KENTUCKY'S CROWN PRINCE FUSAICHI PEGASUS ROARS TO STUNNING VICTORY.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With stunning quickness Saturday, Fusaichi Pegasus Fusaichi Pegasus (pronounced [ɸɯ.sa.i.tɕi]) (foaled April 12, 1997) was purchased as a yearling for $4 million by Fusao Sekiguchi. delivered a simple answer to the longest-unanswered question in horse racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with . Why hadn't the favorite won the 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 21 years? Maybe because that's how often a 3-year-old like this comes along. Fusaichi Pegasus rewarded the faith of 153,204 bettors at Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. , the second-biggest crowd in Kentucky Derby history, by surging between and around a deeply contentious field to win by 1 1/2 lengths over Aptitude. Jockey Kent Desormeaux Kent J. Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970, in Maurice, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year. never had to use his whip as he rode his second Derby winner in three years, rallying from an early 13-length deficit. ``This,'' Desormeaux said, ``is a brilliant horse.'' Few would disagree now. A son of the great stallion Mr. Prospector Mr. Prospector (1970-1999) was a thoroughbred racehorse who won half of his 14 career starts, but whose descendants have come to dominate the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. An also-ran in the year the great Secretariat won the Triple Crown, Mr. , a $4 million buy at a 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. auction by Japan's Fusao Sekiguchi, trained in sometimes unorthodox fashion by Hall of Famer Neil Drysdale, Fusaichi Pegasus was thought to have an Achilles' heel in his own quirky temperament. But Kentucky's favorite bucking bronco bronco: see mustang. was on his best behavior before the race, and ran the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.12, matching the sixth quickest Derby ever, on a day when 82-degree sunshine baked the track hard and fast. He returned $6.60 on a $2 bet as the first winning favorite since Spectacular Bid in 1979. The statistics weren't as impressive as Fusaichi Pegasus' performance appeared to the binocular-toting fans and to beaten jockeys. ``At the quarter (mile) pole it looked heavenly,'' said Aptitude's jockey, Alex Solis, the Derby runner-up for the third time in four years. ``I thought, s---, I'm going to win it. Then I saw Kent galloping in front of me.'' Aptitude also chased Fusaichi Pegasus to the wire last month in New York's Wood Memorial after Drysdale decided to ship his horse away from Santa Anita to avoid a clash with barnmate War Chant. On his way back to the jockeys' dressing room later, Corey Nakatani, rider of 13th-place Anees, expressed his awe. ``That's the next Triple Crown winner right there,'' Nakatani said. There hasn't been a Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. Unlike Silver Charm, Real Quiet and Charismatic, less-respected colts who came up just short the past three years, Fusaichi Pegasus will now be expected to complete the sweep. The Preakness is May 20 in Baltimore and the Belmont Stakes June 10 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 . He may have scared off most of the competition in Saturday's 19-horse field by winning his fifth race in a row following a losing debut Dec. 11 at Hollywood Park. Third-place Impeachment impeachment, formal accusation issued by a legislature against a public official charged with crime or other serious misconduct. In a looser sense the term is sometimes applied also to the trial by the legislature that may follow. , the least-regarded of trainer Todd Pletcher'sfoursome, finished 5 1/2 lengths behind Fusaichi Pegasus. More Than Ready gave Pletcher fourth place as well. Fusaichi Pegasus' most accomplished opponents were no match in a Derbythat was as cleanly run as last year's was bumpy. 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. winner The Deputy was never close and finished 14th. ``He never fired a jump,'' jockey Chris McCarron said of The Deputy, who was trying to make Jenine Sahadi the first woman to train a Derby winner. ``I don't understand why. He was too relaxed down the backstrtch. Normally he's pulling hard on me.'' Blue Grass Stakes The Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. winner High Yield, the best of four-time Derby-winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas' three horses, faded to 15th. Florida Derby winner Hal's Hope, the Cinderella horse trained by 88-year-old Harold Rose, came in 16th after dueling Trippi for the early lead through fast early quarter-miles. ``He just went too fast too early,'' Rose said. Bob Baffert-trained Captain Steve took the lead from Hal's Hope near the top of the stretch but was cut off by Wheelaway with three-sixteenths of a mile to go and dropped back to eighth. Drysdale's other horse, War Chant, was ninth. Jockey Jerry Bailey claimed no excuses - like almost everybody who got dusted by Fusaichi Pegasus. The winner (whose name is a combination of the owner's name and the Japanese word for ``No. 1'') was 15th going into the first turn and in danger of being caught in traffic after Desormeaux dropped to the rail from the post 15. He continued to race at the rail on the backstretch back·stretch n. The part of an oval racecourse farthest from the spectators and opposite the homestretch. . ``I remembered Neil saying, `Just put him in a comfortable spot and he'll do the rest,' '' Desormeaux said. He said ``some nudges'' on Fusaichi Pegasus' neck produced his charge to the front. The horse and rider This article is about the constellation. For the equestrian magazine, see Horse & Rider. The Horse and Rider is an informal name given to the stars Mizar (ζ UMa) and Alcor (80 UMa) because of their close proximity in the sky. angled away from the rail and were seven-wide, losing a lot of ground, turning for home. Still sixth at that point, but just two lengths off the lead, they roared down the stretch and won going away. ``You do need the racing gods to be smiling on you somewhat,'' Drysdale said of Fusaichi Pegasus' clear path to the lead. Bad luck might have been to blame a few times as 20 consecutive favorites lost the Derby. But good luck wasn't the reason this favorite won. Fusaichi Pegasus won because he's the best. The best in 21 years, perhaps. CAPTION(S): photo, 2 charts Photo: (color) Fusaichi Pegasus and jockey Kent Desormeaux drive Saturday to the finish line to win the 126th Kentucky Derby. Al Behrman/Associated Press Chart: (1) Playing favorites (2) 126th Kentucky Derby results |
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