The home run chase that thrust major league baseball from the sports page to the front page in 1998 recalled, for an older generation, the setting of the record about to be broken. In 1961 the New York Yankees were so steeped with power hitters that the backup catcher and utility outfielder, John Blanchard, had twenty-one long balls. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris that year swung the big bats of the Bronx Bombers. Even the casual fan has become acquainted with Maris´ troubled pursuit of Babe Ruth´s record, thanks to Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. What has been largely overlooked was how much of that long ago season Mickey Mantle´s home run production ran neck and neck with Maris´. At season´s end, the count was sixty-one for Maris, fifty-four for Mantle.
Journalists of the time invariably referred to Mantle and Maris as the M&M Boys. That appellation, M&M Boys, crossed your editor´s mind in reflecting on the recent passing of two gentlemen of great importance to the sport of thoroughbred racing: Paul Mellon and Jim Murray. The billionaire owner-breeder and the crusty newspaper columnist probably spent their earthly time in lives of total contrast except for the sport of horse racing. And what an "except" that was. The former stands alone as the winning owner of the Kentucky Derby, English Derby, and the Arc de Triomphe, while the latter stands alone among contemporary sports journalists. The natural cultural diversity of horse racing exceeds the imagination of the Berkeley Admissions Board. With the passing of Paul Mellon and Jim Murray, two prized pieces of racing´s mosaic were lost.
Paul Mellon lived a life of philanthropy and diffidence. His father, Andrew Mellon, was secretary of the treasury under three presidents and fashioned one of the largest pre-internet fortunes in this country. Young Paul loved horses and hated bankers (there was a lot to like about this guy) to the dismay of his geographically and emotionally distant father.
Humility and the horse are the common factors binding Mellon and Murray. Mellon wore his billion-dollar inheritance with grace and awkwardness. The title of his autobiography, "Reflections in a Silver Spoon," is filled with self-effacing reference. In a century where many possessors of gifted wealth are advertisement for an inheritance tax, this kind man gave of his lucky riches in generous measure. His self-doubt, paternal rejection of his love for horses and racing ("Son, everyone knows that one horse can run faster than another"), and disinterest in the family banking business comprise a person that, save his financial fortune, could have been any Holden Caulfield or Fred Exley of our acquaintance.
James Patrick Murray, the son of a Hartford pharmacist, joined the Los Angeles Times in 1961 and soon became the West Coast´s last word on sporting matters. In that very tough profession, he earned the love of not only of his readers and his peers, but amazingly also the athletes he profiled. Listen to the venerable Miami Herald columnist, Edwin Pope: " He was the best sports writer in history. He knew more about everything than anybody else I ever knew. He could talk about Chaucer just like he could talk about Mark McGwire."
Jet travel and cable television diminished the utility of the syndicated sports columnists. Fans witnessed more events live and newspapers began sending more local staff to cover the big shows. But for those like us anxious to savor the word-craft of Jim Murray, those developments were of no importance. Following is a Murray sampler:
On the Indy 500: "Gentlemen, start your coffins."
On Chris McCarron: "You looked at Chris McCarron and you knew what a leprechaun looked like. You looked to see if his toes curled. You got jockeys out of dusty little border towns in Texas or the Caribbean, not Dorchester, Mass. The last horse in that area was Paul Revere´s."
On Free House´s upset win in the Pacific Classic: "The bridesmaid finally caught the bouquet. The best friend got the girl in the Warner Brothers movie. The sidekick saves the fort. Free House just won´t fold the hand."
On the Preakness: "If the Triple Crown events of horse racing were sisters, the Preakness would be the one with buck teeth, glasses, and a weight problem."
On horse trainers: "a grizzled old party in a Civil War hat that looks like as if he stole it off a hanged horsethief. He don´t say much, just stands there and looks at people as if he just caught them palming an ace or climbing in his bedroom window. They make Calvin Coolidge look like the life of the party, the James Gang like insurance salesmen. No one ever saw any of them smile. They look like a group photo on death row."
