyard. We remained there for a period of three weeks, outfitting the ship with supplies, equipment, etc. After the commissioning exercises, we started our journey, which was to take us through the States, the Panama Canal, through various South Pacific islands to our present operating base in New Guinea.

After leaving Panama, one could detect a wave of excitement rippling through the crew in anticipation of coming face to face with – not the enemy – but a real South Sea island Hula-Hula girl. But like other things that I had read and heard about these islands, I was doomed for a disappointment. Due to censorship, I cannot disclose the names of the islands we stopped at. But at these islands, of which there were many, we never did see anything that even resembled a Hula-Hula girl, let alone a sarong.

Where were all those Dorothy Lamours? The native women we did see were either too young or too old, too short or too long, too thin or too fat – but never in between. Somehow or another they seemed infatuated by brightly colored things. It was a very common sight to see these native women walking to church on Sunday wearing brightly colored dresses – latest American style creations of 1920 – and shoes (less stockings) the largest possible sizes manufactured, with such prominent colors as canary yellow, ruby red, a bright green or a dazzling orange. The large sizes were necessary due to their enormous feet. After church, we would burst with laughter to see how proudly they displayed their shoes – in their hands.

We kept hopping from island to island, doing various tasks assigned to us. Suddenly, a trip to one island brought us face to face with the grim realization that we were really part of this war, that our enemy was lurking nearby and we were helping to drive him out. We had undergone our first air-raid. For many months, even prior to my entrance into the service, I had given this very thing plenty of thought. What would my reactions be? Would I be afraid? Is it as devastating as I’ve heard it was? Now that it is over, I can truthfully say I was not afraid. Probably more angry than anything else. Angry at the fact that we – the L.S.M. 314 – could not do anything to bring the raiders down. The shore Anti-aircraft guns were keeping them high enough to prevent any serious damage.

After an hour or two of maneuvering, they dropped their bombs harmlessly in the ocean and several points on the island. Net result of the raid – several holes, with nothing hit but Mother Earth. Those raids were repeated every night of our stay there, and so regular in fact that we could almost set our watches by it. We finally moved out and pulled into a port in New Guinea.

Our next assignment came earlier than we expected. At last, the real thing had come along. We were going to participate in an invasion of a group of islands now being held by the Japs. The convoy assembled outside the harbor and prepared to get underway. It was a rather uneventful voyage – with nothing to be seen but a wide expanse of ocean. Four days later our objective was sighted. Timed to perfection, our convoy, supported by bombers and fighter escorts, arrived at the island precisely at H-Hour. The bombers made their run on the beach to wipe out any opposition. Meanwhile, all amphibious craft were standing by awaiting the signal to beach and unload their men and equipment. The beachings were made, opposition was very light, and the island was ours. Another step towards the final capitulation of Japan had been accomplished.

We returned to New Guinea and there awaited further instructions.. During all these months in the South and Southwest Pacific, I’ve had the opportunity to observe as well as to speak to the boys that have participated in such campaigns as Guadalcanal, Kwajelein, Saipan, New Guinea, and the first invasion of the Philippines. They’re a rough and tumble lot; boys that had once been farmhands, grocery clerks, salesmen, factory workers, and now transformed into the world’s greatest group of fighting men. But all this could not be made possible without the splendid co-operation of the home front.

The above mentioned operation we now know was in a way a preparation for a larger major operation. By the time you receive this letter, this operation will be old news. As a matter of fact, you probably know more of what happened than I do. However, I will attempt, to the best of my ability, to give you an eyewitness account of the Invasion of Luzon.

It all started back in one of the many harbors in New Guinea. Our task force was considered the largest ever to participate in an invasion. Our cargo consisted of Army personnel and vehicles. Unaware of what may lie ahead of us, we still left with the satisfaction of knowing, that back in our New Guinea harbor, we had left a Jap plane burning as a result of a morning raid. If that was a sign of what our Anti-aircraft fire was going to do, then the forthcoming campaign points to immense success.

The convoy proceeded rather smoothly. The evenings during our entire trip presented a full and beautiful moon as only the South Pacific can present. As beautiful as it was, it still had some bad aspects. Our convoy was lit up like a Christmas tree – making us an excellent target for enemy aircraft. This prompted us to call “General Quarters” at sunrise and sunset.

Early one morning, one of our escorting destroyers picked up enemy aircraft. The plane was visible by the entire convoy – circling us at will. It remained high enough to make us believe it was only a reconnaissance plane. If he spotted the convoy, which undoubtedly he did, then we can expect some uninvited callers before this trip is over. But we were prepared for all eventualities, and come what may, we’ll be ready.

We were rapidly approaching our objective, and how well we knew it. “General Quarters” became a daily as well as nightly routine. Enemy submarines one time and aircraft the next. All in all, sleep became something we faintly remembered from the past. I shan’t go into detail as to the various raids we experienced, but I can honestly say that a few more Japs had the distinguished honor of joining their honorable ancestors. We had the occasion to listen in on several of the “Radio Tokyo’s” news broadcasts. It provided us with many a hearty laugh. Our convoy was practically “wiped out” according to them. The operation was a huge failure. Of course, being part of the very convoy they mentioned made their reports sound silly. However, there are people back home that are gullible enough to believe all that rot. So think twice before believing their news reports. As a matter of fact, we didn’t lose a ship in the entire operation.

The New Year rolled in quietly and serenely. We had no time for any celebrations, and we continued to carry out our regular ship’s routine. However, it didn’t stop me of thinking of everybody back home. Although belated, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and successful New Year.

S-Day (equivalent to D-Day on the European front)

As dawn drew near, the island of Luzon began to take shape in the dawn’s light. We could see faint silhouettes marking our battleships, cruisers, destroyers, air-craft carriers, and hundreds of auxiliary ships, including landing craft. One hour before H-Hour our heavy ships continued their systematic bombardment of the beach. This has been going on for several days. Fire and smoke belched forth from these mighty guns. Flames and puffs of smoke marked the spots where these deadly missiles had landed. It’s hard to believe that anyone could survive this complete devastation.

Someone asked what time it was. Fifteen minutes to go. The first waves were preparing to hit the beach. Our time was rapidly approaching. We were going to be the first wave of the larger craft. Looking around at the Army boys and the crew showed us tense and earnest faces. Gone was all the hilarity that was so prevalent on the entire trip. They knew what was coming and what their task was. Last minute inspections of vehicles and sidearms were made. A high crescendo of blasts marked the final bombardment of the beach.

H-Hour had come. We kept maneuvering outside the harbor awaiting our signal to come in. The first waves had begun to land. Radio reports were coming in fast and furious. The first ten waves had landed successfully without any opposition. The Naval shelling had done its job well. Suddenly, our signal was given. We started to make our run on the beach. Many thoughts passed through my mind. Have the Japs been waiting for the larger craft? Would we meet the opposition that the previous waves had failed to meet? Would we reach far enough on to the beach to unload our cargo? We were now a thousand yards from the beach. Our bow doors opened like the jaws of some huge monster. The beach slowly loomed ahead – 500 yards….250 yards…100 yards – still no enemy fire. We felt the ship scraping bottom. Our momentum carried us forward. All engines had stopped. Slowly our bow ramp was lowered. The vehicles moved out, and everything went as planned.

From the extreme corner of the beachhead – as if arising out of thin air – we saw hundreds of Filipinos coming out to meet our landing parties. Those that were able, ran. The older ones, amongst whom were mothers carrying tiny infants, managed to walk at a rather lively gait. The scene that took place can hardly be described in this letter. They simply threw themselves at our boys, some shaking their hands, and the more brazen ones hugging and kissing them. Passing through the nearby town, in pursuit of the Japs, our boys were met by women coming out to meet them with wet towels – of all things to wash the grime and dust from their perspiring faces. Fresh eggs – indeed a rare treat out here – were freely given out. They wouldn’t think of having the boys do their own laundry. They protested any signs of refusal. But what can they do against a people so determined to do everything in their power to help us. The men worked endless hours unloading the ships. They were paid for it, but gladly would have done it for nothing.

These were the people we were freeing from Japanese enslavement. It made us thrill to the thought that once again they would be able to carry on a happy and normal life. They are not much different from us in their wants. These are not the barbaric natives we encountered in the wild jungles of New Guinea. Their civilization runs parallel to our own and we are all happy that whatever hardships we encountered thus far had not been in vain.

At the writing of this letter, we are anchored at some port, whose name cannot be disclosed. And so ended another milestone toward the ultimate defeat of Japan. I hope this letter has given you a complete picture of my activities the past several months.

I’ve got to run along now, so until you hear from me again – which will be soon – regards to all.

I remain,
Abe Haskin

(A postscript: The invasion of Luzon was one of the largest amphibious invasions in history. A total of 175,000 men went ashore along a 20-mile beachhead over a period of several days. On Jan. 9, 1945, 70,000 American troops landed on Luzon. One of those who walked ashore to greet the cheering Filipinos was Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Although the opposition on shore was light, the battleship Mississippi and light cruiser Columbia were lost to kamikaze attacks. The largest American Battle Monument Commission Cemetery outside of Arlington, Virginia is on Luzon where over 17,000 Americans are buried)

Thanks, Dad, for everything.

Haskin's Belmont Recap: Malice in Wonderland

aspradling — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:07:00 GMT

If this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and Preakness Stakes taught us anything it is that Thoroughbred racing has its own unique way of transporting the past into the present, recycling great achievements and sometimes surpassing them.

In the Derby and Preakness, we saw how names like Phipps, Janney, and McGaughey, and Lukas and Stevens, whose major accomplishments were believed to be in the past, came together to weave a stunning tapestry of the Turf, as fresh and contemporary as if it had been crafted in their younger days.

Go back to May, 1990. The founder of racehorse syndicates, 62-year-old Cot Campbell, stands in his box at Pimlico and shouts at the top of his lungs, “Go on with him!...Go on with him!...Go on with him!” As his colt, Summer Squall, crosses the finish line, defeating Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled in the 115th Preakness Stakes, Campbell utters a few impious words and unleashes a flurry of left hooks into an invisible opponent.

“Wasn’t that great?” he asks no one in particular. “Oh, boy, I’m so glad for all of us. If this doesn’t make everyone happy, nothing will. I’ll never forget this moment. It’ll take about three months for it to sink in.”

Now go back to June, 2007. Perennial leading trainer Todd Pletcher, burdened with an 0-for-28 record in Triple Crown races, stands in his box at Belmont Park and shouts at the top of his lungs, “Come on, baby!...Come on, baby!” while unleashing a flurry of eight short jabs into that same invisible opponent. As his filly, Rags to Riches, crosses the finish line a neck in front of budding superstar Curlin in the 130th Belmont Stakes, Pletcher flings his fist in the air and kisses his wife Tracy, knocking her hat off.

Normally, those moments would remain frozen in time in some hallowed corner of one’s memory. But this is Thoroughbred racing, where rejuvenation is part of the natural order of things.

So, we move to June 8, 2013. Cot Campbell, now 85, and Todd Pletcher, with a long-awaited Kentucky Derby victory now added to his extensive resume, stand in their respective boxes at Belmont Park. Both simultaneously break into their theatrical repertoires as Palace Malice, trained by Pletcher and owned by Campbell’s Dogwood Stable, draws clear of his opponents, including Kentucky Derby winner Orb and Preakness winner Oxbow, to win the 145th Belmont Stakes.

The sire of Palace Malice: Curlin, the horse that Pletcher defeated six years earlier with Rags to Riches.

For Pletcher, this one was especially gratifying, as it was Campbell who was one of the trainer’s earliest clients after going out on his own after a number of years as assistant to Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. The horse who finished second to Palace Malice in the Belmont: Oxbow, trained by D. Wayne Lukas.

It should also be noted that Pletcher’s first major impact on the classics came in 2000 when he finished third in the Kentucky Derby. The horse who gave him his first classic placing: Impeachment, owned by Dogwood Stable.

Campbell and Pletcher have come full circle, at least for now. As the big summer and fall races approach and Palace Malice continues to mature, perhaps the circle will continue.

Both owner and trainer have added their own chapter to the annals of the Triple Crown, but they will be the first to tell you it’s all about the horse, and if ever a horse deserved to bask in the limelight on the classic stage it is Palace Malice, who has persevered through bad trips, failed equipment changes, altered schedules, and four jockey changes since late February.

Palace Malice’s story actually begins well before he was even born and demonstrates the intricate network of events that dictate the course one takes in life, even to the extent of being born. In the case of Palace Malice, it was a simple, but fateful, decision by Burl McBride, the trainer of the colt’s dam, Palace Rumor, that led her son to the winner’s circle of the Belmont Stakes.

On Nov. 5, 2005, McBride shipped his 2-year-old filly Palace Rumor from his barn at Ellis Park to Churchill Downs to compete in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on the grass, sending her to the barn of his friend Hal Wiggins. McBride had seven other horses at Ellis Park because he was unable to get stalls at Churchill.

Palace Rumor , a daughter of Royal Anthem, had been purchased as a weanling at the Keeneland November mixed sale for $8,000, then was pinhooked the following year to the Keeneland September yearling sale, where she sold as Hip 4602 for a meager $5,000 to McBride, representing Corbet Bryant and Tim Gavin.

Making the fifth start of her career in the Churchill allowance race, Palace Rumor, who had broken her maiden by 5 1/2 lengths at Kentucky Downs, rallied from 11th to finish fifth. McBride was about to van her back to Ellis Park after the race, but had second thoughts and decided to keep her at Churchill overnight.

“I ran her that day and she had a real tiring race, so I said, ‘You know what, I’m just gonna let her rest and spend the night at Churchill and I’ll take her back in the morning,’” McBride said. “I had borrowed a stall from Hal Wiggins to run her out of and I just kept her there that night.”

At around 2 a.m., McBride received a phone call and was told his barn was gone. A tornado had ripped through the backstretch at Ellis Park, destroying six barns. Most of the trainers had shipped out, either to Churchill or other tracks, but McBride was one of the few who still had horses there.

Of McBride’s seven horses, three were dead and four were so badly injured, none of them ever raced again. For a trainer with a small stable, it was a devastating blow. In a heartbeat, McBride was wiped out, except for his one 2-year-old filly who had the good fortune of having raced at Churchill Downs that afternoon and the even better fortune of remaining in Louisville overnight.

“That tornado took half the grandstand, too,” McBride said. “Just like that, I only had one horse left. I was ready to quit, but Hal made me come back. If I had hauled her home that night, she’d probably be dead with the rest of them.”

In 2008, Palace Rumor, who went on to win four more races, including the Audubon Oaks, for McBride, was put in the Keeneland January mixed sale, where she was purchased by William S. Farish for $140,000.

The story doesn’t end there. It was McBride, a former jockey, who took a fellow New Mexican named Mike Smith under his wing.

“I put Mike Smith on horses before he started winning races,” McBride said. “He’s from Roswell, N.M. and I’m from Alamagordo. I quit riding in 1980 and that’s when Mike came around. My agent brought him out when he was bug boy. He rode some nice winners for me. I was there when he won the Derby with Giacomo and I was there when he won the Breeders’ Cup with Royal Delta. He’s a good friend of mine. I always called him an illegal alien because he was born in Roswell.”

So, of course, who was given the mount on Palace Malice in the Kentucky Derby and rode him to victory at Belmont?

Mike Smith getting the mount on Palace Malice was just one of many coincidences surrounding this colt.

On Sept. 18, 2011, Palace Malice arrived at Niall Brennan’s farm, having just been purchased at the Keeneland September yearling sale for $25,000. Also arriving from the sale at the same time was a War Pass colt, purchased for $80,000, later to be pinhooked and named Revolutionary. Already at Brennan’s farm, arriving on July 30, was a Malibu Moon colt, owned and bred by Stuart Janney III and the Phipps family, later to be named Orb.

Those three colts would go on to win the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and finish third in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont and fifth in the Belmont.

“Three talented colts in the same group, and we’re just lucky enough to be along for the ride,” Brennan said. “Palace Malice was May 2 foal, so it was surprising to see him showing his talent so early as a 2-year-old, but Tristan (assistant Barry) told me when I was up at Saratoga he was doing super and was one of their better 2-year-olds. He always did things effortlessly and showed off that talent right away.”

Palace Malice was consigned to the Keeneland April 2-year-old sale and caught the eye of Cot Campbell, who purchased him for $200,000. After a brief stay with Ron Stevens at Aiken for his early training, he was sent to Pletcher.

“He was a high-class horse from the day he got here,” Stevens recalled. “He was very mature, classy, and professional for his age, and he took to everything right away. He was push-button, and it didn’t take a genius to train him.”

Palace Malice, who was bred by Farish, was so precocious, despite being a late foal, he debuted on July 5 going five furlongs and was beaten a half-length by a speedy colt named Carried Interest, who was yet another 2-year-old at Brennan’s farm.

Around this time, Campbell announced he was retiring, or more like “semi-retiring,” from syndicating horses and began cutting back on his stable, from about 65 horses to between 30 and 35. Campbell had left a legacy that changed the entire infrastructure of racing, bringing in thousands of new owners through the numerous syndicates that have followed the path Dogwood Stable started.

Campbell quickly realized that retirement was not an option. A young talented horse like Palace Malice will bring you back to your senses in a hurry. Campbell said he was merely cutting back on his operation.

“I must have been having a bad week,” Campbell said with that familiar grin and twinkle in his eye. There are few things more distinctive in racing than Campbell’s voice stringing together a symphony of words as comforting as a southern breeze.

“I don’t think (winning the Belmont) is going to accelerate my retirement, I’ll put it that way,” Campbell continued. “Syndicating horses has always made sense to me, but in the early days the establishment looked down on it a little bit. They thought it was a break from tradition, which it certainly was. And racing was not one to embrace a break from tradition. All I know is that I’m enjoying life. I’m a lucky guy. I’ve had a wonderful, exciting, and colorful life, and I love what I do.”

Accompanying Campbell every step of his incredible journey is his wife Anne, whose ebullience is contagious. Regarding her husband’s so-called retirement, Anne said, “You can retire from a job, but can you retire from a way of life?”

The more Palace Malice progressed the farther removed the word retirement became. An impressive maiden victory at Saratoga followed, but sore shins kept him out the remainder of the year.

He returned 5 1/2 months later to finish a solid second to the quick-footed Majestic Hussar in a seven-furlong allowance race in the slop at Gulfstream. That began a series of races in which the colt was asked to do things few 3-year-olds are asked, and he never as much as flinched.

In the 1 1/16-mile Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, he was the only horse in the 12-horse field that had never been two turns and he was coming off one sprint in 6 1/2 months. With Rosie Napravnik aboard for the first time, Palace Malice, ran his heart out, only to finish third, beaten a half-length. The Louisiana Derby a month later was a disaster. With Edgar Prado now his rider, he was moving strongly and looked like a potential winner, only to get trapped behind horses the entire stretch run and was never allowed to run at any point.

With not nearly enough points to make the Kentucky Derby field, the only alternative was to run him back in two weeks in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes over Keeneland’s quirky Polytrack surface. This time he had Garrett Gomez aboard and had to do all the dirty work chasing the brilliant Rydilluc. He managed to take command, but apparently became distracted by the tractor tire marks on the track and lost focus, switching back to his left lead. He still battled to the wire, but was nipped in the final stride by the late-closing Java’s War. He had lost another race, but now had enough points to get in the Derby.

But he once again needed a new rider, and Pletcher obtained the services of Mike Smith, who flew in to work the colt. Following the work, in which he wore blinkers fore the first time, Smith went into the media center to check the training board and could barely contain his enthusiasm.

“He worked great, but what I really loved was his gallop-out,” Smith said. “Coming back the entire way until I got off him he wanted to do more. Even when the pony came I was still trying to slow him down. He’s a strong sonofagun; there’s a lot to him. When I turned him around after the gallop-out he took off again and I had to go ‘Whoa.’ I’ll tell you one thing, the farther the better.”

Back at the barn, Campbell could start smelling the roses, having previously run second, third, and fourth in the Derby.

“If there are Derby gods, they better get on with it,” he said. “There are more Derbys in my past than there are in my future.”

Said Anne, “What’s exciting is that we still don’t have any idea how good this horse is.”

Unfortunately, the Derby turned into another disaster, as the blinkers experiment backfired badly. Pletcher’s instructions to Smith were to get him out of there and get a good position, but according to Smith, when he did get him out of there, “he was gone.” The colt proceeded to set suicidal fractions that killed off not only him, but every horse anywhere near him.”

With the Preakness coming too soon, only the Belmont Stakes was left for Palace Malice to get a little luck and show off his talent on the big stage.

“If he has an absence of bad luck we’ll be alright,” Campbell said. “I’m not asking or any breaks. I just don’t want any breaks against him.”

The first positive sign was a sensational work and gallop-out two weeks before the race, after which Pletcher said, “I don’t know that I’ve ever had a horse work any better.”

Also working that day were four potential Belmont starters owned by Mike Repole. When asked his thought on the works, Repole said. “My thoughts are I wish I owned Palace Malice.”

On Belmont morning, the skies cleared around 6 o’clock and the first patches of blue appeared following the previous day’s tropical storm. Pletcher put the final touches on his five-horse arsenal that consisted of Palace Malice, Revolutionary, and the Repole trio of Overanalyze, Unlimited Budget, and Midnight Taboo. With the main track open to Belmont Stakes horses from 6 to 6:30, Shug McGaughey brought Orb out for a gallop around the dogs on the sloppy sealed track.

