Trainers dreaming big on picture-perfect Derby Day

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Wake up. Shake off the fatigue. The day that drives the Thoroughbred industry is dawning.

“I think you have to dream,” assistant trainer Norman Casse said. “I’m not exaggerating – I think about it at least once a day every day. The Kentucky Derby’s why I do it. I think everyone should have something like that to drive them, and the Derby’s what drives me.”

Casse is an assistant to his father, Mark, who later today will saddle the strong-willed Danzig Moon for the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby. By all accounts, this year’s field is a dream lineup.

“I think this is a hell of a crop,” said D. Wayne Lukas, who will saddle his 48th Derby starter today in longshot Mr. Z. “You could make a case of, if you took as deep as five of these horses and put them in other Derbies, they would be the favorite. You’d better have your track shoes on when you take this bunch on.”

The group is, of course, led by the sort of one-two punch trainers long for in their string: Bob Baffert’s champion American Pharoah, owned by Zayat Stables, and the unbeaten Dortmund, owned by Kaleem Shah.

Baffert and the Zayats – who own both American Pharoah and Mr. Z – know how Derby dreams can be shattered in an instant. It was illustrated two weeks ago, when Baffert lost a third Derby starter in One Lucky Dane, now on the bench with a fracture. It was illustrated on Derby Eve when El Kabeir, owned by the Zayats and trained by Baffert’s friend John Terranova, had to be scratched with a foot bruise. And it was illustrated just this morning, when International Star had to be scratched by Ramsey Farm and Mike Maker, leaving just 18 3-year-olds from a 2012 foal crop of 21,725 in America alone to run for the roses.

“It’s a privilege to be here. It’s a humbling experience,” Ahmed Zayat said this week.

Three times, the Zayats have finished second in the Derby – including in 2009 with homebred American Pharoah’s sire, Pioneerof the Nile. That afternoon, Baffert watched a dream trip turn into a nightmare.

“You want a clean break, that’s Step 1,” Baffert said. “And then going around the first turn, you gotta make it out of there alive, Step 2. [Pioneerof the Nile] did that, he looks good on the outside, in the clear turning for home, everything looks good, it looks like I’m gonna win the Derby … and all of a sudden, I see something just flying on the inside. And I go, ‘Who is that?’ And [wife Jill] goes, ‘It’s Calvin Borel.’ ”

While 50-1 longshot Mine That Bird crushed a few dreams, he undoubtedly sparked countless others that rainy day.

“Ever since Mine That Bird, I figured you should be in it,” Mark Casse grinned.

The Derby inspires big dreams. Even with a favorite who has drawn comparisons to 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew looming, no one is conceding.

“I don’t want to just go to the Derby,” said Ron Moquett, who saddles his first Derby starter today in Far Right. “To show up at the Derby and wear a suit and whatever, that doesn’t impress me. I want to do well. I want to do well for my horse and my owners and my barn. I want to do well for everyone that’s helped me along the way. There’s a lot of self-imposed pressure. But I am enjoying the process. I’m tired regardless – my hours don’t change.”

At 5 a.m., when Moquett and most horsemen have already been up for hours, the backstretch is already buzzing. But the rhythm is idyllic. The four-beat cadence of American Pharoah’s walk falls quietly in the shed row. Mubtaahij and stablemate Umgiyo, strangers in a strange land, peer curiously around as workers at the other end of the shed row toss hay softly into stalls.

Only a handful of Derby horses walk to the track for early training hours beneath a low-hanging orange moon – like clockwork, Lukas the first one to the track as he accompanies Mr. Z. Danzig Moon begs to do more while galloping. Mark Casse, walking up the track to get a better look at his horse, turns his head to look at Frosted galloping by, then the other way as Firing Line jogs with his pony.

Later in the morning, the incorrigible Bolo yanks playfully on his lead shank as he joins the star-studded traffic under the sunrise – Untapable, Sweet Reason, Tapiture all out for morning exercise.

Training hours ended at 8 a.m. today, as the gates open early to let in what is expected to be a record-threatening Derby crowd, especially with a dream forecast predicted – 78 degrees and mostly sunny, without threat of rain. On Friday, the Kentucky Oaks posted a record crowd as Lovely Maria streaked to victory in the filly classic.

The track is fast. The turf is firm. Soon, the twin spires of Churchill Downs will stand out against a wild palette of colors as Stephen Foster echoes across the grounds. It’s Kentucky Derby Day.

In just a few hours, one team’s dream will come true, while 17 others will be left in the dust of that homestretch. But there’s always next year. The carousel never stops turning.

“I’ve got a small group of 2-year-olds in already,” said Lukas, who turns 80 later this year. “I’m already looking at them and looking and their strides and abilities and seeing if maybe there’s one in there for next year already.”

Dream on.