Wests double their Derby dreams

Six months ago, it seemed highly likely California owners Gary and Mary West would be back at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.

In November, they won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill with the undefeated Game Winner, who in January was named the champion 2-year-old male of 2018. Game Winner has done his part to qualify for next Saturday’s Kentucky Derby with two second-place finishes in major stakes in the last six weeks.

What the Wests could not have envisioned was having a second runner in Maximum Security, a colt they bred. A few days before Christmas, Maximum Security won his debut in a $16,000 claimer for maidens at 6 1/2 furlongs at Gulfstream Park. Maximum Security has gone on to win his three subsequent starts, including the Florida Derby on March 30.

The Wests, who have owned Thoroughbreds for nearly 40 years, will have two runners in the Kentucky Derby for the first time, and their first runner in 14 years.

“It was unexpected,” Gary West said on Thursday. “We haven’t had a horse in the Derby in over a decade. It’s a pretty remarkable experience for Mary and I.”

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The Wests have run three horses in the Kentucky Derby – Rockamundo was 17th in 1993, Dollar Bill finished 15th in 2001, and High Limit was last of 20 in 2005. Dollar Bill was the 6-1 second choice in a field of 17, but had traffic problems three furlongs from the finish.

More recently, the Wests had high hopes that New Year’s Day, who won the BC Juvenile in 2013, could develop into a candidate for the 2014 Kentucky Derby. New Year’s Day was sidelined with an injury that winter and went to stud in 2014.

Maximum Security, trained by Jason Servis, is by New Year’s Day. His progress from a maiden claimer to a Grade 1 winner in the Florida Derby has been astonishing, Gary West said.

“I didn’t know what to think of Maximum Security,” West said. “He didn’t show anything in the morning. He couldn’t outrun a fat man in the morning.

“He’s like one out of a thousand that don’t show much in the morning, but wake up when it comes time for competition. We didn’t think we had much of a horse on our hands and each race has been progressively better.”

Maximum Security won two optional-claiming starter races for sprinters after the maiden claimer. In the Florida Derby at 1 1/8 miles, Maximum Security led throughout and won by 3 1/2 lengths. The possibility of Maximum Security getting caught up in a fast pace in the Kentucky Derby is a concern for Gary West.

“When he gets in a big field and the fractional times will be faster than the Florida Derby, I hope he does well,” he said. “I honestly don’t know what to expect.”

Game Winner is a Candy Ride colt the Wests bought for $110,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September yearling sale. He finished a nose behind possible Derby favorite Omaha Beach in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 16 and a half-length behind Roadster in the Santa Anita Derby on April 6. Game Winner and Roadster are trained by Bob Baffert.

“Our plan after he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile was to get him two races prior to the Derby,” Gary West said. “In the middle of November, Bob said, ‘This is the way I’ll manage this horse. It would be nice to win the two Derby prep races, but that’s not the ultimate goal.’

“We gave him some time off. He got beat by one inch by the horse that everybody and their dog says will be the favorite for the Derby.

“He came back three weeks later, traveling from Arkansas back to California, and he got beat a short half-length, in my opinion, by what Bob thought was his best 2-year-old last year.

“Even though he didn’t win the races he showed up big in both races. It doesn’t look like he’s lost his desire to run.”

The Wests live in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., not far from Del Mar, and have owned horses since 1980, when they lived in Omaha, Neb., and raced at the state’s signature track, the now-closed Ak-Sar-Ben. Gary West has spent decades in the telecommunications business, and he and Mary now devote considerable time to their charity, the San Diego-based Gary and Mary West Foundation, which aids lower-income seniors with health needs.

Despite the absence of a Kentucky Derby runner in recent years, the Wests have had widespread success. They raced West Coast, the champion 3-year-old male of 2017, who won the Los Alamitos Derby, Travers Stakes, and Pennsylvania Derby before finishing third behind Horse of the Year Gun Runner in the BC Classic at Del Mar.

Last year, West Coast was winless in four starts, but was second in the world’s two richest races – the $16.3 million Pegasus World Cup, again to Gun Runner, and the $10 million Dubai World Cup to Thunder Snow. West Coast is now at stud in Kentucky.

The Kentucky Derby, however, is the coveted prize for the Wests. They will travel to Kentucky midweek with a sizeable group of family and friends.

The Wests know how to handle the build-up in the days and moments before the race. If Game Winner or Maximum Security succeed, that would be a different matter.

“Even though we’ve not done well in the Derby, it’s a wonderful experience for an owner,” Gary West said. “You have that anticipation before the race. What happens if I win? How would I feel? We haven’t had that experience.”