Antley Seeking a ‘Weigh’ Back

Chris Antley doesn’t have to worry much about his weight in the Kentucky Derby. All of the colts in the Derby carry 126 pounds.

But horses don’t usually carry that much weight, and Antley needs to weigh much less for his routine riding. Unable to shed the excess weight, Antley has quit riding indefinitely at Santa Anita, and his chances of a winning a third Derby--and a second consecutive-- seem to be gone.

While Antley was notifying the stewards at Santa Anita that he wouldn’t be able to honor his mounts the rest of this week, trainer Vladimir Cerin was at Turfway Park in Kentucky on Thursday, ready to name him to ride favored Archer City Slew in Saturday’s $600,000 Spiral Stakes. Cerin had Antley’s name penciled in on the entry card, but just before the draw he changed it to Garrett Gomez.

“Chris wasn’t down [in weight] all the way when he first came back [from surgery],” said John DeSantis, who recently became Antley’s agent at Santa Anita. “He’s too heavy now, and he’s going to have to start from scratch.”

DeSantis isn’t sure how many pounds Antley must lose but last Sunday, the last day Antley rode, Commendable was supposed to carry 116 pounds in the San Felipe Stakes and he ran with 118 because of Antley’s overweight.

Commendable, who finished fourth after leading for six furlongs, is owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis and trained by Wayne Lukas. That group used Antley to ride Charismatic to victory in the Kentucky Derby last year. Antley won his other Derby with Strike The Gold in 1991.

Mainly because of Charismatic, who also won the Preakness, Antley ranked 17th in purses last year, his mounts earning $7.9 million. He didn’t ride for the last seven weeks of the year and, after undergoing knee surgery in early February, didn’t return to racing at Santa Anita until Feb. 27. At the current meet, he’s had three wins in 30 mounts.

“I don’t know when he’ll come back,” DeSantis said. “He’ll keep working horses in the meantime. He’ll be back as soon as he’s ready. He was one of the best when he was active, and he’ll be one of the best when he gets back.”

Antley, 34, is 5 feet 3. His weight shot up to 147 pounds in 1998, when he left racing. When he returned last year, he had dieted and exercised his way down to 121 pounds, and was riding at 116 not long after Charismatic won the Derby.

Besides Commendable, Antley’s other Derby prospect was Archer City Slew. Both will be longshots if they make it to the starting gate at Churchill Downs on May 6, but so was Charismatic at this time a year ago.

Riding Archer City Slew for the first time, Antley finished second in the San Rafael Stakes March 4. The San Rafael was Archer City Slew’s first start around two turns, but he finished only half a length behind the undefeated War Chant, one of the favorites for the Santa Anita Derby April 8.

Gomez will get his first shot at riding Archer City Slew, who won the seven-furlong San Vicente at Santa Anita a month before the San Rafael. The colt will have had four different jockeys for the four races he has run since David and Holly Wilson of Orange bought the horse in December.

In a field of 11 going 1 1/16 miles, Archer City Slew is 5-2 on the morning line. Next at 3-1 comes Elite Mercedes, who was a disappointing eighth as the second choice in the Florida Derby. At 9-2 is Rollin With Nolan, who has two wins in three starts but is untested in stakes competition.

Notes

Santa Anita trainer Richard Mandella will have Malek and Puerto Madero running in the Dubai World Cup on Saturday. The odds-on favorite will be Dubai Millennium, owned by Sheik Mohammed’s Godolphin Stables, which also has Worldly Manner and Grancioso in the 14-horse field. Among American horses given a shot to win are Behrens, who drew the No. 5 post for the 1 1/4-mile race, and Saint’s Honor, who drew No. 7. Millennium drew the No. 11 spot and Malek will be on the far outside.