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
Gary West explains Giacomo’s Derby upset this way: “The combination of a dull rail, an uncommonly fast track and a Derby field laden with speed produced a 50-1 winner.” The first six furlongs were run in 1:09.59; the final time was 2:02.75. (Star Telegram)
The Kentucky Derby Beyer numbers are out, and, “Giacomo was barely the best of a barely adequate group. His winning Beyer speed figure was 100. Beyer figures are available on the Derby beginning with 1992. Until Saturday, the lowest number run by a winner was 105 by Sea Hero in 1993.” (Courier-Journal)
The emerging consensus seems to be that you can forget about Giacomo winning the Triple Crown. He might not even win the Preakness:
Considering Giacomo’s come-from-behind style, it’s tempting to think that his next race will be the more difficult test. Pimlico, with its tight turns and speed-favoring surface, is known for rewarding horses with early foot, definitely not Giacomo’s forte. Its homestretch, while longer than average, is still 25 yards shorter than Churchill’s and there was less than that left in the Derby when Giacomo finally caught the leader.
In other words, he’ll need to be significantly closer to the pace when he and jockey Mike Smith turn for home to get the job done. Smith and trainer John Shirreffs are, obviously, aware of this. Whether Giacomo will go along with this plan remains to be seen. (Fox)
Vic Zast has the opposite take:
The toughest part is over for Giacomo. Things begin to get easier for him now. Despite his 50-1 odds in the Kentucky Derby, the 19 horses that Giacomo trounced in the Run for the Roses will boil down to a manageable few in the upcoming Preakness Stakes, to be held at Pimlico Race Course on May 21. Once past that, he has only to survive the rigors of exhaustion to become the 12th Triple Crown champion. (MSNBC)
Wouldn’t that be something? One of the first things I said after watching the Derby (right after shouting something that would have been acceptable at Suffolk — in fact, whoever I would have been standing by would probably have been shouting something much, much worse — but was out of place in a hipster living room filled with once-a-year horse fans) was, “There will be no Triple Crown this year.” I’d like to be wrong.
Posted by JC in Racing on 05/09/2005 @ 8:55 am / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Follow @railbird on Twitter
And his name is Giacomo. Closing Argument ran second, Afleet Alex was third, followed by Don’t Get Mad and Buzzards Bay. Wilko was sixth. Intriguing that four of the top six were California horses.
Asks Rick Bozich: “Jack Who won the Derby?” Exactly.
The last mention I made of Giacomo was on May 1:
Workouts: Giacomo (remember Giacomo?) breezed six furlongs in 1:11.8 on Sunday at Hollywood Park.
And I then forgot all about him, as did almost everyone else, which is why he was sent off at 50-1 in yesterday’s race. What a surprise finish — you’ve got to be happy for jockey Mike Smith and trainer John Shirreffs, though.
The New York Post’s Ray Kerrison captures the outrage of horseplayers everywhere:
This Derby was not a true bill. Far from being a genuine test of the three-year-old crop, it degenerated into the equine equivalent of a barroom brawl, specifically designed that way by the connections of Spanish Chestnut, so that the last horse standing would be crowned and blanketed with roses.
That’s exactly what happened, except the plans misfired. The last one standing was not Bandini — hell, he was the first horse beaten — but a Californian slowpoke who has never run a fast race in his life. What he did have, however, was some stamina and staying power and that was enough to waltz off with the biggest horse race in America.
To the winner goes the spoils and no one would deny Giacomo his day in the sun. But one thing is for sure: there will be no Triple Crown winner this year.
The Boston Herald reports today that a $1.7 million Derby superfecta ticket was sold at Suffolk.
A record-setting $103,325,518 was bet on the Derby.
I’m going to suggest you visit Left at the Gate for more post-Derby news; Alan has a good collection of links up this morning. I’m out of here again today to look at apartments. If anyone has a lead on a 1+/2 bedroom place in Cambridge/Somerville near the red line for $1200-$1500/month including utilities, available May 15/June 1, please send me an email.
Posted by JC in Racing on 05/08/2005 @ 12:00 pm / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Follow @railbird on Twitter
