Favoritism Merely Trickles In for This Horse of the Year

For an undefeated colt whose feats have evoked memories of Secretariat and Native Dancer, Favorite Trick has not piled up the accolades commensurate with his nine-race streak and 1997 horse-of-the-year title.

In a recent national poll, Favorite Trick didn’t receive one first-place vote. In the Daily Racing Form’s assessment of Kentucky Derby contenders last week, Lil’s Lad, who has lost three of seven races, was rated dead even with Favorite Trick. Frequently, when trainers of the top 3-year-olds are asked about the crop, they mention Lil’s Lad, Indian Charlie, Event Of The Year and others, but must be reminded of Favorite Trick.

Bob Baffert, who trains Indian Charlie and another Derby hopeful, Real Quiet, said he believes he knows why.

“The media have crushed him already,” Baffert said. “But don’t kid yourself. This is a tough, relentless horse.”

Favorite Trick is a 4-5 favorite to extend his unbeaten streak to 10 races Saturday in the $500,000 Arkansas Derby here at Oaklawn Park, and perhaps another win will finally make him the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2. But a victory over Lil’s Lad in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, also on Saturday, would have done more to bolster Favorite Trick’s reputation.

Bill Mott, who took over Favorite Trick’s training this year, after Patrick Byrne signed on as a private trainer with Canadian industrialist Frank Stronach, mentioned the Blue Grass as his colt’s next probable race after Favorite Trick made his 1998 debut by winning the Swale Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 14.

But two things happened, Mott said. First, Pat Day, the only jockey Favorite Trick has had, told Mott that the horse burned his heels in a race at Keeneland last year. Then Coronado’s Quest, who dueled with Lil’s Lad for the first mile of the Florida Derby the same day Favorite Trick won the Swale, dropped out of the Blue Grass.

“Before that, it was Blue Grass, Blue Grass, Blue Grass,” Mott said at his barn at Oaklawn. “But when Coronado’s Quest’s plans changed [he will run Saturday in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct], that changed the complexion of the race at Keeneland. Now there’s only one speed horse [Lil’s Lad] in the Blue Grass. I think my horse is as good as Lil’s Lad. But if we were forced to go after Lil’s Lad early in the Blue Grass, we might be running too hard of a race just three weeks before the Kentucky Derby.”

Burning heels--horsemen refer to the abrasive condition as “running down”--can be painful.

“Oaklawn’s not a track known for doing this to horses,” Mott said. “If a horse runs down at this time of the year, it could create havoc in getting him ready for the Derby. You wouldn’t be able to train him the way you want to.”

Favorite Trick was the first 2-year-old to win horse of the year since Secretariat in 1972. His eight consecutive victories as a juvenile were one short of the undefeated record Native Dancer forged in 1947. Usually a young horse becomes a top-heavy future-book favorite for the Kentucky Derby under these circumstances, but the task in Louisville is 1 1/4 miles, and Favorite Trick’s bloodlines don’t project him as a classic router. His sire, Phone Trick, was a brilliant sprinter who was never tested at Triple Crown distances. Almost as soon as Favorite Trick reached the wire in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, an easy winner at 1 1/16 miles, analysts were brandishing his pedigree and predicting he would never win the Derby.

Wally Dollase, the California trainer who has removed his best 3-year-old, Orville N Wilbur’s, from the Derby mix because of distance limitations, has trained a few of Phone Trick’s progeny.

“You can look at them and tell right away that they’re sprinters,” Dollase said. “But Favorite Trick doesn’t have the same look to him. He’s got scope and class. I think he looks the part of a Derby horse.”

At 1 1/8 miles, the Arkansas Derby will be the longest race Favorite Trick has ever run. Eight other horses were entered when post positions were drawn Thursday. This is the way they’ll line up at the start, with jockeys and morning line odds:

Robinwould, Earlie Fires, 15-1; Fight For M’lady, Calvin Borel, 10-1; Battle Royale, Robert Lester, 30-1; Hanuman Highway, David Flores, 20-1; Victory Gallop, Alex Solis, 6-1; Quake, Kent Desormeaux, 3-1; Hot Wells, Tim Doocy, 30-1; Favorite Trick, Pat Day, 4-5; and Post A Note, Russell Baze, 12- 1. All horses will carry 122 pounds except Battle Royale, Hanuman Highway and Quake, who will run with 118.

Joe LaCombe, who bought Favorite Trick as an unraced 2-year-old for $100,000, has watched him earn $1.2 million. He now owns 60% of the colt, after selling the rest late last year to Walmac International, a large breeding operation in Lexington, Ky. LaCombe tries to downplay the streak, but he’d have better luck throwing a tarpaulin over the Statue of Liberty.

“Every race is a different event,” LaCombe said after the Swale. “We’re disregarding the streak. I think if my horse ever gets close to a streak like Cigar’s, I’d have a heart attack.”

Mott trained Cigar, who matched Citation’s streak by winning 16 in a row in 1995-96, and his ticker seems just fine. One of the reasons LaCombe hired Mott was the trainer’s knack of co-existing with the press as Cigar’s win total swelled.

Mott, 44, has won two Eclipse awards for training and stands a good chance of being elected into the Racing Hall of Fame this year, his first on the ballot. But for all the important races he has won, his participation in the Kentucky Derby is limited to one starter, Taylor’s Special, who finished 13th in 1984.

Favorite Trick is nine furlongs from sending Mott back to the Derby.

“I’d like to win [Saturday] and go into the Derby undefeated,” he Mott said. “But it doesn’t look like we’ve chased anybody away. I suppose there’s a way he could get beat and have enough valid excuses that we’d still run in Kentucky. But I’d rather do it the right way. I’d rather do it with one more win. That’s my nature, I guess.”

Horse Racing Notes

Lil’s Lad, first in the Florida Derby before a disqualification that made Cape Town the winner, is the 1-2 favorite Saturday in the $700,000 Blue Grass at Keeneland. Cape Town and Halory Hunter, who finished second and third, respectively, in Florida, are also are running, and rounding out the field are longshots Ian’s Thunder and Solid Wood. . . . There’s a 12-horse field for Saturday’s $500,000 Wood Memorial, the Kentucky Derby prep at Aqueduct. Heading the field are Coronado’s Quest and Prosperous Bid, who is shipping in from California to make his first start for new trainer Bob Baffert. Different might be a slight favorite in today’s $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park, having finished third in the race last year. It will be the 6-year-old mare’s first start since August. Trainer Ron McAnally also will saddle Toda Una Dama, winner of the Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita.

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund’s $1-million bonus series for 2-year-olds has been canceled this year because scheduling of the races could make it dangerous for the horses. The $1-million bonus has been won twice since the series began in 1992, by Mountain Cat, who won the first year; and Boston Harbor, who won the four-race series in 1996. One of each of the four races in the series for fillies or colts is run at Churchill Downs, Ellis Park, Turfway Park and Keeneland. Some of the races were to be run within 14-19 days of each other this year, too tight a schedule, said David Switzer, executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Assn. Usually, 2-year-olds have at least three weeks between races, Switzer said.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.