“I’ll be glad when the day’s over with,” he said. “It’s a bit distracting training your other horses. When we were in Louisville and Baltimore, I tried to keep myself focused on my other horses, but you get so wrapped up in the one horse.”

The conclusion of the Triple Crown also meant that Orb’s co-owner Stuart Janney III could finally get a good night’s sleep. “I’ve probably slept well four nights since before the Derby,” he said. “I’ll wake up at four in the morning and start thinking too much. There’s so much pressure and so many people depending on you.”

Over at Barn 5, Wayne Lukas, who had Oxbow and Will Take Charge, sat on a chair in the shedrow and was exuding confidence in both his horses, especially the indefatigable Oxbow, who hadn’t had more than five weeks between races since last October.

“This horse always shows up and Gary (jockey Stevens) is over the moon,” Lukas said. “They’ll have him to deal with.”

Orb was made the 2-1 favorite, followed by Revolutionary at 5-1 and Peter Pan (gr. II) winner Freedom Child 8-1. Everyone else was double-digit odds, with Oxbow a generous 10-1, along with Overanalyze, and Palace Malice 13-1.

Frac Daddy’s trainer Kenny McPeek assured his colt would gun to the front from the rail and if anyone wanted to take him on he’ll welcome the challenge. Frac Daddy was indeed hustled out of there, followed closely by Freedom Child and Oxbow. Mike Smith broke alertly on Palace Malice, but this time the colt, without the blinkers, relaxed much better and tucked in several paths to avoid going wide into the first turn.

Around the turn and into the backstretch, it was obvious the pace was a demanding one, as Orb and Golden Soul dropped to the back of the pack. The opening fractions of :23.11 and :46.66 were extremely fast going a mile and a half, with Frac Daddy, Freedom Child, and Oxbow getting separation from Palace Malice, who was also going fast, but had settled into a good rhythm, with his ears pricked.

“I was keeping a close eye on Gary (Stevens) to make sure he didn’t try to steal it again at some point,” Smith said. “Gary has been known to do stuff like that.”

When the three-quarter fraction of 1:10.95 went up, and with still half the race to go, it didn’t bode well for anyone near the pace. Frac Daddy and then Freedom Child began backing up, leaving Oxbow and Palace Malice to battle it out well clear of the others. Revolutionary had begun his move and appeared to be a strong horse as he charged up into fourth, with Orb launching his bid around horses, losing ground around the far turn.

Palace Malice was the stronger of the two horses and took a half-length lead into the stretch, with Oxbow three lengths clear of Revolutionary and Orb.

“It was like movie scene,” Smith said. “Gary looked over to me and I could see his face clear as day. He says, ‘Go on, little brother, you’re moving better than me.’”

Palace Malice was moving better than anyone, opening a two-length lead at the eighth pole and then extending it to 3 1/4 lengths at the wire. Oxbow, in another gutsy performance, finished a clear-cut second, 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Orb, who finished a length ahead of the regally bred Incognito.

“I’m so proud of this colt,” Stevens said. “I thought I was dead midway down the backside. They were suicidal fractions and he never got any break. To finish second, I’m really surprised. He galloped out after the race like you wouldn’t believe.”

Revolutionary was unable to sustain his run, settling for fifth. The early fractions did take their toll, as evidenced by the final time of 2:30.70.

Pletcher said this was an emotional win because of Campbell. “He supported me from the very beginning and to win a big race for him is really gratifying.”

McGaughey said it was a fun ride and he has no problems with the way the Triple Crown played out. He won the race he wanted, but his only regret was not having Orb run better in the Preakness and Belmont.

On the winner’s side, there was nothing but joy and exultation. “I cannot believe this,” said Anne Campbell, who was overcome with emotion. “I’m just so happy for Cot. We knew the horse was capable of doing this. Cot never lost faith in him. Most of the time you’re disappointed, and for this to happen now at this stage of his career it makes it all the more special. And he has not retired. This will give him a whole new life.”

The one disappointment was not having their daughter Lila there. “Her flight was canceled,” Anne said. “She was on the phone weeping and crying.”

Lila watched the race from her home in Atlanta and admits to having mixed feelings.

“It was an emotional roller coaster, and I was sick with regret not being there,” Lila said. “I was standing in front of the TV screaming my head off, knowing this likely was my dad’s last shot at the gold ring. I adore him and am thankful for the life he’s given me. I’m so proud I could bust. I’m about to start crying again just thinking about it.”

Paul Oreffice has been a partner in Dogwood Stable for 25 years and invests in every horse. He makes it a point to mention he is 63 days younger than Campbell and refers to him as “the old man.” Oreffice and his wife, Jo Ann, were among the last to leave the Directors Room. They had hired a car and driver for the day and were about to leave for their trip home to Saratoga. But their mode of transportation didn’t matter, because as Jo Ann stated, “We’re going to float all the way home.”

No one, however, was more excited and proud watching Palace Malice come down the stretch than Burl McBride.

“Oh, my God, I had tears in my eyes when that horse crossed the wire.” he said. “I’ve been braggin’ on that mare for years and I’ve been braggin’ on this colt. Well I don’t have to brag on him anymore, because the whole world knows who he is. I can finally shut up. From now on, people can just look at my face and know what I’m thinking and feeling.”

It was only fitting that McBride watched the Belmont at Ellis Park, where this amazing story began so tragically, only to end in triumph nearly eight years later.

Haskin's Belmont Report: Belmont Brain Teaser

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 17:17:00 GMT

Let’s try and get through this with as little pain as possible. If you think you can nail this year’s Belmont Stakes winner through conventional handicapping methods you’re most likely in for a rude awakening. But in our case the alternative is a blank space where the Friday column should be.

You can decipher all this in whatever manner you choose, but the bottom line is, we’re dealing with a full field of 14 horses – some fresh and others not so fresh – going a mile and a half for the first time over what likely will be a sloppy or muddy track, or a tricky drying out track at best.

Despite the gorgeous weather all week, it’s been a rather slow week on the backstretch, with very little media at hand. The feeling here is that a great marketing opportunity was missed by not salvaging what is left of this year’s Triple Crown with a heavy “Come see the Filly on the Filly” (or something to that effect) promotion. With the Kentucky Derby and Preakness both having tremendous historical significance this year, we do have the possibility of further history being made with Rosie Napravnik riding the filly Unlimited Budget.

Auto racing has made a national celebrity of Danica Patrick, who has not been nearly as successful in her sport as Napravnik has been. What better opportunity to reach mainstream America than by having TV commercials, full-page newspaper ads, and an appearance on one of the late night talk shows promoting Napravnik’s attempt to become the first female rider to win a classic aboard a filly. And on the 20th anniversary of Julie Krone’s victory in the Belmont Stakes on Colonial Affair, in which she became the first and only female rider to win a classic. In addition, Napravnik is riding Unlimited Budget for trainer Todd Pletcher, who saddled Rags to Riches to win the 2007 Belmont Stakes, becoming the first filly to win the Test of the Champion since 1905.

A full-fledged marketing campaign could have added great interest to the race and brought it to the attention of TV stations and newspapers around the country. It was at least worth a try and might have created a diversion from all the negative publicity the sport has received the past few years.

But what’s done is done, and we have delayed the inevitable long enough. It’s time to try to analyze this year’s Belmont Stakes.

Most people feel as if Orb’s “A” game will win this race, and he has shown no signs to dissuade anyone from thinking that way. He looks good, he’s worked well, and he has been galloping strongly every morning. He has the pedigree to get the distance and he’s already shown an affinity for a sloppy track. So, we’ll establish the fact that Orb is the horse to beat.

But we’re not here to latch onto favorites. We’re looking for value, and there is always value in the Belmont Stakes, because you can never really be sure what’s going to happen and who is going to handle the mile and a half and these big sweeping turns. There is a reason why we’ve had horses win at odds of 24-1, 13-1, 11-1, 38-1, 36-1, and 70-1 since 2002.

We’ll state right off the bat that no horse has been training better than Freedom Child, whose gallops have been machine-like. The runaway Peter Pan Stakes winner has done nothing wrong in the morning, galloping strongly and doing it in a professional manner. It would be an understatement to say he loves the slop following his 13 1/4-length romp in the Peter Pan, and there is a good chance he will get another “off” track. But even if he doesn’t, he has also proven his ability on a fast track. Like Orb, he is a son of Malibu Moon. So, you can do whatever you wish with him. The feeling here is that he will wind up going off as the second choice, because of all the buzz that surrounded him.

Revolutionary could go off as the third choice, with Golden Soul also taking action, based on their performances in the Kentucky Derby and being freshened since that race. We're tempted to go with Revolutionary as the top choice, considering he was our No. 1 ranked horse on Derby Dozen and had to hesitate several times stuck behond Golden Soul before finally making a big run, but we're simply looking for a bigger price.

Oxbow, of course, will be bet off his Preakness victory, but he was 15-1 in that race, and some will feel he will not have the luxury of a soft pace, as he did when he stole the Preakness right from under the noses of the other riders. But he has proven he can handle any kind of pace, and you can never count this tenacious, hard-knocking colt out of any race. He’s had a tough 3-year-old campaign, having already run in six graded stakes, all around two turns, and he hasn’t had more than five weeks off between races since October.

So, that brings us to the price horses who look to have a legitimate shot to upset this field. And there are plenty of them. Overanalyze, who we picked, especially as our longshot special, in the Derby, is back on his win cycle and could be tough if he can handle the 1 1/2 miles. He’s been working OK; nothing flashy, just good solid works. He’s won his only start at Belmont, taking the Futurity Stakes with a powerful stretch run and gets John Velazquez, who was aboard in that Futurity win. Throw the Kentucky Derby out. He ran a bizarre race, falling back to last and then coming on again to beat about half the field, despite having to alter course sharply in the stretch while making a belated move. He did beat Oxbow handily in the Arkansas Derby, and ran a much better race than the time might indicate. We certainly can see him winning this race and would be tempted to put at least a saver on him and include him in the trifectas.

Unlimited Budget we feel is going to be bet down and may not off much value, but if the track stays sloppy or muddy, the Valid Appeal line of her female pedigree that curtails her distance prowess, will help her stretch out because of its powerful slop influence. She worked brilliantly in her final drill and looks to be coming into the race extremely sharp. The one time Napravnik rode her was the one time she was able to relax and take back well off the pace en route to an impressive score in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds. They obviously make a great team, and we’re looking for a big effort from the daughter of Street Sense.

We began liking Incognito watching his maiden victory and then fell in love with him witnessing that remarkable performance against older horses that has to be seen to be really appreciated. Let’s just say it even surpassed Revolutionary’s Withers score as the most amazing victory we’ve seen all year. His Peter Pan was a total toss, and he actually ran a much better race than it looks on paper (see our column earlier in the week). He has the pedigree for sure, being by A.P. Indy, out of Octave, and has a big shot to at least get in the exotics. It takes him a while to get fully cranked, so don’t get discouraged if you see him being asked and not responding. Once he does he will keep coming and get stronger the farther he goes.

Now we come to our two key horses, Will Take Charge and Palace Malice. Talk about throw-outs, Will Take Charge's Kentucky Derby should be ignored other than to watch him moving stride for stride with Orb around the far turn and into the stretch. While Orb got a clear run on the outside, he ran right smack into a tiring Verrazano and got stopped cold and had to be taken up. You can’t stop a 17-hands horse like that and expect to get him going again. Also, he was coming into the Derby off an eight-week layoff, so he had that against him. Remember, he did beat Oxbow in the Rebel Stakes. We’re also throwing the Preakness out, because it is his size and huge stride that worked against him over that deep tiring track at Pimlico. Now, he gets the perfect racetrack for him that is conducive to a big long-striding horse. We love the way he’s been galloping every morning and has really been down into the bit and razor-sharp. His energy level is high and he made a spectacular appearance grazing on Wednesday. He’s carrying his flesh beautifully and his coat is radiant. He also gets reunited with Jon Court, who has been on him for all three of his career victories. Whether he’s good enough to win, who knows? But he is showing all the signs of a horse ready to run a big race.

Finally, we come to my old favorite, Palace Malice, who we still haven’t given up on. He’s had a strange 3-year-old campaign, filled with misadventure, altered schedules, and failed experiments. Last summer, he was regarded as perhaps Todd Pletcher’s most promising 2-year-old; at least one of them. When he ran in the Risen Star, he was the only horse in the 12-horse field who had never been two turns and was coming into the race off only one seven-furlong race in 6 1/2 months. He still turned in a big performance to finish third, beaten a half-length, while finishing ahead of Oxbow. In the Louisiana Derby, he looked like a potential winner when he ran into a traffic jam and had nowhere to go the entire length of the stretch. Chalk that down as a wasted race. In order to try to qualify for the Kentucky Derby, he came back only two weeks later in the Blue Grass Stakes, his first try over Polytrack. In the 14-horse field, he did all the dirty work, going after a loose-on-the-lead Rydilluc, putting him away and taking over the lead in the stretch. But he raced greenly over the strange surface, losing focus and switching back to his left lead, and was nipped right on the wire by a fast-closing Java’s War.

Coming back in three weeks, he wore blinkers for the first time in the Derby, and that proved to be a disaster. Ridden by Mike Smith for the first time, he became speed crazy in that 19-horse cavalry charge and proceeded to set suicidal fractions of :45 1/5 and 1:09 4/5. He was still right there turning for home, but he was cooked – roasted, fried, and stewed. All he managed to do was set it up for all the deep closers to finish one, two, three.

Since that debacle, he has worked brilliantly, including one sensational work. He’s bred to go the distance, he’s bred for the slop, but he did draw post 13, which we’re not thrilled about. The feeling here is that Smith should take hold of him this time and take him back, as the colt did in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby, and them methodically work his way into contention. If he sends him at the start, even with blinkers off, he’s in danger of getting hung wide on the first turn, which normally spells disaster.

The other longshots in the field, Vyjack, Frac Daddy, and Giant Finish are no slouches either, while Midnight Taboo, despite his inexperience, has exceptional mile and a half breeding.

But when push comes to shove, we’re going to give Palace Malice another shot and hope he can overcome the outside post, and also play Will Take Charge as a saver, and probably play them with several of the others in the exotics, depending on what the track is like.

If you’re looking for non-handicapping angles, well, we’ve had Orb and Oxbow, which leaves Overanalyze to complete the “Cheery-O’s” Triple.

Or how about a trifecta box of Orb, Revolutionary, and Palace Malice, who all were broken and trained together as babies at Niall Brennan’s farm in Ocala?

And, finally, how can you not put a few bucks on Rosie and Unlimited Budget, even though it has gone virtually unnoticed outside the sport.

Haskin's Belmont Report: The Week in Pictures

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:21:00 GMT

Here are some of the players in one of the most perplexing Belmont Stakes in years.

Jennifer Patterson is happy with the way Orb has been training, as is trainer Shug McGaughey. The Kentucky Derby winner had a spirited gallop Thursday morning in which he was feeling good down the stretch.

Trainer Wayne Lukas and Oxbow have become quite a team. The Preakness winner has seemed more business-like this week, and has maintained his fitness and enthusaism despite a tough 3-year-old campaign.

No one has been galloping better than Freedom Child, who has been machine-like in his gallops each day. Trainer Tom Albertrani clocks the splits and had him going one-to-two ticks faster this morning. The best word to describe his gallops is flawless.

One always has to tread carefully walking past Freedom Child's stall. The colt is always looking for something to bite on, whether it be his stall door, his plastic ball, or his groom. He's not a mean horse as much as a big strong kid who gets bored easily.

Orb on his way to the track for his usual 6 a.m. gallop.

You can always count on Orb for some classic poses as he waits patiently to begin his gallop.

Trainer Dallas Stewart leads Kentucky Derby runner-up Golden Soul off the van following his arrival Tuesday afternoon.

Golden Soul arrives bright and alert, and tongue free, as he checks out his new surroundings.

Oxbow shows he, too, can strike a classic pose.

You want a handsome, happy horse, whose coat shines like burnished copper? Well, say hello to Lukas' forgotten horse, Will Take Charge.

Darley's Jimmy Bell turns fan, as he takes a photo of Incognito for his scrapbook.

Frac Daddy's trainer Kenny McPeek turns hotwalker as he takes his colt for a stroll around the shedrow.

Vyjack's coat and weight have improved greatly over the past couple of weeks and he is starting to look like his old self after his Kentucky Derby ordeal that took a lot out of him physically.

Have only seen Todd Pletcher's horses gallop one morning (today) since last Sunday's works and just didn't get anything worthwhile enough to include on here. Perhaps later today if any are out grazing or tomorrow morning.

Haskin's Belmont Report: All About Tactics

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:56:00 GMT

Now that the post positions for the Belmont Stakes have been drawn, we at least can make an educated guess on how the race might be run. But we still have track condition to consider, and at this point it looks as if we are going to have a wet track on Saturday. But to what degree, and if it is sloppy, what type of slop are we going to get? Those are the questions that could determine who runs well and who doesn’t.

Horses who handle a true sloppy track, with standing water on top and a firm base, might love it , but may not like a drying out track that is tiring and sticky. And then there is the most likely kind of surface, and that is a sealed track, which can be very hard.

But for now, let’s concentrate on post position. As with most two-turn races, the rail means speed and the outside has the potential for disaster, especially at Belmont with that big first turn that can easily cook any horse who gets caught wide. You do not want to lose ground around this turn, because of its sweeping nature, because you’re stuck on it for much longer than other turns.

You also don’t want to go wide into the second turn. Many times, you’ll see a horse go wide into the turn, make a big move outside horses, only to fall apart after turning for home. Many jockeys who are unfamiliar with Belmont often make the mistake of thinking this is Churchill or Pimlico and circle horses on the notorious turn of no return. The key is saving ground as long as possible on the turn and then look for a seam around the five-sixteenths pole and ease your way out. Then it’s OK to go wide at the head of the stretch.

Some horses can overcome a wide trip, mainly those with a great deal of stamina and lung capacity, as well as a big long stride. But it’s much better to avoid it if possible.

As for this year’s field, we do have the potential for an early speed battle, which means a contentious pace and testing fractions. Although Freedom Child looks to be the controlling speed from post 2, Kenny McPeek has been training Frac Daddy (post 1) for speed, giving him three sharp half-mile works, including two bullet moves. His gallop Wednesday morning was so strong, the NYRA clockers actually clocked him going five furlongs in 1:04 3/5. McPeek said he is seriously considering giving him a three-furlong blowout on Thursday, which means you can pretty much expect this colt to come out running from the rail post position. The son of Scat Daddy was on the muscle walking the shed and grazing after shipping in from Kentucky Tuesday, and there is no doubt he is razor sharp right now. And McPeek has always loves disrupting the natural order of things. You can never count him out.

Preakness winner Oxbow, drew beautifully in post 7, and he should be tracking these two, which brings us to the enigmatic Palace Malice, who will break from post 13. Mike Smith will have three choices. One is to break sharply, outrun those inside him, and try to save as much ground as possible going into the turn. The only problem with that is, despite the removal of blinkers, there is always the danger of Smith losing control of him as he did in the Kentucky Derby and having him go too fast early. If he breaks cleanly and takes a slight hold him, trying to ease to the inside, there is the danger of being floated wide going into the turn by Oxbow or Giant Finish or any of the tactical speed horses.

The final option is taking a strong hold of him, let the inside speed outrun him, and then tuck in and try to have him come from well off the pace. Pletcher has always felt this colt has excellent natural speed, but wasn’t using it in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby. However, going a mile and a half, he could be ready to use those tactics this time, especially with the blinkers off. He ran a huge race coming from ninth in the Risen Star to be beaten a half-length, despite having never been two turns and having only one seven-furlong race in 6 1/2 months. In the Louisiana Derby, he dropped back to eighth, and it is our opinion that he would have won the race or been right there had he not had the trip from hell, trapped on the rail with nowhere to go the entire length of the stretch. Going 1 1/2 miles now, with his pedigree, the feeling here is that he can drop out of it, sit back in the pack and then make a steady move heading into the far turn in much the same manner as Afleet Alex in the 2005 Belmont and even the stone closer Jazil in 2006.

Pletcher’s other horses are a guess, as we have no idea what tactics Unlimited Budget will use from post 13 or Revolutionary from post 9, or even Midnight Taboo from post 8. All have good tactical speed if asked for it, even though Revolutionary has come from the clouds in his last two starts. But that is not really his style of running, and he has more speed than one might think.

We also have no idea what tactics Will Take Charge and Vyjack will use coming out of posts 11 and 12, respectively. Will Take Charge, who no one has mentioned all week (yes, Wayne Lukas has two horses in the race) is a 17 hands giant with a huge stride and he should love Belmont’s big turns. If you throw out the Preakness and judge him based on his Derby run and the way he way moving stride for stride with Orb until he got stopped cold at the head of the stretch, you have to consider him an interesting longshot possibility. He had an excellent gallop Wednesday morning and was really into the bit. Remember, Lukas is the only trainer in history to have won two legs of the Triple Crown in a single year with two different horses, and he has an opportunity to make it three this year.

As for the deep closers, Orb and Golden Soul no doubt will take back as they usually do, but both will try to keep improving their position throughout and not wait as long as they did in the Derby. Overanalyze also will take back from post 3 and try to save ground as long as possible. If you look at his winning race--bad race pattern, he’s ready for another victory.

