Romp in Park Money in Bank for Mr. Drysdale

You come to the Kentucky Derby expecting to see a race. This was no race. This was barely even a workout for Fusaichi Pegasus. It was more like a romp through a bluegrass pasture under a crystal blue sky. Granted, it was a fast romp but still a romp.

He covered the mile and a quarter at Churchill Downs on Saturday in a fraction over 2 minutes 1 second, tied for the sixth-fastest Kentucky Derby time, and might have challenged Secretariat’s record if his rider, Kent Desormeaux, had asked.

But why work up a sweat if you don’t have to? He felt compelled to use his whip one or twice early, just to let Fusaichi Pegasus know that it was time to show the second-largest Kentucky Derby crowd (153,204) what kind of engine he had, but Desormeaux never even raised his hand down the stretch.

“Three times, Kent was riding him with just one hand,” said Neil Drysdale, Fusaichi Pegasus’ trainer, pointing out that the jockey was so relaxed during the ride that he took time to adjust his glasses.

They pay Desormeaux for days like this?

He didn’t even have to say, “Go, Baby, Go!”

He insisted that he was “more than just a passenger.” But even he acknowledged that all that was really required of him was “just some nudges behind his head and ears.”

In a 19-horse field that was considered one of history’s deepest in quality 3-year-olds, Fusaichi Pegasus galloped to the finish line and still won by 1 1/2 lengths over Aptitude. Impeachment, in third place, was four more lengths behind.

“I can remember Neil’s words reverberating and bouncing in my head,” Desormeaux said. “He said, ‘Make sure you’re comfortable early. The horse should do the rest.’ ”

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Drysdale, now there’s the man who earned his money.

When Fusao Sekiguchi, a Japanese entrepreneur, bid $4 million for the Kentucky-bred in 1998, it was the most paid for a yearling at the Keeneland’s July sale in 15 years.

He then took the horse to Drysdale, whose stable is at Hollywood Park. One reason was because of his reputation for handling horses with care. The other was because he was located on the West Coast, merely an ocean away from Sekiguchi’s Japanese business empire. You know what they say when you’re choosing a trainer. Location, location, location.

The expectations weren’t too high.

“When I laid eyes on the colt, I knew he was going to be a Derby winner,” Sekiguchi said through an interpreter after Saturday’s triumph.

“I was going to pay even $5 million or whatever it would cost to acquire him. I had full faith in Mr. Drysdale.”

All the trainer had to do to keep to his boss happy was win the Kentucky Derby.

Drysdale, who had brought only one horse to the Derby before in 30 years as a trainer, said Saturday that he was delighted to have Sekiguchi’s horse and his confidence. But he was probably less so when he realized that Fusaichi Pegasus believed that, just because he was worth $4 million, he was the boss.

“I wasn’t concerned,” Drysdale said when asked about Fusaichi Pegasus’ notorious temperament, which he calls playful but often seems more like petulant. “I think the media were more concerned than I was.”

Probably. But Drysdale sure sweated on the potentially precarious walk from the barn to the paddock. The first thing he did upon arriving there was don his sport coat. He must have been tempted to take the big sponge he was using to keep Fusaichi Pegasus cool and dab it on his own forehead.

Good breeding prevailed. Drysdale, 52, is the son of a English marine and Korean War hero.

He also has been through the wars. The only other time he entered a horse in the Derby was in 1992, when he had A.P. Indy. The second-favorite in the morning betting line and probably the best horse in the field based on his future results, he had to be scratched on the morning of the race because of a foot injury.

So maybe the Derby gods owed Drysdale one. They certainly smiled on him this week. He was elected to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday and won the Derby on Saturday.

There’s more. He has a share in A.P. Indy’s stud fees, which are bound to increase after this weekend. One of his daughters, Secret Status, won the prestigious Kentucky Oaks for 2-year-old fillies here on Friday and one of his sons, Aptitude, finished second in the Derby.

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What’s next for Fusaichi Pegasus?

Drysdale, too pragmatic to engage in hyperbole, declined to speculate whether the horse is on the road to greatness. He wouldn’t even guarantee that the horse is on the road to Baltimore for the Preakness.

“It was a hot day,” he said. “We’ll monitor him very closely over the next week.”

But Desormeaux, who rode Real Quiet to victories in the Derby and Preakness before finishing second in the Belmont in 1998, said Fusaichi Pegasus is better and, although stopping short of a prediction, said he is capable of winning the Triple Crown.

No one who watched him Saturday can dispute that he could become a horse for the ages.

He definitely is an athlete for today. Big. Strong. Rich. Temperamental.

My guess is that he will blow away the field in the Preakness, unless he sits it out while demanding to renegotiate his contract.

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Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com