ANIMAL'S KINGDOM

Post Kentucky Derby interview with owner of Animal Kingdom, Barry Irwin of Team Valor
(Image and Footage : Thoroughbred Times)

137TH KENTUCKY DERBY

Mick Goss
Summerhill CEOThe extent of South Africa’s internationalization in racing was plain to see on Saturday in the outcome to America’s most celebrated horserace. The winner belonged to Team Valor, whose principal, Barry Irwin, is the most enthusiastic punter of the virtues of South African-breds, while Animal Kingdom’s mother came from the good German stock of Maine Chance Farm owner, Andreas Jacobs.

In several respects though, Animal Kingdom was not the horse supposed to catapult his connections into the stratospheric heights of the 137th Kentucky Derby.

If trainer Graham Motion was going to snag his first Derby triumph, many reckoned his Wood Memorial (G1) ace, Toby’s Corner, was the man for the job.

If Team Valor’s partners were going to take the garland of roses home, it wasn’t supposed to be with a grass and synthetic specialist who’d never run on dirt.

And if jockey John Velazquez was ever going to add a win in the first leg of the Triple Crown to a résumé that features practically every other major accolade in the sport, champion Uncle Mo was supposed to be the colt to do the honours.

A record crowd of 164,858 (164,848 if our party hadn’t pitched up!) at Churchill Downs witnessed history as 20-1 shot Animal Kingdom collared Shackleford in the last 100 yards, to win the “greatest two minutes in American Sports.”

The tears that rolled out from behind Summerhill client, Irwin’s trademark dark glasses, betrayed only part of the emotional journey his connections had taken in the days since we lunched with him, wife Kathleen and studmaster, Craig Bandoroff on Tuesday. The withdrawal of hot fancy, Uncle Mo on Friday had left Velazquez with his third consecutive scratching of his mount (both previous favourites, too, Quality Road and Eskendereya) in three years. Irwin’s jockey, Robby Albarado, had been injured Wednesday, and in a move likely to be recalled by horseman for as long as Lester Piggott’s elevation at the expense of Bill Williamson aboard Roberto in the English equivalent 40 years ago (1972), Velazquez got his chance. “A lot of things happen for a reason. I guess it was my turn,” reasoned the seasoned veteran.

What Animal Kingdom achieved bucked a bunch of trends that had him overlooked, even in a wide-open field. The chestnut son of turf champion Leroidesanimaux was the first since Exterminator in 1918 to win off just four career starts, the first since Needles in 1956 to succeed off a six-week layoff, and the first to take the 1 1/4 mile contest having never tested over a dirt surface.

The colorful Irwin had the last remark. “I like to try and make some history when I can,” said the one-time BloodHorse turf writer. “Today we made a lot of history.” So endeth the word.

Mick Goss - Kentucky, USA

DIALED IN AND UNCLE MO TOP KENTUCKY DERBY 137 ODDS

Jill Byrne introduces the 137th Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks
(Footage and Image : Kentucky Derby)

KENTUCKY DERBY 137
Saturday, 7 May 2011

Robert LaPenta’s G1 Florida Derby hero Dialed In (Mineshaft) and Repole Stable’s reigning Eclipse Award winner Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) are pegged at odds of 4-1 and 9-2, respectively, on Mike Battaglia’s morning line for Saturday’s 137th running of the G1 Kentucky Derby at historic Churchill Downs.

Post positions were drawn late Wednesday afternoon, and the once-beaten Dialed In was assigned post position number eight, with Julien Leparoux to ride. “We are very, very happy with that,” trainer Nick Zito told HRTV. “Owner Bob LaPenta asked me what post I’d like and I said 7 through 11, and we get 8, so I couldn’t ask for more, and we’re certainly happy with the post”, the two-time Derby winner commented.

Nick Zito is pleased with how the colt has settled in at Churchill. “It looks like he’s getting over the track very well and is getting better and better each day,” he offered. “I have a lot of confidence in this horse.”

Uncle Mo is, by owner Mike Repole’s own admission, 50-50 to make the race, and a final decision could come as late as Saturday morning, Repole said in a Tuesday email to the Louisville Courier-Journal. Assuming he goes postward, he will have to overcome the 18 hole, and, with several other on-pace types drawn inside of him, he will either need to be used to get forward enough, or ease back off the pace. In his five career starts, the most the bay colt has ever found himself off the lead is two lengths in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill last November.

“We’d like to get a position similar to what we had in the Juvenile,” trainer Todd Pletcher told HRTV. And as far as the draw? “The 18’s a little further out than I’d like, but it’s not that bad,” Pletcher insisted.

