One of the Worst Derbies Ever?
That’s what Andrew Beyer says:
The victory by Giacomo in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby came as a crashing anticlimax — a race that will rank among the worst Derbies of recent decades, along with Sea Hero’s win in 1993 and Gato Del Sol’s in 1982. Giacomo’s triumph produced more bewilderment than exhilaration. How did it happen that a 50-1 shot, who had won a single race in his career, edged out an equally undistinguished 72-1 shot in the nation’s most celebrated horse race? …
The final half-mile of this Derby was run in 53.16 seconds — the slowest such fraction over a fast track in the Derby since 1974. Yet horses who looked on paper like late-running threats (such as Wilko, Noble Causeway and Sun King) couldn’t make an impact.
Giacomo outfinished them all — and he’s not even a stretch runner. In his three California races this season, he did not pass a single horse in the stretch. It would be more accurate to say he outstaggered his rivals. His final time of 2 minutes 2.75 seconds translated into a Beyer Speed Figure of 100, the worst for the race in at least 20 years. (Washington Post)
Beyer takes time out of fulminating against Giacomo to praise Afleet Alex’s rider Jeremy Rose: “Nobody rode better than Rose. He threaded his way through the congested field, saved ground most of the way, got Afleet Alex into high gear on the turn and avoided any traffic that might have stalled his momentum.”
Rose did ride Alex well, and his performance was vindication for those who said he was too inexperienced. His ride wasn’t flawless, though (whose is in the Derby?). It was clear from the overhead shot that running on the inside cost Alex a little momentum when he hit a wall of horses at the top of the stretch; once through the traffic jam, he went to the rail again. It did save ground — but was that the wrong place to be? As Gary West noted in his Star-Telegram column yesterday: “All the winners on the main track Saturday at Churchill raced away from the inside rail. Battle Won, for example, raced four-wide; My Trusty Cat rallied four-wide to win the Humana Distaff, upsetting Madcap Escapade, the 2-5 favorite who raced inside; and so it went, race after race. The inside paths were clearly a disadvantage.”
Bob Neumeier praises Rose too in his assessment of Derby winners and losers:
The Derby rookie made no mistakes on Afleet Alex, but what was even more impressive was his cool and calm manner around national television cameras and newspaper columnists. Congrats to trainer Tim Richey and the owners for not “big-timing” the kid by giving the mount to a higher-profile rider. Rose looks like a future star. (MSNBC)
Mike Watchmaker dissects the Derby, extracts some lessons. (Daily Racing Form — sub. req.)
So the Derby wasn’t great for wiseguys. It was good for average fans:
This is all anecdotal, but when I stopped for lunch yesterday at one of those yuppie bread shops, the talk in the line in front of me was over the stratospheric payoffs that came out of the Derby.
A colleague told me that when she called her mom — who normally couldn’t pick a Derby horse from a rocking horse — dear ol’ mom couldn’t stop talking about the long-shot winner.
Heck, on the home page of MSN.com, the Kentucky Derby was the No. 1 search mover as of 1:47 yesterday afternoon, ranking just ahead of a Desperate Housewife (Teri Hatcher) and a woman (Jennifer Wilbanks) seemingly desperate not to be a wife at all. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
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Did you miss out on the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich? Bid on the Giacomo cookie. (eBay)
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Amazing: Lucky guesses and a lost ticket found mean big money for winning Derby superfecta bettors. (New York Times)
Some savvy and lucky handicappers at Suffolk Downs won big with Giacomo on Saturday: “According to Suffolk officials, there was $4,082 wagered to win on Giacomo ($102.60), 33 winning exacta tickets ($9,814.80), one trifecta ($133,134.80), one pick 4 ($164,168.60) and one superfecta ($864,253.50).” (Daily Item of Lynn)
Posted by JC in Racing on 05/10/2005 @ 10:55 am / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Follow @railbird on Twitter
