Wire to Wire? : Holy Bull Sets Up as the Next Horse to Win Derby This Way

Bold Forbes carried his speed 1 1/4 miles to win the Kentucky Derby in 1976, and since then only Spend A Buck in 1985 and the filly Winning Colors in 1988 have won the race in wire-to-wire fashion.

Holy Bull will probably try to become the next horse to wire the Derby field, and while rival trainers are saying he won’t have the easy time he has enjoyed in recent races, there won’t be many volunteers to get in his way at Churchill Downs a week from Saturday. Trainers frequently talk about killing the speed in the Derby, but by the time they get to the paddock for pre-race jockey instructions, it’s often a bullet they don’t want to bite. When more than one horse helps set breakneck early fractions, the only beneficiaries are horses with off-the-pace styles.

In 1985, opponents of Spend A Buck expected Eternal Prince, the winner of the Wood Memorial, to also be running on the front end. But Eternal Prince broke in a tangle--George Steinbrenner, one of his owners, suggested later that the gate crew didn’t handle the colt properly--and was never in contention. Spend A Buck, setting some of the fastest fractions in Derby history, was six lengths ahead after a half-mile and the race was over. He won by 5 3/4 lengths, with his time of 2:00 1/5 being the third fastest, behind Secretariat’s 1:59 2/5 in 1973 and Northern Dancer’s 2:00 in 1964.

Three years later, Winning Colors came to Louisville with the well-deserved reputation of being a run-off filly. She had wired the field in the Santa Anita Oaks, winning by eight lengths. About a month later, trainer Wayne Lukas sent her against colts and she won the Santa Anita Derby by 7 1/2 lengths.

All week at Churchill Downs, trainers talked about putting pressure on Winning Colors early in the race, but by Derby day, no one wanted the gauntlet. Under no pressure, Lukas’ filly ran the first half-mile in :46 4/5, not a fast time by Derby standards, and she and jockey Gary Stevens survived a mad dash by Forty Niner through the stretch to win by a neck.

Stevens, while committed to Santa Anita Derby winner Brocco in this year’s Derby, won the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct with Irgun, a speedy horse who might have been a candidate to put some heat on Holy Bull. But on Tuesday, Irgun was scratched from the Derby because of an abscessed right front hoof.

With Irgun out, Jerry Bailey has picked up the mount on Blumin Affair, the second-place finisher under Eddie Delahoussaye in the Arkansas Derby. Delahoussaye’s Derby mount is Strodes Creek. Bailey, winner of the Derby last year with Sea Hero, was second in the Wood with Go For Gin and had accepted the mount on Irgun after the race.

Chris McCarron will ride Go For Gin. “I’ll just be happy if we have a rider who’ll pay attention to instructions,” said Joe Cornacchia, one of Go For Gin’s owners and a partner in 1991 Derby winner Strike The Gold. “Bailey was supposed to run with Irgun early in the Wood, but he still sat off the pace. We wanted to use the Wood as an experiment, to see if our horse could go early. But Bailey wasted the opportunity. Now we’re going into the Derby still not knowing.”

Oakmont, another fast horse who might have challenged Holy Bull early, ran poorly in last Sunday’s Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, and trainer Neil Howard won’t run him in the Derby.

Holy Bull has rebounded nicely from his 3 1/2-length Blue Grass victory, coming a month after a breezing in the Florida Derby.

“That horse shows poise just warming up,” Howard said. “He just takes your breath away.”

After working five furlongs Sunday at Keeneland, trainer Jimmy Croll said Holy Bull would remain at the Lexington, Ky., track before being taken by van the 70 miles to Churchill Downs on Saturday. His next scheduled work is Monday.

“I only had two concerns in the Blue Grass,” Croll said. “When a horse goes into the gate, all kinds of things go through your mind, because a lot of races are won at the gate. But he broke perfectly. In fact, he’s broke the best he’s ever broke in the last two races. Then I was concerned when Valiant Nature came to us at the quarter pole. But my horse strided out and I knew we were in good shape.”

Despite Holy Bull’s overpowering effort, the second, third and fourth finishers in the Blue Grass--Valiant Nature, Mahogany Hall and Kandaly--are headed for the Derby.

Mahogany Hall, bred by Del Mar horseman Shelly Meredith, improved off his sixth-place finish in the Jim Beam Stakes. His owner, Cincinnati businessman Robert Hoeweler, bought the Woodman colt for $120,000.

Hoeweler will be overreaching at Churchill Downs, but so will several of the estimated 15 starters in the year of the Holy Bull. These are the probables:

Holy Bull, Brocco, Tabasco Cat, Soul Of The Matter, Strodes Creek, Valiant Nature, Go For Gin, Blumin Affair, Powis Castle, Kandaly, Southern Rhythm, Meadow Flight, Smilin Singin Sam, Mahogany Hall and Ulises.

Mahogany Hall has been beaten by more than 25 lengths in his last two starts, but Hoeweler saw something in the Blue Grass that justifies a trip to Churchill Downs.

“After the race, my horse stood there looking at the cameras,” Hoeweler said. “It was like he was saying, ‘Do you want me to do some more?’ If he could ever figure out how to run the first half of the race, we’d have a monster on our hands.”