KENTUCKY DERBY 137
FINAL FIELD AND DRAWS

Draw	Horse	Sire	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
1	ARCHARCHARCH	Arch	William H. Fires	Jon Court	10-1
2	BRILLIANT SPEED	Dynaformer	Tom Albertrani	Joel Rosario	30-1
3	TWICE THE APPEAL	Successful Appeal	Jeff Bonde	Calvin Borel	20-1
4	STAY THIRSTY	Bernardini	Todd Pletcher	Ramon Domiguez	20-1
5	DECISIVE MOMENT	With Distinction	Kerwin Clark	Juan Arias	30-1
6	COMMA TO THE TOP	Bwana Charlie	Peter Miller	Pat Valenzuela	30-1
7	PANTS ON FIRE	Jump Start	Kelly Breen	Rosie Napravnik	20-1
8	DIALED IN	Mineshaft	Nick Zito	Julien Leparoux	4-1
9	DERBY KITTEN	Kitten’s Joy	Mike Maker	Javier Castellano	30-1
10	TWINSPIRED	Harlan’s Holiday	Mike Maker	Mike Smith	30-1
11	MASTER OF HOUNDS	Kingmambo	Aidan O’Brien	Garrett Gomez	30-1
12	SANTIVA	Giant’s Causeway	Eddie Kenneally	Shaun Bridgmohan	30-1
13	MUCHO MACHO MAN	Macho Uno	Kathy Ritvo	Rajiv Maragh	12-1
14	SHACKLEFORD	Forestry	Dale Romans	Jesus Castanon	12-1
15	MIDNIGHT INTERLUDE	War Chant	Bob Baffert	Victor Espinoza	12-1
16	ANIMAL KINGDOM	Leroidesanimaux (Brz)	H. Graham Motion	Robby Albarado	30-1
17	SOLDAT	War Front	Kiaran McLaughlan	Alan Garcia	12-1
18	UNCLE MO	Indian Charlie	Todd Pletcher	John Velazquez	9-2
19	NEHRO	Mineshaft	Steve Asmussen	Corey Nakatani	6-1
20	WATCH ME GO	West Acre	Kathleen O’Connell	Rafael Bejarano	50-1

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

For more information visit :

www.kentuckyderby.com

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME

Click above to watch Toby’s Corner winning the Wood Memorial (G1)
(Photo : ESPN - Footage : Aquaduct)

KENTUCKY DERBY (G1)
Churchill Downs, Dirt, 2000m
7 May 2011

Ever been to the Derby? (pronounced “Durby in America”, as in Durban). Well, I’ve been to the Derby, and before my English friends claim there’s only one Derby, and that’s the English version, let me explain. It’s true that what turfists call the true test of a three-year-old, had its origins more than three hundred years ago in England, every self-respecting racing nation in the world now has a Derby, and for Americans, there’s only one derby, and that’s the Kentucky version. But if you ask the Yanks which one was the “Derby”, the mature among them will instantly remember the great duel between Affirmed and Alydar in 1978, (the first of three, and the last time they had a Triple Crown hero,) I happened to be on scholarship in the United States at the time, and I was lucky to meet a racing nut who insisted I attend that epic as his guest.

Our good neighbour and mate, Alec Hogg, was genius enough a few months back to invite us to join him at the annual shareholders meeting of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway on the last weekend in April, and he then proposed we find our way to Kentucky, where the following weekend, under the Twin Spires of the famous Churchill Downs, the big race is renewed for the 100 and somethingth time.

A month ago it was looking like a bit of a dull, one horse affair, but the victory of Dialled In Saturday a week back in the Florida Derby (Gr.1) and the outcome of this weekend’s Wood Memorial (Gr.1) has suddenly put a different complexion on the event.

There are some disciples though, who until Saturday were of the view it could still be a single dimentional race, and they are the fans of last season’s champion juvenile, Uncle Mo (by Indian Charley, one of the last remaining bastions of the Grey Sovereign branch of Nasrullah). Writing in the Blood Horse recently, Evan Hammonds, the editor, spoke of the growing legend around Uncle Mo. His unbeaten two year old campaign and his decisive start to his classic year in the Timely Writer Stakes (Gr.1), continued to draw comparisons to that of the mighty Seattle Slew. Both Seattle Slew and Uncle Mo ran brief but brilliant two-year-old campaigns, each making three starts. In the pre-Breeders Cup era, “Slew’s” nine and a half length cakewalk in the Champagne Stakes (Gr.1) was enough for him to be named Champion Juvenile of 1976. Uncle Mo’s three afternoon appearances in 2010, had made it pretty clear he was head and shoulders above the competition, as matters stood.

