Kentucky Reservations Made

The navy-blue silks come with “NO BULL” on the back, in big, bold yellow letters.

Hal Earnhardt, the breeder and one of the owners of Indian Charlie, runs his colt in those silks because his auto-dealership uses the same slogan. You wonder about Earnhardt a little bit. He says he’s not like California counterpart Cal Worthington, he just knows the man, yet Earnhardt has been known to ride a steer in some of his TV commercials.

You don’t wonder about Indian Charlie. Not any more. Not after he won Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby by 2 1/4 lengths by running 1 1/8 miles in 1:47, which ties the race record set by Lucky Debonair in 1965 and matched by Sham eight years later.

OK, so Santa Anita’s rain-spattered racing strip was playing like tarmac Saturday. It was still a convincing performance, and Indian Charlie, who hasn’t lost in four races, will go to the Kentucky Derby, at Churchill Downs on May 2, as a formidable force.

The Bob Baffert-trained Indian Charlie, Favorite Trick and Event Of The Year could make it a history-making day--three undefeated horses in the same Derby, something Louisville has never had before. For that to happen, Favorite Trick, the reigning horse of the year, must win the Arkansas Derby next Saturday.

In the last three years, Baffert, the Santa Anita Derby and the Kentucky Derby have gone better than bagels, cream cheese and lox. The silver-haired trainer has dominated these races. Two years ago, he ran first at Santa Anita with Cavonnier, then finished second in Kentucky. Last year, he reversed the routine, taking second at Santa Anita and winning the Kentucky Derby with Silver Charm. In Saturday’s race, he was one-two with Indian Charlie and Real Quiet, the first time a trainer claimed the Santa Anita Derby exacta since Jimmy Smith saddled Knockdown and Star Pilot for Maine Chance Farm in 1946.

For Baffert, it’s another day, another dividend. A week ago Saturday, he was about 9,000 miles from Santa Anita, winning a $2.4-million purse with Silver Charm in the Dubai World Cup. The winner’s prize in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby was only $450,000, but Baffert won’t be throwing it back.

Gary Stevens rode Indian Charlie to victory, his sixth Santa Anita Derby winner in 14 tries. Stevens’ first win dates back to the filly Winning Colors in 1988, and more recently there has been no room for anyone else in this race. Stevens has won four of the last six, finished second last year aboard Silver Charm and was also second with Honour And Glory in 1996.

Only Bill Shoemaker, with eight, and Laffit Pincay, with seven, have won the Santa Anita Derby more than Stevens.

Both Indian Charlie and Real Quiet will run in the Kentucky Derby. “A lot depends on how they train over the track back there,” Baffert said. “But if they ran the race right now, they’d both be right there.”

John Gaines, the noted Kentucky breeder, and some partners recently bought what is believed to be 50% of Indian Charlie. Real Quiet is owned by Mike Pegram, who was introduced to Baffert by Earnhardt several years ago. Earnhardt, 42, goes back to Baffert’s quarter horse days in Arizona, where Indiana Charlie’s owner sells about 2,500 cars a month. He’s not a guy looking for free commercial time, but he has a son named Dodge. There are also kids named Derby and Dream in the family.

“The thing I like about Hal,” Baffert said, “is that he lets me run the show. We let him show up, yell through the stretch and go to the winner’s circle.”

Despite Indian Charlie’s inexperience--his three wins were in maiden and allowance company--the public believed Baffert’s pre-race palaver. That is, Indian Charlie was ahead of Silver Charm at this time a year ago, and a more talented colt than Real Quiet. Indian Charlie went off the favorite and paid $5.60. A son of In Excess and Soviet Sojourn--a mare Earnhardt once owned--Indian Charlie is the third consecutive California-bred to win the race.

Real Quiet finished seven lengths ahead of Artax, whose trainer, Randy Bradshaw, still plans to run him in the Kentucky Derby. Orville N Wilbur’s, who led until the quarter pole, finished fourth and won’t go to Kentucky. Churchill Downs may pick up another of Saturday’s horses; Old Trieste, who won a race later on the card, running a mile in 1:34 3/5, thrust himself into contention. The colt’s owner, Gary Biszantz, will be in Louisville one way or the other, perhaps to run in the Derby Trial on April 25, skip the Derby and shoot for the Preakness at Pimlico on May 16.

Most everyone in the crowd of 33,386 figured that Orville N Wilbur’s would zoom to the lead. On Friday, though, Baffert and Stevens considered joining the chase. By race day, they elected to stick with their original plan, sitting off Orville N Wilbur’s. As this scenario unfolded, fractions of :23, :46 and 1:09 4/5 showed on the tote board. Indian Charlie clung to second, never more than two lengths back, with Artax next.

“My horse broke good and running,” Stevens said. “You can ride him with so much confidence. And he has that acceleration. He knows what to do when he gets to that red-and-white [quarter] pole at the top of the stretch.”

Indian Charlie went past Orville N Wilbur’s with a quarter-mile left. Real Quiet, running toward the back early, had a clear shot at his stablemate through the stretch but couldn’t overhaul him.

“I’m elated with the way he ran,” said Kent Desormeaux, who rode Real Quiet. “He still finished over a track that was very, very speed-biased. It was very difficult to make up ground. He’s going to love the classic distance.”

Chris McCarron, who rode Artax, said that Indian Charlie just might be as good as the margins he won by.

Stevens rode Indian Charlie for the first time in February, when his second win came by nine lengths.

“You teach him something one time and he remembers,” Stevens said. “He feels like a horse who’s run 20 times instead of four.”

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Santa Anita Derby / The Finish

*--*

Finish Horse Jockey 1. Indian Charlie Stevens 2. Real Quiet Desormeaux 3. Artax McCarron 4. Orville N Wilbur’s Nakatani 5. Classic Cat Alvarado 6. Nationalore Douglas 7. Skeaping Flores

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A FAST CROWD

Fastest runnings of the Santa Anita Derby *--*

Time Horse Year 1:47 Lucky Debonair 1965 1:47 Sham 1973 1:47 Indian Charlie 1998 1:472/5 Hill Rise 1964 1:473/5 Solar Salute 1972 1:473/5 Avatar 1975 1:473/5 Codex 1980 1:473/5 Muttering 1982 1:473/5 Sunday Silence 1989 1:473/5 Free House 1997 1:474/5 Tompion 1960 1:474/5 Winning Colors 1988 1:47.99 Larry The Legend 1995

*--*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

TRACKING THE RACE

POST POSITIONS FOR SANTA ANITA DERBY

PP: HORSE, JOCKEY, TRAINER, ODDS

1: INDIAN CHARLIE, Gary Stevens, Bob Baffert, 9-5

2: SKEAPING, David Flores, Wayne Lukas, 53-1

3: ORVILLE N WILBUR’S, Corey Nakatani, Wally Dollase, 7-2

4: NATIONALORE, Rene Douglas, Mung Kwon Cho, 33-1

5: CLASSIC CAT, Frank Alvarado, David Cross, 26-1

6: ARTAX, Chris McCarron, Randy Bradshaw, 5-2

7: REAL QUIET, Kent Desormeaux, Bob Baffert, 3-1