A Case of Beginner’s Luck After 53 Years : Horse racing: After owning several colts who nearly made it to the Kentucky Derby, Genter, 92, has a winner in her first attempt.

Frances Genter’s eyesight is so poor that the running of the 116th Kentucky Derby Saturday was only a blur.

Unbridled’s jockey, Craig Perret, wore a yellow cap rather than a light blue one so that owner Genter, 92, might be able to follow her colt in the race, but she still needed her trainer, Carl Nafzger, to stand next to her and give a play-by-play account of the race.

Nafzger began: “It’s a clean break, he’s laying great.”

With a half-mile to run, he said: “He’s making a nice move.”

Then: “He’s fifth . . . fourth . . . third. . . . He’s taking the lead!”

As Unbridled flashed by his owner’s box, Nafzger pointed toward the track and said: “There he is!’

Finally, Nafzger screamed: “Mrs. Genter, you’ve got a Kentucky Derby winner!”

Genter gasped. “Oh!” she whispered. Tears outlined her smiling face.

“If I ever won a Derby, I wished it was this one,” Nafzger said. “Mrs. Genter is 92 years old, 53 years in racing, and this is her first Derby horse.”

On Sunday morning, while it rained again at Churchill Downs, horsemen reflected on the Derby.

“We can thank the Man Upstairs for taking care of Mrs. Genter,” said trainer Nick Zito, whose Thirty Six Red ran ninth Saturday. “I talked all week about paying my dues to get here. Now what do I do, reverse that? Ninety-two years old, that’s paying dues.”

Ron McAnally, who trains Silver Ending, the fifth-place Derby finisher, was in the box next to Genter Saturday. McAnally couldn’t see the race, either. “This was typical of the Derby,” he said. “You pay $4,000 for tickets and you can’t see because of everybody in front of you.”

When McAnally looked over at Genter, clutching Nafzger after the race was won, he got a warm feeling. “This is a woman who’s been in racing all her life,” McAnally said.

The owner of Unbridled was born in Pennsylvania in 1898, the year Plaudit won the 24th running of the Kentucky Derby. She met Harold Genter while they were students at the University of Minnesota and they were married in 1919. Her husband developed the pop-up toaster and started the Toastmaster company.

Harold Genter considered himself a good handicapper and backed his opinions with hefty bets at the windows. In 1940, he and Frances went to the Saratoga sales and bought their first horse.

That led to an involvement in breeding thoroughbreds. A broodmare band of 30 was not uncommon for the Genters.

In 1951, the Genters won the Santa Anita Derby with Rough’n Tumble, ridden by Eddie Arcaro and trained by Sunshine Calvert. Rough’n Tumble later sired My Dear Girl, who was the champion 2-year-old filly in 1959. Some other important Genter horses have included In Reality, who won the Florida Derby 23 years before Unbridled did, and Smile, the champion sprinter for 1986.

Harold Genter died in 1981, and his widow decided to remain in racing--delegating a son-in-law, Bentley Smith, to manage the stable. Frances Genter, whose horses still run in that name, has remarried, to Earl Knudtson, a retired businessman who prefers golf to horses. Knudtson, 93, played 18 holes the day before Unbridled won the Florida Derby, and on Saturday he played nine holes in Minnesota before watching the Derby on television.

Genter bought Unbridled, a son of Fappiano, for $70,000 as a weanling at Tartan Farm’s dispersal auction. Genter also bought Unbridled’s dam, Gana Facil. Gana Facil means “Easy Victory.”

Genter has raced a horse named Unbridled before. The first Unbridled was a colt who did well in 1949 as a 2-year-old, but never made it to the Derby.

Smith was asked why Genter used the name again. With the original Unbridled dead, the name was available through the Jockey Club. “We just ran out of names,” Smith said. “It was a good name, so we submitted it.”

Frances Genter might have had a Derby starter before, but she never pushed her trainers. Rough’n Tumble wasn’t a sound horse and the breeder, who was also a friend of the Genters, suggested that they skip the Derby. Calvert didn’t think In Reality could run 1 1/4 miles and the Genters agreed. Some other good Genter 3-year-olds--Superbity, Dr. Carter and Smile--had physical problems that precluded the Derby. Saturday, however, there were no problems at all.

Frances Genter had the horse right here, as the lyric from “Guys and Dolls” goes. Dressed in a pillbox hat with veil, a polka-dot blouse and a dark skirt, the little grayhaired old lady waved and blew kisses to the crowd as she was taken to the winner’s circle.

“This is such a thrill,” she said. “I’m really, really thrilled. We’re No. 1. The Preakness is up to Carl. We’ve been taking things one day at a time.”