Lukas Disciples Stewart, Barnett on Right Track to Upstage the Mentor

While trainer Wayne Lukas struggles to get a horse to the Kentucky Derby for the 19th straight year, two members of the Lukas alumni association are a race away from Churchill Downs on May 1.

The day after Lukas’ Cat Thief ran third on Saturday in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, there was a Lukas alumni exacta at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, where Kimberlite Pipe and Answer Lively were separated by only a head at the finish of the Louisiana Derby.

Kimberlite Pipe, a 21-1 shot, is trained by Dallas Stewart, who worked as an assistant for Lukas for almost 12 years. He formed his own stable about 15 months ago.

Answer Lively, the champion 2-year-old male last year, is trained by Bobby Barnett, who rode quarter horses for Lukas in California, then was an exercise rider and assistant trainer under Lukas. Barnett has trained his own horses since 1985.

Kimberlite Pipe and Answer Lively are headed either for Oaklawn Park, for the Arkansas Derby, or Keeneland, where the Blue Grass Stakes is run. Both races are on April 10.

A May foal--which means he won’t actually turn 3 until after the Derby--Kimberlite Pipe was sold as a yearling for $11,000. The race before the Louisiana Derby, he ran a close third behind Ecton Park and Answer Lively. Ecton Park ran third, beaten by only two heads, in the Louisiana Derby.

“This is a good horse,” Stewart said about Kimberlite Pipe. “He ran well when he was third, then he moved forward in the Louisiana Derby.”

Kimberlite Pipe had won only three of nine starts before Sunday and had been trounced by Exploit last year and by Texas Glitter in January. Only two Louisiana Derby winners--Black Gold in 1924 and Lukas’ Grindstone--have won the Kentucky Derby.

Answer Lively hasn’t won a race in three starts this year, after winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs in November, but after a lackluster debut as a 3-year-old, he has just missed in two second-place finishes. A juvenile champion hasn’t won the Derby since Spectacular Bid in 1980.

Cat Thief, third in the Breeders’ Cup, a length behind Answer Lively, also hasn’t won as a 3-year-old, but he has run well in Florida with two thirds and a second.

“We were on the lead in the Florida Derby, which wasn’t where we hoped to be,” Lukas said. “Then we got beat by less than a length. I’m still encouraged about this horse being able to get [the Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles]. The Blue Grass is next.”

Horse Racing Notes

With Gary Stevens committed to riding Silverbulletday in the Ashland at Keeneland on April 3, Chris McCarron will ride General Challenge in the Santa Anita Derby. McCarron has also been named to ride Lethal Instrument, who will make his stakes debut in the Gallery Furniture--formerly the Jim Beam--Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., March 27.

The Pimlico Special, on May 8, is next for Free House, the Santa Anita Handicap winner. . . . Dallas Stewart has another promising 3-year-old in Kutsa, who will run Saturday in the Rebel at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. . . . O.J. Waddell, the paraplegic harness driver, has been licensed by the California Horse Racing Board and hopes to drive in his first parimutuel race before the Los Alamitos season ends on April 3. Waddell, 37, was licensed after driving in several non-betting qualifying races. He has been confined to a wheelchair since being shot in the back in 1979.