At 52, Stevens still a big-race rider

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The remarkable comeback of Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens continues on Saturday, when he rides in the Kentucky Derby for the 21st time, seeking his fourth win.

It will be the third straight appearance in the Derby for Stevens after a retirement that kept him out of the race from 2006-12, and it will be the first time he has ridden in the race since undergoing a full knee replacement last July.

Now age 52, Stevens still has the desire to perform on the biggest stage. On Saturday, he rides Firing Line, the Sunland Derby winner, who was one of 22 horses entered in the Derby on Wednesday.

“I’m doing what I like to do, for how long I don’t know,” Stevens told a group of reporters outside the barn where Firing Line is stabled at Churchill Downs.

“A lot of people thought I was completely insane to come back after the knee replacement, including me during the early part of the rehab. But this is why I do it – the Kentucky Derby, the Triple Crown, and then the focus on the fall, with the Breeders’ Cup.”

In four decades, beginning in the 1980s, Stevens has competed in those types of races. His first Derby appearance was in 1985, when he rode Tank’s Prospect. He had a traffic-free trip in that race, unlike his trip to the track, when his taxi was caught in such severe traffic that Stevens took off on foot for the final part of the journey.

Three years later, Stevens won the Derby for the first time with Winning Colors. It was only the third win for a filly in the Derby.

Stevens won the Derby again in 1995 with Thunder Gulch and in 1997 with Silver Charm.

His three wins tie him with Kent Desormeaux and Calvin Borel for the most wins among jockeys in this Derby. Desormeaux will ride Keen Ice; Borel is on El Kabeir.

Firing Line finished second in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February against Dortmund, then came back in the Sunland Derby rather than go up against Dortmund in the Santa Anita Derby, and scored a runaway victory. The Sunland Derby was embraced by trainer Simon Callaghan because Firing Line has proven he can run well with plenty of time between starts, and the Sunland Derby came exactly six weeks after the Lewis and six weeks before the Kentucky Derby.

“There was no sense running against Dortmund again before the Derby,” Stevens said. “We wanted a fresh horse. He gave me a rocking-chair ride in the Sunland Derby. He has talent and the mind to go with it.”

Firing Line is one of the 20 horses in the main body of the race. Frammento and Tale of Verve were placed on the also-eligible list because of the 22 horses entered, they had earned the fewest points in designated Derby prep races. Tale of Verve, in fact, has only a maiden win to his credit, which came in his last start. He was a surprise entrant. The other 21 entered were expected.

In order for Frammento or Tale of Verve to get into the race, horses in the main body of the race must scratch before scratch time Friday morning. Scratch time is a full day before the Derby to facilitate early betting. Frammento would be the first horse in if one horse scratches because he has more points than Tale of Verve. If two horses come out by Friday, both would get in. They would occupy the outside posts in the starting gate.

If anyone in the main body of the race is withdrawn after Friday morning, the also-eligibles are out of luck.

Nick Zito, the trainer of Frammento, was hoping to get into the main body of the race at entry time but was resigned to being on the also-eligible list.

“I don’t think I’ll go to the draw,” Zito said Wednesday morning. “He’s going to be on the also-eligible list. Oh well.”