Derby Not Lacking For Starters

There’s no such phrase as “horse shortage” at this year’s Kentucky Derby.

A field of 19 3-year-olds, three more than the recent 10-year average of 16 starters, appears fairly certain to be entered Thursday for the 121st running of the race at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

It’s an eclectic group: one filly (Serena’s Song), a horse from Japan (Ski Captain), a Canadian champion (Talkin Man), a pair of English-breds (Jumron, In Character) and not a single U.S.-hyped superhero, although Serena’s Song, the lone female, heightens interest and star quality.

Ten of the 19 horses were bred in Kentucky and nearly two-thirds of them are trained in the West or Midwest. That’s one pattern that holds up year after year.

Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia has compiled an early odds line, making the entry of Serena’s Song and Timber Country, last year’s Juvenile champion, the 5-2 favorite.

The horses are paired in the betting since Beverly and Robert Lewis of Newport Beach, Calif., have ownership interests in both horses, which are trained by D. Wayne Lukas. A third Lukas runner, Thunder Gulch, is listed as a 12-1 long shot.

If the Lukas entry starts as the favorite, it will be the third time Lukas horses have been favored in 15 tries.

Lukas’ stephorse

Serena’s Song and Timber Country get the press, but Lukas says don’t overlook Thunder Gulch.

“He’s a stepchild,” Lukas said. “He has a horse stabled on either side of him that has charisma. He happens to be the least-heralded one of the group, but he’s not without ability.”

Thunder Gulch beat Derby contender Suave Prospect in both the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park before finishing fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 15 at Keeneland.

That loss in a race without pace, won by longshot Wild Syn, dropped Thunder Gulch further behind Timber Country in the area of media attention, although Timber Country, the 1994 2-year-old champion, is winless in three starts this year. Timber Country clinched his championship by winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs.

Krone riding a contender

The 16-year-old hotwalker was perched on a barn roof along the Churchill Downs backstretch when the field thundered by.

It was Julie Krone’s first job at a racetrack and her first Kentucky Derby. The year was 1979.

“I saw a lot of that race,” Krone said. “I thought, ‘Boy, I’d like to ride for a trainer like that some day.”’

The trainer was Bud Delp, who won the ‘79 Derby with Spectacular Bid.

After she became a jockey, Krone rode for Delp, and she’s ridden for many other top trainers. On Saturday, she’ll ride Suave Prospect for Nick Zito in the Derby.

“I guess Nick knows how to get a horse ready for the Derby,” Krone said after working Suave Prospect last weekend. “He gives me real confidence. I can’t think of anybody better to go to the Derby with than Nick Zito.”

Zito will be trying to win his third Derby in five years. He’s won with Strike the Gold in 1991 and with Go For Gin last year.

The 31-year-old Krone, who went back to New York on Monday and is scheduled to return to Louisville on Thursday night, is excited about her second Derby.

One reason is that Suave Prospect, runner-up in both the Florida Derby and Blue Grass Stakes, is considered a legitimate contender. Krone became only the fourth woman to ride in the Derby when she finished 14th in 1992 on Ecstatic Ride, a member of the seven-horse mutuel field.

Another reason for Krone’s excitement is that it’s “the Kentucky Derby,” she said. “It’s like chocolate frosting, or something. Everybody likes it. If you love horses, you love the Derby.”

McCarron picks up mount

Chris McCarron has picked up the mount on Derby long-shot Knockadoon, the Canadian-bred son of Dixieland Band which finished a distant second to Talkin Man in the Wood Memorial. It will be McCarron’s 13th Derby mount. He won in 1987 with Alysheba and last year with Go For Gin.

All of the horses except Citadeed and In Character have been assigned jockeys. There is some question whether Corey Nakatani will ride In Character, but it appears likely that Nakatani, the No. 1 jockey in the country, will ride Serena’s Song. He has won five consecutive stakes on the filly, including the Jim Beam Stakes over colts on April 1.