What Might Have Been - Contenders Withdrawn on Eve of Kentucky Derby

 

 

What Might Have Been

Contenders Withdrawn on Eve of Kentucky Derby

Joseph Di Rienzi

The Kentucky Derby is the epochal event in Northern American thoroughbred racing. It is the one race most owners, trainers and jockeys aspire to winning. For a conditioner, preparing his or her horse for the traditional first Saturday in May date (this year, notwithstanding) requires careful race planning, meticulous training and a good deal of luck. Capricious weather conditions, suspicious track surfaces and the vagaries of horse care present significant obstacles to assuring a starting position in the Run for the Roses. In addition, the limitation of no more than 20 starters demands the horse demonstrate enough ability to qualify for the Derby. To survive this gantlet to secure a spot in the field is a feat in itself. However, there have been horses who had to be withdrawn (scratched) just before the race due to an ailment or an injury. In this piece, I will examine four prime contenders who made it to the precipice of Derby fame but were denied their chance to have its glory.

Sir Gaylord was a Virginia born son of Turn-to out of the mare Somethingroyal bred and owned by Meadow Stable. A top juvenile of 1961, he nonetheless lost his last four starts but ran sufficiently well to be considered a classic contender in 1962. In Florida, at the start of the year, the bay colt trained by veteran Casey Hayes raced to three victories facing the co-two-year-old champions of 1961, Ridan and Crimson Satan. Running perhaps the most impressive race by any three-year-old in 1962, he won the 9 furlong Everglades Stakes at Hialeah Park by a widening 4¾ lengths in fast time over longshot Decidedly. Ridan finished third beaten over 7 lengths, subsequently was disqualified and placed fourth, and Crimson Satan finished fifth. Suffering an ankle injury prior to the Flamingo Stakes, Sir Gaylord’s connections still harbored hopes he would make it to the Kentucky Derby.

Sir Gaylord
(Jim Raftery/Turfotos)

Deemed recovered, Sir Gaylord had his final Kentucky Derby prep in the 7 furlong Stepping Stone Purse at Churchill Downs one week before the big race. The son of Turn-to rallied just off the pace to win as the chart of the race indicates, “with complete authority”. What is even more impressive was that he was allowed to continue running after the race, and his gallop out time for 10 furlongs was faster than the final time of several previous Kentucky Derbies. This performance cemented Sir Gaylord’s leadership in the three-year-old standings and solid favoritism for the Kentucky Derby.  However, in a bitter twist of fate, he suffered a sesamoid fracture of his right front ankle in a final workout the Friday before the Derby and was promptly retired to a very successful stud career. A further intrigue was that Meadow Stable had co-entered their champion filly Cicada in both the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby and decided even after Sir Gaylord’s injury that Cicada would run in the Oaks (which she won easily).

Whether Sir Gaylord would have triumphed on Derby Day in 1962 is moot.  Nonetheless, he had vanquished Derby winning Decidedly earlier in the year in the Everglades Stakes. A footnote is that 11 years later a half-brother to Sir Gaylord (out of the same dam and also owned by Meadow Stable) not only won the Derby but achieved Triple Crown glory. That horse was the immortal Secretariat.

Moving forward 30 years, the next prime contender to be denied a chance to wear the garland of roses was A. P. Indy. He was an impeccably bred dark bay or brown son of Seattle Slew out of the Secretariat mare Weekend Surprise, thus a half-brother to 1990 Preakness hero Summer Squall. Bred by William Farish III and William S. Kilroy, this son of a Triple Crown winner from a daughter of another Triple Crown champion commanded a $2.9 million price when sold to Tomonori Tsurumaki as a yearling despite being a ridgling. Trained by patient Neil Drysdale, A. P. Indy had a brief two-year-old campaign that culminated in a come from behind victory in the Hollywood Futurity.

A. P. Indy
(Skip Dickstein/BloodHorse)

Drysdale prepped A.P. Indy for the 1992 classics from his home base in Californian, winning both the San Rafael Stakes and the Santa Anita Derby. The colt’s winning margins were narrow, and the final times in these respective contests were mediocre. However, observers kept getting the impression that the son of Seattle Slew was only doing enough to win his races and had untapped resources yet to be utilized.  

As the Kentucky Derby approached, much attention was given to the French raced Arazi who had dazzled in winning the previous year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The smallish son of Blushing Groom generated the most publicity, but if any horse was bred and looked the classic type, it was A. P. Indy. However, the latter was withdrawn on the morning of the race due to a foot bruise that trainer Neil Drysdale pronounced was not sufficiently healed to run his colt. This was a crushing blow for the horse’s connections, nevertheless, the hope was that A. P. Indy would resume training in time for another classic opportunity. In the Derby, Arazi made a move down the backstretch to reach contention but faded in the stretch drive to finish eighth as Lil E. Tee scored a mild upset.