Finally, that leaves us with the biggest mystery horse, Incognito, who continues to fascinate us. He should relish the mile and a half, but must stay in the clear as much as possible. He apparently did not care for the sloppy kickback in the Peter Pan and took himself out of the race, but as we mentioned in an earlier column this week, he ran a sneaky good race down the stretch and galloping out, as if he was just getting rolling.

So, now that we’ve totally confused you, good luck trying to figure this race out. Ideally, we’d love to see Palace Malice take back well off the pace and use his speed and stamina the last four to five furlongs. If he can get lucky and ease his way to the inside after the start, that would be ideal as well, but you can’t depend on that happening, and if he fails to get in, he could be in big trouble. Of course, a sloppy track would likely keep the entire field off the rail, so ground loss wouldn’t be as critical as it would on a fast track.

I’m going to stop now before I drive everyone, mostly myself, crazy.

Haskin's Belmont Report: Farther the Better For Golden Soul

aspradling — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:22:00 GMT

When you get right down to it, the Belmont Stakes is all about stamina; horses running a distance they likely will never run again. You can throw out speed figures and any other handicapping tool you use. They don’t apply here. At least most of the time.

That is why a favorite hasn’t won the Test of the Champion since Afleet Alex in 2005. And that is why from 2008 to 2011, the winners have gone off at odds of 38-1, 11-1, 13-1, and 24-1. And let’s not forget Birdstone at 36-1 in 2004 and Sarava at 70-1 in 2002.

The only problem is, some of those winners had mile and a half pedigrees and some didn’t, at least not on the surface.

So, as confusing as the Belmont can get, stamina still in the long run is the most valuable tool. And some horses have pedigrees so inundated with stamina you don’t need to be an expert to pick them out. When that stamina also is combined with top-class middle-distance speed, you have all the pedigree credentials necessary to win a race like the Belmont.

Although there are several horses in this year’s race who should have no problem getting the mile and a half, the one horse who actually was bred with the Belmont in mind and who has classic influences everywhere you look is Golden Soul, who used that stamina to get up for second in the Kentucky Derby.

Although he has come from far back in his last two races, don’t think this colt doesn’t have the tactical speed to lay closer in the Belmont. To start with, Golden Soul is by the top-class grass miler Perfect Soul, who won the Shadwell Turf Mile and Maker’s Mark Mile and set a course record for a mile at Keeneland of 1:33 2/5.

Perfect Soul is by Sadler’s Wells, one of the most influential sires in the history of the sport. The son of Northern Dancer was the champion sire in England and Ireland 14 times and was Great Britain’s leading sire for 11 straight years. He had the speed to win the English 2,000 Guineas as well as the 1 1/4-mile Eclipse Stakes and the stamina to run second in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the French Derby. In all, Sadler’s Wells sired 323 stakes winners and 80 group/grade I winners.

Perfect Soul’s broodmare sire is Triple Crown winner Secretariat and his maternal great-grandsire is Exclusive Native, who sired Triple Crown winner Affirmed.

Golden Soul’s female family is loaded with classic European influences, although he is a half-brother to Lexington Stakes winner Quinton’s Gold Rush. His second dam, Lady in Silver, won the French Oaks and ran second in the Arlington Million as a 3-year-old. Lady in Silver is by Silver Hawk, who was second in the Irish Derby, third in the English Derby, and the sire of 76 stakes winners and six millionaires, including English Derby winner Benny the Dip. Silver Hawk also is the great-grandsire of Belmont and Preakness winner Afleet Alex. Silver Hawk’s sire is English Derby winner Roberto, whose dam, Bramalea, won the 1 1/2-mile Coaching Club American Oaks.

Lady in Silver’s dam, Lorn Lady, is by Lorenzaccio, who upset the great Nijinsky II in the Champion Stakes. Lorenzaccio is by French 2,000 Guineas winner Klairon.

So, Golden Soul’s pedigree is inundated with class and the perfect balance of stamina and mile to middle distance speed, both in the U.S. and Europe. Credit must be given to his breeder Charles Fipke, who uses a scientific approach (being a scientist himself) in selecting his pedigrees. He does this by incorporating various pedigree and nicking methods with his own formula, and so far it has paid off, with Golden Soul and Blue Grass Stakes winner Java’s War this year alone, as well as Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Perfect Shirl, a daughter of Perfect Soul.

Haskin's Belmont Report: More to Incognito Than You Think

aspradling — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:26:00 GMT

There certainly is no pressure on Kiaran McLaughlin as he prepares Goldolphin’s Incognito for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. For McLaughlin and the Godolphin/Darley brain trust, this is one of those typical “everything to gain and nothing to lose” scenarios.

McLaughlin is relying strictly on pedigree in his belief that the regally bred son of A.P. Indy – Octave, by Unbridled’s Song has some sort of chance of making an impact on the finish of the mile and a half race.

That’s not to say there isn’t talent and heart to back that up, but at this point, the handsome gray colt is unproven against top-class company and even McLaughlin admits, “He’ll go a mile and a half, I just don’t know how fast.”

So, what kind of case can one make for a horse whose only stakes appearance resulted in a 15 3/4-length defeat and whose highest Beyer Speed Figure has been a paltry 86?

First off, let’s go back to the colt’s maiden victory on March 16. He was coming off a fast-closing neck defeat to Mr. Palmer, who went on to win the Private Terms Stakes easily and then finish a fast-closing fourth in the Wood Memorial. In that maiden score, he tracked a slow pace going a flat mile and came home his final two quarters in :24 and :24 3/5 to win going away by 3 1/4 lengths.

Anyone who saw his next race, a first level allowance race against older horses, had to come away with a tremendous appreciation for the colts courage, toughness, and determination.

Trapped behind a wall of horses in the stretch, he was bumped soundly, ran up on a horse’s heels and stumbled, nearly falling. Somehow, he was able to recover and get back in stride. He was steered to the inside for room by jockey Mike Luzzi and proceeded to go between two horses. But just as he got to the opening, both horses closed it up quickly and he found himself sandwiched in tight quarters. But he wasn’t about to back out of it. Instead, he bulled his way through, knocking both horses out of his way. Once he finally got in the clear, he kicked in to another gear. Winning seemed unlikely, but he kept coming and amazingly got up to win by a nose. He may have earned only an 86 Beyer, but, considering what he overcame, you can add a number of points to that figure had he had a clear run.

Then came his stakes debut in the Peter Pan, for which he was bet down to 7-2. Although his past performances lines would indicate he tired, losing 10 lengths from the opening quarter to the finish, it was just the opposite. He broke sharply over the sloppy track and seemed to be in good position as they headed down the backstretch. But Luzzi decided to move him in behind horses. Incognito apparently did not like the slop being kicked back in his face and proceeded to take himself out of the race, dropping back abruptly, and was not seen on the TV screen until they straightened into the stretch.

Still behind horses, Luzzi saw the rail was clear and steered Incognito to the inside. Once he rid himself of the kickback, the colt took off and began picking off horses. By then, however, Freedom Child, who had led every step of the way, was long gone. He was 10 in front at the eighth pole and continued to widen, winning by 13 ¼ lengths. Incognito was just getting rolling, and although he finished fifth, he was beaten two photos for third. After the wire, he kept building up steam and actually flew by the winner galloping out, which means he had to make up 16 lengths in less than a furlong, and just kept going.

It was that final furlong and the gallop-out that encouraged his connections to try for the Belmont, knowing the mile and a half distance will only help him.

“That’s why we’re running him,” McLaughlin said after watching the colt work a solid :48 1/5 over the training track Monday. “Luzzi said he didn’t like the kickback. He doesn’t have the Sheets numbers, so he’s not going to be a wise-guy horse.”

With rain forecast for Friday and Saturday, many people will toss him after the way he reacted to the slop hitting him, but he did run a good third, closing a lot of ground, in a mile maiden race over a muddy track back in January. He has plenty of strong slop influences in his pedigree top and bottom, and his dam, Octave, ran a super race in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in the slop, rallying from 12th to finish third, beaten only a half-length. She also finished second in the Kentucky Oaks, run over a muddy track.

Incognito is not the type of horse who is going to give you that quick acceleration, and at times he looks as if he’s going nowhere on the far turn, despite being pushed on. He is, however, the type of horse you can never give up on, because it takes a while for him to get going, and once he does, he just keeps coming. And one thing we do know about him is he has the heart and guts and the will to win, and the ability to overcome adversity.

What we don’t know about him is his class against top company and how much talent is there, at least at this point in his career. The speed figures say he’s not fast, and that may be true, but fast speed numbers often are not a major prerequisite to winning the Belmont. Just look at Commendable, Drosselmeyer, Da’ Tara, Ruler On Ice and a host of “slow” horses who managed to pick up a piece of it, such as Atigun, Anak Nakal, Andromeda’s Hero, Nolan’s Cat, Royal Assault, and Thomas Jo, all of whom finished in the money in the Belmont at huge prices.

Whether or not he proves he belongs in this year’s Belmont, Incognito has already shown one of the main qualities you look for in a Thoroughbred – heart. If there is a dogfight, especially at the end of a mile and a half race, he’s the kind of horse you want to have your money on.

Haskin: Lukas and Stevens' Long Journey Together

aspradling — Sun, 26 May 2013 21:17:00 GMT

Wayne Lukas knew he had pulled a fast one on his opponents and on the bettors. The Hall of Fame trainer had just sprung an 18-1 upset in the 2000 Belmont Stakes with Commendable, who was coming off a dreadful 17th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Despite the son of Gone West floundering through six straight out-of-the-money performances at four different racetracks at five different distances, Lukas refused to give up on the colt, whom he had purchased for Bob and Beverly Lewis for $575,000.

Not only did Commendable have no form to back him up, Lukas was attempting something that had never been done before – win the Belmont Stakes straight from the Kentucky Derby.

“Wayne, are you sure you want to do this,” Bob Lewis asked him after Lukas told him of his intentions. Even Lukas’s wife, Laura, questioned the move. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” she asked. “Are you being realistic here?”

But Lukas remained firm in his decision. He discussed the field and strategy with assistant trainer Mike Maker and mapped out his plan of attack. When it was over, Lukas had his 13th classic victory, and in doing so rewrote the book on how to train a horse for the Belmont. After that victory, trainers began to follow suit, resting their horses after the Derby and going straight to the Belmont. What had never been accomplished before now became the blueprint on how to win the Belmont.

Since Commendable’s victory, Empire Maker, Birdstone, Jazil, Summer Bird, and Union Rags all won the Belmont Stakes coming straight out of the Kentucky Derby.

What Lukas didn’t realize then was that his vast operation, which, for 15 years, made Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup victories look routine, would be reduced to a single 40-50-horse stable and that it would take 13 years for his next victory in a Triple Crown race.

How fitting that it should come with a rugged throwback of a colt like Oxbow, who continues to bounce out of race after race like a fresh horse, despite having to overcome bad posts, bad trips, and premature moves? Unlike Commendable’s 18-1 odds, Oxbow was “only” 15-1 in his masterful theft of the Preakness Stakes, one of only two races since last December in which he drew a good post.

Lukas once again had silenced the doubters and proved all those wrong who thought, at age 77, he was washed up.

The year after Commendable’s Belmont Stakes victory, almost to the day, Gary Stevens, his bags packed, left the Belmont Park and headed to his car following his victory in the Belmont aboard Point Given. The cheers, the smiles, and the accolades were behind him, and all that remained were nagging thoughts of what might have been. Although he had just ridden Point Given to one of the most dominating victories in the history of the Belmont, following the colt’s impressive win the Preakness, there was a hint of sadness on his face and in his voice. Stevens knew a Triple Crown sweep had been squandered with Point Given’s inexplicable fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. There was enough self blame to go around for everyone connected with the horse. And to this day, no one can provide a single concrete reason for Point Given’s Derby performance

“It’s going to be disappointing forever, knowing that racing was probably deprived of a Triple Crown winner,” Stevens said as he left the track that evening. “You have to understand, the Kentucky Derby is the ultimate for (owner Prince Ahmed Salman), and I really wanted it for him.”

Perhaps Stevens would have relished the moment and appreciated the victory more had he known, like Lukas, it would be his last victory in a Triple Crown race in 12 years.

During those dozen years, Stevens’ life was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions and a continuous attempt at self-discovery. He struggled for several years, but eventually lost his battle with pain and ventured into whatever role in racing he could find. He was involved in a horrific spill at Arlington Park that could easily have cost him his life, but he made an amazing comeback from that near-tragic incident. He lived with extreme pain in his knees before finally retiring in 2005. Over the years he briefly trained horses, was racing manager for Prince Ahmed’s The Thoroughbred Corp, was an advisor to IEAH Stables, worked as a TV analyst for several networks, and even acted in movies and television, getting excellent reviews for his roles in the film “Seabiscuit” and the short-lived TV series “Luck,” in which he played veteran washed-up jockey Ronnie Jenkins, who had turned to alcohol following a bad spill.

Following Luck’s cancellation, Stevens, remarkably, after seven years, decided to come out of retirement, as if continuing his role as Ronnie Jenkins, intent on proving to the world he still could ride with the best of them. To most everyone’s amazement, Stevens returned as strong and as fiercely competitive as he had been back in his glory days of the 1990s. He lost none of his strength and timing and his comeback was an immediate success. His fellow jockeys were amazed he could come back off such a long layoff at the age of 50 and compete at the same high level he had seven years earlier.

Stevens made several attempts to land a Triple Crown horse, but it wasn’t until he was contacted by Lukas that he found the perfect horse to match his style of riding. Give Stevens a tough, tenacious horse with excellent tactical speed who could race effectively on or just off the pace, such as a Silver Charm, In Excess, Farma Way, Bertrando, Serena’s Song, Gentlemen, Silverbulletday, Indian Charlie, General Challenge, and Congaree, and he was back in his comfort zone. His strength and ability to judge pace was second to none.

It was Lukas who helped jump start Stevens’ career 25 years earlier by putting him on his first Kentucky Derby winner, Winning Colors, who also happened to be Lukas’ first Derby winner after 12 attempts, the last 11 finishing out of the money. They would team up again in 1995, winning the Derby and Belmont with Thunder Gulch, who, at 24-1, bailed out Lukas when his favored 3-1 entry of Timber Country and Serena’s Song finished third and 16th, respectively.

Following the Derby, Lukas put Stevens back up on Serena’s Song, who he had ridden early in her career, and the daughter of Rahy proceeded to win seven of her next 10 starts, including a victory over colts in the Haskell Invitational, and five other grade I stakes.

By the end of 1995, Stevens had ridden three Eclipse Award champions for Lukas – Thunder Gulch, Serena’s Song, and Golden Attraction.

But it was Thunder Gulch who held a special place in Stevens’ heart, helping him overcome the sudden death of his close friend Mark Kauffman several days before the Kentucky Derby.

As he crossed the finish line, Stevens stood in the saddle, pointed his finger toward the heavens, and shouted, “This is for you, Mark.” After the race, he wasted no time in calling Kauffman’s wife, Molly, at her home in Mercer Island, Wash., a suburb of Seattle, to tell her Mark was with him all the way.

“What Gary did was so special and so wonderful and so spontaneous, there are no words to describe it,” an emotionally exhausted Molly said later that night. “It made me cry and it made me happy to know how much Mark was loved. We were extremely touched that Gary took time out to let us know how much he cared, and I truly believe Mark’s spirit was right there with him.”

It just seems Lukas and Stevens have always been there for each other at crucial times in their career, and it would be hard to dismiss fate as the driving force that once again brought them together this year with Oxbow. With the colt’s emotionally charged Preakness victory, each thrust the other back into the spotlight in which they had basked so often years ago. For that brief moment, Lukas no longer was 77; Stevens no longer was 50. They both were back in their prime, lifting the same trophy and commanding the same headlines. Their plaques in the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame that were beginning to fade into history, once again shone with the same luster they did the day they were inducted.

Even in the Hall of Fame, they share a common bond. Stevens was inducted in 1997, the same year he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness aboard Silver Charm. Lukas was inducted in 1999, the same year he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Charismatic. Both colts were owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis.

Now, so many years later, the bond between Lukas and Stevens has grown even stronger, as each has added to the other’s already extensive list of accomplishments. Lukas, by winning the Preakness, broke “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons’ long-standing record of 13 classic victories, while Stevens became the only jockey other than the great Eddie Arcaro to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont three times each.

Regardless of what Oxbow does in the future, the reuniting of two legends and that one special moment of sheer bliss they shared following the Preakness will remain frozen in time, forever etched in the history books.

All photos by Steve Haskin.

Ten Questions That Don't Need Answering

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:52:00 GMT

You can attempt to actually answer these questions if you wish, but they’re meant to be rhetorical questions merely designed to inspire thought.

1--When was the last time each of the first three finishers of the Preakness went into the race with 10 or more career starts?

You’d probably have to go back a number of years to find the answer. The point of the question is that it’s good to see seasoned horses with a solid foundation competing in and performing well in the classics once again. Nowadays, we’re so used to seeing lightly raced horses with little or no 2-year-old experience and only two or three starts at 3, there is something satisfying about watching battle-tested horses bounce out of the Derby in great shape and run huge in the Preakness.

2—What was more surprising, Palace Malice going to the front in :45 1/5 and 1:09 4/5 in the Derby or Goldencents not going to the front in :48 3/5 and 1:13 1/5 in the Preakness?

Both completely turned the Derby and Preakness upside down. What helped Orb in the Derby hurt him in the Preakness. What hurt Oxbow in the Derby helped him in the Preakness. Making snap decisions and knowing when to take the initiative is essential in these big races, where pre-race strategy often disappears quickly, and that’s when you want a Hall of Fame rider like Gary Stevens. If you present Stevens with a gift, like the one he was given in the Preakness, be prepared for him to say “Thank you,” and then hit you over the head with it.

3—Why make a big deal about the Preakness time of 1:57 2/5 being the slowest since 1961 when the Pimlico Special was run in 1:58 3/5, the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan in 1:52 3/5, and a 1 1/16-mile allowance race won by the stakes-placed Code West in 1:46 3/5?

The track obviously was very slow on Friday and Saturday in distance races (why?), and Oxbow’s final three-sixteenths in :19 2/5 was pretty solid. And runner-up Itsmyluckyday and third-place finisher Mylute came home faster than that, so they were running pretty good at the end. The slow time didn’t prevent Oxbow from earning a 106 Beyer.

4—Could it be that the unsung hero of the Preakness was Cee’s Song, a winner of only one of her 18 career starts who died in her sleep in 2011 at age 25?

All Cee’s Song has accomplished is having produced two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Santa Anita Handicap winner Tiznow; Breeders’ Cup Classic, Santa Anita Handicap, and Hollywood Gold Cup runner-up Budroyale, a $50,000 claim; and the dams of Preakness winner Oxbow and Haskell Invitational winner and Belmont Stakes runner-up Paynter. Here is a former $40,000 claimer who earned only $82,000 as a racehorse responsible for four horses who earned a combined $11 million. And Oxbow and Paynter aren’t through yet.

5—This is a four-part question: Should Joel Rosario have eased Orb off the rail and into the 3- or 4-path early on when there was no one even close to him? Once Will Take Charge came up on his outside passing the sixteenth pole, he was all but committed to the inside, which was said by opposing jockeys to be “extremely” deep. Part Two is, even if the track was that much slower on the rail, would it cause an odds-on favorite like Orb, who actually did ease out off the rail, to back out of it so early in the race and so quickly and let longshot Titletown Five, who was inside him, outrun him to the half-mile pole? Part Three: Is it possible that Orb simply isn’t as effective running inside horses? And Part Four: Did Orb work too fast (:47) five days before the race?

Perhaps the correct answer is none of the above. We’ll never know for sure, but it is quite possible that Orb simply had a bad day. If Orb had flattened out in the stretch, then maybe you could blame his defeat on being on the inside. But he was done too early to use that as a definitive reason. Deep rail or not, he’s too good a horse not to last a lot longer than that. If he didn’t like being inside or between horses, then why was he able to find another run late, splitting Departing and Goldencents in the final sixteenth to salvage a fourth-place finish when it looked like he was a cinch to finish sixth? The bottom line is, there is no bottom line. In Rosario’s defense, whether he should have eased out early or not, he, like Stevens, at least took the initiative and put his horse in contention after sensing the slow pace. Why the colt didn’t go on is anyone’s guess. As for his work, I’ve heard opposing views from two trainers. Itsmyluckyday turned in an almost identical work as Orb’s one day earlier and he ran a big race. Both Orb and Itsmyluckyday certainly did it easily enough, so, once again, who knows?

6—Can Palace Malice bounce back in the Belmont off his suicide mission at Churchill Downs?

Let’s throw everyone out of the Derby and pretend it was a match race between Palace Malice and Oxbow, who got a lot of credit, and deservedly so, for being anywhere near that torrid pace and still finishing a respectable sixth.

If it were a match race, Palace Malice’s past performance line would look like this: 1-1 ¾ -- 1-5 ½ -- 1-3 ½ -- 2-½ -- 2-3 – 2-3¾. If you notice, after setting the fastest fractions in Derby history over a sloppy or muddy track, and one of the fastest fractions ever even on a fast track , he wasn’t that far behind Oxbow at the finish and lost very little ground to him from the eighth pole to the wire. The only other time they faced each other, Palace Malice finished ahead of Oxbow, out-battling him in the Risen Star Stakes, despite never having been two turns in his life and coming off only one seven-furlong allowance race in nearly seven months.

