Wood, Last Major Test for Derby, Is First for Champagneforashley

Trainer Howie Tesher, who says he has never cashed a wager on a boxer in his life, might be betting his reputation on Champagneforashley, the 3-year-old colt who is the 6-5 favorite in Saturday’s $500,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

The Wood is the last major prep for the Kentucky Derby, which will be run at Churchill Downs on May 5, and Tesher has brought Champagneforashley into the 1 1/8-mile race off an unusual schedule, to say the least.

Champagneforashley has warmed up for the Wood by running in--and winning--the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs and the DeWitt Clinton Handicap at Aqueduct. Because the fields for the Tampa Bay race have been so weak in recent years, and the Clinton is restricted to New York-breds, neither race has even a Grade III rating, which is the lowest classification for a stake of any significance.

Tesher, 54, claims he was forced into running Champagneforashley in those races, but there are the usual rumors that the trainer is protecting the horse, running him in soft spots to assure his value as a stallion.

Whatever the rationale, Champagneforashley will find no soft spot Saturday. Ten horses are entered in the Wood, including the first three finishers--Thirty Six Red, Senor Pete and Burnt Hills--in the swiftly run Gotham Mile two weeks ago.

All the congenial Tesher hopes is that he has better luck running Champagneforashley than he did betting on fighters. The other day at nearby Belmont Park, where Tesher’s barn is located, Gil Clancy, the veteran boxing figure, was a visitor, so it made sense to talk about the manly art.

“I bet on something like 25 fights in my life and never won any of them,” Tesher said. “I remember losing three fights in a row on Carmen Basilio. I bet on a guy from Nassau who was supposed to have a setup in Miami against a fighter from New Orleans, and the New Orleans guy won. I even lost a bet against Muhammed Ali, after my brothers fixed his jaw.”

Tesher was referring to Ali’s victory in a rematch with Ken Norton at the Forum in 1973.

The late Fred Tesher and his brother, Bob, studied dentistry and surgically reconstructed Ali’s injured jaw. “They must have done a good job,” Clancy said. “If there’s one thing Ali could always do, it was take a punch to the jaw.”

Howard Morgan Tesher, the member of the family who learned early that he wasn’t cut out to be a dentist, has been able to deflect the criticism he’s getting over Champagneforashley, who could be the trainer’s most important horse. In his only Kentucky Derby, Tesher finished 17th with Wolfie’s Rascal in a 19-horse field in 1982.

Champagneforashley, a New York-bred son of Track Barron and Champagne Babe, the Alleged mare, was bred by his owners, Howard Kaskel, Leon Feinbloom and Robert Baker, who have been partners in horses for 18 years. When Tesher showed the horse to Jacinto Vasquez last summer, the 45-year-old jockey postponed plans to retire and take up training.

Champagneforashley--whose name is a combination of the names of his dam and Baker’s 7-year-old daughter--ran for the first time last July and won by 14 1/2 lengths. A cough and a minor lower leg injury prevented Tesher from running the colt again until November, when he won a stake for New York-breds by seven lengths. In December, Champagneforashley ran in open company for the first time and won the Nashua Stakes by nine lengths.

As a 2-year-old, then, Champagneforashley won three times by a total of more than 30 lengths. Champagneforashley was sent to Florida for the rest of the winter, Tesher hoping to run him eventually in the Florida Derby or the Flamingo Stakes, traditional preps for the Kentucky Derby. The Flamingo was canceled when Hialeah, engaged in a long-running civil war with the two other South Florida tracks, aborted its season. The Florida Derby was eliminated from his plans, Tesher said, because he couldn’t find a suitable tuneup race for Champagneforashley at Gulfstream Park.

“I’m from Miami, many of my friends live there, and it was important for me to run the horse at Gulfstream. But they treated us like strangers, and every time a condition book (a schedule of upcoming races) came out, there was no race in it for my horse.”

Gulfstream officials said there were races available for Champagneforashley. At any rate, his debut as a 3-year-old turned out to be the Tampa Bay Derby, the day after the Florida Derby. Champagneforashley won by 1 1/2 lengths, beating no horses of consequence, and after the race, Tesher was a relieved but harried trainer.

“This horse usually has a great temperament, but that day he was nuts,” he said. “We couldn’t saddle him. He threw Vasquez in the post parade, and he broke real bad.”

Maybe the colic, which knocked Champagneforashley out of training after the race, was already coming on. It prevented Tesher from running him in the Gotham. Looking around, the only race the trainer could find in New York was the DeWitt Clinton, which would take Champagneforashley back in distance, from 1 1/16 miles to seven furlongs. Against a field that was even weaker than the one he faced at Tampa Bay Downs, Tesher’s horse won by 12 1/2 lengths in an excellent time of 1:21 2/5.

Tesher smiled at that performance, but his critics persist, and Champagneforashley needs to extend his winning streak Saturday before they’ll give the trainer some room to breathe.

Horse Racing Notes

Burnt Hills has drawn the rail, with Pat Valenzuela riding, in the Wood. From there out are Senor Pete, Chris McCarron; Thirty Six Red, Mike Smith; Country Day, Angel Cordero; Yonder, Jerry Bailey; Champagneforashley, Jacinto Vasquez; Adversarial, Chris Antley; Duke’s Cup, Jean Cruguet; Pendleton Ridge, Richard Migliore, and Nasty Charger, Eddie Maple. The entry of Senor Pete and Adversarial is second on the morning line at 7-2, along with Thirty Six Red. Burnt Hills and Pendleton Ridge, who are also coupled, are 4-1. All will carry 126 pounds, the Kentucky Derby weight.

Bright Again is the 2-1 favorite at Oaklawn Park Saturday in the Arkansas Derby, which has drawn 14 starters. The entry of Real Cash and Power Lunch is 3-1. Others running are Tarascon, Silver Ending, Nuits St. George, Wicked Destiny, Hawaiian Pass, Bold Pocket, Penguin, Seasabb, Autocracy and the entry of Maverick Miner and Bismarck Hills. . . . In the California Derby Saturday at Golden Gate Fields, the favorites are Tight Spot at 3-1 and Stalwart Charger at 4-1. The others in the 12-horse field are Cape Ludtke, Due to the King, College Green, Heaven Again, Robyn Dancer, Tsu’s Dawning, Forty Niner Days, Music Prospector, Flying Reb and Farma Way.

Frank (Jimmy) Kilroe, vice president for racing at Santa Anita, has told friends that his retirement is imminent. Kilroe, who is in his late 70s, suffered a stroke a year ago.