Derby Loses Temperate Sil and Talinum : Shoemaker to Get Another Mount; Field Will Probably Be 14

The Kentucky Derby, troubled in recent years with traffic jams caused by large, unwieldy fields, is down to a comfortable number of probably 14 horses for its 113th running next Saturday.

In the process, however, the field has lost considerable luster, because the two defectors are Temperate Sil, the Santa Anita Derby winner who would have been one of the betting favorites, and Talinum, winner of the Flamingo Stakes and the strongest member of trainer Wayne Lukas’ three-horse entry.

Temperate Sil started coughing from a virus after his mile workout at Churchill Downs Wednesday and was still coughing Saturday.

Trainer Charlie Whittingham said that Temperate Sil won’t run, and a little later, Bill Shoemaker, who was scheduled to ride him, picked up a mount on either Gulch or Leo Castelli, both Derby starters trained by LeRoy Jolley, who hasn’t yet named his other Derby jockey.

The 55-year-old Shoemaker, while riding in the Derby a record 24 times, has four wins, one short of the record shared by Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartack.

The 74-year-old Whittingham won the Derby last year with Shoemaker and Ferdinand. With Temperate Sil, they were seeking to become the first trainer-jockey combination to win consecutive Derbys since Lucien Laurin and Ron Turcotte did it with Riva Ridge and Secretariat in 1972-73.

Talinum, who in his last start was third in a three-horse photo finish with Cryptoclearance and No More Flowers in the Florida Derby, went lame in his left foreleg after galloping Saturday morning at Churchill Downs.

“He accelerated at the end of his gallop and got away,” said Jeff Lukas, who is his father’s assistant. “I had to pick him up with the pony. He walked back OK, but then it became obvious that he was experiencing discomfort.”

X-rays of Talinum taken Saturday showed no break, but another set of X-rays will be taken at a nearby clinic today.

“The horse is lame, and it is extremely doubtful that he will run in the Derby, no matter what the second X-rays show,” Jeff Lukas said. “It’s really too bad, because he had done well here. He had the best move of the morning in his last workout.”

With Temperate Sil and Talinum out, that leaves these horses likely to start in the Derby:

Demons Begone, the Jolley entry of Gulch and Leo Castelli, the Lukas entry of Capote and War, Bet Twice, Cryptoclearance, Masterful Advocate, No More Flowers, Alysheba, Candi’s Gold, Momentus, Shawklit Won, Templar Hill and Conquistarose.

That’s 15 horses, but Woody Stephens, the trainer of Conquistarose, said he would probably enter the colt Thursday--at a cost of $10,000--and then only run him if the track is sloppy. There hasn’t been an off track for the Derby at fast-drying Churchill Downs since Dust Commander won in the mud in 1970. So the field probably will be 14.

“I really liked Charlie’s horse (Temperate Sil) to win,” said Stephens, who won the Derby with Cannonade in 1974 and with Swale in 1984. “Now I have to go with Demons Begone.”

Alex Harthill, a local veterinarian who has been treating Temperate Sil with antibiotics, said the horse has three problems:

--Pharyngitis, which is an inflammation of the pharynx, in the back part of the mouth.

--An infection of the guttural pouches on the inner sides of the neck.

--And a slight temperature.

“There are some opportunist bugs going around the race track,” Harthill said. “It could take this horse from 10 days to 2 weeks to get it out of his system.”

One Churchill Downs veterinarian said that he had treated 37 horses for viruses recently. Another vet said that 25 horses in his care had been sick and estimated that 5% of the track’s 1,350 head was affected by the bug.

“I’m glad my horse is where he is, rather than near Temperate Sil,” said one Derby trainer, who didn’t want his name used. “Back home, I’ve got six or eight 2-year-olds coughing and this is how they started to get sick.”

Other Derby horses stabled in Temperate Sil’s barn include Cryptoclearance, No More Flowers, Bet Twice, Candi’s Gold and Conquistarose. None of the trainers indicated that they would ask their horses to be moved.

Whittingham said he would wait a few days before deciding what’s next for Temperate Sil. The trainer didn’t rule out the possibility of running in the Preakness, the second race in the Triple Crown series, at Pimlico on May 16.

“As long as the horse is living to fight another day, that’s what matters,” Whittingham said. “I’ve missed a lot of other Derbys and I’ve won one, so. . . . It’s a long year, and all the money’s at the end of the year.”

But Whittingham liked his chances going into this Derby. “This was a good type Derby horse,” he said. “He’s big, strong and has speed.”

In the 1980s, the smallest Derby field has been 13, but there have been Derbys run with fields of 19, 20 (twice) and 21. A field of 14 next Saturday would require Churchill Downs to use only one starting gate. Gato Del Sol, breaking from the 19th stall in a 21-horse field in 1982, is the only horse to win the Derby after starting from the auxiliary gate.

In Saturday’s $56,700 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs, a field of six rivals was too much for 2-5 favorite No More Flowers to handle as On the Line ran a mile in an average time of 1:36 3/5 and won by 6 1/2 lengths. No More Flowers struggled home second before 28,047, a record opening-day crowd at Churchill Downs.

After On the Line and No More Flowers, the finish was Contractor’s Tune, Funny Tunes, David L.’s Rib, Gretna Green and Santa Clara Chief. On the Line, ridden by Pat Day and owned by Gene Klein, paid $8.60 to win.

Despite the result of the Trial, it is likely that only No More Flowers will run in the Derby.

Nobody asked trainer Jeff Lukas, who saddled On the Line, if Saturday’s victory made up for what happened to Talinum. It would have been a silly question.

Horse Racing Notes

Don Brumfield has been named to ride Momentous in the Derby. . . . Gary Stevens will ride Chic Shirine in the Kentucky Oaks for 3-year-old fillies Friday, after Sandy Hawley won with her in the recent Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. . . Masterful Advocate worked a slow 1:42 2/5 mile Saturday, trainer Joe Manzi noting that the track was on the tiring side. Momentus’ mile work was 1:40 3/5. . . . Pat Day rode four winners Saturday.