FOR ANTLEY, THE WEIGHT WAS WORTH IT.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Chris Antley Christopher W. Antley (January 6 1966 - December 2 2000) was a Champion American jockey. He was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but grew up in Elloree, South Carolina. He left school at sixteen to ride horses professionally at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. made the joke in September, and it's a good thing he was hidden away in South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. when he said it. If he'd been at a racetrack, he would have been laughed off the property. ``Wouldn't it be neat,'' the jockey said to his father, with whom he was living, ``if I rode in the Derby - and won it.'' In September, the prospect seemed humorous indeed. Antley hadn't ridden in any race, let alone a 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. , in nearly a year. He'd been spotted at Del Mar Del Mar is the name of several places in the United States of America:
See also devil; evil; ghosts; hell; spirits and spiritualism. ademonist one who denies the existence of the devil or demons. bogyism, bogeyism recognition of the existence of demons and goblins. that threatened to end his career at age 32. Since the previous October, he'd spent most of his time in Columbia, S.C., considering the possibility that ``racing is gone and I might have to do something else.'' He delved into the stock market, and created an investment-advice web site titled ``The Ant-Man Report.'' So what was Chris Antley doing in the Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. winner's circle win·ner's circle n. pl. winners' circles An enclosed area at a racetrack where the winning horse and jockey are brought for awards and publicity. Noun 1. late Saturday afternoon, offering thanks to trainer D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. , owners Bob and Beverly Lewis and higher powers after riding 31-1 shot Charismatic to a Derby victory? ``My sarcasm came true,'' he said. Less than two months after he returned to the races at Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
``He's maybe the best rider of our generation, for pure talent,'' said Drew Mollica, one of his former agents. ``He's very complex. When he's good, he's very, very good. When he's bad, he's very, very bad.'' The good included an earlier Kentucky Derby victory, aboard Strike the Gold in 1991, a record 64-day winning streak in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of in '89, and a record nine-winner day at tracks in New York and New Jersey in '87. The bad included the suspensions that followed positive drug tests in '88. Antley insists the problems that kept him out for all of '98 had nothing to do with substance abuse. An even decade after drug-plagued Pat Valenzuela rode Sunday Silence to a Derby victory and declared ``Just Say No'' in a post-race press conference, there would be no similar testimonial from Antley. This, he said, was all about weight, devil enough in a sport where athletic young men are asked to weigh less than 115 pounds. The problem overwhelmed him when he left Del Mar in '97 to ride at Saratoga. He found the scale reading 119. One day, when he went to Canada for a major race, he was forced to sweat away nine pounds in a day. Diet pills left him too weak to ride. Fad diets didn't work. Blood tests in Europe provided no answer. After returning to California shortly before the '97 Breeders' Cup at Hollywood Park, Antley stopped riding and went home. In South Carolina, he roomed with his father, Les, who pumps propane for a living. At one stage, Antley was up to 147 pounds. ``I told my dad I was going to come back or die trying,'' he said. ``I'm going to run and run and run.'' Around Thanksgiving, ``I broke down,'' he said. A knee grew so sore he couldn't run. But after Christmas he was back on the road. He set his sights on beating a rival, Mike Smith, back to the races. If Smith could do it, recuperating from a broken back, why couldn't Antley, recovering from a broken diet? ``I got the name `Forrest Gump' in South Carolina,'' he said. All that running. ``It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my career - in my life,'' he said of returning to Derby caliber. ``The first (Derby win) was right time, right place. This has a lot more sentimental value probably than anything I've done in my career. I didn't think I was going to get back.'' He said he became ``a big boy'' in the past year. ``I've had things handed to me and always been able to come back quick or get through hard times,'' he said. ``This was (different). I couldn't just come back nonchalant non·cha·lant adj. Seeming to be coolly unconcerned or indifferent. See Synonyms at cool. [French, from Old French, present participle of nonchaloir, to be unconcerned : non-, . I had to work to get back here. I had to reach into the depths of myself.'' Antley returned to competition Feb. 4 at Santa Anita and has done well since - even during the weeks when he'd weigh out at a plump 121 pounds. He needed a break to wind up in the Derby. Hall of Famer Laffit Pincay Jr. reportedly turned down the mount on Charismatic, whom he'd ridden at Santa Anita, and Lukas and the Lewises turned to Antley. ``He had won the Derby,'' Bob Lewis said. ``He'd had experience in big fields.'' Then Antley got lucky Saturday, avoiding the traffic that claimed several contenders, even though he started from the outside in post 17. ``That's the beauty of this sport,'' said Shane Sellers, who rode Vicar to a troubled 18th-place finish. ``Here's a guy who was out a year and a half, and he's back (eight) weeks and riding the Kentucky Derby winner. ``I was sorry to see him on the sidelines On the sidelines An investor who decides not to invest due to market uncertainty. on the sidelines Of or relating to investors who, having assessed the market, have decided to avoid committing their funds. . He's just a great rider.'' ``It just goes to show you're never down and out in this business,'' Mollica said on the phone from New York Saturday night. As he rode Charismatic through the homestretch home·stretch n. 1. The portion of a racetrack from the last turn to the finish line. 2. Informal The final stages of an undertaking. Noun 1. , an eighth of a mile from winning the Derby, Antley says he uttered a silent prayer. ``I was asking if this was real or not,'' he said. It was real. No joke. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Chris Antley leaps off Charismatic after taking him into the winner's circle at Churchill Downs. Mike Fisher/Associated Press |
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