HALLANDALE, Fla. -- George Steinbrenner usually dumps his talent -- not the other way around.
But the New York Yankees owner learned how the other side feels when jockey Shane Sellers begged out of his mount on the Steinbrenner-owned Acceptable to ride Pulpit in Saturday's Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Sellers had ridden Acceptable to victory twice in the colt's six mounts, but he opted for surprising Kentucky Derby contender Pulpit after the 3-year-old phenom came dangerously close to breaking track records in his first two starts.
"That was the hardest decision I've had to make in my career," said Sellers, who's been riding for 15 years. "Acceptable is a proven colt, and he's favored for the (Kentucky) Derby. But I've got to go with my gut and instincts. Anybody in my shoes would do the same thing I'm doing. Mr. Steinbrenner would do it, you would do it, anybody would. I really believe that."
"I'm sure they're upset, and I hope I didn't burn any bridges. I wish I could ride 'em both. If I could, I'd put one leg over each of them."
THAT SELLERS LEFT A HORSE LIKE ACCEPTABLE is surprising. That he chose to ride Pulpit is not. The 3-year-old bay colt is flirting with a 115-year-old record -- the last time a horse won the Kentucky Derby without racing as a 2-year-old was 1882.
Pulpit was kept off the track last year by trainer Frank Brothers, but he's making up for lost time. He won a seven-furlong maiden race by 7 1/2 lengths in mid-January. Then two weeks ago, he stormed away from a field of allowance horses at 1 1/16 miles to win by 6 3/4 lengths.
Those wins, even though they came against comparatively weak competition, have made Pulpit the hottest horse in the country and a 5-to-2 favorite for the Grade II Fountain of Youth. Pulpit is drawing comparisons to Cigar, another Gulfstream alum who was named national Horse of the Year in 1995 and 1996.
Those comparisons concern Sellers.
"I was on his back, I know how impressive he was," Sellers said of Pulpit's first two starts. "But people have to understand, he was in against horses that he was much better than. Down the road, he could end up being something like (Cigar), but it's too early to tell."
Sellers gets more than 1,300 mounts a year and normally chooses from the hottest horses, yet he says he's ridden only one colt with the potential of Pulpit. That was Skip Away last year, who won the 1996 Eclipse Award as the top 3-year-old after second-place finishes at the Belmont and Preakness.
A son of champion A.P. Indy, Pulpit certainly has the bloodlines to be a great one. He is a descendant of Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew and Secretariat.
And while Sellers is as taken by Pulpit as anyone, he can't help but point out that the horse hasn't achieved much yet. And even a loss Saturday wouldn't mean he's out of contention for the Triple Crown events.
"This horse has a lot of potential," Sellers said. "But do they always carry that potential to the afternoons? Sometimes no. I think he's a good horse, but we might not know for sure for five or six races down the road."
Ira Schoffel is a sportswriter on SportsLine USA's staff.
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