Making a major equipment change in the Derby is always a risky move, especially putting blinkers on a horse in a 19-horse cavalry charge -- a horse who has shown sprinter’s speed in his early races. Now the blinkers come off and it is pretty obvious we’ll see a more relaxed horse. Failed experiments are usually short-term, whether you stick with it or not. Remember when Flower Alley ran in the Derby with blinkers on for the first time and got caught too close to an almost identical and senseless pace set by Spanish Chestnut, who should never have even been in the race. Flower Alley continued to wear them and eventually they helped, as evidenced by his Travers victory later in the year. But, like Palace Malice, they did more harm than good in the Derby.

7—Can you remember so many jockey changes on the Derby trail in one year, whether initiated by the trainer or the jockey?

Of the nine Preakness starters, only three were ridden by the same jockey who had been on them all year. And those three jockeys were Kevin Krigger, Brian Hernandez Jr., and Martin Garcia. Not exactly the riders you would expect. In the Derby, only three of the 19 starters were ridden by the same jockey who had been on them all year.

In the Preakness, Orb (Joel Rosario) was ridden by John Velazquez two races back; Oxbow (Gary Stevens) was ridden by Mike Smith three races back; Itsmyluckyday (John Velazquez) was ridden by Elvis Trujillo in his last race; Mylute (Rosie Napravnik) was ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan two races back; Will Take Charge (Mike Smith) was ridden by Jon Court in his last race; and Titletown Five (Julien Leparoux) was ridden by Gary Stevens in his last start. These six horses have been ridden by a total of 15 jockeys this year alone. I won’t even begin to list all the jockey changes of the Derby starters.

8—What do Preakness starters Oxbow, Mylute, Will Take Charge, Govenor Charlie, and Titletown Five have in common?

Here’s a hint, it’s the same thing Derby starters Revolutionary, Palace Malice, and Java’s War have in common.

They are all sired by Breeders’ Cup winners. (Three sired by a BC Classic winner, three sired by a BC Juvenile winner, and two sired by a BC Sprint winner).

9—When was the last time an owner ran three horses in the Belmont Stakes?

Mike Repole actually has four candidates this year in Overanalyze, Unlimited Budget, Midnight Taboo, and Micromanage, all of whom have strong enough pedigrees to get the distance. If he runs three, he will equal the record set by Price McGrath, who finished first, second, and fourth in 1875. The Belmont is No. 1 on Repole’s bucket list, and you can be sure he will give it his best shot.

10—When was the last time a trainer saddled at least 10 horses in the Triple Crown…and none in the Preakness?

You’re not expecting an answer are you?

Haskin's Preakness Recap: Ox Tale

aspradling — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:11:00 GMT

“Come on, Lukey! Come on, Lukey! Come on, Lukey!”

You don’t witness it very often, but one of those cheering the loudest for D. Wayne Lukas and Oxbow in the final quarter mile of the May 18 Preakness Stakes (gr. I) was one of his opponents in the race.

Once Bob Baffert realized that his colt, Govenor Charlie, was not going to overcome a slow start and would make no impact on the race, and once he realized the 3-5 favorite, Orb, was coming up empty, his attention quickly turned to the 77-year-old Lukas, his one-time idol and adversary, with whom he has bonded in recent years.

As Oxbow hit the finish line following his wire-to-wire theft of the 138th Preakness, Baffert, after rooting the colt home as if he were his own, said, “How great was that? I’m glad I came.”

It was Lukas who had called Baffert, who had been hedging about whether to run Govenor Charlie in the Preakness, and told him, “You have to come; we’ll have fun. I need some support.”

Together, they combined for a memorable weekend, with Lukas also finishing first and third in the grade II Longines Dixie Stakes with 24-1 shot Skyring and Optimizer, respectively, and Baffert winning the previous day’s Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (gr. II) with Fiftyshadesofhay, the Chick Lang Stakes Presented by Apple Ford with Zee Bros, and the final race on the Preakness card with Code West.

The two “Derby Dominators” of the mid- to late ‘90s, combined to win five consecutive Kentucky Derbys, five Preaknesses (gr. I), and four Belmonts (gr. I) from 1994-2000. During that time they were fierce competitors on and off the track, competing for the attention of high profile owners, such as Robert Lewis and The Thoroughbred Corp.

But both Hall of Fame trainers and former Quarter-Horse legends have been humbled by a decade-long Triple Crown drought, during which they managed only a single Preakness score (by Baffert with Lookin at Lucky in 2010) since 2002. The passing years have mellowed both trainers and they now have a close relationship and deep admiration for each other.

Following the Preakness, Baffert sought out Lukas, put his arm around his shoulder and simply said, “That was awesome. Alright, man, congratulations.”

“We’ve shared a lot over the years, starting with our Quarter Horse background,” Baffert said. “I’m very close to Wayne now. We’ve had to deal with a lot of the same stuff. We were both very successful and hated by many. But people forget how much Wayne has done for this sport. I was over his house, and I thought I had the most awesome trophy collection until I saw his. He roots for me and I root for him. As we get older we appreciate things more. I was so happy winning the Black-Eyed Susan.”

Said Lukas, who is the only trainer in both the Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred Hall of Fame, “For Bob to come over right after the race to congratulate me really meant a lot.”

The 2013 Preakness will be remembered as the downfall of Orb and his quest to win the Triple Crown for the old-school team of trainer Shug McGaughey and co-owners Stuart Janney III and the Phipps family. While it was a bitter blow to the traditionalists who had relished their unforgettable trip down memory lane in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), the Preakness provided another great storyline, filled with historical relevance.

Lukas’s victory was his 14th in a classic event, breaking the record he held with the great “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons. And to have a 77-year-old trainer win a classic with a horse ridden by 50-year-old jockey who had had returned to the saddle this year after being retired for seven years, made it one of the most memorable dual comebacks ever. For Gary Stevens, who has won classics for both Lukas and Baffert, he now has three victories in the Derby, three in the Preakness, and three in the Belmont. The only other jockey with at least three wins in all three races is the legendary Eddie Arcaro.

But before the seven-year itch brought him back to the saddle, Stevens' thrills existed only through movies and television. The last great horse he rode before his return was "Seabiscuit" in 2003, and when you're aboard the winner of the "Race of the Century," it doesn't even matter that it was pretend and existed only on the big screen.

Just when Stevens and his achy 50-year-old knees were resigned to riding in contrived races, even as an aging crotchety rider on TV, HBO pulled the plug on their series "Luck" and Stevens was thrust back into the real world again, which meant sitting behind a microphone and analyzing races and watching other jockeys hop aboard good horses right in front of him. He could practically reach out and touch them.

Finally, the urge to get back in the saddle proved too great and Stevens decided to embark on the unthinkable -- a riding comeback, this time on real-life horses in real-life races. His return was an immediate success, but when he went through his first slump, he began having doubts. That is, until a tough, tenacious colt named Oxbow made it all worthwhile on a chilly, damp afternoon in Baltimore.

So, history marches on in the 2013 Triple Crown. Although Oxbow is owned by Calumet Farm, it has no other connection to the dynasty built by Warren Wright and continued by his widow Lucille Markey other than the name and property. The Wright family is gone and the famed devil’s red colors were purchased years ago by the Brazilian group Stud TNT, but the record books will still bear the name of the now eight-time Preakness-winning owner.

Just when it looked as if Thoroughbred racing had lost its historical significance and had been taken over by a younger generation of owners, trainers and jockeys, here comes names like Phipps, Janney, and Calumet Farm; McGaughey and Lukas; and Gary Stevens in the first two legs of the Triple Crown to remind everyone there are no age limits in the Sport of Kings, where passion and hard work fuel youthful exuberance.

And then we come to Oxbow, who like Orb and Preakness runner-up Itsmyluckyday, is a throwback to another era, when horses made of sinews of steel raced hard and raced often, regardless of the track, surface, and distance.

If any horse deserved to be rewarded with a classic victory it is Oxbow, a son of Awesome Again – Tizamazing, by Cees Tizzy. What makes this pedigree so remarkable is that Awesome Again won the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and Tizamazing’s dam, Cees Song also produced Tiznow, two-time winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic; Budroyale, who raced 52 times, finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic; and Tizso, dam of Paynter, the 2012 Haskell Invitational (gr. I) winner who was beaten a neck in the Belmont Stakes and later overcame tremendous odds to survive a series of ordeals that would have killed most horses. And now Cees Song has the dam of a Preakness winner. It should also be pointed out that all the aforementioned horses are full siblings by Cees Tizzy.

With his Preakness victory, Oxbow now has raced 11 times, the last 10 in a seven-month period, during which he has competed at seven different tracks in six different states from New York to California and as far south as Louisiana and Arkansas. He’s been ridden by seven different jockeys, and each time, he ran hard, often on or near the pace.

In his six races prior to the Preakness, all two-turn graded stakes, he had to overcome bad posts, wide trips, premature moves, and even being taken back to last in a 10-horse field. Four times in a five-race period he drew either post 10 or 11 and got hung wide every time, then was moved prematurely. In the Kentucky Derby he had to break from the dreaded rail. Despite making a big move to challenge for the lead along the inside through suicidal fractions of :22.57, :45.33, and 1:09.80 over a sloppy track on which he had never raced, he still managed to finish sixth in the 19-horse field and was the only horse who raced near the hot pace to finish in the top half of the field.

The only time in those six races he drew a good post and had a clean trip, he won the LeComte Stakes (gr. III) by 11 1/2 lengths, defeating eventual Kentucky Derby runner-up Golden Soul. In the Preakness, he drew perfectly in post 6, while Orb drew the rail, accompanied by a chorus of groans.

It was a frustrating winter and spring for Lukas, who kept insisting Oxbow was a special horse, despite his defeats. The colt, bred in Kentucky by Richard Santulli’s Colts Neck Stables, had been purchased at the Keeneland September yearling sale by Brad Kelley’s Bluegrass Hall, which has since morphed into Calumet Farm, for $250,000.

“That is a serious horse,” Lukas said of Oxbow back in January when Kelley still raced under the name Bluegrass Hall. “He’s maturing and getting better, and has such an efficiency of action. He enjoys it and gets in that cruising speed and just stays there.”

But after the LeComte romp came a tough half-length defeat in the Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) under Jon Court and a head defeat in the Rebel Stakes (gr. II) under Mike Smith, both times having to race very wide and making a premature move. When Gary Stevens hopped aboard for the Arkansas Derby (gr. I) and took the colt back to last and way out of his comfort zone, he felt he had learned a lot about him and looked forward to riding him back in the Kentucky Derby. But the blazing pace and being stuck down on the inside compromised his chances, and when Stevens worked him a half in :49 4/5 at Churchill Downs May 13 and saw how beautifully he relaxed, he started feeling as if the third time might be the charm. He and Oxbow were now a team who appeared for the first time to be in sync with each other.

Stevens needed a boost about now, as his once remarkable comeback had hit a snag and he began having doubts for the first time whether it was a wise move coming back.

Lukas was getting more and more confident with each passing day, but he felt Orb was an “exceptional horse” and a potential Triple Crown winner, and that tempered whatever enthusiasm he normally would have before a big race. Lukas also had a talented colt in Will Take Charge, who got stopped while moving with Orb in the Derby, and he threw his speedy colt Titletown Five into the mix for good measure.

Although both his main hopes were leading 3-year-olds, with Will Take Charge having already beaten Oxbow in the Rebel and now a threat coming off the Derby debacle, Lukas’s face always seemed to light up when he discussed Oxbow.

“If he were a basketball player, he’d be a complete gym rat,” Lukas said. “He’s a tough sonofagun, and you wouldn’t be able to get him out of there. I told Gary if you go ahead and hook anybody (in the Preakness) he’ll bring them to their knees, because there’s no quit in him. If he gets the trip he’s definitely dangerous.”

Lukas’s lady friend, Laurie Krause, who has been in the horse industry all her life in the horse show world, said she would be terrified to ride Oxbow.

“That horse just cracks me up,” she said. “He’s like a little fire-breathing dragon. He has a Napoleon complex. It’s like, ‘I may be little, but you don’t want to mess with me.’ Wayne is crazy about all his horses, but he’s really fond of this one.”

There were two other works prior to the Preakness that raised the proverbial eyebrows and both were pretty much identical. On the Sunday before the race, Itsmyluckyday worked five furlongs between races at Monmouth Park and lit up the track with a :47 1/5 half, out five furlongs in :59 3/5 to the cheers of the crowd.

Trainer Eddie Plesa had made a big move following Itsmyluckyday’s 15th-place finish in the Derby, in which the colt didn’t seem to handle the sloppy track. Plesa had a chance to get John Velazquez to ride the Holy Bull (gr. III) and Gulfstream Park Derby winner and he grabbed it, replacing regular rider Elvis Trujillo.

It was Trujillo, however, who worked Itsmyluckyday. Following the work, Plesa and Trujillo put their arms around each other, and Plesa told him, “I just want to thank you. I owe you.”

Trujillo replied, “I want to thank you for the opportunity and I wish you the best of luck.”

The following day came the much-anticipated work by Orb, who was scheduled to van down to Baltimore later than same morning. The son of Malibu Moon indicated his sharpness as well, working his half in :47 flat, out in :59 2/5.

On Wednesday morning, Lukas and his eight-horse contingent arrived at Pimlico following a 12 1/2-hour van ride from Louisville.

“The horses are doing better than I am,” said Lukas, as he set up shop in his favorite corner of the Preakness Stakes barn. “That’s a long hard trip. At my age, you wouldn’t think I’d be in that truck for that many hours.”

Later that day, Mylute, Departing, and Govenor Charlie arrived on a flight from Louisville. The Preakness would be a reunion of sorts, with Orb and Departing (owned by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider) having grown up in the same paddock at Claiborne, adding to the old-time movie theme of this year’s Triple Crown.

The following morning, Lukas jogged his three Preakness horses, and as expected, Oxbow was like a coiled spring, jogging briskly off the track as if he wanted to do a lot more.

But it was Oxbow’s gallop the next morning that raised the spirits of everyone in the Lukas camp. The pocket rocket, who was always a handful to gallop, demonstrated the kind of controlled aggression Lukas was hoping to see. Lukas and exercise rider Rudy Quevedo had been working on getting the colt to relax and this gallop told them they had succeeded.

“I’ve been on him since he was a baby,” Quevedo said. “He has a small neck and he pulls so hard he’s difficult to gallop. Some people on TV keep saying that he gallops sideways, but he doesn’t gallop sideways; he’s just so strong you have to pull on him, because he wants to go all the time.

“But, oh, man, this last gallop, I jogged him straight and then galloped him from the wire back to the seven-eighths pole. He was strong, but relaxed this time, and when he came off the track he was jumping and kicking. I told Wayne, ‘We got this race.’”

Lukas added, “I’ve been working all week on him. I’ve even done some creative training to get him to relax. I’ve changed a few things up a little bit; gave him some open gallops; went backwards a couple of days. I know one thing; we haven’t seen his best.”

The morning of the race, Lukas was confidently talking about his superfectas, if indeed he actually bet superfectas. At the other end of the barn, McGaughey appeared to be relieving some tension by first sweeping the entire area inside and outside the entrance to the barn and raking the same area for about 15 minutes. Dell Hancock and Dilschneider showed up around 5:30 to watch Departing go to the track. “I wouldn’t miss it,” Dilschneider said.

Plesa, who was thrilled with the way Itsmyluckyday was looking and galloping, said on a scale of one to 10, his colt was a 10-plus. All he was concerned about was the weather, which was calling for possible intermittent showers.

“He’s been doing so great mentally and physically, I wish the race was last week,” he said. “I wish it was yesterday. I wish it was the first race today.”

The previous morning, Mylute had entertained a group of school kids by allowing them to pet him, while he just stood there like an old pony. A few yards away, the colt’s co-owner, Paul Bulmahn, of GoldMark Farm, was happily raking up manure outside the barn and dumping it in the manure pile. Now that’s an owner you have to admire.

Except for a light drizzle that fell for a short while in mid-afternoon, the day was dry and the track was fast, much to the delight of Plesa and most of the others.

Orb was pounded at the windows, his odds plummeting to 3-5 by post time. Everyone it seemed wanted to grab a piece of history.

The running of the race was for the most part uneventful. Stevens broke well on Oxbow, getting a minor bump from Will Take Charge, and cruised up to the lead, where Goldencents awaited after pretty much crawling to the front. Stevens looked over at Kevin Krigger, way up in the saddle on Goldencents, and saw that he was not exactly interested in any confrontations. Stevens didn’t go looking to play the role of pacesetter; it was just handed to him. Not only did Krigger not want it, neither did Julien Leparoux on Titletown Five. The speedy Govenor Charlie broke a step slowly and then was pinched back a little, winding up near the back of the pack. That left Oxbow with a length lead going into the first turn, a surprising turn of events, considering Goldencents’ trainer said the morning of the race, “We’re going.”

Stevens found himself in almost the exact same position he was in the race before on Calumet’s Skyring in the Dixie, stealing away on a non-contested lead.

Orb had broken cleanly and had the inside route all to himself, but Joel Rosario didn’t seem to want any part of the rail and eased Orb out a couple of paths. But without an escape route he was forced to remain inside horses, as the others bunched up around him. Velazquez had Itsmyluckyday out in the clear on the outside in fourth as Will Take Charge and Mylute brought up the rear through an opening quarter in :23.94.

Oxbow was still lulling them asleep on the lead through a half in :48.60, as Rosario managed to pick his way through horses and into contention, moving up into fourth, then third. But just when it looked as if Orb was going take matters in his own hands he began to lose touch with the leaders and surprisingly dropped back to seventh, while seeming fairly disinterested at that point. It is very possible, however, he was struggling with the track. Rosie Napravnik, on Mylute, had originally intended on following Orb passing the stands, but when she saw how deep the inside was, she said, "I'm getitng out of here."

When Stevens hung up a 1:13.26 three-quarters, the handwriting was on the wall. A horse with Oxbow’s tactical speed, toughness, and pedigree wasn’t about to call it quits. Stevens must have felt like a bank robber hopping in the getaway car with no one even noticing that the bank had been robbed. All he kept thinking was, "Shame on everybody."

“When I saw Oxbow’s ears fluttering back and forth at the three-eighths pole, I thought of the 1988 Kentucky Derby (aboard Winning Colors) and I asked him to kick in from there and try to get some separation from the field,” he said.

It was now obvious that Orb wasn’t going to be a factor. Departing looked to be menacing along the inside, but it was Itsmyluckyday and Mylute who proved to be the strongest horses, although the latter had a lot of ground to make up off such a soft pace. Departing had no kick after turning for home and Goldencents was done.

Oxbow, meanwhile did kick into another gear through a :24.88 quarter and spurted away to a three-length lead. The Oxbow Incident was nearing its conclusion. Itsmyluckyday took up the chase, with Mylute trying to close the gap, another two lengths behind. Orb was going at an even pace, but his best hope was a fourth-place finish. Stevens went to a series of right-handed whips and Oxbow kept finding more. Itsmyluckyday continued to peck away at the lead, but had no chance at this point of catching Oxbow.

With a solid final three-sixteenths in :19.40, Oxbow hit the wire 1 3/4 lengths in front of Itsmyluckyday, with a gallant Mylute falling a half-length short of the place spot. It was another 6 3/4 lengths back to Orb in fourth. The final time of 1:57.54 for the 1 3/16 miles was the slowest Preakness since Carry Back in 1961. It must be noted, however, that the previous day’s Pimlico Special (gr. III) was run in 1:58.50, with a three-quarter fraction in 1:14.18. The 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan, also the day before, was run in a sluggish 1:52.73.

So, for Stuart Janney, his Triple Crown attempt is not going end in victory at Belmont, as the poets would script it, in the shadow of Ruffian’s grave. For McGaughey and the Phipps family, there will be no Part Two to their long-awaited Kentucky Derby dream.

For Gary Stevens, however, he has gone from playing a broken down washed up jockey on TV to reliving real-life images of Silver Charm and Point Given draped in black-eyed susans, proving that the best scripts are the ones you write yourself.

For Wayne Lukas, he no longer lives life in excess and now is content merely being content. And that means being around his 48 horses every morning, bonding with other trainers, and even riding in a van with them for 12 1/2 hours. The only similarity between Lukas today and the old Lukas is that when he gets off that van after 12 1/2 hours, there isn’t a single crease in his jeans.

He admittedly is more comfortable now in his own skin and no longer feels he has to wake up every morning proving to others he is a superior horseman. Although he says it would have been great for racing to have Orb trying for the Triple Crown, he “gets paid to spoil the dreams,” not to mention having the satisfaction of seeing his training skills turn an aggressive free spirit like Oxbow into a classic winner.

As for Lukas still going strong at 77, Laurie Krause says, “He’s dynamic, he really is.”

But like another dynamo, Oxbow, Lukas also has learned how to relax, and after 13 years of trying to recapture past glories, he, too, is a classic winner.

All photos are by Steve Haskin.

