Woody’s Would-Be : Will Forty Niner Send Stephens Out as a Big Winner?

There’s a large painted sign on the front wall of Barn M at Hialeah Park that reads:

Where

Woody Stephens

The Only Man in History

Developed and Trained

Five (5) Consecutive

Belmont Winners

1982 Conquistador Cielo

1983 Caveat

1984 Swale

1985 Creme Fraiche

1986 Danzing(sic) Connection

Congratulations

Hialeah Park

Woody Stephens has been training horses out of Hialeah’s Barn M for more than 30 years, going back to the days when he handled the Cain Hoy Stable for Capt. Harry F. Guggenheim.

Besides Stephens’ five Belmont victories, the 75-year-old Hall of Fame trainer has won the Kentucky Derby twice, with Cannonade in 1974 and Swale in 1984, and he has trained 11 divisional champions, the last of whom--Forty Niner--will be favored Saturday in the $500,000 Florida Derby at nearby Gulfstream Park.

All of this over-accomplishment could be coming to an end after this year. Over a cup of coffee in Hialeah’s track kitchen Tuesday morning, Stephens said that he might be retiring.

“It depends on how I feel, but this might be my last year,” Stephens said. “After a while, you get to thinking that you’re coming out here every morning for nothing. You get to asking yourself what you’re doing it for.

“And the pressure doesn’t get any easier. No matter how many times you’ve been through a big race with a horse, the pressure’s still there when the next big race comes up.”

Stephens doesn’t have to work as hard as he used to. One of the luxuries of success is that he can afford to hire the best help, and he gives his assistants a free hand. Phil Gleaves, a former steeplechase rider from Liverpool, England, worked for Stephens for several years, then took off on his own, beating the master and Danzig Connection with Wise Times in the Travers at Saratoga a couple of years ago. Sandy Bruno, a former teacher, hung around Saratoga enough summers that Stephens finally gave her a full-time job, and now she’s ready to become a head trainer.

Stephens may delegate some of the authority, but he still puts in the hours. On Tuesday morning, he beat his 5:45 wake-up alarm by a half-hour, and was out walking his wife Lucille’s dog when the clock went off.

Stephens feels good. There has been no recurrence of the serious illness--pneumonia--that he suffered en route to his Derby victory with Swale in 1984.

Last year, he and Lucille went on a two-week vacation to Alaska.

“After a while, I got restless,” Stephens said. But he sounds like it was fun, and talks as though something similar might be worth trying again.

The early rising hours mitigate against the Stephenses doing much the night before. Arthur Appleton, the prominent Florida breeder, invited them to a party aboard his yacht the other night, but they politely declined. Woody Stephens usually goes to bed about 9:30; he stayed up comparatively late Monday night, because he wanted to watch the last two hours of “Bluegrass,” a TV mini-series with a racing plot.

“I hate to have to keep fighting the 35 head I’ve got here,” Stephens said. “But if I’m going to go, I’ve got to give my owners a chance to get ready for it.

“Henryk de Kwiatkowski and I have been together for 11 years. Claiborne (Farm) and me go all the way back to Judger. I bought him for them and he figured to have a better chance to win the Derby the same year Cannonade won it.”

Forty Niner, last year’s champion 2-year-old colt, is, like Swale, Claiborne all the way, having been bred by the third-generation Kentucky farm and also racing in its colors.

But Swale was sired by Seattle Slew, winner of the Triple Crown in 1977, and Forty Niner is a son of Mr. Prospector, a pre-eminent stallion but a horse who never won a race beyond seven furlongs. Although two of Forty Niner’s six wins--in eight starts--have come at 1 1/16 miles, he has not overwhelmed anyone, winning by a nose both times. The Florida Derby will be the first time that Forty Niner is asked to run as far as 1 1/8 miles.

“This colt’s a good eater, he’s filled out, and he’s sweet to be around,” Stephens said. “I just hope he will stay (a distance of ground). I guess of all the Mr. Prospectors, Conquistador (Cielo) is the one who’s stayed (a distance) the longest.”

De Kwiatkowski, Conquistador Cielo’s owner, even questioned Stephens’ wisdom about running his colt in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont.

“This horse can’t get a mile and a half,” De Kwiatkowski said. “You’ll cheapen his value by $10 million by trying to win that race.”

Stephens reassured his owner with the bluster that’s become his trademark. “Henryk, just make sure you’ve got your tuxedo on,” Stephens said.

Stephens ranks Conquistador Cielo and Swale as the best horses he’s ever trained, and he’s not ready to put Forty Niner in their class yet.

“One thing I can say about this colt is that I don’t believe I’ve ever done a better job training a horse,” Stephens said. “He’s got all the foundation he needs.”

In order to get Forty Niner to work harder in the mornings, Stephens has sent out fast, older horses to run with him. In company, Forty Niner has worked five furlongs in a minute--a good time for him--and one time he did six furlongs in 1:12, pushed along by Homebuilder, a 4-year-old who equaled the track record for 1 1/16 miles at Tampa Bay Downs Saturday.

Forty Niner has been on or close to the lead in all of his races, but Stephens feels that the colt has another dimension.

“I believe that Eddie (Maple) can rate him if there’s enough legitimate speed in the race for us to run at,” Stephens said.

The trainer finished his coffee, left the track kitchen and hopped into the golf cart that transports him around the stable area. It’s a cart that might be for sale if he goes through with his retirement plans.

Horse Racing Notes

Besides Forty Niner, other likely starters in the Florida Derby are Ruhlmann, Cherokee Colony, Notebook, Buoy, Frosty the Snowman, Sorry About That and Brian’s Time. . . . Ruhlmann, who’s always been a good work horse, continues to sparkle in the mornings since his arrival from California. The El Camino Real Derby winner turned in the fastest 6-furlong work of the Gulfstream season last week, and on Tuesday he turned in the fastest 5-furlong work, with the clockers catching him in :58. Ruhlmann was wearing the blinkers that trainer Bobby Frankel added for the El Camino. . . . Trainer Scotty Schulhofer said that Cryptoclearance would not leave Florida to run in the Santa Anita Handicap on Sunday. “Shipping out there would take too much out of him,” Schulhofer said. “There are too many opportunities elsewhere without going looking for Ferdinand, Alysheba and those other horses in California.” It was Phil Teinowitz, Cryptoclearance’s owner, who reportedly wanted to run in the Big ‘Cap. Schulhofer is said to have made a deal with Teinowitz--that they’d run if Cryptoclearance was given 10 pounds less than the Big ‘Cap’s high weight. It turned out that Cryptoclearance drew 119 pounds, 8 less than Ferdinand.