A HOME RUN KENTUCKY-BRED MONARCHOS WINS WITH FURIOUS FINISH.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Wrestling the roses away from California horses and horsemen, Monarchos brought the biggest prize in thoroughbred racing back home to Kentucky on Saturday. The gray colt rewarded the old-fashioned soft touch of trainer John Ward by rallying with jockey Jorge Chavez to a commanding Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. victory in near-record time before 154,210 fans on a scorching scorch v. scorched, scorch·ing, scorch·es v.tr. 1. To burn superficially so as to discolor or damage the texture of. See Synonyms at burn1. 2. day at Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. , surviving a foul claim by the jockey of runner-up Invisible Ink invisible ink n. Ink that is colorless and invisible until treated by a chemical, heat, or special light. Also called sympathetic ink. . ``This is one for tradition,'' declared Ward, a third-generation horseman who took pride in recent days in calling himself ``the only (Kentucky) hardboot in the race.'' As Monarchos completed his 15-length rally and crossed the finish 4 3/4 lengths in front of Invisible Ink and third-place Congaree, heavily favored Point Given plodded home fifth. Point Given's first poor performance marked the end of four years of Kentucky Derby domination by horses who came out of the Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $750,000. . ``He just wasn't in his normal rhythm,'' jockey Gary Stevens
Looking back, the preparation of the Derby's biggest disappointment, and that of its winner, couldn't have been more different. Trainer Bob Baffert Bob Baffert (born January 13, 1953 in Nogales, Arizona) is an American horse owner and trainer. He graduated from the University of Arizona's Racetrack Management Program with a Bachelor of Science degree. , who sought his third Kentucky Derby victory in five years, had given Point Given and Congaree hard workouts just days before the race. Meanwhile, Ward, who went for his first Derby win, hadn't sent Monarchos out for a workout since April 27, an unusual break from serious exercise that caught the eye of handicappers. The most Monarchos did on the mornings of Derby week was gallop. Ward tried to beat back insinuations that Monarchos' light workload indicated he was fighting fatigue. He explained that since Monarchos' hard winter campaign, in which he won for the first time in mid-January in Florida and won the Florida Derby The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida on the Saturday closest to the end of March or the first of April. two starts later in early March, Ward merely had tried to maintain his fitness and not stress him with fast workouts. Maybe few bettors believed him, because Monarchos, coming off a solid second-place finish in the Wood Memorial, went off as the 10-1 sixth choice in the odds. He returned $23 for a $2 bet to win. His 1:59.97 clocking for 1 1/4 miles on a sensationally fast track made Monarchos the only Derby winner other than Secretariat (1:59 2/5, 1973) to break the magic two minutes. Now, Ward said, the advantages of the training style employed by him and his wife Donna will be apparent. ``I am a fresh horse going into the Preakness,'' Ward, identifying with the horse in true Kentucky fashion, said, looking ahead to the May 19 second leg of the Triple Crown in Baltimore. ``I am a horse who was still closing at the finish. I am ready to take on all comers.'' Ward, 55, born in Lexington and educated at the University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky, also referred to as UK, is a public, co-educational university located in Lexington, Kentucky. , had been the only trainer to put a solid knock on Point Given before the race. Ward called Point Given a ``media horse'' and said Congaree - who'd beaten Monarchos in the Wood Memorial - was the more threatening of Baffert's pair. Ward also predicted that a fast pace would soften other contenders for Monarchos' finishing kick. Right on all counts. On a day when the track produced Churchill records in two early races, the front-runners Songandaprayer and Balto Star posted the fastest-ever Derby splits for one-half mile (44.86) and three-quarters (1:09.25). They finished 13th and 14th. Among those in close pursuit was Millennium Wind. He finished 11th with 54-year-old jockey Laffit Pincay. Monarchos was near the back of the 17-horse field through the cleanly run early furlongs, but Chavez got the Kentucky-bred son of Maria's Mon going the fastest in the group on the backstretch back·stretch n. The part of an oval racecourse farthest from the spectators and opposite the homestretch. . They were sixth and running five paths away from the inner rail with one-quarter mile to go. At that point, Baffert's Congaree and Point Given were running 1-2. But Point Given floundered and the race came down to Congaree and Monarchos. Monarchos got the lead on the outside of Congaree with more than 100 yards to go and widened it under the left-handed whip of Chavez, the Peruvian jockey nicknamed ``Chop Chop.'' ``He (Congaree) just got outrun out·run tr.v. out·ran , out·run, out·run·ning, out·runs 1. a. To run faster than. b. To escape from: outrun one's creditors. 2. ,'' said Victor Espinoza, Congaree's jockey. Invisible Ink, at 55-1 odds, came on late to nip Congaree for second. Then, before Monarchos owner John Oxley could celebrate, Invisible Ink rider John Velazquez registered his claim that Chavez had ducked in front of him at the top of the stretch. In the stewards' booth, videotape was viewed for about five minutes and the claim turned down. ``I figured I had to take a shot,'' Velazquez said of his attempt to get Monarchos disqualified dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. and Invisible Ink declared the winner. ``I probably wouldn't have even claimed foul in another race.'' No Derby winner has ever been DQ'd for an on-the-track incident. A horse representing the best traditions of Kentucky horsemanship horsemanship: see equestrianism. horsemanship Art of training, riding, and handling horses. Good horsemanship requires that a rider control the animal's direction, gait, and speed with maximum effectiveness and minimum effort. wasn't likely to be the first. FIVE FASTEST DERBIES Year Time* Winner 1973 1:59 2/5 Secretariat 2001 1:59.97 Monarchos 1964 2:00 Northern Dancer 1985 2:00 1/5 Spend a Buck Spend A Buck (born 1982 in western Kentucky, died November 24, 2002 in Brazil) was an American thoroughbred race horse. Spend A Buck was sired by Buckaroo [1] out of the dam Belle de Jour. 1962 2:00 2/5 Decidedly 1967 2:00 3/5 Proud Clarion * - 1 1/4 miles; clocked in fifths of a second through 1992, and now in hundredths. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) Jockey Jorge Chavez celebrates atop Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Ed Reinke/Associated Press (2) Monarchos' time in Saturday's Derby was second-fastest all-time in Derby history. Al Behrman/Associated Press Box: (1) FIVE FASTEST DERBIES (see text) (2) FINISH LINE |
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