Wayne Lukas liked what he saw from Oxbow in his final gallop Friday

Not enough light to nail the focus on this, but the action was good and showed how keen Orb was before his Friday gallop

Even after his gallop, Orb still is in the bit with his mouth open

Mylute has plenty of little hands petting him at once, as he entertains a group of school kids

No one looked or trained any better than Itsmyluckyday

Shug apparently had a lot of nervous energy on Preakness morning, as he swept and then raked the area in and around his barn for some 15 minutes

Orb is still on his toes before the race

Next three shots need no explanation

Happy Hall of Famers reunited in victory

That's the Lukas victory smile we all remember

Cake cutting time

Haskin's Preakness Report: Final Observations

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:00:00 GMT

This year’s Preakness is all about Orb. And then there are his eight opponents, most of whom are worthy adversaries, with a case to be made for any of them to step up and run a big race. Big enough to beat Orb is another matter.

You can look at the race from a selection standpoint or a betting standpoint. We really haven’t had a chance to see much serious training at Pimlico, with Orb working at Belmont Monday, walking at Pimlico Tuesday, jogging Wednesday, and galloping Thursday. Of course, his gallop was flawless as usual, and he once again is showing all the signs of a horse who hasn’t even come close to bottoming out, as indicated by his coat and the flesh he’s still carrying. And he still has that edge to him.

If his opponents want to try to find anything to inspire hope it’s that he really has never come home fast, fraction-wise, in any of his five consecutive victories. But part of that could be his tendency to relax a bit once he makes the lead. That’s not to say it makes him vulnerable. You could compare him to a fighter who has a spotless record, with most of his victories coming by decision or TKO rather than a one-punch knockout.

They can also hope the 1-hole will somehow compromise his chances, and while that is always a possibility, all indications are that Orb will drop back to last in the nine-horse field, perhaps some eight to nine lengths off the lead this time, assuming the pace is legitimate, which it should be. Once Rosario gets him settled in last, he should have the option to go around horses again when the time is right.

Pimlico does a tendency to favor strong horses who can separate themselves from the field, just as Shackleford did against Animal Kingdom. And just as Bodemeister did last year. Even though he was narrowly beaten in the final strides, he made I’ll Have Another work hard to catch him. Many Kentucky Derby winners who scored with a big late run from back failed to duplicate that winning run in the Preakness, such as Animal Kingdom, Mine That Bird, Street Sense, Giacomo, Monarchos, and Fusaichi Pegasus since 2000.

Expect to see Orb start picking up horses earlier and at a faster rate. You don’t want to give him too much to do on those turns if a horse like Goldencents or Govenor Charlie, or Itsmyluckyday or Oxbow should happen to get separation from the field.

The two intriguing horses in here are new shooters Departing, who should be making his rally fairly close to Orb, probably a couple of lengths at most in front of him, and Govenor Charlie, who has brilliance and the ability to carry his speed. But he hasn’t raced in eight weeks and has only three career starts, in which he really hasn’t beaten anything of note. We really don’t know how good these two horses are.

When anticipating position, remember, it all depends on the pace, and we know Orb has the ability to lay closer if the pace dictates that strategy.

With everything seemingly going perfectly once again, it would be very difficult to pick against him. He just has too much going for him.

But if you’re intent on trying to beat him, we’ll offer up two observations regarding the little training we’ve seen.

Goldencents bears no resemblance to the horse we saw training at Churchill Downs before the Derby. Although his gallops were strong, he never seemed fluid or as relaxed as he should be, often tossing his head around. Between his nutrition program and physical therapy, and most of all jockey Kevin Krigger getting up on him every day and teaching him to relax, a new horse has emerged, one who appears to be more professional, more relaxed, and there is no head movement at all. And he’s been motoring down the stretch at a sub-two-minute lick, while running straight as the proverbial arrow.

Now, whether that all equates to him knocking off Orb is anyone’s guess. All we’re saying is that he has made tremendous strides since the Derby.

We also have to make mention of Itsmyluckyday, whose last work at Monmouth was very similar to Orb’s last work at Belmont and every bit as impressive. Since arriving at Pimlico, his coat has blossomed and he is carrying excellent flesh, indicating the Derby did not take much out of him. Now all he has to do is return to his early season form, in which he rattled off back-to-back triple-digit Beyers and back-to-back negative Thoro-Graph numbers.

From a trip standpoint, you cannot ignore Mylute, whose Trakus figures have him running some 8 1/2 lengths better than runner-up Golden Soul and third-place finisher Revolutionary. And he was pinched at the start, causing to drop far off the pace. In the stretch, he was widest of all and running over the chewed up part of the track. Expect a big effort, with Rosie Napravnik returning home to Maryland. But he is second choice on the morning line and there probably won’t be a lot of value with Rosie aboard.

Finally, we come to the two Wayne Lukas horses, Oxbow and Will Take Charge. The latter took the worst of it when rallying stride for stride with Orb, only to run smack into a tiring Verrazano, who backed up right in his face, forcing him to steady and veer to the inside to avoid him. You simply cannot stop on a 17-hands horse like that and expect to get him started again.

As for Oxbow, he made his early move into the teeth of those suicidal fractions set by Palace Malice, wound up vying for the lead too early, as the others just stopped abruptly, and although he finished sixth, he was the only horse anywhere near the lead to finish in the top half of the field.

As for the new shooters, we’ve been impressed with Departing’s style of running and how he accelerates away from his opponents with smooth, fluid strides, and the way he wins under wraps with his ears pricked. His third-place finish in the Louisiana Derby was much better than it looks, as he had to hesitate in the stretch, just enough to break his momentum. Once he leveled off again, he was moving well in the final yards.

The best case you can make for Govenor Charlie is the series of brilliant six-furlong works he’s coming off and his brilliance and apparent natural ability. But as mentioned, there is the question of inexperience and lack of racing over the past couple of months.

So, there you have cases to be made for everyone but Titletown Five, who is an unknown factor and who is attempting to stretch way out in distance and against far better horses than he’s been facing. We expect to see him in the King’s Bishop at Saratoga.

So, based on what little observations we’ve made at this point, we would put Goldencents, Itsmyluckyday, Departing, and Myute (despite the low odds) with Orb in the exactas and trifectas. And perhaps throw Oxbow in for old time’s sake. Of course, that means you can be sure Will Take Charge will finish second.

For a win bet only at decent odds, we’ll take a shot with the two worst finishers of the Derby in this field, Goldencents and Itsmyluckyday (who basically were allowed to coast to the wire), based strictly on what we’ve observed.

But the pick, of course, has to be Orb.

Haskin's Preakness Report: First Two Days in Photos

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:20:00 GMT

Following are images from the first two days at Pimlico. There has been little activity on the track, with only Goldencents galloping.

Orb in the traditional Derby winner's stall -- as alert as ever.

Orb knows a patsy when he sees one and Alison McGaughey loves spoiling the Derby winner, who would have gone right into Shug's office to get his mint.

Shug rarely takes his eyes off Orb.

Even when Orb gets rambunctious, he never rattles Jennifer Patterson, whom Shug credits a great deal for Orb's success.

The unmistakable blaze and left eye of Will Take Charge.

Itsmyluckyday strikes a majestic pose on his way to the track.

Orb meets a new friend, who was thrilled to pet the Derby winner. Only problem is, his new friend is Dave Kenney, co-owner of Goldencents.

Oh, Dave, here is your horse heading into the paddock...Dave, turn around...Uh, Dave...These Goldencents gents are a fun bunch who know how to have a good time. They're having a ball in Baltimore. And, yes, Dave is rooting for his horse.

Eddie Plesa arrived in Baltimore today and immediately headed to the barn to lavish some affection on Itsmyluckyday. The colt never moved a muscle.

Orb and Jenn Patterson have become the most recognizable couple on the backstretch.

Departing arrives Wednesday with the Kentucky contingent.

Another new arrival, Mylute, checks out the photographers as he heads to the Preakness barn.

Orb schools in the paddock. Cliche or not, Shug is leaving no stone unturned.

After a 12-hour trip from Kentucky Tuesday, Oxbow can't wait to get off the van. He was like a coiled spring on the track this morning.

Haskin's Preakness Report: Befits Its Namesake

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:07:00 GMT

The name Preakness has been right at the top of the racing vernacular for years, as the second leg of the Triple Crown, yet many people have no idea what or who Preakness is.

There just might be a reason why the Preakness Stakes has been the scene of some of the most bizarre occurrences in the annals of the Triple Crown.

Sloppy tracks, muddy tracks, hard tracks, stifling heat, interference, injuries, a misjudged workout, and a suicidal pace have all had a hand in preventing Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winners from sweeping the Triple Crown.

The Preakness and Preakness Day have also seen a massive power failure on race day; some guy running on the racetrack and throwing a punch at Artax in the final yards of an earlier stakes race; America’s foremost race caller Clem McCarthy calling the wrong winner on a nationwide radio broadcast in 1947; Afleet Alex clipping heels and nearly falling at the quarter pole and still winning in one of the most remarkable recoveries in racing history; Codex and Genuine Risk involved in one of the most heated and controversial incidents ever; and a teletimer malfunction that cost Secretariat a track record that finally was rectified nearly 40 years later.

And how about a horse winning the Kentucky Derby by four lengths and the Belmont by 10 lengths, only to finish second in the Preakness after being blocked at the quarter pole…by his own stablemate? That ignominious incident happened in 1931 to Greentree Stables’s Twenty Grand, who appeared to be making a winning move when his own stablemate, Surf Board, began to tire and backed up right into him, blocking his path. Twenty Grand managed to gather himself and find another run, but his closing rally fell 1 1/2 lengths short of catching the winner…a horse ironically called Mate.

In 1939, Belair Stud’s Johnstown also destroyed his opponents in the Derby, winning by eighth lengths, and the Belmont, winning by five lengths. On Preakness day, a hard steady rain turned the track very muddy, and Johnstown just couldn’t get hold of it, tiring to finish fifth.

So, how ironic was it that Twenty Grand was “wiped out” by a horse named Surf Board, and Johnstown was defeated in a “flood?”

In 1972, Riva Ridge suffered the same fate as Johnstown, easily winning the Derby and Preakness, but floundered over a sloppy track in the Preakness.

There are many ways to lose the Preakness and the Triple Crown, but Chateaugay came up with a new one in 1963. The Darby Dan colt won the Derby and Belmont impressively, but five days prior to the Preakness, trainer Jimmy Conway decided to work him a mile. Conway gave a leg up to his main exercise rider, Carlos Martinez, and told him to go a nice easy mile, between 1:41 and 1:42. But Chateauguay had other ideas and wound up working in 1:37 3/5, which equaled Pimlico’s track record for the mile set back in 1923. A disheartened Conway said after the work, “This was much too fast. I never knew the boy to miss by that much.”

But this was the Preakness, where the unexplainable has become commonplace.

In the race, Chateuagay was three lengths back in 1:37, which means he ran the mile in the exact same time he did in his work. It was enough to result in a second-place finish to Candy Spots, a colt he defeated in both the Derby and Belmont.

If ever a horse looked as if the Preakness would suit his style more than the Derby and Belmont it was Bold Forbes. But the speedster managed to win the Derby and Belmont, only to lose the Preakness when he wilted badly in the 90-degree temperature and high humidity while setting blazing fractions. In addition, he returned bleeding from his left heel, the result of several nasty cuts suffered during the running of the race.

So, why have so many unusual occurrences plagued the Preakness? Perhaps it traces back to the horse for which the race was named.

In 1868, a group of sportsmen got together at a dinner engagement in Saratoga and decided to form a new stakes race. Maryland governor Oden Bowie, who was in attendance, persuaded the others to stage the event in Baltimore. The governor must haven been extremely persuasive, considering there was no racetrack in Baltimore. He promised, however, that one would be built in time for the race, which was scheduled to debut in 1870. Bowie had put the cart before the race and it worked.

Two years later, the inaugural Dinner Party Stakes was held on schedule. The race was so named because the winning owner was to host the losers at a dinner party following the race.

The new Baltimore track was named Pimlico after…well, who knows? Most of the records of the Maryland Jockey Club were destroyed in the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904. Some say it was named for “Old Ben Pimlico’s Nut Brown Ale,” a favorite in England. Others believe it was named after an island called Pimlyco. Old Baltimore land records of 1699 show that a tract of land known as Pemblicoe was laid out in the same district where the racetrack is located.

The inaugural running of the Dinner Party Stakes was won by a big, coarse-looking colt named Preakness, who was named after a small town in New Jersey.

Years later, after being sent to England to compete in the long-distance Cup races, Preakness was purchased by the Duke of Hamilton for stud purposes.

Unfortunately for Preakness, he developed a bad temper that was matched only by that of his owner’s. One day, the two clashed in Preakness’s stall, with the Duke coming out on the short end. In a fit of anger, he went into his house, grabbed his shotgun, and killed the horse.

The incident enraged English sportsmen around the country, and the furor that resulted in Europe and all the way to America triggered a wave of reform, prompting laws and restrictions for the protection of animals. That law is enforced with such diligence today the Duke’s act surely would have resulted in a jail term and heavy fine.

Through all the crazy misfortunes, the Preakness has remained one of the most popular and enjoyable racing experiences in America. If Orb can get by this race without anything bizarre occurring he will return home the conquering hero and overwhelming favorite to become the first Triple Crown winner in 35 years.

This also is the 40th anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown sweep, and what could be more appropriate than having Orb join this elite club, considering Secretariat’s owner, Penny Chenery (then Penny Tweedy) only got to own Big Red because she lost a coin flip with the late Ogden Phipps, who’s son Ogden Mills (Dinny) co-owns Orb with his cousin Stuart Janney III.

If that isn’t a fitting Preakness storyline, what is?

Haskin's Preakness Report: Family Plot

aspradling — Sun, 12 May 2013 21:53:00 GMT

History, it is said, repeats itself, and it will do just that in the 138th Preakness Stakes. It was 25 years ago that Claiborne Farm’s Forty Niner defeated Ogden Phipps’ Seeking the Gold by a nose in a gut-wrenching stretch duel in the Haskell Invitational Handicap, run in near-100-degree temperature. Finishing fourth in the five-horse field was Private Terms, owned by Stuart Janney Jr.’s Locust Hill Farm, who missed third by only a half-length. Forty Niner was the 4-5 favorite, and Seeking the Gold and Private Terms both were 5-2 co-second choices.

Of course, we all are aware that these three powerhouse stables, which have been strongly linked for more than five generations as both partners and adversaries, are the dominant figures in the upcoming Preakness Stakes.

Many feel if Kentucky Derby winner Orb, owned in partnership by the Phipps family and Stuart Janney III, is going to be beaten at Pimlico, it will be Departing, owned by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, that will perpetrate the dastardly deed.

We also are aware that Claiborne Farm has been the birthplace of the Phipps and Janney horses for many generations, and all the great Phipps family champions are buried there.

Just as Orb and Departing grew up together at Claiborne Farm, so did Forty Niner , Seeking the Gold (both sons of Mr. Prospector), and Private Terms.

As a side note regarding that 1988 Haskell, the fourth-place finisher who prevented a Claiborne-Phipps-Janney sweep was Primal, who was owned and bred by Tartan Stable, the breeder of Orb’s broodmare sire Unbridled.

Also, Private Terms is by the Phipps stallion Private Account (by Damascus), out of Laughter (a three-quarter sister to Ruffian), making him a three-quarter brother to Orb’s third dam, Steel Maiden. And finally, Seeking the Gold’s broodmare sire, Buckpasser, can be found in both Orb’s male and female families.

Now, it is just a question of whether history will repeat itself in regard to the finish of the Preakness. But instead of Claiborne defeating Phipps and Janney horses, it will attempt to defeat a single horse owned by both.

As you can see, this year’s Preakness represents the history of Thoroughbred racing and the great equine and human families that built its foundation so many years ago. What we’re seeing this year is a rare glimpse into the past. The fabric of the sport has changed dramatically as all the founding families have died out and are now nothing more than mere names from a bygone era. But through it all, the Phipps dynasty lives on, and it was only a matter of time before a throwback like Orb came along to remind a new generation of horsemen and racing fans what was so special about this sport back in the so-called golden age of racing.

So, whether it is Phipps and Janney who continue on their Triple Crown quest or whether it is Claiborne Farm that ends it in Baltimore, racing will be all the better for it. After all, even if we don’t have a Triple Crown attempt this year, which would disappoint a lot of people, a rubber match between Orb and Departing and their legendary connections in the “Test of the Champion” is not such a bad alternative.

The Doll and her Hat

Speaking of paddock mates, in an unrelated item, one of the highlights of this year’s Derby experience was driving the 45 or so miles to Fred and Buff Bradley’s Indian Ridge Farm near Frankfort, Ky. to visit racing’s most beloved Odd Couple, 5-year-old Eclipse Award winner Groupie Doll and her paddock buddy, the 12-year-old gelding Brass Hat.

The latter, a grade I winner of over $2.1 million, despite suffering two fractures in his career, not only has become close friends and constant companion to Groupie Doll while last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner and champion Filly and Mare Sprinter gets her annual winter and spring freshening on the farm, he also serves as babysitter for the weanlings and yearlings, sharing their paddock, playing with them, and making sure they don’t get into any trouble.

After putting together a brilliant five-race winning streak in 2012, during which she captured three grade I stakes and two grade 2 stakes by an average margin of five lengths, Groupie Doll was beaten a nose by 2011 Travers winner Stay Thirsty in the grade I Cigar Mile, a defeat that cost her any consideration for Horse of the Year.

While Buff heads to at Churchill Downs every morning to train the horses, his wife Kim runs the farm. Kim said she knew Brass Hat would make a good companion and baby sitter by the way he gets along so well with the farm’s miniature pony Buddy.

On this particular day, Groupie Doll and Brass Hat had just finished taking turns rolling in the paddock, but Kim decided not to have them cleaned off, feeling they looked like “horses” covered in dirt. I couldn’t have agreed more.

As you can see from the photos that follow, Brass Hat and Groupie Doll are as close as two horses can be.

All photos are by Steve Haskin, please ask before taking.

Groupie Doll (left) seems in total bliss, enjoying Brass Hat's affections

You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours

Friends forever

Groupie Doll and Brass Hat enjoy attention

Grazing side by side

Buddy interacting with one of the foals

Kim Bradley also likes to interact with the foals

Who knows what Groupie Doll and Brass Hat talk about?

Haskin's Preakness Report: Oxbow and Stevens Try Again

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:29:00 GMT

Up until the five-sixteenths pole of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), Gary Stevens was envisioning a fairy tale victory aboard the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Oxbow only five months after returning to the saddle following a seven-year retirement.

But that image lasted only about three or four seconds. Oxbow had expended too much energy moving up into a suicidal pace set by the newly blinkered Palace Malice. After turning into the stretch, all Stevens could do was sit back and watch Orb storm past everyone en route to a popular two-length victory.

If Stevens had any immediate thoughts of turning the tables on Orb in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), he quickly got a reality check when he saw firsthand how the Derby winner pulled up after the race.

“Orb was still a fresh horse after the race, and the reason I know that is, he wasn’t looking to pull up,” Stevens said. “When the outrider came up next to him to pull him up, Orb was like a 2-year-old going, ‘What are you doing?’ He propped under Joel (Rosario) and I was right behind him and almost ran over the top of him.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do to turn the tables on him. All I can hope for is that Orb doesn’t show up the same horse that showed up in the Derby and has some traffic problems. I like Oxbow’s style of running; he’s going to be close to the pace and won’t have traffic to negotiate. But I’m going to be honest with you; we’re all up against it. I liked what I saw from the winner and I think we’re seeing a colt with untapped resources right now who is still improving, and that’s a scary thought. I’m going to have to figure things out after I see the post positions and then devise a strategy. But I do know I’ll be close to the pace or on the lead.”

Stevens certainly is not conceding the second leg of the Triple Crown to Orb and is looking forward to taking him on again at Pimlico with a colt he is learning more about with each race. So far, it’s been trial and error with Oxbow, a horse with a powerful engine who can get very aggressive when pumped up. But after the Arkansas Derby (gr. I) and Kentucky Derby, Stevens should have a good handle on him, and if the two can get on the same page for the Preakness, expect a huge performance.

Stevens thought on a couple of occasions that was going to happen in the Derby, not only at the five-sixteenths pole when he disposed of Palace Malice, but before the race as well.

“It wasn’t just getting to the Kentucky Derby and being a participant that got me excited, it was being out in the post parade and seeing how Oxbow was handling everything,” Stevens said. “From the time in the paddock to being out on the racetrack and hearing My Old Kentucky Home to walking up to the starting gate I had a smile on my face. I told the pony girl next me I loved the way this horse was warming up; he was giving me all the right signals. I walked in the gate just full of confidence, and he stood in there like a perfect gentleman. He was loaded first and stuck his nose in the “V” of the starting gate and was looking down the racetrack. He was really focused, and that gave me a great feeling.”

But being aboard Oxbow before and after a race is not quite the same as being on Oxbow during a race, as the son of Awesome Again has had to overcome horrible posts, moving too soon on several occasions, and being taken back to last, which is not where you want to have a horse with his natural speed.

If you want to know what bad posts are all about, just look at Oxbow’s past performances. In his last six starts, all around two turns, he has had to break from post 10 three times and post 11 once, losing a ton of ground each time. Those would have been great posts in the Kentucky Derby, but he went the other way and drew post 2, winding up on the dreaded rail following the scratch of Black Onyx. In addition to his bad posts and getting hung very wide on the first turn, he moved too soon in the Risen Star (gr. II) and Rebel (gr. II), and then with Stevens aboard for the first time in the Arkansas Derby, he wound up last from the 10-post in the 10-horse field, which is a complete deviation from his normal style of running.

