Frankel in Position to End His Derby Drought

Winning hundreds of important races, but never winning a Kentucky Derby, Bobby Frankel said a few weeks ago that jealousy was the word that came to mind as he watched lots of other trainers mine the mother lode at Churchill Downs.

“The thing I’d keep asking myself, year after year,” Frankel said, “was, ‘How come I’m not there?’ ”

Frankel will be there for the 129th Derby on May 3. He’ll be there in spades, in the driver’s seat unlike hardly any trainer who has brought two horses to Kentucky. Empire Maker will be the odds-on favorite -- the first since the overmatched Arazi in 1992 -- and Peace Rules will be the second choice. These Frankel colts cemented their positions Saturday when Empire Maker, under a measured ride from Jerry Bailey, won the $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and, an hour later, Peace Rules won the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

Frankel has started four horses in three Derbies, but none was favored and his best finish was Aptitude’s second-place run against Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000.

“I’m in a good spot,” said Frankel, who was in New York to saddle Empire Maker before a crowd of 19,392. “It looks easy when you [reporters] write about it, but I could be 1-20 [odds] and it’s still horse racing. I’m confident, but you can talk about it all you want and you still can’t be overconfident going into a big race.”

Although Empire Maker, paying $3.10 to win, beat Funny Cide by only a half-length in the 1 1/8-mile Wood, his victory was never in doubt. Funny Cide, ridden by Jose Santos, was a length behind a few jumps from the wire and came back to make the outcome closer, but Bailey, saving some of his horse for Kentucky, gave him only a couple of light taps with his whip.

“This is exactly what we wanted to get out of this race,” Bailey said. “I knew as soon as we broke that he would handle the surface. I didn’t want to get into any trouble, and being in the outside post, we didn’t.”

On a muddy track that was drying out quickly, Empire Maker was clocked in 1:48 3/5. Bred and owned by Khalid Abdullah, the Saudi Arabian prince who also raced Aptitude, Empire Maker will try to become the first horse to pull off the Florida Derby-Wood-Kentucky Derby triple. This was his third victory in five starts, the $450,000 purse pushing his earnings to $1.1 million.

Kissin Saint finished third, beaten by eight lengths, and after him across the line came New York Hero, Senor Swinger, Indy Dancer, Sky Soldier and Spite the Devil.

A high-strung horse, this was the best paddock-to-wire deportment Empire Maker’s shown in his brief career.

“We tried to stay with Empire Maker, but he was much the best,” Santos said.

Frankel watched on TV from the Aqueduct racing office as Peace Rules, on the front end, won by 3 1/2 lengths at Keeneland, paying $3.20 and running 1 1/8 miles in a slower 1:51 3/5 over a fast track. Peace Rules, owned by Ed Gann of Rancho Santa Fe and ridden by Edgar Prado, won despite the jockey’s saddle slipping at the seven-eights pole.

“After that,” Prado said, “I just tried to get comfortable. I just let him move freely on his own. He pulled me to the lead and had a lot left at the end.”

Peace Rules, who also has won the Louisiana Derby, has five victories in eight starts -- five of the races since Gann bought the colt privately last fall -- and with a $465,00 purse he also became a millionaire and moved ahead of Empire Maker by $9,110.

Peace Rules’ assignment was made easier when Badge Of Silver, the second choice on the morning line, was scratched after he suffered a hairline fracture in his right foreleg on Friday. Brancusi ran second, 4 1/2 lengths ahead of Offlee Wild. The rest of the order of finish was Crowned Dancer, Acceptable, Lion Tamer, Lots Of Sizzle, Ten Cents A Shine and Great Notion. The stewards disallowed a foul claim by Kent Desormeaux, aboard Crowned Dancer, who said that Brancusi and jockey Tony Farina interfered with his mount entering the first turn.

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In other races at Aqueduct, the 4-5 shot Congaree beat the Bobby Frankel-trained Aldebaran by 3 1/2 lengths in the $350,000 Carter Handicap, and Halo Homewrecker won the $150,000 Bay Shore Stakes.

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Of the three major preps for the Kentucky Derby, the $500,000 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park was considered the weakest and the Grade II lived down to expectations.

Sir Cherokee, a 55-1 longshot, rallied past Eugene’s Third Son to win in his first appearance in a graded stakes for owner-breeder Domino Stud of Lexington, Inc., and trainer Michael Tomlinson.

A winner of two of his previous nine starts, Sir Cherokee won by 1 3/4 lengths and completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.39. He was ridden for the first time by Terry Thompson, who had been preceded on the colt by Marlon St. Julien, Jennifer Bramblett, Mark Guidry and James Lopez.

Man Among Men, the 5-2 favorite under jockey Alex Solis, turned in his second consecutive bad race since surprising Empire Maker in the Sham on Feb. 7. The son of Gentlemen was wide throughout and finished 10th.

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Mr. Technique, a 9-1 longshot, overtook 4-5 favorite Apalachian Thunder to win the $100,000 California Derby over a sloppy track at Bay Meadows.

Ridden by Roberto Gonzalez for owner James Vreeland and trainer Jeff Bonde, the son of Smart Strike won by a length in 1:47.65 for the 1 1/8 miles.

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Steelaninch, the 4-1 third choice, edged favored Singletary by a nose, then withstood a claim of foul by jockey David Flores, the rider of the runner-up, to win the $100,000 La Puente Stakes at Santa Anita.

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Staff writer Bob Mieszerski contributed to this report.