HORSE RACING BLUE GRASS STAKES : Prairie Bayou Wins; Corby Is Seventh

The prospect of John Ed Anthony’s Loblolly Stable having a strong multiple-horse entry in the Kentucky Derby moved one race closer to reality as Prairie Bayou rallied from next to last for a two-length victory in the $500,000 Blue Grass Stakes before 26,183 at Keeneland on Saturday.

Dalhart, another 3-year-old owned by Anthony, is expected to be the favorite in next Saturday’s Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, and a solid performance would enable him to join Prairie Bayou for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1.

Anthony has another horse, Over Jack Mountain, running in the Arkansas Derby, and the same day he will also start Marked Tree and Ozan in another Kentucky Derby prep, the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

Corby, the 8-5 Blue Grass favorite, ran his worst race ever, finishing seventh in the nine-horse field, more than 12 lengths behind the winner.

Instead of leaving Corby in California, where he would have been favored in last week’s Santa Anita Derby over a track he loves, owner Allen Paulson brought him to Keeneland for a performance that trainer John Sadler called a “non-effort.” The move was made to accommodate Paulson’s filly Eliza, who was not eligible to run in the Blue Grass and finished third in the Santa Anita Derby.

After the Blue Grass, Corby was cleared by a veterinarian. Paulson said that the plan was still to run Corby in the Kentucky Derby. Eliza is scheduled to run in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on April 30.

Chris McCarron, who rode Corby on Saturday, had been aboard Prairie Bayou in the Jim Beam Stakes at Turfway Park two weeks ago when the son of Little Missouri and Whiffling, a Wavering Monarch mare, also came from behind to win.

McCarron’s deal with trainer Tom Bohannan was to ride Prairie Bayou only in the Jim Beam, and for the Blue Grass it was Mike Smith, who has an agreement with Anthony to ride the Loblolly horses of Smith’s choice through the Triple Crown series, who regained the mount. Smith rode Dalhart to a victory at Oaklawn the same day as the Jim Beam, and said Saturday that he will have a difficult but not unwanted decision to make if Dalhart joins Prairie Bayou for the Kentucky Derby.

With very little encouragement from Smith, who hit him only twice at the top of the stretch, Prairie Bayou split Dixieland Heat and Wallenda with an eighth of a mile left to take the lead that resulted in a $310,000 payday. The front-runners faded, with first Halostrada, a 71-1 shot, and then Living Vicariously unable to hold on.

Wallenda finished second, a nose in front of Dixieland Heat, who had won his five previous races. Sea Hero was fourth, another three-quarters of a length back, followed by Living Vicariously, Halostrada, Corby, Lykatill Hil and Pawpaw Hank. All of the starters carried 121 pounds, five less than Kentucky Derby weight. The first four finishers, plus Corby, probably will run in the Derby.

The third betting choice after Corby and Dixieland Heat, Prairie Bayou paid $9.40, running 1 1/8 miles in 1:49 3/5--2 1/5 seconds slower than Round Table’s stakes and track record in 1957. On a track that was drying out from heavy Friday rain and was upgraded from good to fast six races before the Blue Grass, the early fractions were slow--24, 48 1/5 and 1:12 1/5. The time for the mile was 1:37.

Prairie Bayou, a gelding, was not highly regarded by either his own stable or the public until recently. His victory in the Jim Beam was said to be against a group of second-rate horses.

Even Anthony was not optimistic going into the Blue Grass. “I was personally prepared to lose today,” he said, “because I knew that Keeneland is a track that frequently favors front-runners.”

Loblolly has run four horses in the Kentucky Derby, none with any success. Particularly disappointing was Demons Begone, the favorite who bled from the nostrils running down the backstretch and had to be pulled up by jockey Pat Day during the 1987 race.

Loblolly nominated 10 horses for this year’s Triple Crown.

“I have an idea why all of this fell into place,” Anthony said with a smile Saturday. “But I’m not going to share it with you now.”

Anthony, 54, is an Arkansas lumberman. His former wife, Mary Lynn Dudley, is still an equal partner in the Loblolly operation.

It was the fourth consecutive win for Prairie Bayou, who has six victories and two seconds in nine starts.

Corby came into the Blue Grass with two victories in as many starts as a 3-year-old, including a victory over Personal Hope, the Santa Anita Derby winner, on March 14.

Corby was fourth Saturday after a half-mile, behind Halostrada, Lykatill Hil and Living Vicariously, but dropped back after that.

“My horse just didn’t try at any point in the race,” McCarron said. “I could tell that the pace was slow, but he just wouldn’t pick it up, he wasn’t into the race at all. This is one of those times when you just can’t figure it out. I don’t have any excuses.”