Lukas Sees a Smaller Than Average Derby Field

Although trainer Wayne Lukas feels that the 1988 Kentucky Derby field may be one of the smallest in years, four or five of the colts that his filly, Winning Colors, soundly beat in the Santa Anita Derby may seek a rematch at Churchill Downs on May 7.

The horses that finished second through fifth Saturday--Lively One, Mi Preferido, Tejano and What a Diplomat--are all headed for Kentucky, and the new handlers of Purdue King, who ran seventh in the nine-horse field, still have Derby aspirations.

On Sunday, the day after Winning Colors’ 7 1/2-length win at Santa Anita, Lukas repeated what he said earlier about the Kentucky Derby candidates weeding themselves out.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they only had about 14 horses in Louisville,” Lukas said. “That would be great--they’d need only one starting gate.”

If Lukas is right, it would be a reversal of form for the Derby. There have been fewer than 16 starters in the race only twice in the 1980s--two 13-horse fields--and the average number of starters has been 17.

A forecast for a small field from Lukas is surprising because the trainer himself has four candidates for the Derby--Tejano, Dynaformer and Notebook besides Winning Colors. And Woody Stephens, who has won the Derby twice, has three contenders--Forty Niner, Cefis and Digress.

The Santa Anita Derby was the fourth major prep for the Kentucky Derby. Only three major preps remain--the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park and the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, both on April 23, and the Blue Grass at Keeneland on April 28.

The Blue Grass may draw Mi Preferido, Tejano and What a Diplomat. Dick Mulhall, who trains What a Diplomat, says he is not considering the Kentucky Derby right now, but if his colt would somehow run a big race in the Blue Grass, that posture could possibly change.

Purdue King, who was bought shortly before the Santa Anita Derby by Bob Starnes of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for an estimated $1 million, is likely to run either in the Forerunner, a 1 1/16-mile grass stake at Keeneland on April 22, or the one-mile Derby Trial at Churchill Downs the Saturday before the Derby.

Why would any of these horses be considered for another race against Winning Colors, who devastated them Saturday in becoming only the third filly to win the Santa Anita Derby in its 51-year history?

“The Kentucky Derby is a different distance, there’ll be different horses running and it might be a different race,” said Laz Barrera, a two-time winner at Churchill Downs and the trainer of Mi Preferido. “We don’t know if Winning Colors can carry her speed over a mile and a quarter (the Kentucky Derby distance), and that’s why you’d run against her there--to find out.”

The Santa Anita Derby is 1 1/8 miles, which is 220 yards shorter than the Kentucky Derby.

With Mi Preferido unable to stay close early, there was no one else to challenge Winning Colors’ quickness on Saturday.

“Maybe nobody was capable of staying up with the filly,” said Charlie Whittingham, winner of the 1986 Kentucky Derby with Ferdinand and trainer of Lively One. Winning $100,000 for second place Saturday, Lively One now should have no earnings problem if more than the maximum number of 20 tries to run in Louisville. Lively One will not run again before the Derby.

“My horse finished well Saturday,” Whittingham said. “He beat all but one. The mile and a quarter won’t hurt him any and I think he’ll improve on the Churchill Downs track. Horses are having trouble coming from behind at Santa Anita these days.”

Lukas suspects that Gary Stevens, who has ridden Winning Colors in all but the first of her six starts, will ride her back in the Derby, but there was no confirmation Sunday. Stevens has also been riding Stalwars, another top Derby candidate now training at Keeneland to run in the Lexington Stakes there this Saturday.

Lukas once took Stevens off one of his horses in the Triple Crown series. After Tank’s Prospect finished seventh with Stevens in the 1985 Derby, the trainer switched to Pat Day two weeks later and the colt won the Preakness.

In the last two years, however, the 25-year-old Stevens has ridden horses that have earned $19.6 million.

“Gary has matured into a world-class rider, I think he’s at the top of his career,” Lukas said Sunday morning in his barn office. “But I can’t blame a guy if he wants to handicap the Derby.

“This filly isn’t difficult to ride, and there are a lot of other riders available if Gary surprises me and doesn’t stick with her.”

Shortly after Lukas said that, the phone on his desk rang.

It was Angel Cordero on the line, calling from New York.

Horse Racing Notes

Flying Victor, who finished last in the Santa Anita Derby, bled in the race. He will remain in California to run. . . . Havanaffair, the California-based gelding who finished last in the Tropical Park Derby at Calder, suffered a hairline fracture of the right ankle in the race and will be sidelined for four months. . . . Aloha Prospector, third behind Forty Niner and Buoy in last Friday’s Lafayette at Keeneland, has given up the Kentucky Derby hunt and will run against California-breds in the Piedmont at Golden Gate Fields on April 30. . . . Undefeated Charlie’s Notes, who won his fifth straight, beating Bel Air Dancer by 3 1/2 lengths Saturday in the Sausalito at Golden Gate, is a gelding who wasn’t nominated to the Triple Crown races. . . . As expected, Alysheba and Ferdinand were given equal weights, 127 pounds apiece, for the San Bernardino Handicap at Santa Anita next Sunday. The next three weighted horses--Judge Angelucci, Gulch and Nostalgia’s Star--are expected to skip the race and run in the $500,000 Oaklawn Park Handicap on Saturday. Among the other weights for the San Bernardino are Simply Majestic at 116 pounds and Variety Road at 115.