Horse Racing / Bill Christine : Cordero’s Puzzle: Where to Go on Memorial Day?

The last time Angel Cordero had to choose between riding Spend a Buck and Track Barron, one of the horses made the decision easy for him. Track Barron took ill and was unable to run in the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct May 4. Cordero won the Kentucky Derby aboard Spend a Buck the same day.

This time, it looks as though Cordero will have to make the choice without help.

Track Barron, considered one of the best handicap horses in training, is healthy again and scheduled to run in the $250,000 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on Memorial Day, May 27. That same afternoon, 100 miles south of here, Spend a Buck will run in the $1-million Jersey Derby at Garden State Park.

The Jersey Derby is a potential $260,000 payday for Cordero, who like most jockeys, rides for 10% of what his horses win. The winner’s share of the Jersey Derby purse is $600,000, and because of a bonus offered by Garden State to a horse winning three of its races and the Kentucky Derby, Spend a Buck could earn an extra $2 million.

Cordero would make only $15,000 or so if he rode Track Barron to victory in the Metropolitan. But there are unconfirmed reports that Cordero has been promised a lifetime right to breed horses to Track Barron if he rides him in all his races this year, and that could be more valuable in the long run than the jockey’s share of Spend a Buck’s earnings at Garden State.

“It’s a big headache,” Cordero said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. Maybe there’s some way I might be able to ride both horses, if there was enough time between races. I should know something in a few days.”

Garden State is a quick helicopter ride from Belmont Park, but this week there were no indications that the Jersey Derby might be delayed to allow Cordero to ride Track Barron in New York, then hustle to Cherry Hill, N.J., to ride Spend a Buck.

In fact, Garden State announced that the Jersey Derby would be televised by ESPN, with a 4:45 p.m. local post time. Post time for the Metropolitan would be around 4:30 p.m. Cordero is a resourceful sort, but not that resourceful.

“We might move our races around to accommodate a television network, but we wouldn’t change a post time just to help out one person,” a Garden State spokesman said.

Just what makes John Henry tick? To determine the physical, psychological and astrological makeup of the 10-year-old gelding who has earned $6.5 million, Equus magazine dispatched a team of experts to Santa Anita for an in-depth look. Some of the findings, as related in Equus’ May issue:

--John Henry, who stands a smallish 15.2 hands (62 inches), has legs that are about an inch longer than most horses his size.

--He has a big heart, about 20% to 25% larger than the average horse’s.

--His gait is extremely efficient, with “not a single wasted motion.” His stride is about 25 1/2 feet, 2 1/2 feet longer than the average stride of a horse his size. By comparison, Secretariat, a larger horse than John Henry, had a 24-foot stride. Phar Lap and Man o’ War strode 27 feet on the average.

--Astrologically, John Henry’s chart is similar to Kelso’s, Spectacular Bid’s, Seattle Slew’s, Forego’s and Swale’s. That’s good Zodiac company.

--John Henry was found to be self-confident, aloof, alert, studious, wise and slightly theatrical. And slightly uncooperative. Equus wanted to give him an electrocardiogram, but he wasn’t about to allow a veterinarian to attach electrodes to his hind legs.

Life is one bonus offer after another in New Jersey. Besides the $2-million bonus that Spend a Buck can earn by winning the Jersey Derby, tracks in the state this week announced a $1-million bonus for any horse that sweeps three races--the Jersey Derby, the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park July 27 and the Pegasus Stakes at the Meadowlands Sept. 26.

Insurance companies are becoming more reluctant to underwrite such bonuses. In recent years, All Along and Slew o’ Gold won $1-million awards, and John Henry took a $500,000 bonus last year. When Golden Gate Fields recently offered $1 million to any fan who picked all the winners on a 10-race program, it couldn’t get an insurer to take the risk.

Trainer Wayne Lukas, for one, has been critical of bonus earnings counting in the money figures of horses, stables, trainers and jockeys, but the Daily Racing Form, the quasi-official record-keeper for the sport, has no plans to exclude them.

“We haven’t had one serious complaint (about the bonuses) from a vested racing group, such as the Jockey Club,” said Michael Sandler, publisher of the Form. “We’re talking all the time about better ways to do things, but racing seems to be satisfied with counting the bonus money the way we’ve been doing it.”

The owners of Seattle Slew--Mickey and Karen Taylor, and Jim and Sally Hill--have gone into the banking business with their purchase of a substantial block of stock in the Citizens Union National Bank and Trust Co., the third-largest financial institution in Lexington, Ky.

The bank, which has about $256 million in assets, was left with more than $26 million in high-risk loans when a previous investor ran into money problems.

The Taylors are laughing about what happened to Butch Pearson, Karen’s brother, shortly after they became partners in the bank. Pearson was told he couldn’t get a check cashed at the bank because it was written on an out-of-state account.

Horse Racing Notes

Pat Day has replaced Gary Stevens as the jockey for Tank’s Prospect in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. . . . Another Preakness starter, Sparrowvon, is trained by Hank Allen, former major league outfielder and brother of ex-slugger Dick Allen. . . . Possible challengers for Spend a Buck in the Jersey Derby include Creme Fraiche, winner of the Kentucky Derby Trial in his last start, and El Bosco, winner of the Withers Stakes. Creme Fraiche’s nickname is Little John, because he’s a gelding and was called John Henry Jr. for a while by his trainer, Woody Stephens. . . . All horses’ birthdays are on Jan. 1, but Spend a Buck’s actual third birthday was Wednesday. . . . ESPN’s coverage of the Jersey Derby May 27 will start at 12:30 p.m. on the West Coast and will run until 2. . . . Image of Greatness is scheduled to run in the Illinois Derby Saturday at Sportsman’s Park, and Life’s Magic will run the same day in the Shuvee Handicap at Belmont Park. . . . D.G. Van Clief, executive director of the Breeders’ Cup, said that a decision on the site for the multimillion-dollar races in 1986 won’t be made until late summer. Hollywood Park, which had the Breeders’ Cup races last year, and Santa Anita have applied. “Know why they’re waiting?” joked a Belmont Park official. “They’re considering compromising by giving the races to Los Alamitos.”