On race horses: In most sports an athlete gets a generation to prove himself. A Jack Nicklaus wins his first major at 22 and his last at 46. George Foreman wins Olympic boxing gold in 1968 and 30 years later he´s still fighting. Babe Ruth hits his first home run in 1915 and his last in 1935.But a racehorse has to act like he´s double-parked. He gets only months to prove he´s been here."
On this great sport: "Horse racing is as removed from the real world as Oz. In fact, you know all you need to know about horse racing when I tell you that, one day in June of 1944, when nothing much was going on in the world except that the Allies were landing in Normandy, the headline in the daily racing paper was, ´23 Go in the McClellan."
Murray´s years fell thirteen shy of Mellon´s 91. Murray kept his readers absorbed through the loss of a son to a drug overdose and of his wife to cancer ("I don´t mean to inflict my grief on you but she deserves to be known by anyone who knows me"). The columns kept coming through his battle with heart disease and a period of almost total blindness from 1979 to 1982. Surgery partially restored vision in his right eye allowing him to return to the typewriter and cease dictating his column.
Mellon enjoyed robust health for almost all of his long stay. He participated avidly in all the equestrian aspects of the plutocracy. By the mid 1930´s he had begun to assemble an art collection that would become the cornerstone of the National Gallery in Washington D.C. Thus began one of the greatest philanthropic distributions ever. Except for the odd Cezanne or Degas to cover a bare spot, Mellon proceeded to give away over $500 million of French impressionist and British sporting works. Horses were another matter:"You can have a very nice feeling about a picture and wish to own it, but it´s not life and death. Sometimes a horse race is life and death." Right you were Paulie. Lest his life seem trivial, remember he earned a couple of bronze stars working with the OSS behind enemy lines during WWII.
When his American pedigreed Mill Reef won the English Derby, he promptly muttered "they said he wouldn´t stay." Seeing the old man, hard of hearing, with his head cocked to better listen to the call of the 1993 Kentucky Derby is a favorite May memory. We had selected Sea Hero in the letter and backed him at the mutuels. The colt was sent off at 13-1 and didn´t get a call until inside the 3/8 pole: "and Sea Hero looks for a little racing room." Our pulse quickens at the first mention of our horse´s name, his head still not visible in the close-up shot of the leaders. Inside the ¼ pole: "Diazo swings to the outside and Union City joins the leaders." We spot Sea Hero exploding on the fence. "At the top of the stretch, it´s Personal Hope and he hasn´t been asked for his big run……and here comes Sea Hero charging on the inside, with Jerry Bailey to take the lead." If the Derby is indeed the most exciting two minutes in sports, that powerful move on the far turn at Churchill is the most exciting two seconds within those two minutes. Gato Del Sol, Ferdinand, Sunday Silence, Unbridled, and Sea Hero all delivered it for us. What a sight.
IN MEMORIAM: Charlie Whittingham died age 86 on April 20. The Bald Eagle, as he was nicknamed, was a wizard at reading the mind of thoroughbreds. As the trainer of Ferdinand (´86) and Sunday Silence (´89), he provided us with a pair of our most profitable Derbies. Whittingham broke into the game in Tijuana during the Depression years and ended in the Hall of Fame. His highly successful former assistant, Neal Drysdale, once remarked that everything he knew about training he had learned from Charlie. "I may have taught him everything he knows, but I didn´t teach him everything I know." When asked whether Sunday Silence could compete with the favored Easy Goer over a mile and a quarter, the Eagle responded cryptically that the questioner should come out Derby Day and "we´ll find out where Molly hid the peaches." Who better to quote on the subject than Jim Murray: "If you want a game pitched, get Orel Hershiser. If you want a violin played, get Perlman. If you want a guy knocked out, Mike Tyson is your man. But if you want a horse fitted up for a $3-million race, see if Charlie has a place in his barn. Never, never—I say, never! Bet against a Charlie Whittingham-trained horse in a big race he has to win and has time to get ready for."
