SHEIKHS' HORSES STILL A MYSTERY TO THE BETTORS.LOUISVILLE, Ky. Somebody asked Neil Drysdale, trainer of 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. favorite Fusaichi Pegasus, for his impression of China Visit in light of the fact the better of the Godolphin stable's colts has raced only twice. ``Do you really think he's raced only twice?'' Drysdale asked in a teasing reply the other morning. Drysdale was raising a question that's bugging Kentucky Derby handicappers as they try to assess China Visit and Curule cu·rule adj. Privileged to sit in a curule chair; of superior rank. [Latin cur , the two Kentucky-breds who have been preparing in Dubai at the Godolphin training center and Nad al Sheba racetrack. This is the second Derby invasion by Sheikh sheikh or shaykh Among Arabic-speaking tribes, especially Bedouin, the male head of the family, as well as of each successively larger social unit making up the tribal structure. The sheikh is generally assisted by an informal tribal council of male elders. Maktoum al Maktoum's and Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum's globe-trotting Godolphin Racing Inc., whose Worldly Manner ran seventh here in 1999. Their horses remain a mystery to Americans. Daily Racing Form The Daily Racing Form, LLC (DRF) is a broadsheet newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States. past-performance charts show China Visit with two convincing races, both victories, in a French maiden stakes in August and the $500,000 United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates, federation of sheikhdoms (2005 est. pop. 2,563,000), c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Derby at Nad al Sheba in March. They show Curule with a 1-for-4 record, all his races coming at Nad al Sheba, including a third in the UAE Derby. But Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford said China Visit also won an eight-horse ``public trial'' at Nad al Sheba on April 21, convincing his handlers he was Churchill Downs material, and participates regularly in group workouts. Given that the Sheikhs control the training center and the racetrack in Dubai, who knows what other preparation doesn't appear in the records the Racing Form acquires from a European publication? This is important. To say nothing of the disadvantage in running a horse in the Derby without U.S. preps, it has been 82 years since a horse with four or fewer prior starts won the race. U.S. handicappers who wager on cheap circuits live with the suspicion they get incomplete information about workouts and shady bush-track races. But this is the Kentucky Derby, which will draw $60 million in bets. The entry of China Visit (with Frankie Dettori riding) and Curule (Marlon St. Julien) is 50-1 on the morning line. If one of them wins, it might shake public confidence in the sport if we found out later about unreported ``trials,'' as happened after Almutawakel won the 1999 Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operated through the Emirates Horse Racing Authority (EHRA) whose Chairman is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, . It's hard to tell if China Visit is good enough. His 4 1/2-length UAE Derby victory earned a rating from England's Timeform that math-minded handicappers have converted to a contending Beyer speed figure The Beyer Speed Figure is a system for rating the performance of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America designed in the early 1970s by Andrew Beyer, the syndicated horse racing columnist for The Washington Post. . Crisford, asked for advice on sizing up China Visit, a son of Red Ransom, said he's ``not short on experience.'' More specific information would be nice. --He said it: 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. might have just replaced Bob Baffert as Exhibit A in the racetrack women's movement. Lukas was asked Thursday morning why there are so few female trainers like Jenine Sahadi. The four-time Derby-winning trainer began, ``Here's the problem with most women,'' and went on to say they don't want to make the necessary ``commitment.'' ``Girls love horses, they have a great feel for it, have an intuitive sense for it. They're outstanding - we have more of them working on the backstretch back·stretch n. The part of an oval racecourse farthest from the spectators and opposite the homestretch. than we ever have,'' Lukas told reporters. ``But if you call up and say, `This is the job description: We want you here at 4:30 every