Horse Racing / Bill Christine : Pedigree of Kentucky Derby Pick Demons Begone Being Questioned

Outspoken Mike Shannon, one of the owners of Manila, last year’s male grass champion, is decidedly not a Demons Begone booster for the Kentucky Derby. In winning the Arkansas Derby, Demons Begone solidified his position as the future-book favorite for the start of the Triple Crown series at Churchill Downs May 2.

“He won’t win the Derby,” Shannon says. “His pedigree will jump up and hit him in the head.

“I think there are some good horses and a lot of good jockeys and good trainers in this year’s race. Somebody’s going to beat Demons Begone.”

Actually, as far as pedigree is concerned, Demons Begone’s sire, Elocutionist, won the same race he did, the Arkansas Derby, in 1976, and Elocutionist also took the Preakness. But Demons Begone’s dam, Rowdy Angel, retired with no wins in 13 starts.

“She couldn’t run a step,” says Ed Anthony, who owns Rowdy Angel and Demons Begone. “We tried her long, short, on grass and dirt, and she was retired without beating anybody.”

According to the ubiquitous Dosage Index, though, Demons Begone has the stamina in his bloodlines to handle the 1 miles of the Kentucky Derby. The DI, whose leading exponent is Leon Rasmussen of the Daily Racing Form, is an esoteric, statistical evaluation of horses according to their sires. In recent years, Derby favorites Snow Chief, Chief’s Crown, Althea and Marfa were eliminated by the disciples of dosage and then failed to win.

“I have no idea what dosage means,” said Phil Hauswald, who trains Demons Begone. “But I’m just glad my horse has got it.”

Manila is tentatively scheduled to run in the $150,000 Early Times turf race at Churchill Downs the day before the Derby, but Shannon has reservations about running his horse in the first race on the track’s new grass course.

“We’ll have to take a look at the course once the meeting opens before we know for sure,” Shannon said.

The long-range goals for Manila are the Budweiser-Arlington Classic in September and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Stakes at Hollywood Park in November. Manila won on grass at Hollywood last year and might return to California for some races this year. Shannon is not ruling out the possibility of also running the horse on the dirt again.

Jockey Jack Kaenel has won only two races at Keeneland, but he’s had enough in-the-money finishes at the Lexington track that he’ll remain in Kentucky when the Churchill Downs season opens Saturday. Kaenel will return to California later this year.

Keeneland is the only track in the country which doesn’t have a public-address announcer. Asked if jockeys paid attention to public-address announcers elsewhere while the races were being run, Kaenel said:

“I counted them up the other day, and I’ve ridden at 48 tracks, and the only one where you can really hear what the announcer is saying is at Santa Anita with Trevor Denman.

“Trevor’s the best. He’s the most knowledgeable there is, and while he’s helped me win a couple of races, he’s also cost me a few, too.

“I remember the day I was riding Juliet’s Pride, who had won something like four in a row. I was getting through on the rail, when Chris McCarron heard Trevor say that I was coming. He moved his horse over, closing the hole, and I didn’t win the race.”

Denman, by the way, is branching out. The caller at Santa Anita and Del Mar, he began doing the calls at Golden Gate Fields Wednesday, the day after Santa Anita closed.

Kaenel has had seven seconds at Keeneland, and he finished second again, aboard Coaxing Mark, in Wednesday’s $53,350 Ben Ali Handicap.

Intrusion, winner of the race by three-fourths of a length, was ridden by Sandy Hawley, owned by Carl Maggio and trained by Lee Rossi, all transplanted Californians who have been successful campaigning in the Midwest.

As Hollywood Park opened Wednesday, Marje Everett made an assessment of the track.

“We need to get our house in order,” said Everett, Hollywood’s chief executive officer. “I can’t deny that some of the races we ran last season were embarrassing. One day, I went home with a migraine headache after watching so many poor races.

“Bringing back Eual Wyatt as racing secretary should help. He’s year-around now, and that should be a plus.

“We open just when Triple Crown excitement back East is starting to build. For simulcasting purposes, that helps considerably, but we’re only going to get the 3-year-olds that aren’t running in the Triple Crown.

“We have a problem with 2-year-olds, too. Last year, we gave stalls to between 600 and 800 2-year-olds, yet only about 200 of them raced during the course of the season. Santa Anita gives no stalls to 2-year-olds. I’m not criticizing them for that, I’m just analyzing the situation.”

Horse Racing Notes Alysheba, whose only win came at Turfway Park, has been made the 7-5 favorite in today’s Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. War is 9-5 and the others in the field are Leo Castelli, Avies Copy and Valid Prospect, who is not eligible for the Kentucky Derby. . . . Asked Wednesday at Churchill Downs about his mount in the Kentucky Oaks a week from Friday, Bill Shoemaker said: “I can’t remember the name of that filly.” A little later, Shoemaker handed the questioner a copy of the past performances of a filly named Center Box. “Here,” the jockey said. “This is the one in the Oaks.” . . . . The Wayne Lukas barn led the Oaklawn Park season with 35 wins, with Lukas not saddling any of the horses. . . . ABC-TV will be televising the Arlington Million in September, after NBC carried the race in recent years. . . . CBS, which used to be the leader in racing telecasts but now carries no races, is interested in returning to the sport. . . . In the New York Racing Assn.’s media guide, trainer Bobby Frankel lists Buddy Jacobson as one of the people most helpful in his career. Before coming to California, Frankel was an assistant to Jacobson, who is now in Attica prison, near Buffalo, serving 25 years to life for murder. . . . Fairplex Park in Pomona opens a 13-week harness-racing season Friday night. Post time for the Tuesday-through-Saturday meeting is 7:30.