Two former selections in our letter also died this year: Bet Twice (2nd,´87) and Best Pal (2nd, ´91). As longshots, both ran huge races for us in the Derby and both went on to distinguished careers as older horses. After going 0-2 to Alysheba in the Derby and Preakness, Bet Twice romped in the Belmont and for good measure won the series with wins in the Haskell and Pimlico Special. Best Pal was a superstar gelding that kept going and going like the Energizer Bunny. In forty-seven lifetime starts, he banked $5.7 million.
THE RACE- In Puccini´s La Boheme, Marcello beams as Rudolfo embraces the ailing Mimi. "No one is alone in April," he muses to himself. Well, Rudolfo obviously never faced a deadline in picking the winner of the Kentucky Derby. This year we have a cluster of like-skilled contenders and a couple of jokers thrown in to make the selection of the winner all but impossible. A phrase from Macbeth echoes in our ears: "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me." We are going to press before the draw, so we are giving our best guess on the field in no particular order:
ANSWER LIVELY- Last year´s two-year old champ just hasn´t stepped up this year. Except for Arkansas, his starts have been competitive if unspectacular. Did win the Breeders´ Cup Juvenile over this track; but other than horse for the course angle, he´s a reach.
THREE RING- Lone filly in the race could be seeking the softer spot, given the presence of Silverbulletday and Excellent Meeting in the Oaks. She chased those two home in the Breeders´ Cup Juvenile Fillies last fall. Owner is the CEO of Calvin Klein and she is a lovely filly who will at the least set suitable fractions. A gate to wire effort seems a reach but she is for real.
GENERAL CHALLENGE- Bounced back from a Louisiana Derby dud, after adding blinkers, to take the Santa Anita Derby convincingly. We question how much this lightly raced guy is going to enjoy the traffic. With Baffert as trainer and Gary Stevens up, he is sure to be overbet. Pass
CAT THIEF- A model of consistency, this Storm Cat colt has yet to run a bad race. Old D. Wayne trains `em hard and runs `em lots. If one of his horses makes it to the Derby, they are wound plenty tight. Our sense is that the Cat probably doesn´t quite want the distance, but he will be in the mix at the end. Pat Day abandoned for the less seasoned Menifee; the recently rehabbed Mike Smith rides.
LEMON DROP KID- We fully expected to have this guy as one of our finalists. Route pedigree, good two-year-old form, and the venerable Scotty Schulhofer tightening the girth looked a winning combo. We weren´t looking for a whole lot from him in the Blue Grass, just a little punch in the lane. True he didn´t have the best trip but there just wasn´t much there. John Velasquez jumped to ride the filly, Three Ring. The colt is named for the protagonist in one of our favorite Damon Runyon short stories. Unfortunately this kid is looking like a lemon.
VICAR- One tough competitor. We love his trainer, Carl Nafzger (Unbridled ´90, picked here). "He´s gonna win, Miz Gentner, he´s gonna win!" Just don´t think he wants the route as his sire, Wild Again is known for quality get but at shorter distances. Cajun Shane Sellers is sitting on a Derby win soon but looks a little short this year.
KIMBERLITE PIPE- We bet him twice without success, but on the third try he nailed the Louisiana Derby at boxcar odds. Came up short in the Blue Grass, when unexpectedly inheriting the lead. With a perfect trip, he could be right there but those are hard to come by in this race. Not out of the question by any means. Up and coming Louisiana rider, Robby Albarado gets the call.
STEPHEN GOT EVEN- The owner is Stephen Hilbert, chairman of Conseco, the controversial financial conglomerate. Most of his horses bear the prefix; Tommie Sue´s … That name is the same as his wife, whom the story has it; he met at his son´s bachelor party as she burst from a cake. Stephen has pumped some serious dough into the game. This colt ran over the field in the Gallery Furniture.Com Stakes (nee the Jim Beam, get used to it). A.P. Indy is a laudable sire but his light race record makes it look like he´s being rushed to the big dance. Was Zito second-teamer until Wondertross´ defection. The kind of horse that is overbet and usually picked in USA Today.
