Notes on a Scorecard - May 6, 1994

Charlie Whittingham, the wit, summed up his contributions to the training career of a protege. . . .

“I taught you everything you know,” he told Rodney Rash. “But not everything I know.” . . .

Rash, 34, worked for Whittingham, 81, for 15 years and was his top assistant when the Bald Eagle saddled Ferdinand and Sunday Silence for victories in the Kentucky Derby. . . .

Saturday, they will be rivals, Rash’s Powis Castle matched against Whittingham’s Strodes Creek and 13 others. . . .

Powis Castle is 30-1, but his conditioner kind of fancies his chances. . . .

“We’re a live longshot,” Rash said Thursday at his barn before drawing the favorable No. 3 post. . . .

“He’s unbeaten, two for two, at Churchill Downs,” he said. “He’s been working very well and should be able to handle any kind of track condition. Chris Antley is a terrific rider who fits the horse perfectly.” . . .

But if Powis Castle doesn’t spring the upset, Rash hopes that Strodes Creek, 8-1 in the morning line, does. . . .

“Of course, I’ll be rooting for Charlie if we can’t get there,” Rash said. . . .

“Charlie would have been a success no matter what career he had chosen. In the military, he would have been a MacArthur, in politics a Reagan, in religion the Pope.” . . .

Rash joined Alcoholics Anonymous eight years ago and hasn’t had a drink since. . . .

“I’d cry if I won the Kentucky Derby,” he said. “I had lost faith in myself. I didn’t like myself. To win the Derby would be so important to me, so unbelievable.” . . .

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Every year, ABC cameras isolate four horses. . . .

Even though no favorites have won, the network has isolated seven of the last eight winners, missing only Lil E. Tee two years ago. . . .

“Curt Gowdy Jr. (the producer) and I will pick the four horses Saturday morning,” associate producer Steve Nagler said. “We’ll probably go with a couple of well-bet horses and a couple of outsiders.” . . .

Co-host Al Michaels is picking longshot Blumin Affair. His selection should be respected. Michaels cashed a winning ticket on 133-1 shot Arcangues in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. . . .

Less than 200 of 10,000 hotel rooms in Jefferson County remain available for the weekend. A couple of venerable downtown establishments are charging $1,400 for three nights’ residence in a small room. . . .

When Soul Of The Matter, who beat Brocco and Valiant Nature in the San Felipe at Santa Anita, is 20-1, you know this is the deepest Derby field in years. . . .

The manufacturing of Louisville Slugger bats is supposed to be moved to, of all places, Louisville within two years. They have been made in Clark County, Ind., the last 22 years. . . .

Randy Winick, whose Brocco has trained here better than anyone in the field, loves the Churchill Downs oval. . . .

“After three days of pouring rain, the track was fast,” Winick said. “I wish we could transport this surface to Southern California.” . . .

Former football coach Jimmy Johnson continues to enjoy the good life. Johnson, who took in the Michael Moorer-Evander Holyfield fight at Las Vegas, will be at the Derby. . . .

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Jeff Lukas will watch the race on television with friends in Southern California. . . ..

“Jeff is very much in tune with what’s going on here,” said his father, Wayne. “We talk on the phone every day and he wants to know how all the horses are working and he’s already analyzed the race.” . . .

Of course, Jeff’s scenario has Tabasco Cat, the horse who knocked him down and seriously injured him last year, staying close to the pace and then storming home in front. . . .

Gary Stevens, who will ride Brocco, visited his 1988 Derby-winning mount, Winning Colors, in Lexington on Monday. . . .

“It was amazing,” Stevens said. “The barn manager said she was so mean that nobody could get within 10 feet of her. Well, I yelled, ‘Yo, Mama’ from a distance, walked right up to her, and she was as nice as could be.” . . .

The winner of the Run for the Roses is presented a garland of 554 roses. . . .

Trainer Brian Mayberry, on what he will tell Eddie Delahoussaye before he rides Sardula in the Kentucky Oaks today: “If you have to give him instructions, you’ve got the wrong jockey.”