“I love it when a plan comes together.”—J.Harrigan Smith
The poet would have us think there’s nothing so rare as a day in June, but we beg to differ. Scarcer still is the Kentucky Derby which develops according to form, where nobody falls to his knees leaving the starting gate, no lively contender is boxed in on the rail, no favorite is compromised by a suicidal speed duel on the front end. Which may be why dubious prognostication outfits like The Flying Pie pick three out of the first four horses correctly. Not that it couldn’t have turned out different. Much different.
Jockey Mike Smith left the gate on Danzing Candy like the pilot of an SR-71 Blackbird, going 22.58 seconds for the first quarter and 45.72 for the half-mile. Those are sprint race times. By contrast, the times in Secretariat’s 1973 Derby were 25.1 and 49.1. That race had the fastest final time ever, 1:59.2. In last year’s American Pharoah victory, the quarter and half-mile times were 23.24 and 47.34. The connections of Danzing Candy are apparently under the impression that their horse needs the lead to contend, in which case they might want to look for easier pickin’s than the 142nd Kentucky Derby. Despite the fanatical times, Nyquist raced in close attendance.
If there were any chinks in Nyquist’s armor, they were thought to be in the stamina category. Offspring of his sire, Uncle Mo, are suspect at 1 1/4 miles. Apparently nobody has told Nyquist about this deficiency because he continued on, rocketing 1:10.40 for six furlongs and hanging on to finish the race in 2:01.31, 1 1/4 lengths in front of a charging Exaggerator. Probably the most remarkable thing about the Derby was Nyquist’s ability to run a very fast half-mile and still hold on for the win. Danzing Candy dropped like a rock to 15th. Nyquist finished 4 lengths ahead of the third horse, Gun Runner.
In the process, we all learned a few things. As we thought, Nyquist and Exaggerator are head and shoulders above their classmates leading up to the Preakness stakes, the second jewel in the Triple Crown. Next, of the pretenders, only Suddenbreakingnews showed signs of life with a late run to be fifth. Supposed contenders Creator and Outwork disappointed, the former never being in the race and the latter dropping back from 4th to 14th. And finally, unless there are some unknown entities hiding in the bushes around Pimlico, we have no reason to expect a different result in the Preakness nine days hence.
A word of caution, however. There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip, as the philosopher once reminded. Handicappers will be looking for any signs of vulnerability from the top pair in the days leading up to the next Big Race in Baltimore. Until now, their races have been spaced several weeks apart, now they come back to the arena in 14 days. Despite all that, previous Preaknesses have seen few top horses falter from the quick turnaround. The greater likelihood is a tired horse for the Belmont, three weeks after the Preakness. Then again, there are racehorses and there are racehorses. American Pharoah handled it all with aplomp last year and so might Nyquist and Exaggerator.
Since we seem to be down to those two, what are the chances of a reversal in the Race for the Black-Eyed Susans? Barring a problem not yet visible, an upset by Exaggerator is unlikely. The horses have run against one another four times and Nyquist has always taken the prize. If Exaggerator had an army of horses to navigate through in Louisville, Nyquist had a frantic pace to contend with. Exaggerator will benefit from a smaller field in the Preakness—the race is limited to 14 starters and there may be fewer—but that is unlikely to change the result. Danzing Candy would be foolish to waste his time showing up and the handwriting is on the wall for any horse choosing to go to the lead against the winner and still Champion. If you’re looking for upsets, better move ahead to the Belmont, always a head-scratcher at a mile-and-a-half and a notorious trapdoor for Triple Crown candidates.
For those inclined to consign the notion of a second Triple Crown in two years to the poppycock pile—not so fast, my friends. After Secretariat’s 1973 TC win, the first in 25 years, Seattle Slew won in 1977 and Affirmed nailed it in 1978, the very next year. If Affirmed had not won, Alydar, who finished second in each race, likely would have done the job. The following year, Spectacular Bid won the first two legs only to be compromised by a bad ride from a rookie jock in the Belmont. Nyquist is good enough if his luck holds out. And doesn’t owner Paul Reddam deserve a little luck? In 2012, his horse I’ll Have Another won the Derby and the Preakness only to come a cropper with a tendon injury just before the Grand Finale. Unfortunately for Mr. Paul, the racing gods have no sympathy. They might even have a bit of a mean streak, truth be told. So the task for Nyquist is mighty: stay healthy, vanquish the opposition and dispense a wise lobbyist up to the stratosphere. Perhaps there’s a bargain to be made with Fate. What does she want? It could be that nobody has ever asked her.
My Kingdom For A Horse!