PRIME TIMBER- Can Bob Baffert win three consecutive Derbies with the Santa Anita Derby runner up? Seems impossible, but this colt couldn´t be doing better and could be the post-time favorite .By the underrated Sultry Song and ridden by the unappreciated David Flores, the connections reportedly rejected a bona fide $6 million bid for Timber. Can´t fault him but unlikely to offer value at the windows.
FIRST AMERICAN- Blame it on the Bossa Nova. All Brazilian connections here with a colt by Quiet American, sire of last year´s winner. This guy made a monster middle move in the Florida Derby at 100-1, finishing a creditable fifth. Then he destroyed easier company in the Flamingo. Trainer was dominant in Brazil before coming north. Longshot with upset possibilities. Eddie D. rides.
DESERT HERO- In his second lifetime start, this guy got out of a trap that would have bound Houdini to catch California´s best in the San Rafael. Then he got a perfect trip in the Santa Anita Derby and finished a dull third. Now in the hands of Richard Mandella, a great trainer not known for excelling with young horses. Top partner in Nakatani and Dad Sea Hero is a personal favorite. Beaucoup talent but lack of seasoning a concern.
ADONIS- The victor in a very weak Wood Memorial was not named after owner Ernie Paragallo, who singled handedly mismanaged Unbridled´s Song into early retirement. Sire Kris S. definitely gets stayers but Aphrodite´s affection will not be enough to put this guy across. In our view, one of the few throwouts.
ECTON PARK- Raced well in New Orleans this winter, but threw a clunker in the Arkansas Derby. Walden´s second teamer could probably take the Illinois Derby. Don´t think he will threaten.
WORDLY MANNER- Bought by the Dubai connections after his two-year-old season for a reported $5million. After exiting the Baffert barn, he has trained largely in secret over there with no U.S. preps. The Dubai Brothers pulled a stunner in the English Derby a couple years ago under similar circumstances. Gets Jerry Bailey, which is a huge plus. When our toothless forbears were following Peter the Hermit into the Middle East during the crusades, Saladin´s followers were training and racing the predecessors of the thoroughbred. Still asking a whole, whole, lot. They´ll win a Derby but not on the first try.
ALJABR- Second half of the Godolphin entry has reportedly been highly fractious in U.S. training. Nervous horses usually don´t get less nervous on Derby Day. Appears to have taken advantage of an empty seat on the flight from Dubai.
K ONE KING- Nice story: elderly Japanese born trainer has nice horse which Madeline (Cigar) Paulson buys to get a horse in the Derby. (Last year she and Jenny Craig bought Rock and Roll), but Paulsons keep Akiko Gothard as trainer after the sale. The colt ran a very tough second to Stephen Got even in the Gallery and figures to improve off of that one. One of several that are hard to pick and hard to throw out.
CHARISMATIC- D. Wayne´s backup that finished decent fourth in the Santa Anita Derby and then crushed the field in the Lexington. By ´90 runner-up Summer Squall, this former claimer should relish the distance but at what speed? Doubt it.
VALHOL — This could take up the whole letter but we´ll try to condense. Late March we bring an unraced filly of ours to the Fair Grounds for a training race. Billy Patin is engaged for the ride and mentions in passing that he will win the Arkansas Derby on the maiden that ran an unexpectedly strong fourth in the Louisiana Derby. Reading the seriousness in his glittering cajun eyes, we bet the horse, which arrives punctually at 30-1. Biggest day in Billy´s life by a mile. Then the Arkansas Racing Commission withholds the purse and accuses Billy of using a battery (illegal shocking device) on his mount. Owner feeling pressure takes the Derby ride away from Billy, in our view clearing the way for everyone to be happy except Billy. None of the riders (nor we) think the horse was hit with a buzzer, but the videotape shows an object drop next to the horse. After the raceday security finds a joint on the track and the Arkies have the perfect foil: a maiden from Louisiana ridden by a no-name jockey. (Remember this is the same state that acquitted Susan McDougal). So Billy´s off, Willie Martinez is up and Valhol, the modestly bred gelding is a) the next Best Pal b) a fluke with two unexplainable efforts c) somewhere in between. We know it is not c).