“The Arkansas Derby didn’t go well,” Stevens said. “I knew what I had done wrong immediately when it happened early in the race. I’m a guy who lives and dies by the sword and if I make a mistake I call it out and try to correct the problem. I believe it’s alright to make a mistake; just don’t make the same mistake twice. I learned in the Arkansas Derby you can’t just reach up and take a big hold him; you have to make him happy. He’s a cool horse to be around and he’s very competitive once those doors open up or when you’re working him. When he realizes he’s going to have a workout he becomes very aggressive.”

Stevens was impressed with Oxbow’s sixth-place finish, considering the fact that on that sloppy sealed track, he ran testing fractions of :22 4/5, :46, and 1:10 4/5 and was the only one of the early pace factors to finish in the top half of the field. The others – Palace Malice, Verrazano, Itsmyluckyday, Goldencents, and Falling Sky – finished 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th, and 19th, respectively. As a result of the brutal pace (:22 2/5, :45 1/5, and 1:09 4/5) the first five finishers – Orb, Golden Soul, Revolutionary, Normandy Invasion, and Mylute -- came from as far back as 17th, 15th, 18th, 12th, and 18th at one point in the race.

“I was real proud of Oxbow,” Stevens said. “He has a huge tank, and what was great about him is he had every right to just chuck it in, as the rest of the pace horses did, and he battled on to the finish line.

“The Arkansas Derby had been the only time I’d been on his back in the afternoon. I was fortunate enough to get to work him twice prior to the Kentucky Derby, and I was really impressed with his demeanor. Wayne would have me get on his back about 20 minutes prior to the work and walk him around the barn area a couple of laps and then go to the gap, so he could be the first one on the track. He handled he crowd and all the photographers with so much class.”

We know what Oxbow is capable of and how dangerous he can be when things go right for him. After all, the only time he drew a good post and had a good trip was in the LeComte Stakes (gr. III) and all he did was win by 11 1/2 lengths, demolishing eventual Kentucky Derby runner-up Golden Soul. We know what Lukas and Stevens are capable of in the Preakness, having won the second leg of the Triple Crown seven times between them, with Lukas winning five of them. Heck, even the name Calumet Farm, despite the owner and colors change, is a part of Preakness history, with seven victories. So, that’s a total of 14 Preakness wins for the owner, trainer, and jockey.

If Oxbow can escape the post position draw unscathed for a change and gets a typical Gary Stevens classic ride, who knows what this horse is capable of?

Derby Leftovers: Oxbow and Orb - All Photos by Steve Haskin

Oxbow about to break off in his work with Gary Stevens aboard.

Lukas' pair of Oxbow (left) and Will Take Charge will try Orb again in Preakness.

Oxbow can be a bundle of energy in the morning.

Orb displays the radiant smile of a Kentucky Derby winner.

To all those who doubted Orb

Finally playing it straight

Haskin's Preakness Report: Classic Reunion

aspradling — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:16:00 GMT

When the field goes to the post for the 138th Preakness Stakes (gr. I), don’t be surprised if two of the participants, who could go off as the two top choices, begin gaping at each other, as two childhood playmates might do meeting years later.

With horses at Pimlico sharing the same grazing area, the two could very well cross paths prior to race day, just as they did every day grazing together as babies at Claiborne Farm.

Kentucky Derby winner Orb and one of his main threats in the Preakness, Departing, grew up together in the same paddock, along with seven other colts. For nine months they interacted on a daily basis without a care in the world. Now they are finely tuned athletes about to confront each other in one of racing’s most competitive arenas.

“They were together from Sept,. 2010 until June, 2011,” said Claiborne farm manager Bradley Purcell. “We had nine colts in that paddock and they were two of them. How neat is that? We liked both of them quite a lot. They were both very strong, classy individuals and easy to handle and had very good heads on their shoulders. We couldn’t have asked for anything better out of them. Now, everyone wants to know if they used to race each other and who won? It was great to see Blame grow up go on and win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and now the excitement is starting all over again.”

Orb, like all the Phipps--Janney horses, was sent to Niall Brennan’s farm to be broken, while Departing, like all the Claiborne and Adele Dilschneider horses, was sent to Jane Dunn’s Holly Hill Training Center in South Carolina.

Said Purcell, “We just kind of oversaw them to make sure they stayed healthy and strong, and Mother Nature did the rest.”

Did she ever. What is ironic is that one of the horses who could now stand in Orb’s way in his quest for the Triple Crown not only was his old childhood buddy, he comes into the Preakness off an impressive victory in the Illinois Derby, the race that was snubbed by Churchill Downs and prevented from remaining a viable Kentucky Derby prep. With zero qualifying points, Hawthorne was forced to move the race up two weeks and make it a prep for the Preakness.

While Orb continued to exude class and professionalism at Niall Brennan’s and later at the racetrack, Departing began taking after his mother, Leave, who was considered a bad actor and whose two previous foals had to be gelded. It didn’t take long for Departing to start exhibiting those same characteristics and he soon would join the ranks of the gelded.

“I was the one who gelded him,” Dunn recalled. “The mare could be exceedingly difficult and her foals are inclined to be that way. As Dell Hancock would like to say, ‘His mother was coming out in him.’ They have no control over their behavior; it’s the hormones that kick in. You don’t normally see it on the farm. It isn’t until they get to a training center that somebody asks them to start focusing on one thing. When they’re babies they do what they want when they want other than getting led in and out. Nobody on the farm tells you to look down the racetrack and pay attention to yourself, not the horses next to you or the birds or any other distractions. It’s sort of like taking a kid who’s always done what he wanted and putting him in boot camp and telling him what to do.

“He was a late-developing colt, and I don’t believe he’d be the horse he is today if I hadn’t gelded him. Seth Hancock has always been very good whenever I’ve called and said we need to geld a horse. I’ve never had him tell me no. Mentally, it took him a while to come around. I always liked him once he started behaving. He just had attention deficit disorder, worrying about everything other than what he was supposed to be doing. Once I gelded him he was a different horse; very focused and professional. And he’s always been a beautiful moving horse. Even before we gelded him he was very talented, but he could never connect it together for any particularly long sequence. After he was gelded he didn’t have all these other distractions going on in his brain.”

And so the Phipps-Janney-Claiborne connection keeps growing, evoking images of years past when champions such as Buckpasser, Easy Goer, and Ruffian, just to name a few, came off Claiborne Farm to carve their place in the history books.

Will Orb continue on his path to immortality, bringing Shug McGaughey and the Phippses to the threshold of where they thought they would be in 1989 with Easy Goer, or will Orb’s former paddock mate end the dream, just as Claiborne’s dream ended in the 1984 Preakness when their Kentucky Derby winner Swale finished seventh as the 4-5 favorite before winning the Belmont Stakes?

And remember, after Bull Hancock’s death in 1972, it was the three-man advisory committee, which included Ogden Phipps, who played a major role in Seth Hancock taking over Claiborne Farm instead of his older brother Arthur, who was devastated by the committee’s recommendation of Seth. Arthur then built up the neighboring Stone Farm into a major breeding establishment, and it was his colt, Sunday Silence, who upset the Phipps’ Easy Goer in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and later in the Breeders’ Cup Classic to nail down Horse of the Year honors. And it was Easy Goer who thwarted Sunday Silence’s Triple Crown attempt in the Belmont Stakes.

Whatever happens, this is racing at its finest and classiest, filled with drama and compelling storylines. The link between the Phippses and Claiborne Farm has been one of the sport’s most enduring relationships. The great Phipps and Wheatley Stable horses were born at Claiborne, stood at stud at Claiborne, gave birth to future stars at Claiborne, and are buried at Claiborne. You can’t get more enduring than that.

Derby Launched Into Orb-it

aspradling — Tue, 07 May 2013 00:19:00 GMT

The day finally had arrived. Everything had gone perfectly for Orb and trainer Shug McGaughey. So perfectly in fact that one couldn’t help but feel there were forces guiding the colt every step of the way, from the early days this winter at Payson Park to his breakout performances in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) and Florida Derby (gr. I).

With every breeze, every gallop, and every race, the son of Malibu Moon – Lady Liberty, by Unbridled became stronger, constantly moving forward both mentally and physically. As each obstacle was cleared, such as the colt’s final work and the dreaded post position draw, McGaughey grew more outwardly confident and excited, which in some ways seemed out of character for the usually taciturn trainer, who keeps his emotions in check and lets his horses do all the talking. Well, Orb was doing a lot of shouting and the Kentucky-born McGaughey couldn’t help but feel his life-long dream of grabbing the coveted roses was about to come true.

While all the Derby starters remained in their respective barns on a damp overcast Derby morning, with steady rains approaching quickly, two lone figures made their way in the darkness toward the track at 5:45. Orb stood calmly with exercise rider Jen Patterson aboard, as McGaughey leaned against the rail and took one final look at the colt before having him jog once around.

“I’m excited,” McGaughey said. “And I’m excited about this afternoon.”

Some 12 hours later, Orb, with Joel Rosario up, came charging through the slop from 17th in the 19-horse field to win the $2,174,800 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) by 2 1/2 lengths as the $5.40-1 favorite.

The Derby gods had indeed worked their magic. Despite the deep, talented field that had assembled for the 139th Derby, this was the year when McGaughey and the Janney and Phipps families were destined to restore the Sport of Kings to the way it was and the way it was meant to be, when true sportsmen and their private stables and homebred Thoroughbreds ruled the Turf.

Turn the clocks back to 1988. As the field swept around the far turn of the Gotham Stakes (gr. II), two horses came charging up to the leaders eyeball to eyeball, moving as a team. In the red and white silks of Stuart Janney Jr. was the 10-1 Maryland invader Private Terms, trained by Charlie Hadry. Right alongside him, matching stride for stride, was the 3-5 favorite Seeking the Gold, trained by Shug McGaughey, in the familiar black silks and cherry red cap of Ogden Phipps.

The undefeated Private Terms began separating himself from Seeking the Gold, opening a two-length lead at the eighth pole. But the Phipps colt came back at him, falling three-quarters of a length short. Both colts would meet again two weeks later in the Wood Memorial, with Private Terms again defeating Seeking the Gold, this time by 1 1/2 lengths in stakes-record time.

Their rivalry would continue in the Kentucky Derby, won by Winning Colors, and come to a conclusion in the Haskell Invitational (gr. I), with Seeking the Gold getting beat a nose by Claiborne Farm’s Forty Niner in an epic stretch duel, as Private Terms narrowly missed third by a half-length.

In September of that year, Stuart Janney Jr., who had been married to Ogden Phipps’ sister, Barbara Phipps Janney before her death the previous year, was killed in an automobile accident at age 81, suffering a heart attack while driving to his home at Locust Hill Farm in Glyndon, Md. The Janney stable, which had reached its apex in 1975 with the legendary ill-fated Ruffian, eventually was taken over by Janney’s son, Stuart Janney III. In 2002, Ogden Phipps died, with his son Ogden Mills, better known as Dinny, becoming patriarch of the longtime racing dynasty.

It has been 25 years since the two families clashed in those memorable 1-2 finishes in the Gotham and Wood Memorial. Still looking for their first Kentucky Derby victory after so few attempts over the years, the Janneys and Phippses joined forces, racing as partners in a well-bred Malibu Moon colt named Orb, who they also bred in partnership, although Dinny now kids how he didn’t like Orb’s dam, Lady Liberty, and tried to persuade his cousin to sell her. “But he outsmarted me and bred her to Malibu Moon and here I am,” Dinny said.

The fourth dam of Orb, is Laughter, who is by the Phipps family’s great racehorse and stallion Bold Ruler, out of Ruffian’s dam, Shenanigans, so this racing and breeding partnership goes back five generations. To come up with a horse like Orb, they reached into the pedigrees and descendants of racing titans Damascus and Dr. Fager, who were involved in the epic 1967 Woodward Stakes showdown with Ogden Phipps’ mighty Buckpasser.

It seemed as if the Derby gods or whatever other-worldly entity you care to attribute it to had finally found the perfect year to reward not only two long-established families, but the Sport of Kings itself. This was Thoroughbred racing at its purest, with the blood of champions being regenerated through the decades to give the sport a sense of continuity, while serving as a reminder of where it came from. The Phipps family in particular is the last of a dying breed of sportsmen who built a foundation strong enough to withstand the passage of time and an ever-changing world, where tradition and sportsmanship have been eroding with each passing year.

McGaughey, the Phippses, and Janney are the last remaining pillars of strength, and as long as their familiar silks continue to adorn horses like Orb, those pillars will never crumble.

Ogden Phipps must have felt a Kentucky Derby victory was imminent after his 30-1 shot Dapper Dan’s powerful stretch run in 1965 fell a neck short of catching the fully extended winner Lucky Debonair.

“I was here that day and I bet on Dapper Dan,” said Dinny, now 72, as he was being wheeled from the track following the winner’s circle presentation. “And I’ll bet you I didn’t make 10 bets before that or 10 bets after. I just had a feeling that he would run well. That was a long time ago.”

But Ogden Phipps would have only two more Derby starters over the next 37 years – Seeking the Gold in 1988 and Easy Goer in 1989. Dinny would run only one – Awe Inspiring in 1989; and his daughter, Cynthia, racing in her grandmother’s Wheatley Stable colors, would have only one – Saarland in 2002. Wheatley Stable, owned by Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps, had attempted the Derby seven times from 1928 to 1967, but never even finished in the money, despite being represented by champions Bold Ruler, Bold Lad, and Successor.

The Phippses have always been known for their longevity in keeping trainers and not interfering in racing decisions, which is another aspect of the sport that has changed dramatically. McGaughey has been their trainer for 27 years through both prosperous and lean years. The old school operation goes beyond McGaughey and the well-bred horses right down to the help, most of whom have been with McGaughey for 25 to 30 years.

McGaughey and his main assistant, Buzzy Tenney, have known each other since elementary school and were in the Cub Scouts together in the same den. When McGaughey took over as trainer for the Phipps family in 1985 he asked his old friend, who had been working for trainer Steve Penrod in Aiken, S.C. to come work for him.

“Our stable is one of the last of its kind,” Tenney said. “Shug has maintained the excellence of the old school. He always takes time with the horses and has them spending a lot of time outside their stall. The Phippses and Stuart Janney are patient people and let you get through the lean times and give a horse the time he or she needs. The horses are sound and happy, and it’s pretty much a hay, oats, and water operation.”

In 1989, it looked as if the Phipps family and McGaughey had found the ultimate racehorse they had been seeking for so many years. If any horse was going to give them their first Kentucky Derby victory it was Easy Goer, a chestnut Adonis that appeared to have everything – pedigree, looks, speed, class, and stamina. Following his championship 2-year-old season, Easy Goer had jaws dropping at Aqueduct when he cantered home in the Gotham Stakes, winning by 13 lengths and missing Dr. Fager’s sacred world-record mile of 1:32 1/5 by a fifth of a second.

Easy Goer’s defeat in the Kentucky Derby to Sunday Silence was a bitter disappointment to McGaughey, who doubted he would ever bring a horse to the Derby with the God-given talent of the son of Alydar.

In 1997, Ogden Phipps and McGaughey looked to have another big shot at their first Derby with the late-running Accelerator, who had finished a fast-closing second behind Derby favorite Captain Bodgit in the Wood Memorial. But one week before the Derby, Accelerator pulled up lame during a workout at Churchill Downs, suffering a cannon bone fracture. It was another crushing blow and neither Ogden nor Dinny would be back until this year.

The Janneys have maintained that same philosophy of not running in the Derby unless they had a good chance and if it was in the best interest of the horse. In a move you would rarely, if ever, see today, Stuart Janney III and McGaughey teamed up in 1998 to win the Wood Memorial (gr. I) with Coronado’s Quest, who came within a fifth of a second of Private Terms’ record. But win or lose, the Derby was not under consideration, due to the colt’s immaturity and wild and crazy antics at Gulfstream Park that winter, which seemed to disappear once surgery was performed to free an entrapped epiglottis. By showing patience and giving him extra time, they were rewarded with victories in the Dwyer, Haskell, and Travers.

So, one could easily see why the Derby gods would be inclined to smile down on Janney, the Phippses, and McGaughey this year, just as they did with Frances Genter, Paul Mellon and Mack Miller, William T. Young, W. Cal Partee, Charlie Whittingham, Robert and Beverly Lewis, Jerry and Ann Moss, James Tafel, and other owners and trainers who had demonstrated the class and sportsmanship that have always exemplified the spirit of Thoroughbred racing.

As for Orb, he was broken and received his early training at Niall Brennan’s farm in Ocala, Fla. Among the other 2-year-olds there at the time were Revolutionary and Palace Malice, both of whom would also compete in the Kentucky Derby.

“Orb was always a nice big strong colt,” Brennan recalled. “The Malibu Moon colts tend to lack focus like teenagers who want to get in trouble. But Orb was very good for a Malibu Moon colt. He was playful, but he was forward enough, and being such a big strong colt, you knew he was only going to get better and better, especially in Shug’s program, where they get a chance to develop. He was a good mover, with a big stride and a good tough attitude.”

For most of the winter, the Derby trail was all about the powerhouse arsenals of Todd Pletcher in the East and Bob Baffert in the West. Baffert’s big horses kept falling off the trail until he was left with not a single round of ammunition by Derby Day. Pletcher, on the other hand, lost his two Derby favorites, Shanghai Bobby and Violence, but still managed to get five horses there – Wood Memorial (gr. I) and Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II) winner Verrazano, Louisiana Derby (gr. II) winner Revolutionary, Arkansas Derby (gr. I) winner Overanalyze, and Palace Malice and Charming Kitten, the two-three finishers of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I).

Last year’s Derby-winning trainer Doug O’Neill was back with Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) winner Goldencents, and four-time Derby winner D. Wayne Lukas had stakes winners Oxbow and Will Take Charge. Other contenders included Wood Memorial runner-up Normandy Invasion, Blue Grass winner Java’s War, and Louisiana Derby runner-up Mylute.

When McGaughey shipped Orb to Churchill Downs, he loved what he saw right from the start. In his second morning there, the colt was feeling so good, McGaughey asked Patterson if he was playing or if there was something wrong with him, She assured him he was only playing. Each day he became more settled and his gallops got stronger.

“This horse is a bit of a throwback to more of an old-time horse,” McGaughey said outside his familiar Barn 43, where he always stables. “There’s nothing in his family that’s ever been a sales horse where they tried to make them bulky and speedy-looking in order to do well at the sales. I was amazed how this horse changed mentally and physically between the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby.

“I’ve spent a lot of time at Churchill Downs right here in this barn. I’ve been in this barn before I had the Phipps horses. Where else would you want to be on Derby Week than right here. If we can get the next 10 days behind us I’ll think he’ll be a presence. He appreciates the colder weather coming from Florida, and this morning he was fresh and feeling good. When I went into the winter I never thought I’d be standing here now talking about Orb, but he gave us some pretty exciting days and has really come around quickly. I thought he’d be running at Aqueduct right now. After he broke his maiden there, I said, ‘His style won’t suit Gulfstream.’ But we got a pleasant surprise and here we are.”

McGaughey said that he was happy to see Janney and Phipps enjoying the ride, and looked forward to bring them their long-awaited Derby.

“Dinny and Stuart are very close and they’re having fun,” he said. “They’ve obviously been close working together at Bessemer (Trust), but I think this horse is one of the things that have brought them closer, because they’re enjoying him together. This was a merger with old Mr. Phipps and Stuart, and Stuart had a great affection for Mr. Phipps. They enjoy the game and they enjoy their horses, but they do a lot to try to help the game.”

The universal feeling around the backstretch was the rooting interest for McGaughey, who is one of the most respected trainers in the game, and whose methods are applauded by racetrackers everywhere.

“I’m rooting so hard for Shug,” said trainer David Carroll, who worked for McGaughey from 1985-90 and was the regular exercise rider of Easy Goer. “Shug was a tremendous influence on me. I came from Europe where the background is to be patient. My father and brother were jockeys and I worked for John Oxx for six years. In Ireland it’s all about patience and doing right by the horse, and that was they way Shug trained; the way he takes care of the horse and develops them. And look how long everybody’s been working for him; they’ve all been there forever. When you get to Shug’s barn it’s home. It would be fantastic for racing and breeding to have Shug win it for the Phippses and the Janneys. Everybody on the backside is rooting for him. I’m even nervous for him. I was having dinner last night and was saying I won’t relax until after the draw.”

But first there was the colt’s final work to get through. McGaughey still has vivid memories of Accelerator’s final work, in which he was pulled up on the turn, missing the Derby.

All Orb did in his work was increase McGaughey’s confidence level, breezing a half in company in :47 4/5 and doing it with smooth, effortless strides, pulling well clear of his workmate. McGaughey was thrilled.

“I know we’ve still got the draw, but I’m going in with the attitude that as of April 29, we’ve done everything we can do to make things happen right, and so far they have all happened right. My people have done an absolutely wonderful job of handling the situation and being as all-in as I am.”

As Dinny Phipps’ daughter, Daisy, said, “We haven’t taken this horse here, he’s taken us here. Having our two families own the horse together, it’s sort of the perfect package.”