Seattle Slew made his first outing at three in March 1977, going seven furlongs in a very brisk 1:21⅜; Uncle Mo finished his one turn mile in 1:35,56 with a fantastic 22:46 final quarter. Slew went on to win the Flamingo Stakes (Gr.1) and the Wood Memorial (Gr.1) before being sent off the one-two favourite in the Kentucky Derby. A decisive win in Saturday’s Wood Memorial (Gr.1), would have left Uncle Mo, like the “Slew,” unbeaten going into the Kentucky Derby, scheduled for the first Saturday in May (7^th). It was some scribes view that Uncle Mo has added more distance between himself and the rest of the pack, based on the results of the other preps thus far, and the fellows at The Blood Horse were rooting for him to join Slew’s exclusive club, as the only undefeated Derby winner in history.

That was all undone on Saturday, as Uncle Mo was unable to sustain his lead entering the stretch, and finished a rather tame and tired 3^rd behind Toby’s Corner, a son of the underrated Florida stallion, Bellamy Road, who was emulating his fathers runaway victory in the 2005 version of the race.

Between Toby’s Corner and Dialled In, the Kentucky Derby morning line betting has been thrown into disarray, though Uncle Mo’s trainer, Todd Fletcher, did proffer the excuse that his charge had grabbed a quarter crack in his hoof, which might’ve compromised him.

Before we close, let’s get back to Dialled In, grandson of A.P. Indy, the most prolific sire of classic winners in modern America, whose retirement from stud duties was ironically announced the same day. His Hall Of Fame trainer, Nick Zito, has visited the winner’s podium at the Kentucky Derby on two previous occasions, and he knows what it takes. He also knows the antidote for the virus known as “Derby Fever”, which seems to get to the nerves of so many of his colleagues going into the big race. When Dialled In came home in Florida, Zito announced “he’s got a rocket engine, and he blasts off. He’s amazing. These horses don’t come around like this. He’s such a gift. I’ve had a lot of horses, but with this horse there’s something about him, the horse’s courage, the way he is. More importantly, you’re not supposed to do what he’s done in his young career”. It seems we might have a race on our hands after all.

EXPERIMENTAL FREE HANDICAP RATINGS FOR 2010

Barry Irwin of Team Valor with Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner, Pluck
(Image : Bleacher Report/VTA Blog)

“You’ve got an
Uncle in the Furniture Business…”

The Americans have just issued their Experimental Free Handicap ratings for 2010, for two-year-old colts and fillies. The top rated colt, Uncle Mo, ranked two pounds above the norm, making him something of a standout.

Interesting, the joint fourth rated colt, Pluck, is out of the South African-bred mare Secret Heart, and belongs to one of South African racing’s greatest admirers, Barry Irwin of Team Valor International. Here they are, together with a schedule of the stallions represented. Inevitably, the stallion list is headed by Lion Heart, a horse Coolmore banished to Turkey.

2010 EXPERIMENTAL FREE HANDICAP - COLTS

Wt	Horse	Sire
128	UNCLE MO	Indian Charlie
123	TO HONOR AND SERVE	Bernardini
122	BOYS AT TOSCONOVA	Officer
121	COMMA TO THE TOP	Bwana Charlie
121	PLUCK	More Than Ready
120	J P’S GUSTO	Successful Appeal
120	JAYCITO	Victory Gallop
120	KANTHAROS	Lion Heart
119	J.B.’S THUNDER	Thunder Gulch
119	SOLDAT	War Front
116	ROGUE ROMANCE	Smarty Jones
116	SANTIVA	Giant’s Causeway
115	ASTROLOGY	A.P. Indy
115	MAJOR GAIN	More Than Ready
115	MUCHO MACHO MAN	Macho Uno
115	WILLCOX INN	Harlan’s Holiday
114	GOURMET DINNER	Trippi
114	MADMAN DIARIES	Bring The Heat
114	RIVETING REASON	Fusaichi Pegasus
114	STAY THIRSTY	Bernardini
112	CALEB’S POSSE	Posse
112	MOUNTAIN TOWN	Cape Town
112	PREMIER PEGASUS	Fusaichi Pegasus
112	RUSH NOW	Tiznow
111	CLEARANCE CLARENCE	Cryptoclearance
111	MAYBESOMAYBENOT	Sunday Break (JPN)
111	SWAY AWAY	Afleet Alex
110	AIR SUPPORT	Smart Strike
110	BANDBOX	Tapit
110	COZY KITTEN	Kitten’s Joy
110	ROUGH SAILING	Mizzen Mast
110	TIZ BLESSED	Tiznow
110	VENGEFUL WILDCAT	Vindication
110	WINE POLICE	Speighstown

