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LIKE IT IS : Famous fans enjoy sunny respite at Oaklawn
WALLY HALL
Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008
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HOT SPRINGS - A refreshing breeze cruised across the Ouachita Mountains, rustling the blooming dogwoods and lush greens of the oaks, pines, hickories and cedars.
It was a day washed in warming and welcomed sunshine.
The 72 nd running of the Arkansas Derby attracted 56, 326 regulars and visitors, and from the infield to the Jockey Club, it was the place to be.
If a football game had broken out, the Jockey Club would have been the place to be.
Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, and his head coach, Wade Phillips, and his wife shared one table, where they sipped white wine and Diet Cokes.
Jones made a last-minute bet early in the afternoon, won, then tipped the majority of his winnings to a waiter.
Bobby Petrino was at another table, taking a one-day reprieve from rebuilding, reorganizing and restructuring the Arkansas Razorbacks football program.
He became a fan of thoroughbred racing while coaching at Louisville but was quick to say," I don't know much about it and have even less time for it."
Larry Lacewell, who splits his retirement days between Jonesboro and this beautiful city that long ago outgrew its infrastructure, was on hand too.
That's enough football IQ to hold a camp, and retired official Buddy Coleman, one of college's greatest, was also there with his wife.
So was Gov. Mike Beebe, who wowed people from the grandstand to a table in the Jockey Club. He came early and stayed until he presented the Arkansas Derby Trophy to favored Gayego, who had never raced on a regular dirt surface, only the artificial surface in California.
Gayego, ridden by Mike Smith, went off as the favorite at 2-1, but it was still a race that appeared to be wide open. There was no Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, Lawyer Ron or Curlin, the past four winners who made Oaklawn Park as much a part of the Triple Crown as any track in the country.
It was not a soft field, at least no more than any other prep race this year. This is simply not a great year for 3-year-olds, unless Big Brown proves the Florida Derby was the norm and not a fluke.
He won that race on the lead wire-to-wire, something that rarely happens in the Kentucky Derby these days.
Gayego got the perfect trip - he likes to lay second or third and then fire down the stretch - and that's exactly what happened Saturday.
After a perfect start with 13 horses, Tres Borrachos broke to the lead and Smith settled Gayego into a perfect stalking spot, with Isabull, owned by Alex and Joann Lieblong of Conway, on his heels.
Tres Borrachos fired fractions of: 22. 71 and: 46. 61, and when they turned 1. 11. 09 for 6 furlongs he was prime for a hostile takeover on the lead. Although the horse dug in and held on gamely
On the turn to home, Gayego pulled even, then coming out of the turn blew by him.
Z Fortune made his move, too, and the odds-on favorite in the Rebel, where he finished fifth, was running strong at the end to get second-place money.
Tres Borrachos, the long shot, finished third, and the $ 1 4-10-2 trifecta paid $ 503. 60.
But the race belonged to Gayego, who got a perfect trip and a great ride by Smith, who used to be a regular in the Oaklawn jockey colony.
The 1: 49. 63 for the mile-anda-eighth was faster than Curlin, last year's winner and Horse of the Year, who should repeat that honor this year.
It was a good race, and Gayego ran his way into the $ 600, 000 winner's circle and put himself squarely on the Kentucky Derby radar.
Most of all, it was a beautiful day and a spectacular finish to a season that had been plagued with everything from snow to tornadoes and enough rain to wash in the brilliant green of the Ouachita Mountains.
It was a day for everyone with a beautiful hat, expensive suit or just jeans and a T-shirt.
LINK
WALLY HALL
Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008
Email this story | Printer-friendly version
HOT SPRINGS - A refreshing breeze cruised across the Ouachita Mountains, rustling the blooming dogwoods and lush greens of the oaks, pines, hickories and cedars.
It was a day washed in warming and welcomed sunshine.
The 72 nd running of the Arkansas Derby attracted 56, 326 regulars and visitors, and from the infield to the Jockey Club, it was the place to be.
If a football game had broken out, the Jockey Club would have been the place to be.
Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, and his head coach, Wade Phillips, and his wife shared one table, where they sipped white wine and Diet Cokes.
Jones made a last-minute bet early in the afternoon, won, then tipped the majority of his winnings to a waiter.
Bobby Petrino was at another table, taking a one-day reprieve from rebuilding, reorganizing and restructuring the Arkansas Razorbacks football program.
He became a fan of thoroughbred racing while coaching at Louisville but was quick to say," I don't know much about it and have even less time for it."
Larry Lacewell, who splits his retirement days between Jonesboro and this beautiful city that long ago outgrew its infrastructure, was on hand too.
That's enough football IQ to hold a camp, and retired official Buddy Coleman, one of college's greatest, was also there with his wife.
So was Gov. Mike Beebe, who wowed people from the grandstand to a table in the Jockey Club. He came early and stayed until he presented the Arkansas Derby Trophy to favored Gayego, who had never raced on a regular dirt surface, only the artificial surface in California.
Gayego, ridden by Mike Smith, went off as the favorite at 2-1, but it was still a race that appeared to be wide open. There was no Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, Lawyer Ron or Curlin, the past four winners who made Oaklawn Park as much a part of the Triple Crown as any track in the country.
It was not a soft field, at least no more than any other prep race this year. This is simply not a great year for 3-year-olds, unless Big Brown proves the Florida Derby was the norm and not a fluke.
He won that race on the lead wire-to-wire, something that rarely happens in the Kentucky Derby these days.
Gayego got the perfect trip - he likes to lay second or third and then fire down the stretch - and that's exactly what happened Saturday.
After a perfect start with 13 horses, Tres Borrachos broke to the lead and Smith settled Gayego into a perfect stalking spot, with Isabull, owned by Alex and Joann Lieblong of Conway, on his heels.
Tres Borrachos fired fractions of: 22. 71 and: 46. 61, and when they turned 1. 11. 09 for 6 furlongs he was prime for a hostile takeover on the lead. Although the horse dug in and held on gamely
On the turn to home, Gayego pulled even, then coming out of the turn blew by him.
Z Fortune made his move, too, and the odds-on favorite in the Rebel, where he finished fifth, was running strong at the end to get second-place money.
Tres Borrachos, the long shot, finished third, and the $ 1 4-10-2 trifecta paid $ 503. 60.
But the race belonged to Gayego, who got a perfect trip and a great ride by Smith, who used to be a regular in the Oaklawn jockey colony.
The 1: 49. 63 for the mile-anda-eighth was faster than Curlin, last year's winner and Horse of the Year, who should repeat that honor this year.
It was a good race, and Gayego ran his way into the $ 600, 000 winner's circle and put himself squarely on the Kentucky Derby radar.
Most of all, it was a beautiful day and a spectacular finish to a season that had been plagued with everything from snow to tornadoes and enough rain to wash in the brilliant green of the Ouachita Mountains.
It was a day for everyone with a beautiful hat, expensive suit or just jeans and a T-shirt.
LINK
