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 Right dream, wrong horse Caramori predicted winner would come out of No. 16
Posted: Saturday May 08, 1999 05:05 PM
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (CNN/SI) -- Sometimes dreams do come true. Eduardo Caramori dreamed the Kentucky Derby winner would come out of the No. 16 post, so when he picked a post position Wednesday the trainer chose 16 for First American. On Friday, however, Aljabr, who drew No. 5, was scratched, meaning every horse from No. 4 out moved in one place. So First American started from the No. 15 post, and Caramori's dream came true for D. Wayne Lukas. At the end of the 1 1\4 miles Saturday at Churchill Downs, Charismatic was first by a neck over Menifee, and Lukas had his fourth Derby victory and 11th triumph in a Triple Crown race. First American finished, you guessed it, 16th. An early celebration by Chris Antley, riding Charismatic for the first time, could have proved costly. "He got excited and gave the No. 1 sign three jumps from the wire," Lukas said Sunday. "If Menifee had caught us, that finger would be in glass in formaldehyde in the barn right now." Lukas had told anyone who would listen that Charismatic was improving rapidly and would be dangerous. One who listened, and believed, was Lukas' sister, Dauna Moths. "My sister, bless her heart, said she wanted to bet $30 across," Lukas said. "She bet 10, 10 and 10." The mutuel clerk, however, punched out three $30 tickets (win, place and show). Charismatic paid $64.60, $27.80 and $14.40. The win payoff was the third highest in 125 Derbys, behind Donerail's $184.90 in 1913 and Gallahadion's $72.40 in 1940. Charismatic's more highly regarded stablemate finished third in the 19-horse field. He was 1\ lengths ahead of Prime Timber, trained by Bob Baffert, who was trying to become the first person to three straight Derbys. "I've got to tell it's the first time I've rooted for a Lukas horse, in those last 50 yards," Baffert said. Charimatic is owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis, who own Silver Charm, Baffert's first Derby winner. The first four Derby finishers will run in the Preakness on May 15 at Pimlico. It will be Charismatic's fourth race in six weeks. But, Lukas said, "He should bounce back. I think he can handle it." Baffert said the filly Silverbulletday, winner of the Kentucky Oaks, also is being pointed to the Preakness, but that his other Derby starters, the filly Excellent Meeting and General Challenge, will get a rest. Excellent Meeting, 15th with a quarter mile left, finished fifth. The strapping General Challenge finished 11th. Baffert said the gelding got a lot of dirt in his eyes, and "it looked like he was dragging his right leg, but he's OK today." The race was roughly run, and a lot of horses came out of it with cuts and bruises. Many were blocked or forced to race wide and never got into contention. The filly Three Ring was bumped at the start, then her saddle slipped and she was out of it quickly. She finished 19th. "I've been really lucky all these years," said Baffert, who has two wins and a second in four Derbys. I got the (trouble-free) trip. Yesterday, I didn't get the trip with any of my three horses." The Preakness is limited to 14 starters, and Baffert said he would like to see the 20-horse Derby limit reduced. Menifee's trainer, Elliott Walden, who also finished second with Victory Gallop to Baffert's Real Quiet last year, said of 20 starters being allowed, "I might win it some day because another horse gets in trouble." "They call it a roller Derby, it's rough," Lukas said. "But that's what makes it unique." Scotty Schulhofer, trainer of Lemon Drop Kid (ninth), said jockey Jose Santos told him, "Don't be disappointed. He had to run 1 3-8 miles in a 1\-mile race." Lemon Drop Kid is going to the Preakness and so are the Nick Zito-trained Stephen Go Even (14th) and Adonis (17th). Zito said it's the most disappointed he's been after a race because neither colt got a chance to really run. It is possible Worldly Manner, making his first official start after only a trial race in Dubai, will go in the 1 3-16-mile Preakness. The colt was bought for $5 million by the Maktoum family's Godolphin Racing stable after he won the Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 9. Others expected for the Preakness include Derby Trial winner Patience Game, Talks Cheap, winner of Pimlico's Federico Tessio, and Millions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | |||||||||||||||||
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