2-TIME KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER FOUND DEAD WITH HEAD WOUND.

Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer

Jockey Chris Antley, who won two Kentucky Derbies and narrowly missed sweeping the 1999 Triple Crown aboard Charismatic but couldn't outride psychological demons, was found dead in his Pasadena home Saturday with a blow to the back of his head.

Police said Antley, 34, was found by his brother and a friend at 11 p.m., and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The brother, Brian, was visiting from South Carolina, and the friend had just picked him up at the airport.

Antley's wife of less than a year, Natalie, was said to be in New York at the time. She is expecting the couple's first child.

Police said Sunday they considered the death a homicide but had no motive or suspect.

A man described as an associate of Antley was arrested Sundaymorning on warrants related to narcotics possession. Timothy Wyman Tyler Jr., 24, had been a houseguest at the Antley home in the 300 block of Rosita Lane in southwest Pasadena, according to racetrack friends of the jockey.

``His arrest is not related to Mr. Antley's homicide,'' said Karen Peterson, a police administrator.

Antley himself had battled drug abuse - as well as depression and the weight problems common to jockeys - during an 18-year career conducted mostly in New York, New Jersey and California. He hadn't ridden since March 19 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia.

``He said his weight was becoming more difficult to manage,'' Thomas Ward, one of the California stewards who presided over the Santa Anita races, said Sunday at Hollywood Park in Inglewood. ``He said he wanted to take time to get more focused.''

Friends speculated then that Antley lacked the hunger to compete since striking it rich as a stock-market investor - success that led him to publish a daily stocks tip sheet called the Antman Report.

But his history of drug abuse and emotional problems hung over discussion of his absence.

Chillingly, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens related a conversation that suggested Antley expected an untimely end.

``I spoke with Chris three weeks ago. He was depressed,'' Stevens said at Hollywood Park, where the flag flew at half staff and a moment of silence was observed in Antley's honor Sunday. ``I left his house thinking he felt he wasn't going to be around much longer.

``He wasn't scared. He seemed to have accepted something that was inevitable. He indicated things would become clearer in two or three weeks. This isn't very clear to me right now, but hopefully the investigation will clear things up.''

Stevens added: ``I think when you have those (drug) problems, you're going to have people you don't want to be around.''

The 5-foot-3-inch Antley will be remembered for his performances in victory and defeat with Charismatic after coming back from a four-month absence during which his weight soared 30 pounds over his listed riding weight of 117.

Charismatic won the Kentucky Derby as a 31-1 long shot, then won the Preakness Stakes to set up a bid for racing's first Triple Crown in 21 years. In the Belmont Stakes, Charismatic was in contention in the stretch only to break down near the finish and limp home third.

Antley won praise for preventing further damage by alertly pulling Charismatic to a halt, jumping to the ground and - as television cameras recorded his tears - holding the colt's injured leg. Charismatic survived but did not race again.

``Chris was very smart, very instinctual and very caring,'' said Ron Anderson, who was Antley's agent at the time. ``Believe me, not many guys would have thought to do what he did.''

Born Jan. 6, 1966, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Antley began his riding career at 16 with quarter horses in South Carolina, won his first thoroughbred race in Baltimore in 1983, and was pegged as a prodigious talent.

While based in New York, Antley was the national leader with 469 victories in 1985, won nine races at two tracks in a single day and night in 1987, won at least one race for a record 64 consecutive days in 1989, and etched his name in history by winning his first Kentucky Derby aboard Strike the Gold in 1991.

Amid such glory, he tested positive for marijuana and cocaine and briefly surrendered his jockey license in 1988.

He moved to the competitive Southern California circuit in 1993 and won the classic Santa Anita Handicap aboard Stuka a few months later.

Antley died with 3,480 victories. Stevens said his friend would have been a Hall of Famer if his career hadn't been curtailed.

``He had a rough-and-tumble career. He always seemed to be searching for something,'' Stevens said. ``I hope Chris is at peace now.''

The Pasadena Police Department requested that anyone with information about the crime contact Cpl. Ernie Devis at [phone].

Staff Writers Lisa Faught and Donna Huffaker, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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(color) Chris Antley won the 1999 Kentucky Derby with Charismatic.

Ed Reinke/Associated Press