Kentucky Derby Karma
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May 3, 2014 www.PaulickReport.com SPECIAL Kentucky Derby Karma By Ray Paulick There’s a certain amount of karma – usually good– that world, including the Epsom Derby and Arc de Triomphe accompanies America’s most famous horse race, the Ken- with Mill Reef, but the Kentucky Derby had been elusive to tucky Derby. It’s the horses that win, of course, but the sto- him and his longtime trainer and friend, MacKenzie Miller. ries of the people behind those horses are what we often Two of the most respected men in the history of the sport remember. – Mellon was named an Exemplar of Racing at the National Museum of Racing and Miller was voted into the Hall of Just in the last 30 years alone we’ve seen some of the Fame – made that Derby one to remember. most satisfying and deserving winners in the long history of the Run for the Roses. But the force that controls Derby karma doesn’t just re- ward the wealthy. It’s a race that can’t be bought. Start with Alysheba in 1987. Owned by the Scharbauer family of Texas, the son of Alydar was trained by Jack Van No one represented the common man better than the Berg, whose father, Marion Van Berg, earned his way into Sackatoga Stable partners who campaigned Funny Cide, the Hall of Fame despite toiling in the trenches of claiming winner of the 129th Kentucky Derby in 2003. While some races at small Midwestern tracks. When Jack achieved what his father never could, standing in the infield winner’s Continued on Page 5 circle on Derby day, he wept like a baby. The tears said more than words ever could. Three years later came the call heard ‘round the world, captured wonderfully by the ABC Sports telecast. Carl Nafzger, the trainer of Unbridled, described the action to the colt’s frail 92-year-old owner, Frances Genter, as her horse swept to the lead in the Churchill Downs stretch. It was a moment of joy, not just for “Miz Genter,” who’d spent a lifetime in racing and never came close to winning the Kentucky Derby, but for everyone who saw it all on televi- sion. Similarly, three years later, Sea Hero carried the fabled silks of Rokeby Stables to victory in the 1993 Kentucky Derby. Owner Paul Mellon had won big races around the ASK RAY QUESTION: What Kentucky Derby prep race has been the most productive? ANSWER: Of the last 25 Kentucky Derby win- ners, only 11 won their final preps. Win or lose, the Santa Anita Derby and Blue Grass Stakes were most productive final preps in the last 25 years, resulting in five Kentucky Derby winners; followed by the Arkansas Derby and Wood Memorial (4 each); Florida Derby (3); and Turfway’s Spi- ral, Sunland Derby, Illinois Derby, and Lexington Stakes (1 each). www.PaulickReport.com Page 2 Stallion Spotlight Harlan’s Holiday By Frank Mitchell A very good-looking son of the Storm Cat stallion Harlan, In the Run for the Roses, Harlan’s Holiday started the tep- Harlan’s Holiday was a classic prospect held in high regard id 6-1 favorite in a wide-open Derby and finished seventh, in 2002, and after his retirement to stud he rose to fame three-quarters of a length ahead of the previous season’s as the sire of quick horses who could sometimes contend juvenile champion, Johannesburg. War Emblem won the for the classics, as well. 2002 Derby by four lengths at odds of 20-1, with Proud Citizen (23-1) second ahead of the more favored Perfect This year, Harlan’s Holiday is represented by two prob- Drift (7-1) and Medaglia d’Oro (6-1). able Derby entries: Harry’s Holiday, who ran second in the G3 Spiral Stakes, and Intense Holiday, who won the A Kenny McPeek trainee, Harlan’s Holiday went next in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at the Preakness, where he finished fourth. Harlan’s Holiday was Fair Grounds. In his final Kentucky subsequently transferred to train- Derby prep, the G2 Louisiana Derby, er Todd Pletcher and won the G1 Intense Holiday was second as the Donn as a 4-year-old, when he was race favorite behind Vicar’s in Trou- also second in the G1 Dubai World ble (by Into Mischief). Into Mischief is Cup and G1 Hollywood Gold Cup. a son of Harlan’s Holiday. Into Mis- Entering stud in 2004, Harlan’s chief was from his sire’s first crop Holiday got Into Mischief in his and was the leading money earner first crop, then G1 winner Majes- for Harlan’s Holiday as a juvenile ticperfection in his second. Each when he won the G1 Hollywood Fu- was a strong