LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Empire Maker is the cynosure of the 129th Kentucky Derby, its only entrant with an aura of glamour and the race's heaviest favorite in more than a decade. Many of his admirers talk as if the outcome of the Derby is a foregone conclusion and are already speculating whether the regal colt can win the Triple Crown.
This is a distorted view of Saturday's race. It is not a one-horse race. It is a two-horse confrontation: Empire Maker vs. Ten Most Wanted.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Kentucky Derby favorite is injured on the eve of the rose run and the racing world holds its collective breath.
It is the story of the day, and an old story at historic Churchill Downs, which offers the chance of a lifetime, but only once. If you miss it, there is no second chance.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On Tuesday evening of Kentucky Derby week, Kentucky Derby rookie Rosemary Homeister Jr. realized a lifelong dream by meeting Penny Chenery, the owner of Secretariat. The obligatory photo op included Homeister, Chenery, and a bouquet of a dozen red roses.
Homeister is 30 - the same age as Secretariat's Triple Crown - but just because she was in diapers when Big Red did his 1973 number at Churchill Downs doesn't mean her die was not already cast. Her mother, a trainer, always told her that she rode before she walked.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It was 25 years ago that Affirmed and Alydar began the greatest Triple Crown rivalry ever in the 104th Kentucky Derby. The extent to which the game has changed radically in the intervening quarter century will be on full display in the 129th Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A year ago he was in the "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit edition, posing and grinning alongside his bikinied wife, Jeanine.
Four months ago, he was battling hard for another title, this time at the Hollywood Park autumn meet against such youngsters as Victor Espinoza and Alex Solis.
Two months ago, as the month of March dawned, he was cruising near the top of the Santa Anita standings, poised to win still another title if one of the kids stumbled. There was even a potential Derby horse on the horizon.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A fitting appetizer to the Kentucky Derby's main course, the Kentucky Oaks gives the 3-year-old fillies a national stage on which to display their quality, and invariably they take full advantage of the opportunity. Elloluv, Lady Tak, Holiday Lady, and others who put on a good show in Keeneland's Ashland Stakes and earlier features in Florida and California have trained in fine fashion and appear ready for a memorable afternoon.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The trainers involved in the 129th Kentucky Derby include the most illustrious members of the profession - Bob Baffert, Wayne Lukas, and Bobby Frankel. But none of them has had such a phenomenal year as Jeff Mullins, who trains Santa Anita Derby winner Buddy Gil.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Throughout most of his 82 years, Phil Chess has had a knack for discovering talent. And talent has had a way of finding him.
Last fall Chess got a phone call from trainer Bob Baffert, who recommended that he buy a colt who had won two unimportant races in Panama. The price was $150,000, much more than he had ever paid for a horse, but Chess decided to gamble on this unknown quantity. The colt, Indian Express, ran a sensational race to finish second in the Santa Anita Derby, and he is a bona fide contender in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Kentucky Derby was not kind to Sonny Hine. Neither was Churchill Downs, for that matter. Twice Hine brought his superstar Skip Away to Louisville and twice they came to grief, first in the 1996 Kentucky Derby and then in the 1998 Breeders' Cup Classic, the final race of Skip Away's career.