HIGHEST-PRICED RUNNER PAYS OFF.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fusao Sekiguchi, a Japanese venture capitalist Venture Capitalist An investor who provides capital to either start-up ventures or support small companies who wish to expand but do not have access to public funding. Notes: Venture capitalists usually expect higher returns for the additional risks taken. who cuts a cool profile in a ponytail and shades, paid $4 million at a Keeneland yearling yearling an animal in its second year of age, e.g. yearling cattle, yearling filly, yearling colt. yearling disease rinderpest in wildebeeste in the Serengheti. sale in 1998 for the colt who became Fusaichi Pegasus Fusaichi Pegasus (pronounced [ɸɯ.sa.i.tɕi]) (foaled April 12, 1997) was purchased as a yearling for $4 million by Fusao Sekiguchi. . That made this the highest-priced 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. runner ever. Sekiguchi said he would have gone higher. ``When I laid eyes on this colt, I knew he was going to be a Derby winner,'' the winning owner said through an interpreter after Fusaichi Pegasus' 1 1/2-length victory Saturday. ``I was ready to pay $5 million or whatever it took.'' The highest-priced Derby winner before this, amazingly, was the filly Winning Colors (1988), who cost $575,000. Sekiguchi, 64, also won England's Epsom Derby with Fusaichi Concorde in 1995. Fusaichi Pegasus rewarded him Saturday with total earnings of $1,038,400, including a $150,000 bonus from the 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 Racing Association for winning both the Wood Memorial and the Derby. Trainer Neil Drysdale earned a $100,000 Wood-Derby bonus. --Like winning: Marlon St. Julien, the first African-American since 1921 to ride in the Kentucky Derby, was proud of his better-than-expected sixth-place finish aboard longshot Curule cu·rule adj. Privileged to sit in a curule chair; of superior rank. [Latin cur . ``I had to prove some things to a lot of people, and I got the job done, as far as I'm concerned,'' St. Julien said. --Turnstiles: The Derby-day crowd of 153,204 has been exceeded only by the 163,628 fans who attended Cannonade's victory in the centennial Derby in 1974. Wagering from around the country was reported to total $65.3 million on the Derby and $101.4 million on the 10-race card, both records for the 126-year-old event. --The undercard un·der·card n. The event or events coming before and supporting the main event, as of boxing matches. : Owners Bob and Beverly Lewis didn't win the Kentucky Derby with High Yield (15th) and Commendable (17th), but they might have found their Derby horse for 2001. Unbridled Time won easily early on the Derby card in the 4 1/2-furlong WHAS-11 Stakes, the first notable 2-year-olds event of the season. ``Maybe this experience, in front of this crowd, will play into his hands next year,'' said Pat Day, who rode for 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. . The Lewises paid $1.15 million at auction for Unbridled Time, by Unbridled's Song out of a Halo mare. Forty-five minutes later, the Lewises' 4-year-old Straight Man edged Mula Gula in the Winnercomm Handicap sprint as Son of a Pistol plodded home sixth. Jorge Chavez rode the winner for Bob Baffert. --Fast times: The track played fast all day. Unbridled Time matched the Churchill 4 1/2-furlong record with a :57 3/5, Straight Man (1:21.53) came within a couple of lengths of the 7-furlong record, and Ruby Surprise (1:21.25) was .07 off the same mark. CAPTION(S): box Box: Hoofin' it |
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