NOTES : CALIFORNIA HORSES SHINE IN DERBY.Byline: Kevin Modesti Daily News Staff Writer Cavonnier came up short, but California horses had their best 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. of the 1990s on Saturday, the 1-2-3 finishers having started their 3-year-old seasons at Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
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. sent six horses to Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. , more than any other prep. They finished second (Cavonnier), third (Prince of Thieves), eighth (Alyrob), 11th (Corker cork·er n. 1. One that corks bottles, for example. 2. Slang A remarkable or astounding person or thing. corker Noun Old-fashioned slang ), 17th (Matty G) and 18th (Honour and Glory). None appeared to have a serious excuse in a race that Cavonnier jockey Chris McCarron called ``the cleanest Derby I've ever been in.'' Cavonnier, the only California native in the group, came so close to winning that trainer Bob Baffert began to celebrate, knocking his wife's hat to the ground. ``That horse (Grindstone grindstone or grind common metaphor for industriousness. [Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : Industriousness ) was one of the ones I was seriously worried about,'' Baffert said. ``I really liked his Arkansas Derby. ``It was a great day, a great race. It was almost perfect.'' Grindstone, who raced 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 and Kentucky as a 2-year-old, started 1996 by finishing second to Budroyale in a Feb. 16 allowance race at Santa Anita. He is the first Derby winner to begin his campaign in California since Sunday Silence (1989). Weather or not: That was the question until mid-afternoon, when sunshine broke through threatening clouds. Track officials feared a thunder and lightning storm like the one that pelted Louisville with rain and marble-sized hail about midnight Friday. The downpour was so blinding that drivers on the highway leading to Churchill Downs came to a complete stop. The maintenance crew got the track back in ``fast'' condition for the first race. The undercard un·der·card n. The event or events coming before and supporting the main event, as of boxing matches. : Mecke, fifth as a mutuel-field horse in the '95 Derby, popped a more lucrative surprise Saturday, when he and Pat Day nipped Petit Poucet and Chris McCarron in the Early Times Turf Classic. He paid $17.40 and earned $154,960. Californians, who won five races here Friday, started strong Saturday when Randy Bradshaw-trained Surachai won the allowance opener and McCarron and Baffert teamed up with Criollito in the Churchill Downs Handicap The Churchill Downs Handicap is a sprint at seven furlongs on the dirt for Thoroughbred horses run at Churchill Downs. The race is a Grade II event raced on the same day as the Kentucky Derby and is a prep to the Breeders' Cup Sprint. . But the rest of the nation bounced back in the pre-Derby stakes. Florida's Hoop Coyote Hoop captured the WHAS-11 Stakes for 2-year-olds; Jerry Bailey warmed up for Grindstone by winning the Providian Mile aboard Apolda; and Phipps-owned In Conference won the Humana Distaff. Local interest: Derby Day, always one of the busiest of the year at Hollywood Park, drew 20,066 fans to the Inglewood track. They wagered $4,618,332. Winning numbers: Grindstone's victory, his third in six starts, earned $869,800 of the Derby-record $1,169,800 purse. Bailey became the 14th jockey with two Derby victories. His time, 2:01, made this the sixth fastest Derby, fastest since Spend a Buck's 2:00 1/5 ('85). Lukas became the third trainer with three Derbies (joining Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons and Max Hirsch) and the first to repeat since Lucien Laurin in '72 (Riva Ridge) and '73 (Secretariat). Grindstone was the first Derby winner for William T. Young William T. Young (February 15, 1918 - January 12, 2004) was an American businessman and major owner of thoroughbred racehorses. William T. Young attended the University of Kentucky where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. of Overbrook Farm as an owner and as a breeder. He won the '94 Preakness and Belmont with Tabasco Cat. Young, Lukas' major owner, stuck with the trainer during bad times a few years ago. ``I've been blessed on a lot of days in my racing career,'' Lukas said. ``But I've never been prouder than to stand next to this man.'' CAPTION(S): Photo, Chart PHOTO Grindstone, second from right, rounds the four th turn as the horses head for the finish line in the Kentucky Derby. Associated Press Chart: They were thiss close |
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