advertisement for turity. the sire, but Harlan’s Holiday had With his first crop racing at 3 last other stakes winners and graded year, Into Mischief was represented performers. Interestingly, some of by classic players Goldencents and these possessed aptitudes notably Vyjack. Goldencents won the G1 Santa Anita Derby last different from the sire’s own. Will- spring before finishing unplaced in the Derby and Preak- cox Inn showed his best form on turf, winning the American ness, but the handsome bay returned to win the G1 Breed- Derby and Hawthorne Derby; Denis of Cork ran second in ers’ Cup Dirt Mile in the fall. Vyjack won the G2 Jerome and the Belmont Stakes at 12 furlongs; and Shanghai Bobby G3 Gotham before finishing third in last year’s G1 Wood became champion juvenile of 2012. Memorial. Much like his grandsons, Harlan’s Holiday was a With his acclaim at its highest, Harlan’s Holiday died all too flashy 2-year-old, racking up a win in the G3 Iroquois Stakes early last year at 14 while in Argentina as a shuttle stal- at Churchill Downs. The bright bay matured with a second lion. The stallion’s last crop of foals are still being born, and in the G1 Fountain of Youth before springing into favoritism those sons and daughters will be eligible to challenge for for the Kentucky Derby with sharp victories in the G1 Blue the classics of 2017. PRS Grass Stakes and Florida Derby. 10-70% off MY Up to 28% off Up to 40% off ADVANTAGE Up to 30% off Up to 5% off Up to 30% off Call us toll-free at 866-678-4289 or visit NTRAadvantage.com. 14-500-109 MyAdvPartner_7.5x2.5_PaulickReportKeeneland_final.indd 1 3/7/14 11:29 AM www.PaulickReport.com Page 3 Looking Back One Derby performance can hook a viewer on the sport for life By Natalie Voss the track on the first Saturday in May. In the days before I had Equineline or a credit card, I spent hours making Excel sheets tracking his three American crops based on sales entries and foal announcements. I kept notes on their race careers and studied pedigrees. I learned the business through that horse, and without that I don’t know where I’d be now. This year, one of the entries in that Excel sheet has cropped up in the Derby field. I remember tracking Moyne Abbey, a 2002 mare out of Classic Approval, through her 12 starts. She is now the dam of Wicked Strong, winner of the G1 Wood Memorial. People have asked me for my Derby pick, and all I can say is The author meets 1999 Kentucky Derby winner Charismatic after his retirement to Lane’s End Farm when the band plays ‘My Old Kentucky Home,’ I’ll be hunting for Centennial Farm’s red and tan silks. I’ll also be hoping Everybody I’ve ever asked about it says they can pinpoint that for someone watching at home, one of the horses’ their racing bug bite to one horse, whose name forever coats will gleam just a little more than the others, and in brings goosebumps to their arms and whose photo graces that wonderful second when the field swings for home, that their living room wall. For me, that horse is 1999 Kentucky horse will deliver a racing bug bite. PRS Derby and Preakness winner Charismatic. If a former claimer stepped into the Derby starting gates now, I’d write him off immediately, but on the afternoon Charismatic and ALL Chris Antley walked out of the tunnel at Churchill, I was NATURAL ten years old and the horse was a copper superhero. I still don’t know what drew me to him in the post parade, but Remarkable Products!! when he won I was convinced he would be the next Triple Crown winner. It was all the more special because I had Remarkable Results!! believed in him when he was the still unheralded 31-1 shot who even trainer D. Wayne Lukas admitted was the ‘fat kid’ in his barn. Last Triple Crown Race Winners When Antley pulled ‘Matic up at Belmont, I felt my heart break as surely as his sesamoids had. He recovered (with all supplemented by the help of a few screws) and so did I, but I was left want- ing more. It had never occurred to me before to wonder Guess Who? what racehorses did after Belmont Day. I turned my atten- tion to looking for a Charismatic son or daughter to take ORB – Kentucky Derby Winner OXBOW – Preakness Winner PALACE MALICE – Belmont Winner RANDOM FACTS All from weanling to racetrack on by Ray Paulick ® More than 7,800 liters of bourbon (about palaMOUNTAINS EQUINE PRO 175,000 “shots”) will be needed as Join us this year in the Winner’s Circle! the major ingredient for Mint Juleps on Saturday.