Derby Week, however, always provides plenty of anxiety, and there was enough to go around for McGaughey and his wife Alison, as they sat at the post position draw and watched most of the desirable posts get taken, while posts 1, 2, and 3, where they did not want to wind up, were still open.

Finally came the pill pull for No. 16 followed by the name Orb. Allison broke out in a smile, while a relieved McGaughey just nodded his head in approval.

That was it; the final obstacle had been cleared. All that was left now was the waiting. Not even the ominous weather forecast seemed to dampen McGaughey’s spirits. It was time for the dream to become reality.

“I know come Thursday the nerves are going to set in, but we came here with the idea that we’re going to have fun with it,” McGaughey said. “Every year when we get a bunch of 2-year-olds, I’m hoping one of them will be the horse that gives us the opportunity to get here. All we want is the opportunity. I feel when race day comes, what will be will be. I know we’ve got to get the trip, but if it doesn’t go our way, hopefully we’ll get a chance again.”

Another set of events that had been playing out was on the jockey front, which saw Orb’s rider John Velazquez choose to ride Verrazano in the Derby. McGaughey understood that Velazquez had an allegiance to Pletcher, but he needed a rider, and that is where another important piece of the puzzle came together perfectly.

Rosario’s agent, Ron Anderson recalled, “When I first went over my list of horses I ride for Shug, I pointed out Orb and Shug said, ‘You know what, I don’t care to run him here again; I’m not sure he likes these turns at Gulfstream that much.’ He said there was an open allowance race at the end of the month that will probably be easier than the Fountain of Youth and that he’d probably consider that race or ship him out of town.”

Because McGaughey was so hesitant about running, he freed Anderson to get another mount for the Fountain of Youth, so he signed on to ride Speak Logistics. McGaughey then decided at the last minute to run in the Fountain of Youth, and the colt surprised him by winning impressively with Velazquez aboard, and then kept progressing, winning the Florida Derby. By losing the mount on Orb, Rosario was free to ride Animal Kingdom in the $10 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) the same day as the Florida Derby, which he won easily. When Velazquez jumped off Orb to ride Verrazano in the Kentucky Derby, Rosario was given the mount back. But instead of winning $1.4 million purses in the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby, he won $10 million in purses in Dubai and wound up right back on Orb for the Kentucky Derby.

The projected rain on Derby Day came as expected, turning the track sloppy. In a surprise move, Palace Malice, equipped with blinkers, outran all the expected speed horses and opened a three-length lead, while setting blazing fractions of :22.57 and :45.33. Goldencents, Falling Sky, and Verrazano took up the chase, but in the end, the blistering pace would cook all four horses, who would retreat quickly to finish at the back of the pack.

Rosario, meanwhile, took Orb well off the pace and had only two horses beat down the backstretch, while trailing by nearly 20 lengths. Back there with him were Golden Soul, Revolutionary, and Mylute, all of whom would take advantage of the suicidal pace and finish strongly down the stretch.

As they continued down the backstretch, Oxbow made a strong run along the rail to move into second. Around the far turn after three-quarters in a gut-wrenching 1:09.30, Palace Malice began shortening stride after setting the fastest fractions in Derby history on a wet track. Verrazano and Falling Sky called it quits as Normandy Invasion, under Javier Castellano, made a big move on the outside and surged to the front nearing the quarter pole in an attempt to run everyone off their feet and get the jump on the closers.

For a brief instant, it looked as if Normandy Invasion was home free until Orb came flying around horses without a straw in his path out near the middle of the track to reach contention. Golden Soul was on the move behind him, and Calvin Borel, as usual, was hugging the rail with Revolutionary, who was picking off horses as well, occasionally having to idle briefly waiting for an opening.

But down the stretch, it was obvious Normandy Invasion wasn’t sustaining his move and Orb was the strong horse, as he collared Normandy Invasion at the eighth pole and began to draw clear. Rosario had merely been hand-riding the colt, throwing a couple of crosses. But Orb has shown a tendency to start relaxing a little once he gets the lead, so Rosario roused him with a couple of left-handed whips. He was never in any danger of getting caught, but behind him there was a furious battle for second.

Golden Soul kept on relentlessly to get second, a length ahead of Revolutionary, who was a head in front of Normandy Invasion, who in turn finished head in front of a fast-closing Mylute. There was gap of six lengths back to sixth-place finisher Oxbow, who was the only horse in the first five early to finish in the first half of the field. The final time for the 1 1/4 miles was 2:02.89.

“I don’t even know where I’m at,” an emotional Alison McGaughey said. “It’s crazy. When we get home and sit down and realize what just happened I’m sure we’ll be bawling our eyes out. Right now I’m just so caught up in the moment I don’t know what to say. I just can’t wait to go back and see Orb; he’s waiting for his candy. For him to win for Stuart and Dinny together, you can’t make it up. On April 24, I celebrated my 50th birthday. Shug was already here and I was in Florida. I said, ‘Look, I’ll be 50 all year, if you win the Derby that’ll be my present.”

Stuart Dillender, who has worked on and off for McGaughey as foreman for 30 years, has been waiting for this moment a long time.

“I’ve wanted to win this for Shug for 30 years,” he said. “He deserves everything he’s gotten. This is very special, just because this is the one race that he hasn’t won and deserved to win. It’s a blessing. I’ll do anything for the man. There are no organizations like this around anymore. They’ve all been around and have gone away, but this one never has. We try to make it a team effort; you can’t win without a team. From Dinny to Daisy and Stuart, you can’t find a better family. They care about us and they care about the horses and they care about the breed.”

Back at the barn that night, McGaughey arrived and hugged Patterson, who has devoted so much of her time to Orb. “You’ll never know how much we appreciate all you’ve done for us.” said McGaughey, who paid tribute to all his help.

Kentucky Derby 139 will be remembered as the race in which the old timers rejoiced in the memory of how the sport used to be in simpler times, while the younger generation got a rare opportunity to enter a portal of time to witness something they may never see again.

Longtime veterinarian Mark Cheney, who has done work for McGaughey for 30 years and has been close to Orb all year, was flushed with pride and excitement, and there was only one remedy for that, and that was a good stiff drink with an old friend.

“This is the thrill of my life,” he said. “I’m about to have a heart attack. I know another fellow who’s up there watching this and having a big shot of bourbon right now and that’s Mr. Phipps. I think he made it happen. I wish I was up there with him because I’m about ready to die for a bourbon and water.”

Derby Weekend photos, all photos by Steve Haskin. Please do not take without asking.

Orb and Jen Patterson heading out for one of their final gallops.

Shug McGaughey checks out Orb one last time on Derby morning.

WWII Normandy veterans meet Normandy Invasion -- an unforgettable experience listening to their stories

Hal and Molly Harsh of Kansas City got married outside Itsmyluckyday's barn on Derby morning

Orb (left) and Revolutionary lead the walkover. They would finish 1.3.

Normandy Invasion in the post parade

Orb is ready for action.

Orb is taken to the back of the pack by Joel Rosario.

Alison McGaughey plants a kiss on Orb following the Derby.

Haskin's Derby Report: Time for the Pick Sicks

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:41:00 GMT

The time finally has come to make something resembling selections. Getting past the mass state of confusion is the first step, and then trying to figure out a sloppy track is step No, 2. Just remember, there are no experts when it comes to the Kentucky Derby.

First off, I am proud to say, in my first Derby Dozen on Jan. 29. seven of the my top 12 horses have made it to the Derby, and all have a legitimate shot to win. They are: Itsmyluckyday (2), Normandy Invasion (4), Revolutionary (5), Oxbow (6), Goldencents (7), Overanalyze (11), and Palace Malice (12). My number 1, 3 and 8 horses, Violence, Shanghai Bobby, and Flashback, all dropped off the trail due to injuries.

There is no doubt Orb is the ‘now’ horse and has done everything so perfectly and has created so much buzz, he has replaced Verrazano as the Derby favorite.

Since Violence got hurt, the only two horses I have had number one are Itsmyluckyday and Revolutionary and I have seen nothing to make me change my mind. Itsmyluckydayday, in particular, has looked magnificent in his gallops and could not be doing any better. From the second he stepped off the van and immediately started grazing he has seemed right at home in his new surroundings. There is still a question about stamina, but he is doing as well as a horse can do, especially one who did not have a work over the track.

Revolutionary’s energy level has been high, his coat is shimmering, and I love the way he jogs briskly off the track every morning. He currently is my No. 1 ranked horse and I will stick with him,

WORKS -- Before we get down to the nitty gritty, let’s break all this down in categories. From a works standpoint, Orb and Revolutionary had the best works visually, with the latter extremely impressive in his gallop-out. I also loved the way Overanalyze and Palace Malice worked in company, with Overanalyze going a bit smoother of the two. Normandy Invasion, normally a stone closer, has been asked for more speed early by trainer Chad Brown, and he indicated how sharp he is when he ran off about three-eighths in his gallop Thursday. Brown decided to just jog him on Friday. No one has galloped stronger than the son of Tapit, who has been tearing around there each morning well out in the middle of the track.

The one sneaky-good work was by longshot Frac Daddy, who got the best of Java’s War when they worked in company. This work got lost among the parade of works we saw that day, but I loved the way the rider of Frac Daddy was doing everything possible to let Java’s War catch up to him, practically standing up and looking back for him, but Frac Daddy simply was too strong. And he has continued to gallop strongly. He’s 50-1 in the morning line, but his two best performances of his career have come at Churchill Downs and he is just now rounding back into form after several physical issues. He has a tough task, but based on works and gallops, he could surprise a lot of people and at least pick up a piece of it.

GALLOPS – I mentioned Normandy Invasion, Itsmyluckday, and Orb as standouts, and the last two had strong gallops on Friday. But the galloper that made the best impression Friday was Overanalyze, who glided over the surface with smooth, efficient strides, and was full of energy coming back. One horse who has gone virtually unnoticed because he comes out at 5:45 every morning is Mylute, who is the consummate professional and moves very well over the track. He is very light on his feet and changes leads on cue. Goldencents, like I’ll Have Another last year (well, not quite that strong) has been aggressive in his gallops and at times can get a bit headstrong. But all in all he’s been very relaxed.

THORO-GRAPH – It’s difficult to tell what it’s going to take to win this year’s Derby. I’m thinking anywhere from a zero to a negative 1. The only three horses to run a negative 2 or better this year have been Orb (-2) in the Florida Derby, Itsmyluckyday (-2) in the Holy Bull, and Verrazano (-2 1/4) in an allowance race three starts back. What was most impressive about Itsmyluckyday is that his negative 2 came the next race back after running a career-best negative 1 1/2. It takes a special horse to not “bounce” off a career-best figure like that, and an even more special horse to actually run faster off it. After a two-month layoff and running a “1” in the Florida Derby, while not fully cranked, he should be ready to return to a huge number.

I love the pattern of Overanalyze, who ran the fastest 2-year-old number in the field, a “1/2” in the Remsen. He came back off a layoff with a dull return in the Gotham on the Aqueduct inner track, in which he had a wide trip, but still ran a decent “3 3/4.” He then improved to a “1 1/2” in winning the Arkansas Derby easily. With that big 2-year-old number behind him, he should now move forward again and run a big number in the Derby. Normandy Invasion is another on a similar pattern who should be sitting on a career-best number.

SLOP – I dealt with this several days ago, and just quickly repeating, the longshot I would expect to improve the most on a sloppy track is Mylute, mainly due to his inbreeding to In Reality, especially through Valid Appeal, and his sire line, which traces to Fappiano and Dr. Fager. I also like the fact that Mylute is on an upward spiral and definitely is sitting on a career-best figure.

While the majority of the leading contenders should not be hampered by an off track, it is best to look for a live longshot who could improve dramatically over it. In addition to Mylute, the Irish-trained Lines of Battle has a very strong slop pedigree, especially through his tail-female line, which is all Darby Dan Farm and includes His Majesty. Also, horses with strong turf pedigrees should move up on it, and one in particular, Charming Kitten, is related to such top-class grass horses as Theatrical, Paradise Creek, and Arc de Triomphe winner Prince Royal. On his sire’s side, you will find European stars Sadler’s Wells (through El Prado, who has sired some top mudders), Roberto, and Sir Ivor, not to mention his inbreeding top and bottom to Hail to Reason. These are mega longshots, but they should improve on an off track. To what degree we obviously have no idea. But watch out for Mylute, especially.

PEDIGREE -- There are a number of horses who have excellent pedigrees for a mile and a quarter, including Orb, but assuming we're going to get an off track, it would be ideal to have a horse with speed who can stalk early and not get mud kicked in his face who can get the distance with no problem. Of all the speed and stalking horses, Oxbow fits that bill. He has the speed and the post position (2) to set the pace or get a good position early. And you know he will keep going. He's by stamina influence Awesome Again, out of Tizamazing, who is a full-sister to two-time Breeders' Cup Classic winner Tiznow, BC Classic runner-up Budroyale, and the dam of Paynter, who won the Haskell and was second, beaten a neck, in the Belmont Stakes. So, from a handicapping aspect, Oxbow would be the pick on pedigree.

SUMMATION – As I mentioned earlier, I have no reason whatsoever to abandon Revolutionary or Itsmyluckyday and will include both. But I am constantly looking for live overlays, which has often led to my downfall in the face of the obvious.

My two main live overlays are Overanalyze and Palace Malice. The former will be ignored because of the slow time of the Arkansas Derby, but that was only his second start of the year, the track was very deep, he was wide the entire way, his Thoro-Graph numbers point to a big effort, and he has looked great on the track. He also has enough slop influences to think an off track won’t hamper him that much. I also like the fact that he was precocious enough to win first time out at 2 at Saratoga going five furlongs, turned in a powerful stretch run to win the Futurity at six furlongs, and turned in one of the gutsiest performances of the year winning the Remsen. Whether he’s good enough against this group, who knows?

Palace Malice is intriguing because we really don’t know how good this horse is. He just hasn’t been given the opportunity to show his best. In his first stakes appearance, the Risen Star, he was the only horse in the field of 14 who did not have a two-turn race and was coming off one seven-furlong allowance sprint in almost seven months. He then had an absolutely disastrous trip in the Louisiana and had two potential winning moves stopped cold in the stretch. In order to get points for the Derby, he was wheeled right back in two weeks in the Blue Grass Stakes in his first ever start on a synthetic surface. After tracking the pace, he wound up doing the dirty work by being the first horse to go after a loose-on-the-lead Rydilluc. He put him away, and then got to goofing off, looking at tire tracks and switching back to his left lead. He still was beaten only a neck when Java’s War came flying from dead-last to nail him right on the wire.

He, too, has excellent slop breeding, and has already finished a strong second on a sloppy sealed track. The only slight concern is the addition of blinkers. Although he probably does need them, you really don’t want to start experimenting with equipment changes in the Derby. On the other hand, who knows how much it will move him up?

So, for live overlays, these are my two key horses. I also will have savers on Oxbow and Mylute at a big price. The former has been one of the unluckiest horses you’ll ever see when it comes to post positions and questionable rides. The only time he had a good post and a clean trip he won the LeComte by 11 1/2 lengths. Gary Stevens knows him now and you can bet he’ll give him a better ride than he did in the Arkansas Derby.

With mini-superfectas and trifectas, I would be looking to box longshots Overanalyze, Palace Malice, Oxbow, and Mylute with Orb in one bet, with Itsmyluckyday in another, with Normandy Invasion, and with Revolutionary for a total of four bets, just looking for some monster payoffs.

If I can afford it, I will also make a six-horse $1 trifecta box of Overanalyze, Palace Malice, Revolutionary, Itsmyluckyday, Orb, and Normandy Invasion in the trifectas. The horse I'm struggling with is Verrazano. He has been forgotten as the one-time potential superstar, as many feel distance is a question mark, but he is capable of breaking this race wide open if he puts it all together. Use him if you believe in him. I will decide what to do after I see his odds, which right now are a generous 11-1.

But all the exotics aside, If it comes up sloppy, which it looks like at the moment, I will be playing Mylute.

As for my actual overlay picks who I will focusing on at a price, they are Overanalyze and Palace Malice. both of whom I will be betting to win regardless of the track condition.

P.S. After meeting the four WWII veterans this morning, who are the guests of Rick Porter, and listening to their riveting and emotional stories of the D-Day invasion and other stories, it is going to be extremely difficult for the Derby gods not to work their magic on Normandy Invasion.

Haskin's Derby Report: And They're Off!

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:37:00 GMT

So, the post position draw finally is out of the way and none of the major contenders got burned. The Todd Pletcher quintet all drew toward the outside with the exception of Revolutionary, who should be in good shape in post 3 under Calvin Borel, who will take him back and will not have far to go to get him to the rail. This way he won’t have to dart across the entire trip to get to his favorite path.

Overanalyze (post 9), Palace Malice (10), Verrazano (14), and Charming Kitten (15) could not have drawn any better, so Pletcher dodged a bullet big-time.

As for the pace scenario, poor Oxbow once again drew poorly, but instead of being stuck on the far outside at Oaklawn, he is down in post 2 and will have to come out running. This can be a bad post, but it can also be a good post if he gets a sharp break and a clean trip. Right now, all it means is that he likely will get involved in the pace early. Goldencents, breaking from post 8, no doubt will be tracking him, with Falling Sky (13) and Verrazano coming over from the outside. These four should dictate the pace and it will be interesting to see how long their jockeys play cat and mouse before one of them decides to make the running. Vyjack, in post 20, actually could be in decent shape, outrunning all those immediately to his inside – Java’s War, Frac Daddy, Will Take Charge, Orb, and Charming Kitten, and tracking Verrazano into the first turn.

Expect to see Itsmyluckyday, Palace Malice, Overanalyze, Lines of Battle, Mylute, Frac Daddy, and Oxbow in the next flight, with Orb and Normandy Invasion somewhere in mid-pack.

Borel likely will try to save ground on Revolutionary and then power home along the rail. Black Onyx’s best bet from the rail is to take back to avoid some horse coming in on him and pushing him into the rail,

Java’s War, Charming Kitten, and Golden Soul likely will bring up the rear, but don’t be surprised to see Normandy Invasion and Orb fairly far back, despite their sharpness in the morning.

There was a good deal of talk and published reports Thursday morning about Normandy Invasion running off with his rider for about three furlongs. If this was any race other than the Kentucky Derby, no one would care in the slightest. The feeling here is that running off, whether spooked by something or whatever, will have no bearing at all on how he runs on Saturday. Even if he was timed three-eighths in :38 and change during his run-off, so what? Blowing out three furlongs the day before a race, never mind two days before, used to be a common practice, and those blowouts usually were around :36 to :37 or faster.

Some observations from this morning: Itsmyluckyday, once again, had a terrific gallop and could not be doing any better. I liked Revolutionary’s gallop and the way he jogged briskly back, suggesting his energy level is high and he’s feeling good. Overanalyze also had a strong gallop and seems to be coming into the race in top shape.

One of the most laid back and professional horses is Mylute, who goes out every morning at 5:45. This morning, he went along smoothly, switching leads right on cue.

Tomorrow it is time once again to make some semblance of selections. They will be based in part on observations, pedigree (especially with slop), speed figures, general handicapping, and any intangibles, such as, ahem, the Derby gods. All that combined should confuse you even more.

Mylute is the first one out every morning at 5:45.

Revolutionary strikes a handsome pose Thursday morning.

Itsmyluckyday had another strong gallop.

Goldencents drew well and will break from the 8 post.

Those grand geldings

It was great seeing Kentucky Derby-winning geldings Mine That Bird and Funny Cide together at the Kentucky Derby Museum this morning. Mine That Bird, who has temporarily taken up residence at the Museum for several months, has made friends with a miniature pony named Winston, but today, he shared his two-stall barn with Funny Cide, who was visiting from the Kentucky Horse Park.

With Funny Cide’s managing partner Jack Knowlton (who couldn’t believe 10 years have passed) and jockey Jose Santos in attendance, along with Mine That Bird’s trainer Chip Woolley, visitors to the museum lined up around 10:30 to visit the two Derby winners and take photos. Both horses then were brought to the paddock before the fifth race, where they received a warm welcome from the scores of fans.

Mine That Bird has become a fixture at the Derby Museum.

Mine That Bird tries to get Funny Cide's attention.

Jack Knowlton and Jose Santos with Funny Cide.

Funny Cide did not stop eating from the minute he arrived.

Mine That Bird and Funny Cide in the paddock.

Haskin's Derby Report: Normandy Invasion Revisited

aspradling — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:20:00 GMT

For William A. Wilch, Ray Woods, J.J. Witmeyer, and Alan Reeves, this year’s Kentucky Derby will have great significance, evoking images that have remained indelible for seven decades. The four unknowingly helped inspire the name of Kentucky Derby contender Normandy Invasion, along with the other thousands of brave soldiers who participated in the historic events of June 6, 1944.

Normandy Invasion’s owner, Rick Porter, was so moved during his visit to Normandy and the D-Day beaches, especially the American cemetery that overlooks Omaha Beach, he wanted to pay tribute to the men and the invasion that eventually led to the surrender of Germany.

Not only did he name his colt by Tapit – Boston Lady, by Boston Harbor Normandy Invasion, after first trying for the name Arromanches (after the French town where the artificial harbor was built), he arranged through Richard Duchossois, who operates Arlington Park (which is owned by Churchill Downs), to bring four D-Day veterans to the Kentucky Derby as his guests.

After flying into Lexington, they will be at trainer Chad Brown’s barn Friday, where they will greet the media. They will then van to Churchill Downs Saturday morning.