2010 EXPERIMENTAL FREE HANDICAP - FILLIES

Wt	Horse	Sire
123	AWESOME FEATHER	Awesome of Course
120	MORE THAN REAL	More Than Ready
120	TURBULENT DESCENT	Congrats
119	A Z WARRIOR	Bernardini
119	R HEAT LIGHTNING	Trippi
118	DANCINGHERDREAMS	Tapit
118	KATHMANBLU	Bluegrass Cat
118	RIGOLETTA	Concerto
118	TELL A KELLY	Tapit
118	WICKEDLY PERFECT	Congrats
116	BIG TIZ	Tiznow
116	POSITION LIMIT	Bellamy Road
116	WINTER MEMORIES	El Prado (Ire)
115	INDIAN GRACEY	Indian Ocean
114	DELIGHTFUL MARY	Limehouse
114	DIXIE CITY	Dixie Union
113	FULL MOON BLUES	Petionville
113	JORDY Y	Congrats
113	MAY DAY ROSE	Rockport Harbour
112	BELIEVE IN A. P.	A. P. Indy
112	HARLAN’S RUBY	Harlan’s Holiday
112	NEVERSAIDIWASSWEET	Eurosilver
112	WONDERLANDBYNIGHT	Sky Mesa
111	BOUQUET BOOTH	Flower Alley
111	FOREST LEGEND	Forest Camp
111	LE MI GEAUX	First Samurai
111	NIJI’S GRAND GIRL	Candy Ride (Arg)
110	GRANDACIOUS	Grand Slam
110	HOLIDAY FOR KITTE	Kitten’s Joy
110	JUST LOUISE	Five Star Day

2010 EXPERIMENTAL FREE HANDICAP - SIRES
(3 or more represented)

Stallion	Colts	Fillies	Total
LION HEART (Tale of the Cat)	1	5	6
TAPIT (Pulpit)	1	5	6
* CONGRATS (A.P. Indy)	1	4	5
* BERNARDINI (A.P. Indy)	3	1	4
* FIRST SAMURAI (Giant’s Causeway)	3	1	4
STORMY ATLANTIC (Storm Cat)	2	2	4
YES IT’S TRUE (Is It True)	1	3	4
AFLEET ALEX (Northern Afleet)	1	2	3
ARCH (Kris S.)	0	3	3
FUSAICHI PEGASUS (Mr. Prospector)	3	0	3
HARLAN’S HOLIDAY (Harlan)	2	1	3
MORE THAN READY (Southern Halo)	2	1	3
* SHARP HUMOR (Distorted Humor)	3	0	3
SMART STRIKE (Mr. Prospector)	2	1	3
TALE OF THE CAT (Storm Cat)	2	1	3
THUNDER GULCH (Gulch)	3	0	3
TIZNOW (Cee’s Tizzy)	2	1	3
WEST ACRE (Forty Niner)	1	2	3

* Freshman Sire

ECLIPSE AWARDS : FINALLY ZENYATTA

Click above to watch a tribute to Zenyatta
(Image : Smugpessimist/Lancewilkerson - Footage : YouTube)

ECLIPSE AWARDS 2010

When the bettors gathered in the States on the weekend, they were searching for a horse that might beat Zenyatta for the title of Horse Of The Year. Life in the nearby suburbs may be as predictable as the appearance of the yellow school bus at 8am in the morning, but nothing is odds-on in Long Island City. Denied last year, (in our view, unfortunately) by Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta got home this time, but it wasn’t entirely plain sailing. She polled 128 votes, while Blame, the only horse ever to beat her, received 102, with the three-time Breeders Cup winner, Goldikova, picking up 5 votes.

In his acceptance speech, an emotional owner Jerry Moss acknowledged the opposition. “I first want to say what a great honour it has been to have been associated with the other two finalists” reported Thoroughbred Daily News. “Blame ran incredible races, and is a wonderful racehorse. I can only congratulate Seth Hancock for the 100 years of service of his family farm (Claiborne). I can only hope for him to have the most success with Blame as a wonderful sire in the future. Also for the amazing Goldikova, what can we say?”.

Eclipse Awards 2010
Championship Leaders

Award	Winner
Horse of the Year	ZENYATTA (Street Cry)
2-Year-Old Male	UNCLE MO (Indian Charlie)
2-Year-Old-Female	AWESOME FEATHER (Awesome of Course)
(3-Year-Old-Male	LOOKIN AT LUCKY (Smart Strike)
3-Year-Old-Female	BLIND LUCK (Pollard’s Vision)
Older Male	BLAME (Arch)
Older Female	ZENYATTTA (Street Cry)
Male Sprinter	BIG DRAMA (Montbrook)
Female Sprinter	DUBAI MAJESTY (Essence Of Dubai)
Male Turf Horse	GIO PONTI (Tale Of The Cat)
Female Turf Horse	GOLDIKOVA (Ire) (Anabaa)
Steeplechase	SLIP AWAY (Skip Away)
Owner	WINSTAR FARM
Breeder	ADENA SPRINGS
Trainer	TODD PLETCHER
Jockey	RAMON DOMINGUEZ
Apprectice Jockey	OMAR MORENO