Stute, Alperts Seek Brass Ring

If everything goes as planned, Mel Stute will make two trips to Kentucky in the next five weeks.

The trainer who had his first winner about 50 years ago at Portland Meadows will be at Turfway Park on Saturday to saddle Funontherun for the $600,000 Jim Beam Stakes.

Then, on the first Saturday in May, Stute hopes to be at Churchill Downs with the gray son of Runaway Groom for the Kentucky Derby.

Stute, who many believe belongs in racing’s Hall of Fame but who wasn’t on the list of nominations for induction later this year, won’t be alone either day.

He will be joined by owners Dave and Herb Alpert, brothers and longtime partners in the horse business who are afflicted with Derby fever.

Their temperature began to rise after Funontherun became a stakes winner in his fourth start, beating Inexcessivelygood by three-quarters of a length in the San Rafael on March 2 at Santa Anita.

It made for a memorable birthday for Dave Alpert, who turned 68 that day and who has owned horses for more than 20 years. He is the main reason his famous younger brother, who just finished a new album and is preparing to go on tour, is involved.

“He [likes horse racing], but he doesn’t devote as much time to it as I do,” said Dave, who oversees the building of offices and the different branches of Rondor Music. “He’s still active with his music and keeps very busy with that. He’s involved because we’re partners, and he tries to come out for the big races. He’ll fly in for the day [on Saturday].”

Still, Herb, who became famous with the Tijuana Brass and who founded A&M; Records with Jerry Moss, is the reason the brothers have Funontherun.

After the San Rafael, Stute, 69, related the story of how Herb wanted a gray horse when the trainer went to the Barretts’ sale at Fairplex Park in Pomona last year. “I don’t know why, he’s always liked gray horses,” Dave Alpert said. “A lot of people at the track like to bet on grays.”

Stute liked the looks of Funontherun--who was named by Dave Alpert’s wife, Merryl--and wound up buying him for $70,000, exceeding the limit of $60,000 he had been given. There were no problems going over budget then, and there certainly aren’t now that the Kentucky-bred has earned $161,550.

He is also on the verge of fulfilling the dream of any horse owner--reaching the Kentucky Derby.

“I’m euphoric,” Dave Alpert said. “[To get to the Derby] would be the most outstanding time anybody could have.”

Stute has been there twice, with no success, but under extremely different circumstances.

Nobody paid much attention to Bold ‘N Rulling, who finished sixth at 68-1 in 1980 while suffering a bowed tendon in the race. But everyone was focused on Snow Chief six years later.

Successful in the Florida and Santa Anita derbies before arriving in Kentucky, he was the 2-1 favorite under Alex Solis. But after getting the lead briefly with less than three furlongs to go, he faded badly and finished 11th of 16.

Although it didn’t have a happy ending, it was an experience Stute will never forget. Snow Chief earned redemption two weeks later with a victory in the Preakness and went on to win the Eclipse Award as the nation’s top 3-year-old colt or gelding in 1986.

“I became a celebrity [before the Derby],” Stute said. “When I got up in the morning, they had cameras in the hall to take my picture, and they rode in my car with me all the way to the track. It was fun. I have to admit it, I kind of liked it. It would mean quite a bit [to be in the Derby again].

“It was a disappointment [not winning], but it wasn’t the end of the world. Like I said that day, I had run 700 horses the year before and I’d won 103 races, so I had lost about 600 times. . . .

“It was really a great thing [when he won the Preakness]. It kind of redeemed me.”

In his last win, Funontherun showed some of Snow Chief’s tenacity, fighting back after he appeared beaten by Inexcessivelygood.

“I really don’t think he was at his best for that race, to be truthful,” said Stute, who has trained for the Alperts for about six years, and who has three other horses for them. The first horse he claimed for them was Behind The Scenes, who was taken for $32,000 and earned more than $300,000.

One reason Stute decided to run Funontherun in the Jim Beam, rather than next week’s Santa Anita Derby, is that it gives him an extra week for the Kentucky Derby in case he finds it necessary to race Funontherun again. Both the Jim Beam and Santa Anita Derby are 1 1/8 miles.