Wimbledon Pays Off

Trainer Bob Baffert has been known to wear the victory trophy as a hat at some of racing’s most hallowed places, such as Churchill Downs and the sheiks’ track in Dubai.

Outlandish, sure, but that’s nothing compared with what one of Baffert’s clients does. Jim McIngvale regularly wears a mattress. On television.

“That’s why they call me Mattress Mac,” said McIngvale, whose Houston-based Gallery Furniture chain, boosted by gonzo commercials, does more than $200 million in annual business. “I’m a shameless promoter.”

Indirectly, Wimbledon, the 3-year-old colt, is another sales pitch of McIngvale’s, since the 52-year-old Texan owns the Westside Tennis Club in Houston.

“Wimbledon is one of my favorite places in the whole world,” McIngvale said about the English tennis tournament.

Wimbledon, the horse, is gaining, though, on McIngvale’s popularity chart. He won the Louisiana Derby a month ago, and today he’s the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby. Another good race and Wimbledon sends his owner to the Kentucky Derby for the first time.

Should McIngvale make it to Churchill Downs on May 1, he shouldn’t be mistaken for an overnight sensation. He started buying high-priced horses in 1996, spending about $10 million the first two years, and the results weren’t pretty. The McIngvale barn seemed to be setting a record for breakdowns. One horse even died of peritonitis after leaving the operating table.

At the start, at least, McIngvale didn’t stint in hiring help. He signed trainer Nick Zito, who had won the Kentucky Derby twice but couldn’t transfer any of that magic to the McIngvale barn.

So McIngvale switched to Steve Moyer, a former Zito assistant. Next came Leonard Atkinson, who had been McIngvale’s night watchman. Then there was a pas de deux with Jack Van Berg, a Derby-winning trainer and a Hall of Famer. Next up was Laura Wohlers, McIngvale’s sister-in-law.

But the losses kept piling up, and regrouping became the name of McIngvale’s game. Four years ago, at an auction of 2-year-olds in Florida, he introduced himself to the McKathan brothers, J.B. and Kevin, whom he knew were thick with Baffert. The McKathans had helped Baffert buy Silver Charm and Real Quiet, the first two of the trainer’s three Derby winners.

McIngvale asked the McKathans about hiring Baffert.

“I don’t think that would work,” one of them said candidly.

McIngvale knew his reputation as a meddler was widespread.

“If you work with Bob, you can’t tell him what to do,” a McKathan said.

“I’ve changed,” McIngvale said. “I want a racing manager, a guy who’ll be in charge.”

So Baffert and McIngvale got together, and last summer McIngvale finally had his first stakes winner, During, in the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park. Now there’s Wimbledon, who lost his first four races, broke his maiden only two months ago at Santa Anita and then shipped into New Orleans and won the Louisiana Derby.

“This is my watershed horse,” McIngvale said. “He’s my first big 3-year-old. It seemed like in the last two races, a light’s come on. Bob took the blinkers off, and got Javier Santiago to ride him.”

Santiago, 26, won more than 1,500 races in Puerto Rico before arriving at Santa Anita in February. Besides Wimbledon, Santiago also rides Preachinatthebar, a Baffert trainee owned by Mike Pegram, who raced Real Quiet.

Preachinatthebar, winner of the San Felipe at Santa Anita last month, is set to run in the Blue Grass at Keeneland next Saturday. If both gray horses make it to the Kentucky Derby, Santiago will be hit with a big decision.

Baffert was pleased with the way Wimbledon shipped to the Fair Grounds and the way Santiago approached a race against such top jockeys as Jerry Bailey, Pat Day, Edgar Prado and John Velazquez.

“Javier was not intimidated,” Baffert said. “He just sat and waited with our horse.”

In eighth place early, Wimbledon drew a bead on the leaders at the quarter pole, made the lead inside the eighth pole and won easily.

For a tennis player like Jim McIngvale, it was like toppling a better opponent in straight sets.

“I’m sold on this horse now,” said McIngvale, who paid $425,000 for Wimbledon. “Shows what can happen if you stay the hell out of the way.”