Stevens, Barrera Lend Derby Quest a Family Flavor

Fresh from his victory aboard Mister Frisky in the Santa Anita Derby, Gary Stevens wrapped himself in a Puerto Rican flag and yelled across the jockeys’ room to Angel Cordero Jr.

“Hey, Angel! Look what they gave me.”

Cordero, who finished fourth in the Derby on second-choice Real Cash, cringed at the sight of his native banner flying in Stevens’ corner.

“Oh, man. You took my title away from me,” moaned Cordero, the self-proclaimed Prince of Puerto Rico. “I’m going to be from Brooklyn now. You and Mister Frisky are just too much.”

When the 27-year-old Stevens and 65-year-old trainer Laz Barrera descend upon Churchill Downs for the May 5 Kentucky Derby, the racing world will witness a jockey-trainer relationship like no other.

“Laz is like family,” said Stevens, who got his start in California with Barrera’s help six years ago. “Riding for him feels the same as when I ride horses my father trains.”

Barrera needs no prompting when it comes to Stevens.

“Gary is a good man,” said the Hall of Fame trainer. “His children call me Grandpa Laz.”

Barrera jumped on the Stevens bandwagon from the moment the Idahoan came to Southern California, first for a three-month stint in 1980 and then when he returned for good in 1984.

“When I first started riding for Laz, there was like an aura between the two of us,” Stevens said. “Everything clicked. He’s never given me a lot of instructions. I seem to know what he’s thinking and he knows what I’m thinking.”

Barrera supplied Stevens with his first major stakes winner when Western won the 1985 San Luis Obispo Handicap at Santa Anita. Stevens also has Barrera to thank for his first champion, Tiffany Lass, who was voted top 3-year-old filly of 1986.

“Laz has got so much confidence in me, I can make a mistake and he’ll try to figure out a way to make it his fault,” Stevens said. “There’s no second-guessing. Laz puts absolutely no pressure on me.”

That’s hard to believe, though, when it comes to Mister Frisky. Not only is the Puerto Rican champion considered the Kentucky Derby favorite, he is unbeaten in 16 races, the last three under Stevens.

“What am I going to tell Gary that he doesn’t already know about this colt?” Barrera said Saturday. “I told him that I did all I could, now it’s up to him. I tell him just to use his head.”

Stevens does not need to be reminded of what Mister Frisky has done.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself with this colt,” Stevens said. “I’ve been defending him a lot in terms of handling a distance and carrying weight. I’ve kept saying, ‘It’s not going to be a problem.’

“All the time, though, I’m thinking in the back of my mind, ‘I hope it’s not going to be a problem.’ He answered those questions for me today.”

Mister Frisky also proved he could handle the distractions of a big crowd. The 44,837 fans at Santa Anita Saturday provided a dress rehearsal for the madness of Derby Day at Churchill Downs, according to Stevens.

“I was thinking that as we were riding out to the track,” Stevens said. “There’s nothing like Derby Day, but with people shouting at him and everything, this was as close as it gets.”

Actually, Mister Frisky ran well in spite of the extra commotion. When an impromptu rooting section yelled out encouragement at the walking ring before the race, he scattered a group of onlookers with a clockwise spin of flashing hind hoofs.

By the time he reached the starting gate, Mister Frisky was drenched in his own sweat, hardly the picture of composure for a 3-5 favorite. Stevens said he wasn’t worried.

“He’s gotten wet in his other two races here, and today it was a little muggier than it has been,” he said. “I’ve had a lot horses go to the gate like that in the last few days.”

As far as Stevens is concerned, the time to get worried is the day Mister Frisky goes postward cool and dry.

“He’s exactly the opposite in the afternoon than he is in the morning,” Stevens said. “When I work him, he’s just as docile as a pony. He’ll go as fast or as slow as you want him to. But when he comes over for a race, it’s like he’s a warrior going into battle. The first time he ran here I heard a horse kick the wall of the saddling barn while I was getting dressed. It was him.”

Mister Frisky’s winning purse of $275,000 enabled Stevens to pad his lead in the national money standings this year. Through Saturday’s races, he had ridden the winners of more than $4 million so far this year.

If Stevens can maintain his pace he will be odds-on to take his first national championship. He could even surpass the record of $14.8 million set by Jose Santos in 1988.

“Things couldn’t be working out better,” Stevens said. “And now, to have a chance to win the Kentucky Derby for Laz--that’s what I really want.”