Horse Racing's Holy Grail: The Epic Quest for the Kentucky Derby - Hardcover

Haskin, Steve

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1581500769 ISBN 13: 9781581500769

Publisher: ECLIPSE PRESS, 2002

Synopsis

Interlaced with hunor, this book looks at the pitfalls and pressures owners, trainers, and jockeys face at Derby time and why most fail, while others, notably the big three of D. Wayne Lukas, Bob Baffert, and Nick Zito, always seem to win the big prize.

About this title

About the Author

Steve Haskin is an award-winning Turf writer renowned for his Kentucky Derby commentary. During his nearly three decades at "Daily Racing Form", Haskin made a name with his "Derby Watch" columns. He joined "The Blood-Horse" magazine in 1998, and as senior correspondent provides coverage of the Triple Crown races and the Breeders' Cup. He has won three Red Smith Awards for his Kentucky Derby coverage.

Haskin has written three other books for Eclipse Press, including "Baffert: Dirt Road to the Derby", co-authored with Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert, and he has contributed to several other books published in the United States, England, and France.

Haskin, who also is editor of the Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup souvenir magazines, lives in Hamilton Square, New Jersey.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1: They Just Don't Get It

When people ask me how many Kentucky Derbys I've covered or even witnessed, I'm almost embarrassed to tell them ten, because I know they are expecting me to start spinning yarns about Native Dancer's troubled trip or Bill Shoemaker's misjudging the finish line on Gallant Man. I feel the urge to apologize that I experienced my previous Derbys from Mercer County, New Jersey, at an annual Derby party that included a Calcutta pool.

Now I've seen thirty-four Derbys, but not being fond of big crowds, I was content to watch them on television until I became a full-time writer for the "Daily Racing Form" and received my first Derby assignment in 1992. I had written free-lance for many racing publications since 1976, but remained imprisoned in the library at the "Form," where I had been toiling for the previous twenty years. It was only a coup against the monarchy by several of the editors that freed me from captivity and thrust me onto the Derby scene.

So here I was, covering my first Kentucky Derby, engulfed by the phenomenon known as Arazimania. In witnessing this unique experience firsthand, I came to realize why no favorite had won the Derby since 1979. It was Arazi who opened my eyes to all the other false favorites over the years and prepared me for the drought that would continue until Fusaichi Pegasus broke the ignominious streak in 2000...

To those who were not part of the pandemonium that swept through Louisville in 1992, Arazi was the red chestnut whirlwind that practically blew the Twin Spires off the Churchill Downs roof with his spectacular move in the 1991 Breeders' Cup Juvenile after a championship campaign in France. Breaking from the disadvantageous fourteen post, and making his first start ever on dirt, this pocket-sized missile, in the blink of an eye, hurtled through the entire field in one of the most amazing displays of speed and acceleration ever witnessed. Who can forget listening to racecaller Tom Durkin as he realized the anticipated stretch battle between Arazi and California speedster Bertrando, who had led all the way, was not going to happen. "And Arazi runs right by him!" he bellowed in disbelief. "Bertrando is stunned by the move of Arazi!"

The second he crossed the finish line, five lengths ahead of Bertrando, Arazi became the hottest Kentucky Derby favorite in memory. For six months this dubious title attached itself to the horse like a barnacle. After all, no favorite had won the Derby since Spectacular Bid thirteen years earlier. Americans had themselves a white-hot Derby favorite, but no way of knowing what he was doing back home in the equine Shangri-la known as Chantilly. I was able to get periodic reports through the "Form"'s artist Pierre Bellocq, better known as Peb, who phoned trainer François Boutin, feeding him my questions and interpreting his answers.

Winter passed, and Derby fever began to escalate with the blossoming of the forsythias and crocuses. In America it was like the Filipinos awaiting the return of MacArthur. Racing fans were desperate for a savior to free them from the bonds of mediocrity. You see, we were all spoiled from the heroes of the super seventies. Although the country had seen some sensational Thoroughbreds in recent years, including Alysheba and the great rivalry between Sunday Silence and Easy Goer, folks were getting itchy for a Triple Crown winner -- one who possessed the surge of electricity that could jolt the grandstands of Churchill Downs, Pimlico, and Belmont Park. They were convinced they had found him in the little chestnut colt with the crooked blaze and winged feet.

But there was one little detail that people were overlooking. Arazi had no chance to win the Derby. He was destined to be another of the many false favorites on the first Saturday in May. People were thinking with their hearts instead of their brains, and although I am usually in that group, I wanted to shout, "You just don't get it."

Edition details

• Publisher: ECLIPSE PRESS
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1581500769
• ISBN 13: 9781581500769
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 221