A. P. Indy would prove his mettle, returning in about three weeks after the Derby to win the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park. He followed with a game victory in the Belmont Stakes and capped his year with a conclusive win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Voted both Eclipse Award Male Three-Year-Old Champion and Horse of the Year, A. P. Indy retired to his birthplace at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, KY to become a major stallion.

The third horse to discuss here did not have the pre-race credentials of the others, nor would he prove his ability either post-Derby nor in the breeding shed. However, he was anticipated to be the favorite for the Kentucky Derby based on his recent good form. I Want Revenge was an aptly named son of Steven Got Even (a son of A. P. Indy) foaled in 2006. Owned and bred by David Lanzman, he was sent to Jeff Mullins in California to train. Taking four starts to break his maiden, I Want Revenge concluded his juvenile year with a near miss (by a nose) to Pioneer of the Nile in the CashCall Futurity (formerly the Hollywood Futurity).

I Want Revenge
(bloodhorse.com)

Beginning 2009 with a third place finish to the aforementioned Pioneer of the Nile in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park, Mullins decided that I Want Revenge was not showing his best form on California’s synthetic dirt racetracks. Shipped east to New York, the colt showed a dazzling burst of speed in winning the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack by 8½ lengths and then running a remarkable race to win the Wood Memorial Stakes after encountering trouble both at the start and in the stretch. (Prior to the Wood, a 50% share in the horse was sold to IEAH Stables.)

Considered the likely favorite for the Kentucky Derby, all appeared well for I Want Revenge until the morning of the race when a swelling was noticed on his left front ankle. After conferring with veterinarians, Mullins and Lanzman announced their horse would be scratched. In I Want Revenge’s absence, 50-1 shot Mind That Bird scooted home under Calvin Borel (see “Recent Longshot Winners of the Kentucky Derby”).

I Want Revenge never replicated the form he showed at Aqueduct prior to the 2009 Kentucky Derby. Rested over a year and turned over to East Coast trainer Richard Dutrow Jr., the son of Steven Got Even placed in several stakes but never won another race. He finally retired as a six-year-old in 2012 and, after a very modest stud career, died in Indiana in 2018.

Omaha Beach was in the mold of Sir Gaylord and A. P. Indy being an exquisitely bred son of War Front from the mare Charming. The dark bay colt was a half-brother to champion Take Charge Brandi from the family of Take Charge Indy and Will Take Charge, all descended from the top mare and producer Take Charge Lady. He was purchased privately as a yearling by Rick Porter, owner of Fox Hill Farms. Trained by Richard Mandella, the handsome colt took five starts in California to break his maiden. Initially raced on grass, Omaha Beach finished third in his initial juvenile start in 2018 and then had two close seconds. Switched to dirt at the start of 2019, he again gained the place position going down by a ½ length in a mile event. Omaha Beach’s breakthrough effort was in the slop at Santa Anita winning a 7 furlong maiden race by 9 lengths.

Omaha Beach
(bloodhorse.com)

Sent to Arkansas for a division of the Rebel Stakes, he faced the 2018 Two-Year-Old Champion Game Winner. In a pulsating duel, Omaha Beach and Game Winner battled down the stretch with the former prevailing by a nose. Sent back to Oaklawn Park for the Arkansas Derby, Omaha Beach under Mike Smith defeated highly regarded Improbable by a length with Country House finishing third another 5¾ lengths back. 

When Mike Smith chose to ride Omaha Beach over Santa Derby victor Roadster in the Kentucky Derby, his decision was probably the final factor in installing the former the pre-race favorite. Omaha Beach seemed to have all the credentials, and his final workouts appeared to indicate the son of War Front was peaking just at the right time. There was also a great deal of sentiment for trainer Richard Mandella gaining his first Kentucky Derby victory.  Alas, this was not to be, as the Derby gods were not kind to Mandella nor owner Rick Porter when it was discovered that Omaha Beach had a trapped epiglottis forcing him to scratch four days before the race. (In a very controversial result, Country House was declared the winner of the 145^th Kentucky Derby on the disqualification of Maximum Security (see again “Recent Longshot Winners of the Kentucky Derby”).)

After having throat surgery, Omaha Beach was sent back to California. After a longer than expected recovery, he contracted a mild virus further delaying his training. The son of War Front finally returned to the races in October in the 6 furlong Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes scoring a game victor over speedster Shancelot. Favored for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Omaha Beach finished second to Spun to Run. He concluded his three-year-old campaign on a high note winning the Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita. Omaha Beach was scheduled to have his final start at Gulfstream Park in the Pegasus World Cup Championship in January 2020, but he was withdrawn due to another injury. He began his stud duties in 2020 at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, KY.

So we see from the examples cited here, it is a precarious undertaking to actually get a horse to run in the Kentucky Derby. As Jeff Mullins, trainer of I Want Revenge, said of his horse’s fate in 2009, "Your biggest dream is to get here. Your biggest nightmare is to get here and scratch." We wish all the proposed starters in this year’s Kentucky Derby well and hope there is no anguish over “what might have been”.