If you find all this Triple Crown business very exciting and would like to participate, the first thing you’ll need is a horse. Not just any horse will do. You’ll need a thoroughbred, registered by the Jockey Club of Lexington, Kentucky. You can’t just go down to the horse store and buy a thoroughbred, but there are many places to obtain one. If you’re in a hurry, you can just push Quick-Start, enlist a trainer and claim an animal already in training. The chances of claiming a future classics horse are, of course, miniscule but not impossible. Most trainers have a pretty good notion of what their horses are worth and will not be running Citation in a $20,000 claimer. On the other hand, trainer Dominic Imprescia and the owners of Timely Writer, an eventual Kentucky Derby favorite, ran their horse at Monmouth Park for $30,000 his first time out to cash a very large bet. They didn’t try it twice.
You can also buy a horse privately from its owner or purchase one at a variety of sales, the majority of which are in Lexington or Ocala. The latter is famous for its two-year-olds-in-training sales, where young horses put in timed workouts going either an eighth or a quarter of a mile. There are multiple advantages to buying a horse at these venues. First, the buyer has some idea as to the talent level of the runner, albeit at a very short distance. Second, the horse can often go directly to the track. On the debit side, horses in these sales are often asked to perform before they are physically ready and can come up with injuries, some major, some minor, some obvious, some barely detectable. Two-year-olds can be turned back for fractures and some breathing problems but not for much else, assuming a deficiency is even discovered in the first place. Let the buyer beware. That said, Nyquist was purchased in Ocala just over a year ago for a paltry $400,000. That one seems to be working out.
If the 2YO sales are not your cup of tea, you might like a nice yearling sale where the great majority of youngsters are perfectly healthy, never having seen a racetrack. Of course, they might be slow as frozen molasses, but that’s just another risk you take. That’s why we have catalogues which include pedigrees of the horses to be sold. If a yearling has all his legs going in the right direction, has been sired by a successful stallion out of a mare with a decent produce record, the risk is ameliorated. If you’re willing to go even younger, weanlings are available at even better prices. In general, the further from the track they are, the lower the price.
Or you can breed and raise them yourself. Although this sort of thing carries with it many scary possibilities, there is one undeniable reward. You get to play with the babies. You might even get one like April.
Girls Just Want To Have Fun
There are countless reasons not to get in the business of breeding racehorses. First, you’ll need a sizeable place to keep them, your back yard won’t do. Two acres per horse is about right, though many people cheat. Then you’ll need to buy a few mares. If you cheat on them, you’ll never get even. Mares are the foundation of your operation. Buy as good as you can afford. Get two good ones instead of six of dubious merit. Study the stallion records. Breed to the best ones you can afford, but also to those which complement your mares. Find a veterinarian with a good reputation for solid reproductive work. Get an enthusiastic, experienced teaser. Keep good records. Give your horses the best of care. Then sit back and wait for the bad stuff to happen.
If you think they’ve got chills and spills at your local amusement park, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. Wait til the mares start foaling. The first time you don’t keep an eye on one of them, she’ll do something awful. Foals come out of the birth canal upside-down and backwards. Sometimes they’re too big and don’t come out at all. Sometimes they’re too small and fail to thrive. Sometimes they don’t make it to term. Sometimes they turn out to be twins, tiny and useless even if they live. Sometimes they’re irreparably crooked. Sometimes they contract horrible diseases. Every so often, they have no eyes. Should I keep on going? Oh, but every so often—if you’re good—Santa delivers one like April. The ones like April make it all worthwhile.
April took a long time to get here, about ten days longer than her mother, Cosmic Light (aka Dot) generally spends in the production department. When she was born, though, she leapt up in about fifteen minutes, fell down two or three times and then figured out this balancing business far quicker than most of her peers. Nor did she flounder around for two or three hours trying to find her mother’s milk, a sometimes agonizingly slow struggle which drives breeders to apoplexy, creating maps for the little critters and attempting to steer them to those evasive nipples.
When we went into the stall to visit, April didn’t shy away like most foals do, scurrying to hide behind their mothers. She just stood there and looked at us as if to say, “Oh, visitors. Maybe they’ll be useful for something. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.” April decided that getting scratched was to die for and stands stock still while the scratching is administered. If anybody goes to the barn for any purpose, she assumes they are on the way to worship at her shrine. We have had friendly foals before, but this one is also absolutely fearless. Shortly after she was born, April decided it would be alright to spend time with the second mare in the field, a grey quarterhorse used for riding, crotchety and a little remote. At first, this did not sit well with Dot, who went to rescue her time after time, expressing her great disapproval. April inevitably wandered back to the other mare. After awhile, Dot gave up. So now, as often as not, you’ll find April cavorting with her new friend or even off by herself, fifty yards from the others. When she wants a quick meal, she drops by the house. We think she’ll be easy to train but sometimes it’s hard to tell. After all, so far she’s just been training us.
That’s all, folks….