OUR PICK- When it comes to the Derby, the trio of Baffert, Zito, and Lukas is becoming as banal as the three tenors. Can´t anyone else win this thing? We think so. Our selection´s trainer, Elliot Walden, came within a short head of winning last year´s renewal and has been the leading trainer at Churchill the last two years at the spring meeting. One of the owners has won two Derbies (both of which we modestly point out we bet). The other owner, we confess, is a personal friend. Arthur Hancock´s silks streaked home in 1982 on Gato Del Sol in ´82 and Sunday Silence in ´89. James Stone is chairman of Stone Energy but has offered no tangible bribes for this endorsement. Your editor´s son is also in possession of a future book bet at a Las Vegas bookstore. So much for disclaimers; our conscience is clear.
In making our annual choice, we search for nuance and the overlooked; we ignore the obvious. Typically we shun the horse with an impressive win in his last pre-Derby start (the last Derby winner to do so was Strike The Gold in ´91). But this year the obvious is in fact a nuance. Here we have a colt with superb two-year-old form (a devastating first-time start maiden win followed by a trouncing of Cat Thief and Lemon Drop Kid in a non-winners of two at Saratoga). Then a long winter rest necessitated by minor surgery for a bone chip. In his three-year- old debut he waltzed in allowance company at Gulfstream. In his first trip around two turns, he finished second in the Tampa Bay Derby, a race not worth rehashing except to say that a better planned ride would have won it. What is worth a rehash is his cruise control win in the Blue Grass, arguably the definitive Derby prep in terms of field depth this year. In a meandering, overland trip our pick swung wide mid-stretch with NASCAR-like acceleration to annex the jewel of Keeneland´s spring meet. To see Pat Day deliver two sub-par rides on a prime Derby horse is perplexing. But we are willing to concede that he has been learning about the horse. In the Derby, our pick will be asked to wait, wait, wait. Watching Day´s Job-like rides over the years, we know he will.
So why ain´t he the chalk, you ask. There is a one-word answer: dosage.
Regular readers have read our thoughts on this discipline, which seeks to determine a horse´s ability to negotiate a mile and a quarter through formulaic analysis of its bloodlines. We are in agreement that stamina tends to beget stamina, but disagree that such tendency can be reduced to an indexed number.
Our pick´s sire, the prematurely deceased Harlan, was a son of Storm Cat. While Harlan´s finest moments as a racehorse came in sprints; he was not some speed freak. He is not without stamina influence as his dam was by Halo, sire of Sunday Silence and Sunny´s Halo. Harlan´s first foals are three-year-olds so it would be premature to label his offspring.
Our selection´s dam is Anne Campbell. Believe it or not, this is the second of Anne´s sons we have picked. Way back in 1983, we selected Desert Wine, which ran a bang-up second at 15-1 to Sunny´s Halo. And by the way, remember Paul Mellon´s Mill Reef, the one the pundits said "wouldn´t stay?" Well, Mill Reef was by Never Bend (2nd, ´63), also the sire of Anne Campbell.
Our selection´s running style more than his pedigree sways us. In the Blue Grass, a race not known for favoring closers, our colt delivered the kind of lick that we think should justify favoritism. Harlan got his name from the Kentucky County of the same name. Once you pass through Harlan county, you enter another: It´s MENIFEE!
LONGSHOTS AND EXOTICS- With a full 20 horse field, there are lots of tantalizing prospects. We recommend the following: a win bet on Menifee, across the board bets on Valhol and First American. The latter two should be 30-1 plus. Then box an exacta with those three. Next step is to fill out the IRS forms at the cashier´s window. See you next year!