Money Talks, but He’s Not Listening

Every time Harry Aleo’s phone rings in San Francisco, he thinks it will be another offer to buy Lost In The Fog, who could be the fastest horse never to run in the Kentucky Derby.

“There are too many people out there with too much money,” Aleo said. “I wish they wouldn’t call. The horse is not for sale.”

The 85-year-old Aleo, who has been running his real-estate company from a storefront office for almost 60 years, said that he has had at least 10 legitimate offers for the undefeated Lost In The Fog. A couple came in after the colt broke his maiden in November at his home track, Golden Gate Fields, where he ran five furlongs over a muddy surface in a rousing 56 4/5 seconds. Interest quickened when Lost In The Fog, shipped to Turf Paradise in Phoenix in late December, won a minor 6 1/2 -furlong stake in 1:13 2/5. Turf Paradise is known for fast times, but this effort broke a 10-year-old track record.

Last month, there was a $250,000 race limited to Florida- and California-breds at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and that was enough of an inducement for Aleo and his trainer, Greg Gilchrist, to ship their horse cross-country. Lost In The Fog won the Sunshine Millions Dash by 4 1/2 lengths, reaching the wire in 1:09 4/5. With Russell Baze riding, he has won his three races by a combined 26 3/4 lengths.

Aleo, who has been racing horses since 1979, wouldn’t quantify the offers for Lost In The Fog, but there have been reports that he could sell the horse for $2 million or more. This is the time of the year when horsemen with fat wallets go shopping for quick-fix Kentucky Derby prospects. Three years ago, Ahmed bin Salman, a Saudi Arabian prince, bought 90% of War Emblem for $900,000, and about three weeks later they won the Derby.

Unless Aleo does a U-turn, Lost In The Fog is not likely to be found in the starting gate at Churchill Downs on May 7. The colt’s next start, in the $150,000 Swale at Gulfstream on March 5, is another sprint, at seven furlongs.

“That would give us time for only one more race, which would be his first around two turns,” Gilchrist said. “Running a mile and a quarter in the Derby off just one lifetime two-turn race wouldn’t be the right way to get to Louisville.”

If Gilchrist, 56, owned Lost In The Fog, he would have sold him by now. “I would have taken the money and wished the new owners good luck,” he said. “But I can understand what Mr. Aleo is thinking. He’s not in the breeding business, so establishing the horse as a stallion means nothing to him. At his age, he wants to get the enjoyment a horse like this can bring. What would he do if he sold him, go home and stack up the money on the stacks that are already there?”

Several years ago, Gilchrist trained a gray colt named Wild Wonder for the late Verne Winchell. Wild Wonder ran well in a couple of Derby preps, but Winchell was against running him at Churchill Downs.

“Verne was a very wise man,” Gilchrist said. “He told me he had run three horses in the Derby, and none of them was ever the same because of the demands of that race. It’s something I’ve never forgotten.”

Many Derby horses are never heard from again. Grindstone, the 1996 winner, was injured in the race and retired a few days later. Wild Wonder, who earned $639,000, raced for four years, won seven stakes and is standing at stud in Kentucky. One of his sons, Fusaichi Rock Star, won the San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita last Sunday.

Although the odds have dropped from 250-1 to 35-1 on Lost In The Fog at the Derby future book at Bally’s in Las Vegas, and the Daily Racing Form continues to list him as a contender, the colt has not been nominated for the Triple Crown. He could be made eligible with a late payment of $6,000 by March 26, and Aleo probably will do that, since in the back of his mind is the Preakness, shorter than the Derby and the middle leg of the Triple Crown.

“I don’t have any great aspirations to win the Derby,” Aleo said. “There’s usually about 20 horses that run, and the chances are pretty good that some of them will get hurt.”

In discussing the Derby, Gilchrist mentioned that Todd Pletcher, another trainer, has 34 Triple Crown nominees.

“A guy like Pletcher, if something happens to one of his horses, he moves on to the next one,” Gilchrist said. “With Lost In The Fog, it’s different. We want to take real good care of this horse. He’s the only bullet in our holster.”