Porter actually got the idea from a phone call he received from Alan Reeves. He told Porter his story and expressed a desire to be at the Derby and root on Normandy Invasion.

Porter thought it would be a great idea to have Reeves and others join him at Churchill Downs. He felt this was a perfect way of thanking them and hopefully providing them with a trip they will remember.

He began spreading the word about his idea, first talking to ESPN’s Jeannine Edwards, whose sister works for a veterans group and wrote up a story saying Porter was looking for Normandy veterans to invite. A number of e-mails and phone calls ensued and several people came forth to help out.

Wilch, 89, of Ohio, served with the 29th Infantry Division that landed on the Fox Green Sector of Omaha Beach. Wilch and another Pfc, Burton E. Burfeind, were assigned to take 12 captured German artillery officers to company headquarters, along with maps showing enemy artillery positions. Both Wilch and Burfeind were awarded the Bronze Star in their role in delivering the German officers, thwarting a German attack while vastly outnumbered.

On June 22nd, Wilch was wounded in action by an enemy hand grenade. After recovering in England he returned to France in early July 1944 in time to fight in the battle of Vire in what would be the early stages of the Battle of the Falise Gap. On August 15th 1944 he was severely wounded by an artillery round bursting in the tree tops. He then returned to rehabilitation in England through the early months of 1945.

After his recovery, Wilch’s assignments were limited to guarding German prisoners of war. He thwarted one escape attempt, recapturing the prisoners as they were evading capture. In the fall 1945 with the war now over, Wilch was assigned to guard U.S facilities at an abandoned U.S. Air base near Belfast, North Ireland.

On Thanksgiving Day 1945, Wilch returned home on the captured German liner Breman. Renamed by the U.S. Navy as the Europa, as the ship entered New York Harbor, it nearly capsized as all the troops aboard rushed to one side of the ship to view the Statue of Liberty. A quick thinking crew averted disaster. As the ship sailed ahead under even keel, a yacht carrying The Andrews Sisters pulled alongside the Europa. Again, all the soldiers ran to the railing to see them, nearly capsizing the ship a second time only a few minutes later. This time the crewmen used clubs to spread the troops evenly to prevent a post war disaster. Even today, Wilch remembers the event vividly, thinking to himself how awful it would been to die in New York harbor after surviving Omaha Beach.

Woods, also from Ohio, served as a Radarman on the USS O’Brien, which led 45 LCIs to Utah Beach, after which it headed to Omaha Beach and was the first Destroyer to go to the water’s edge to take out German gun emplacements. These Destroyers played a major role in the success of the D-Day invasion.

Witmeyer, of New Orleans, won the French Legion of Merit, which is equivalent to the Medal of Honor. He was part of the Utah Beach invasion and was awarded two Purple Hearts. At age 92, he is still an active docent at the National World War II Museum.

All told, Witmeyer has been awarded two Purple Hearts, four Bronze Stars, two Presidential Unit citations, a European Campaign medal, a Combat Infantryman's badge and scores of other military decorations to his name.

He was one of 75 recipients of the Legion of Merit, France's highest award, which was presented to him in Paris on June 5, 2009, the day before the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.

He was congratulated by Sen. Bob Dole and actor Tom Hanks, and the following day joined President Barack Obama, Prince Charles of Britain, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Normandy for the D-Day commemoration.

Reeves, 91, from San Diego, worked as a French translator and was assigned to the Supreme Command under General Eisenhower, where he worked on a number of special assignments. He helped lead an invasion in Southern France, taking over a building in Marseille that had been used by the Gestapo.

He attended school in France and one of his classmates was Prince Philip.

As for the equine Normandy Invasion, he had another of his typical spirited gallops this morning and schooled beautifully before the third race, never breaking out in a sweat, despite the hot temperatures. He stood perfectly in his stall and never turned a hair walking around the ring.

Other schoolers today were Orb and trainer Todd Pletcher’s five Derby candidates, and all did well considering the heat. Revolutionary’s coat looked great and it was reassuring to see him back galloping this morning and feeling good.

The post position draw, or I should say the dread post position draw, is an hour away as this is being written, after which we’ll have a much better idea where we stand.

Wednesday Schooling Photos
All photos by Steve Haskin.

Normandy Invasion

Verrazano

Revolutionary

Orb

Palace Malice

Overanalyze

Haskin's Derby Report: Oh, Happy Day

aspradling — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:18:00 GMT

Each year, there is at least one horse you take an instant liking to; one that is easily accessible and has great presence and character. This year, that horse is Itsmyluckyday, who arrived at Churchill Downs as if he’d been there his entire life.

You always like to find that happy horse that stands out, and Itsmyluckyday is indeed a happy horse, thanks to the TLC he receives constantly from trainer Eddie Plesa Jr.; his wife Laurie, who is part-owner of the colt; and longtime assistant Frankie Perez and exercise rider Peter Shelton.

After three days, the son of Lawyer Ron has jogged once and galloped twice and has looked better each time, moving over the track with authority and showing all the signs of a horse ready for a peak performance. Whether that is good enough to beat these horses going a mile and a quarter is anyone’s guess, but there is no doubt he will give 100 percent. And we have already seen what his 100 percent is capable of in the Gulfstream Park Derby and Holy Bull Stakes.

What makes him stand out from a numbers standpoint is the fact that he ran a negative 1 1/2 on Thoro-Graph in the Gulfstream Derby, and instead of “bouncing” off that, as one would expect, he actually came back with a better number, running a negative 2 in the Holy Bull. Given two months off to freshen up and recharge the batteries, he was expected to be a bit short for the Florida Derby, and even though Orb ran right by him he still wound up running a “1” in the race, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the Derby isn’t run much faster than that. All he has to do is improve slightly off the Florida Derby and he’s right there.

It’s just a question whether he moves forward going 1 1/4 miles and whether you feel that not being wound fully tight for the Florida Derby accounted for his inability to withstand the closing surge of Orb.

What Itsmyluckyday has going for him is his toughness and competitiveness, and that is exactly what co-breeder Rob Whiteley had in mind when he bred the colt’s dam, Viva La Slew, to Lawyer Ron. Viva La Slew’s dam, Viva La Viva, who Whiteley also bred, is by Crafty Prospector, and Whiteley wanted to cross the tough Crafty Prospector with Lawyer Ron, who was as tough and competitive as any horse in memory. In Itsmyluckyday, he got exactly what he was hoping for.

Inside his stall, Itsmyluckyday is an easy-going, personable horse who is extremely approachable. But once he gets outside the stall and on the racetrack he is a tiger, who loves to train and compete.

If there is one thing that is fairly certain, Itsmyluckyday will be overlooked in the betting, and Plesa is fine with that. He says he’s more interested in having the media stop by after the race than before.

Itsmyluckyday heads to the track.

Itsmyluckyday generating good power in his gallop

Itsmyluckyday -- all class

Itsmyluckyday

As for today’s activity, Todd Pletcher sent his five Derby horses to the track and all galloped with the exception of Revolutionary, who just had a short jog and quickly exited well before the others. Overanalyze and Palace Malice, my two overlay specials, both galloped strongly. As mentioned earlier, Itsmyluckyday had another strong gallop and looked as good as anyone out there. Normandy Invasion continues his brisk gallops, and I have to mention one horse who has made great strides in the past week, and that is Black Onyx, who has been here some three weeks and appears to be thriving. He is looking stronger physically and galloping with more purpose, and in this crazy era of grass and synthetic horses running big in the Derby, who knows?

Overanalyze

Verrazano

Palace Malice

Black Onyx is flourishing at Churchill

Golden Soul cuts it close, but is in the Derby

Haskin's Derby Report: A Mud-dled Derby?

Blood-Horse Staff — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:29:00 GMT

If this year’s Derby has you confused now, you’ll really be tested if the projected forecast for rain on Saturday holds true. With the rain will come a dramatic drop in temperatures, which would make for a pretty miserable afternoon. The only bright spot would be cashing a ticket on the Derby, and a wet track often produces some hefty prices if you know where to look for them.

The reason I’m writing a slop column this early in the week is to assure it will not rain and this column will prove to be a waste of time. Considering it never rains whenever I bring an umbrella somewhere, I’m figuring maybe this will work as well.

But just in case my clever ploy to fool Mother Nature fails, here is an early look at who should move up on an off track.

At the top of the list is MYLUTE, and you can be assured I will be playing this colt if it comes up wet. Of the more recent stallions, we’re all aware that Mr. Prospector is one of the top off-track influences, but even more powerful and more consistent is the influence of In Reality, especially through his sons Valid Appeal and Relaunch. Mylute is inbred to In Reality, through Valid Appeal and his son Valid Expectations on the dam side and through his son Believe It and continuing through Real Quiet and Midnight Lute on the sire’s side. You can bet Midnight Lute’s spectacular romp in the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Sprint over a very sloppy track is mostly attributed to the influence of In Reality. Remember, too, that Real Quiet traces to Dr. Fager, another of the great slop influences from the crop of 1964, which included In Reality and another major slop influence Damascus. Mylute’s tail-female line traces to grass influences The Axe and Hawaii, which also bodes well for his slop form.

Speaking of In Reality and his son Relaunch, you will find that potent combination in the pedigree of PALACE MALICE, whose dam, Palace Rumor traces to Relaunch in her tail-female family. Relaunch is the sire of Waquoit, who won the Jockey Club Gold Cup by 15 lengths in the slop. In addition, Palace Malice is by Curlin, who romped in the slop in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Monmouth, and he has a number of grass influences in his pedigree, such as Royal Anthem, Theatrical, and Roberto.

Next we come to ORB, who had as impressive a work on Monday as we’ve seen so far at Churchill Downs. As mentioned earlier, the big names of the late ‘60s – Damascus, Dr. Fager, In Reality, and also Buckpasser all were dominant in the slop and passed that on to their offspring. It would be extremely rare to see a horse with any of these names fairly close up in their pedigree that didn’t love the slop. Well, Orb has all four of them in his female family, and Buckpasser as well in his sire’s family. And on top of that, he is inbred to Mr. Prospector.

If you’re looking for any reason at all to bet the Irish invader LINES OF BATTLE, it would be on a sloppy track. With Dr. Fager on top, through Fappiano and a slop-loving Darby Dan family on the bottom, he would move up considerably on a wet track. There has never been a Darby Dan horse that I am aware of that didn’t like the slop, and here you have one of Darby Dan’s most successful families, as well as their huge slop influence His Majesty. He definitely deserves at least a second look at a monster price if the track comes up wet.

A sloppy track also should not hurt the chances of REVOLUTIONARY, OVERANALYZE, VERRAZANO, OXBOW, and BLACK ONYX.

Verrazano’s tail-female line traces to Dr. Fager through a stout King Ranch family. Overanalyze is inbred 4x4 to Mr. Prospector, and his broodmare sire, Unaccounted For, finished a strong second, beaten a length, to Cigar in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on an off track. Unaccounted For is by Private Account, a son of Damascus, so there is plenty of slop breeding right there. Oxbow traces to In Reality through Relaunch and Cee’s Tizzy, and Black Onyx is inbred to Mr, Prospector top and bottom, and also has Damascus and Buckpasser in his pedigree on the dam side.

Here are a few images from this morning’s activity. As mentioned earlier. Orb could not have worked better and was sheer poetry gliding by his workmate with smooth, effortless strides before opening up by some 10 lengths on the turn in the gallop-out.. He completed the half-mile in :47 4/5, out five panels in 1:00 4/5. This work was as close to perfection as you’ll get, and you could hear the enthusiasm and optimism in trainer Shug McGaughey’s voice talking about it.

I thought Oxbow was very strong, and was moving with such conviction nearing the quarter pole, jockey Gary Stevens appeared to let him take the turn for home wide, so not to slow down his momentum. He leveled off beautifully in the stretch and finished up strongly all on his own to complete the five furlongs in :59 4/5.

I also loved what I saw from Itsmyluckyday in his first gallop over the track. As I said yesterday, it’s like this is his home track, he moves over it so well.

Oxbow, with Gary Stevens aboard, is starting to get the juices flowing as he gallops up to the pole before his work.

Orb calmly gallops to the pole behind stablemate Overwhelming.

Now it is time for action as Orb starts to get competitive and is ready for action.

Will Take Charge begins his five-furlong work in 1:01.

Goldencents heading for his first gallop over the track.

Haskin's Derby Report: Orb Catches the Eye

aspradling — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:18:00 GMT

It didn’t take the eagle eye of Bob Baffert long to zero in on Orb, who has flourished since arriving at Churchill Downs, and there is no doubt the son of Malibu Moon is moving in the right direction. He has been alert and feeling good, yet seems settled and content, thanks in part to the constant TLC he’s been receiving by the Shug McGaughey team.

“Man, he gets over the ground,” Baffert said. “I love the way he moves; what a beautiful moving horse. He just scoots over it. He really caught my eye today.”

From past experience at the Derby, when Baffert takes notice of a horse the way he did of Orb it is wise to pay attention.

Not only did Orb have an exceptionally smooth gallop this morning, he demonstrated how good he feels by buck jumping coming down the stretch. One second he was moving along in perfect stride, and then out of nowhere, he leaped forward with his front legs while kicking back with his hind legs, and then calmly went about his business once again, galloping along smoothly.

Each morning after entering the track, he stands at the rail for several minutes and just soaks it all up, while enjoying the affection lavished on him by Maureen Fisher on the pony and exercise rider Jennifer Patterson. He occasionally will close his eyes as if in total bliss.

This column actually is a day early, as Orb is scheduled to work on Monday, but you can call this more of a lead-in to the work, which will be the headline grabber tomorrow. With so little activity today, it is a good time to focus on the Florida Derby and Fountain of Youth winner, and briefly discuss a horse who is showing all the signs you look for in a horse preparing for the Kentucky Derby.

(All photos by Steve Haskin):

Orb makes for a beautiful portrait -- alert and content

Maureen Fisher does a little forelock straightening

A little scratching under the chin has to feel good

Now that is what you call total contentment

Maureen Fisher and Jennifer Patterson assure a happy horse

Just a tender moment

Drinking water off his leg while being hosed down

As for Baffert’s own Derby horses, he will have one, two or none. He worked Code West in company with Midnight Lucky this morning, and although the gray tigress once again got the better of her male workmate, this time by only a half-length, Baffert was happy with the way the colt went, and is willing to excuse his uncharacteristically dull effort in the Louisiana Derby. A decision will be made tomorrow after talking with owner Gary West and racing manager Ben Glass. The alternative would be to wait for the Preakness or the Peter Pan and then the Belmont. It would seem the Peter Pan would be the most likely, but it is up in the air right now. The son of Lemon Drop Kid, like his sire, is a grinder who goes along at one pace and just keeps going. He would seem like an ideal Belmont horse.

In today’s work, Code West went five furlongs in 1:00 2/5, out six panels in a brisk 1:12 3/5. He came home his final eighth in a sharp :11 3/5. He can thank Midnight Lucky to some degree for contributing to the time of the work. She carries you along pretty good and you had better motor along if you want to keep up with her.

Baffert’s other Derby possibility, Govenor Charlie, is scheduled to work tomorrow and a decision will be made following the work. The son of Midnight Lute did have a brief physical setback and was sent to Rood & Riddle for a complete bone scan, which came up negative. Although his issues are behind him, Baffert is a bit concerned about the training the colt lost. He’s only had three lifetime starts, and only one horse, Big Brown, has won the Derby with so few starts in the past 98 years. If Govenor Charlie doesn’t run in the Derby, there is a good possibility he’ll go in the Preakness instead.

Govenor’s Charlie’s gallop today actually was the best he’s had, at least of the ones we’ve seen. He was moving with more authority and had better extension to his stride. He had not been showing much extension at all in his previous gallops.

Two new arrivals who took to the track for the first time today were Goldencents and Itsmyluckyday, and both looked great great. Goldencents is an eye catcher and once again was accompanied by a full Team O’Neill entourage that included assistant Leandro Mora and jockey Kevin Krigger, along with Krigger’s father, and his agent, Tom Knust. There is a great deal of confidence being exuded by everyone associated with the son of Into Mischief.

Itsmyluckyday just jogged around the track, but looked as if he owned the place and had been there his whole life. He strutted along with his neck slightly arched in regal splendor and just made a terrific appearance. For a horse who has accomplished as much as he has, expect him to be a mouth-watering price on Derby Day.

In addition to Orb and Govenor Charlie, tomorrow’s workers will include the Wayne Lukas pair of Oxbow and Will Take Charge, and the Todd Pletcher-trained Winning Cause, winner of the Lexington Stakes, whose Derby status will be determined by the work.

It looks as if Tiz a Minister will be headed to Kentucky following his third-place finish, beaten 4 1/2 lengths, in the Snow Chief Stakes at Hollywood Park. The big horse on the grounds still waiting to secure a berth in the Derby is the Dallas Stewart-trained Golden Soul, a fast-closing fourth in the Louisiana Derby.

Haskin's Derby Report: Pletcher on Parade

aspradling — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 18:36:00 GMT

You want Derby works, boy do we have Derby works. A total of eight Derby horses had their final drills Saturday morning, many of them moved back a day due to the impending rain expected later today and tomorrow.

Heading the day’s activity was the Todd Squad, which is made up of Verrazano, Revolutionary, Palace Malice, Overanalyze, and Charming Kitten, who collectively have won or place in 15 stakes.

Of the Fab Five, Verrazano was the first to work, going five furlongs in company with Authenticity. The big, handsome son of More Than Ready broke smoothly and laid just off his workmate through fractions of :11 4/5, :23 1/5, :35, and :47. With no urging at all, he came home his final eighths in :12 4/5 to complete the five panels in :59 4/5, while finishing 1 1/2 lengths ahead his workmate. He then galloped out three-quarters in 1:13. This was a very good work for him, and as is often the case at Churchill Downs, he looked better than he did in his first work over the track and just seemed to be going smoother over it this time.

One of the top works of the day belonged to Revolutionary, who went off noticeably slower, going in :24 4/5 and :36 3/5 inside stablemate Charming Kitten. Turning for home, Calvin Borel, as is his custom, steered the colt closer to the rail and proceeded to hug the fence. Once he got Revolutionary to settle into stride, he cruised clear of Charming Kitten, who was unable to keep up. Revolutionary, as usual, switched over to his left lead inside the eighth pole, then quickly back to right lead, and finally back to his left lead crossing the wire. The son of War Pass has been doing this his whole life, and despite the lead changes, he flew home his final eighth in :11 3/5 and then dusted Charming Kitten in the gallop-out, pulling some six or seven lengths clear, while galloping out five panels in 1:00 3/5, which means he went :12 2/5 in the gallop-out. Back at the barn while getting his bath he was not blowing in the slightest. What I like most about this colt is how he always wants to do more before and after the wire, as if he’s just getting started.

Following Revolutionary came the tandem of Overanalyze and Palace Malice, who locked horns at the quarter pole, with Palace Malice, wearing blinkers again, on the inside. With Gary Stevens on Overanalyze and Mike Smith on Palace Malice, the two colts matched strides every step of the way. Overanalyze looked to be going a bit smoother than Palace Malice, but both colts were striding out beautifully, coming home their final eighth in :11 4/5 to complete the half-mile in :47 1/5 (clockers actually got Overanalyze, who broke off a bit behind) in :47 and Palace Malice in :47 1/5. Both colts then galloped out an additional eighth in :12 3/5, in what amounted to a good sharpener for each one. Pletcher said afterward that Palace Malice would wear blinkers for the first time in the Derby.

As for the other works, Normandy Invasion was the first one out on the track at 5:45, and he was sharp right from the beginning, breaking off quickly and zipping his opening eighth in :11 4/5 and three-eighths in :34 2/5. After a half in :46 3/5, he came home his final eighth in :12 2/5 to complete the five furlongs in :59 flat., out six panels in 1:11 4/5. This colt has been showing a lot of early lick and likely will show more speed than most people would anticipate. He needs to return to his running style in the Remsen and make his big move earlier, which he appears ready to do. What I liked most about the work was how smoothly he did it, with his ears up.

Right after Normandy Invasion came Mylute, and trainer Tom Amoss said beforehand not to expect anything flashy, just a nice easy maintenance half-mile, and that is precisely what he got. With Rosie Napravnik aboard, he pretty much cruised around there, getting his half in :50 3/5. He is not much of a gallop-out horse, and shuts it down after the wire, which accounted for the 1:05 4/5 gallop-out.

Black Onyx came out between 7 and 7:30 and worked a half in company with jockey Joe Bravo aboard. The son of Rock Hard Ten spotted his workmate a couple of lengths coming into the stretch and methodically wore him down, pulling away at the end, with the reins fully extended as if he wanted to do more. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:02 2/5.

The final pair to work were the Kenny McPeek duo of Frac Daddy and Java’s War, with Frac Daddy on the inside. After fractions of :24 4/5, :37, and :49 3/5, Frac Daddy took a length lead into the final sixteenth, and even with the exercise rider looking back for Java’s War, he still finished ahead of his stablemate, while under wraps, completing the five panels in 1:02, with a final eighth in :12 2/5. I liked the way Frac Daddy moved over the track, and this looked to be a sneaky good work.

Itsmyluckyday arrived from Calder this morning just past 11 o’clock, while Goldencents got in a little after 1 p.m., along with Kentucky Oaks contender Beholder.