Despite Poor Showing, Houston Is Healthy : Kentucky Derby-Bound Horse Still Capable of Big Race, Lukas Says

Previously undefeated Houston, next to last as the 9-10 favorite Saturday in the $500,000 Santa Anita Derby, did not run on phenylbutazone, a painkiller that his trainer, Wayne Lukas, gives to many of his horses.

Lukas said Houston did not need the medication.

Despite record 95-degree heat, Houston did not get hot in the paddock, unlike his previous race at Aqueduct, where Lukas had to step in for an assistant to help Laffit Pincay mount the agitated colt.

After Saturday’s race, Houston cooled off as quickly as any of the horses that finished ahead of him, including the 11-length winner, Sunday Silence.

“Look at him,” Lukas said as the horses circled in the receiving barn, waiting for their post-race drug tests. “He’s the brightest horse here.”

Later, Houston’s lungs were examined, which showed that he did not bleed internally during the race. Lukas reported that the $2.9-million colt had a good appetite Saturday night, another indication that there was nothing physically wrong.

So why did Houston run poorly, beating only an inexpensive sprinter--Mr. Bolg--and finishing almost 17 lengths behind Sunday Silence, a horse he defeated last year?

Some trainers at Santa Anita Sunday were saying that Houston, who was running around two turns for the first time, had the look of a sprinter, but Lukas still thinks this son of Seattle Slew will give him a chance to win the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby for the second consecutive year. Lukas won with the filly, Winning Colors, last year.

Before the Santa Anita Derby, Lukas suggested that four lifetime starts would be enough of a foundation to run in the May 6 Kentucky Derby. But because Houston got little conditioning Saturday, Plan A is likely to be scratched.

Plan B calls for another race, and Lukas said there are three options--the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park April 22, the 1 1/16-mile Lexington at Keeneland April 25 and the one-mile Derby Trial at Churchill Downs April 29, a week before the Derby.

“I might be the only guy in America who knows what I have,” Lukas said. “I think this horse will be able to run as far as racing secretaries write the races. I’m disappointed and puzzled about what he did, but it’s just one race. Remember Winning Colors’ race in the Spinster? If we had listened to popular opinion, we would have buried her the next day.”

At 3-10, Winning Colors ran fourth, beaten by 15 lengths, in the Spinster at Keeneland last October. Three weeks later, she ran her best race since winning the Kentucky Derby--and arguably the best race of her career--in losing by a nose to undefeated Personal Ensign in the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs.

While Lukas debates what to do next with Houston, the plans for Sunday Silence are definite. Trainer Charlie Whittingham, who won the Kentucky Derby with Ferdinand in 1986, will breeze Sunday Silence once at Santa Anita, then ship him to Churchill Downs two weeks before the Derby.

“The weather is better in California,” Whittingham said, “But you’ve got to run over the track (with workouts) in Kentucky in order to have a chance. In the mornings, this is a push-button horse, you can do whatever you want with him. Ferdinand was a lazy horse and you had to force him to work.”

Lukas and Pincay described Houston as a “push-button horse” after his third consecutive victory, in the Bay Shore at Aqueduct March 25.

Asked about Easy Goer, Whittingham just shook his head. The Kentucky Derby favorite solidified his position Saturday, winning the Gotham at Aqueduct in 1:32 2/5, the fastest mile since Dr. Fager set the world record with a 1:32 1/5 performance at Arlington Park in 1968.

Whittingham saw a rerun of Easy Goer’s Gotham on television Saturday night.

“He won easy and he ran fast,” Whittingham said. “There’s nothing you can do about that. We won by only 11 (lengths). The other horse won by 13.

“But I’ll say this about my horse--the (Derby) distance won’t bother him. And he’s got good speed. He’s got a good lick. And an off track won’t bother him either.”

When Ferdinand won, he paid $37.40 to win, the biggest Derby mutuel price in 20 years.

Had it not been for the Whittingham-Bill Shoemaker connection, Ferdinand would have sneaked into the race with even less respect.

This time, Sunday Silence and his jockey, Pat Valenzuela, will be the second-betting choice, regardless of what Easy Goer does in his final Derby tuneup, the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct April 22.

“We’ll get a lot more press this time,” Whittingham said. “And the New York horse will scare out a lot of the other horses who might run. But it’s still the Kentucky Derby. If you want to get the ham, you’ve got to reach farther up the tree.”