morning, we want you to work seven days a week, we don't want you to worry about anniversaries . . . don't have any children, don't even get a good dog. . . . I want you to think about this 18 hours a day . . . we're not going to work in an office . . . I want you to come in blue jeans, I want you to get dirt under your fingernails. . . . and don't get married, because that'll screw it up in a heartbeat immediately. See also: heartbeat ,' most women don't want to get into that situation. It takes a special woman to make that commitment.'' News flash: Most men don't want to get into that situation, either. --Globalize out: Globalize's withdrawal with a freak injury leaves Northern California without a rooting interest and affects all of the other Derby horses. Globalize glob·al·ize tr.v. glob·al·ized, glob·al·iz·ing, glob·al·iz·es To make global or worldwide in scope or application. glob was to have started from post 1, closest to the rail. With everybody shifting one stall to the left, Anees gets the tricky post 1; 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. moves to post 14, the last slot in the main gate; and Fusaichi Pegasus moves to post 15, the first slot in the auxiliary gate, creating a little more space between the Derby favorite and the horse breaking directly to his left. Globalize, who scored four of his five wins at Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields Golden Gate Fields is a horse racing track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the , had to be scratched after being kicked by his accompanying pony on the way from the track to the barn Thursday morning. He suffered a gash below the left hock hock: see wine. . ``I don't think there's any permanent injury to the horse,'' trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. ``But there's a danger of infection, and we need to be cautious with a valuable horse.'' The Derby has given Hollendorfer nothing but disappointment. Event of the Year was injured days before the 1997 running. --Making history: Marlon St. Julien, who rides Curule, will be the first African-American jockey in the Kentucky Derby since Henry King finished 10th aboard Planet in 1921. African-American men rode 15 Derby winners between 1875 and 1902 but none since. The Louisiana-born St. Julien, 27, is a Churchill Downs regular. Crisford said he was recommended by Godolphin's American-born assistant trainer. --So far, so good: Fusaichi Pegasus was well-behaved as he schooled in the paddock before a claiming race Thursday afternoon. To get him used to a crowd more closely resembling the Derby's, Fusaichi Pegasus might school again during the Kentucky Oaks card today, Drysdale said. The Oaks, which drew 101,000 fans to Churchill Downs in 1999, is less highly anticipated this year because leading 3-year-old filly Surfside surf·side adj. Situated or sited at or near the seashore: surfside parties; a surfside road. is injured. Trudy McCaffery's and John Toffan's Kumari Continent, second to Surfside in the Santa Anita Oaks Santa Anita Oaks is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Open to three-year-old fillies willing to race 8.5 furlongs (1 1/16 miles) on the dirt, it currently offers a purse of $300,000. , is the 4-1 morning-line favorite. OUT OF THE GATE HOLLYWOOD PARK LEADERS (through Wednesday) Jockeys Kent Desormeaux 5 wins Tyler Baze 4 Laffit Pincay 3 seven tied with 2 Trainers John Sadler 5 Bob Baffert 2 Julio Canani 2 John Shirreffs 2 Richard Mandella 2. PINCAY WATCH Laffit Pincay's three wins in the first four days at Hollywood Park, including a double on opening night, brought his record career total to 8,910. He'll ride Jeckyl and Hyde in the Will Rogers Handicap on Saturday. Pincay's most recent Kentucky Derby mount was Valiant Nature (13th) in 1994. He rode winner Swale swale n. 1. A low tract of land, especially when moist or marshy. 2. A long, narrow, usually shallow trough between ridges on a beach, running parallel to the coastline. 3. in 1984. THE STAKES SCHEDULE Hollywood Park Saturday $100,000 Will Rogers Handicap 3-year-olds, 1 mile on turf Sunday $150,000 Hawthorne Handicap fillies and mares 3 and up, 1 1/16 miles. Churchill Downs Today $500,000 Kentucky Oaks 3-year-old fillies, 1 1/8 miles Saturday $1 million Kentucky Derby 3-year-olds, 1 1/4 miles, and other stakes. Aqueduct Sunday $200,000 Carter Handicap 3-year-olds and up, 7 furlongs. CAPTION(S): box Box: Out of the gate (see text) |
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