Fusaichi Pegasus Wins Wood

Fusaichi Pegasus, a 1,100-pound package of thoroughbred independence, was late to the post and late to the winner’s circle, but in between he was all punctuality, first by plenty in Saturday’s $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

When the colt’s jockey, Kent Desormeaux, and a track outrider finally coaxed Fusaichi Pegasus back to the winner’s circle, trainer Neil Drysdale was patiently standing in mud, surrounded by reporters in the middle of the track. Desormeaux looked down from his perch and said: “I’m ready, boys. I’m a rebel with a cause.”

Translation: Fusaichi Pegasus, Desormeaux, Drysdale and the horse’s absentee owner, Japanese businessman Fusao Sekiguchi, are all headed for the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs, where the former $4-million yearling is expected to be the favorite. Drysdale shuddered at that thought late Saturday. His only previous Derby contender, A.P. Indy, would have been favored or the second choice before a race-day foot injury took him out of the 1992 Derby, and the Derby favorite hasn’t won the race since Spectacular Bid in 1979.

But Drysdale will enjoy what he has, and deal with those historical ghosts when he comes to them. There could be no second-guessing about his curious choice of the Wood as the final Derby prep for Fusaichi Pegasus. The colt came all the way from California, his plane virtually passing over Keeneland, the site of the Blue Grass Stakes, to run in a stake that had lost its luster as a Kentucky Derby prep. The last horse to emerge from the Wood and win the Derby was Go For Gin in 1994, and the last horse to win both the Wood and the Derby was Pleasant Colony in 1981.

“This was very encouraging,” Drysdale said. “It was good to see him behind horses. He handled a different track surface, a wet track and a large field. The whole thing unfolded like a fairy story. It was a perfect scenario. The horse justified himself as the Derby favorite.”

On a track that absorbed light rain most of the day, Fusaichi Pegasus put away two rivals at the eighth pole and finished strongly to win by 4 1/2 lengths over Red Bullet, who lost for the first time in four starts. Aptitude, who was 10th in the 12-horse field after a quarter-mile and still about 10 lengths off the lead coming out of the far turn, rallied to finish third, 1 1/2 lengths behind Red Bullet.

After Aptitude, the rest of the order of finish was Country Only, Appearing Now, Postponed, Cat’s At Home, Painted Pistol, Exchange Rate, Fight For Ally, Connect and Traditionally. Fusaichi Pegasus’ time for 1 1/8 miles, over a track listed as wet fast, was 1:47 4/5, only three-fifths of a second off the stakes record. Fusaichi Pegasus, paying $3.80 as the odds-on favorite, won for the fourth time in five starts and earned $450,000.

The crowd of 15,684 watched with amusement as Fusaichi Pegasus was walked to the starting gate.

“There were some anxious moments,” Desormeaux said, “but once the gate opened he was fluid all the way around. He was just cantering when he started making up ground. He was so fluid that I thought maybe I had put him to sleep, so I niggled on him a little bit. I gave him some underhand slashes [with the whip] under the girth, but that was just to get his attention and get him focused. He’s got a world of talent, and the only question now is if he can get the mile and a quarter. We’ll find out on the first Saturday of May.”

Yukari Sekiguchi, the daughter of the owner of Fusaichi Pegasus, called her father at about 5:45 a.m., Tokyo time, to give him a description of the race.

Rivals of Fusaichi Pegasus--such as Barry Irwin, one of the owners of The Deputy, the Santa Anita Derby winner--have suggested that Sekiguchi’s colt could come unglued before the big crowd at Churchill Downs.

“I’m not concerned,” Drysdale said. “He was very calm in the paddock. And even though it took him a long time to get there, he was dry as a bone by the time he got to the gate. I think he figured they wouldn’t start the race without him.”

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Saturday’s Kentucky Derby Prep Race Results

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Race Track Winner Paid Wood Memorial Aqueduct Fusaichi Pegasus $3.80 Blue Grass Stakes Keeneland High Yield $5.80 Arkansas Derby Oaklawn Park Graeme Hall $38.40 California Derby Golden Gate Fields Bet On Red $10.80

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TRIPLE CROWN RACES

* Kentucky Derby, May 6 * Preakness Stakes, May 20 * Belmont Stakes, June 10