Jockey put nose to the Grindstone

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Nothing personal, Grindstone, but it's time we humans got a slap on the rump.

Plain and simple, Jerry Bailey won this 122nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday. He maneuvered 6-1 Grindstone from as far back as 15th at the half-mile pole, 13th at the three-quarter mile mark and fourth entering the stretch, to score a hell-bent, photo-finish victory by a nose against Cavonnier. Derby favorite Prince of Thieves finished third.

It was the fastest winning time posted since Spend A Buck in 1985 and the sixth-fastest time in Derby history overall.

Let it be said that the dark bay colt from Overbrook Farm and son of 1990 Derby winner Unbridled showed more heart than Evander Holyfield and the Houston Rockets put together.

However, it was Bailey who masterminded the 17th consecutive upset in the fickle history of thoroughbred racing's first jewel of the Triple Crown, and it was Bailey who pulled off the closest Derby finish in 37 years.

You can chalk this one up to jockey genius.

IT WAS A PERFECT TRIP made possible by what D. Wayne Lukas, the all-world trainer who now has won an unprecedented six consecutive Triple Crown races, calls "the greatest position-rider I've ever seen."

Indeed. Bailey, a two-time Derby champion who rode 1993 winner Sea Hero, saved Grindstone early before drafting behind Prince of Thieves (saying later that he let Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day run interference for him), then angling his willing mount to the outside (photo) under a heavy left whip down the stretch, and finally making it look like someone using the moving sidewalk in an airport, as Grindstone charged the finish line and won by the narrowest of margins -- a nose.

"It was scarily reminiscent of the (Derby ride) that I had with Sea Hero," said Bailey, who has become known as the best tactical jockey in the game today. "He broke extremely well (from the No. 16 hole). I intentionally found a little spot where nobody else was around, because it's just my feeling that the clearer that you can get around the first turn and down the backside -- no bumping, no jostling -- the more you're going to have (left) for a finish."

Bulls-eye!

Bailey had the perfect game plan, although he later recalled feeling out of it on the backside while tracking Prince of Thieves, incidentally, who went off as the Derby favorite after bettors awoke Saturday morning and decided Unbridled's Song's (also sired by Unbridled) was too much of an uncertain thing with his sore left front heel and extra-support aluminum bar shoes.

"I knew there were 14 or 15 (horses) in front of me," Bailey said of the backside deficit he had given himself, "but it looked like 114 or 115."

IT'S AT A TIME like this that decisions need to be made quickly and accurately, which isn't easy when you're traveling roughly 35 mph in heavy traffic without a seat belt.

"You've got to make up your mind when to make your move, and which horses you're going to follow," Bailey explained. "That's very important if you want a trouble-free trip. And believe me, I never had to check my horse once. I never lost momentum. (Grindstone) was there for me every time I needed him. I picked all the right spots."

Of course, Day, aboard Prince of Thieves, had no idea that he was being stalked by the eventual winner.

Bailey picked Day and the Derby favorite to follow because, "Pat looked like he had quite a bit of horse, and I thought he had the best chance of getting me into the stretch ... if you will, block the way for me."

Bailey could ride just about any Derby horse he wanted. He hooked up with Lukas and Grindstone because the latter fit his style.

"My style? I like to stalk," Bailey said. "Even though he was a little further back than a (normal) stalker, he had that kind of 'run' to him."

McCarron, aboard the badly-caught-from-behind Cavonnier, immediately felt that Bailey had beaten him (photo) at the wire -- and told Bailey so.

"But the longer we waited for the photo," said Bailey, "the more we both thought it may be a dead heat."

THERE WAS A DELICATE BALANCE down the stretch. While the left whip was working wonders, it was also causing Grindstone to drift outside. Once again, Bailey ad-libbed perfectly.

"He was running so much from the left-handed whip that I didn't want to stop his momentum by going back to the right hand -- it was too late for that," he said. "Besides, I wasn't hitting him that hard. I was hitting him, but I wasn't crucifying him."

What surprised most track observers was that Unbridled's Song, under close scrutiny since injuring his foot in his last race April 13 and even being called -- ouch! -- the "Albert Belle of racehorses" for his temperamental nature, ran as well as he did for as long as he did.

"He looked pretty good about the 5/8th's pole," said jockey Mike Smith, who is getting a reputation for riding Derby favorites into Derby also-rans. "But as the pace began to pick up, he was really struggling ... no traction ... with those bar shoes on."

Taking the lead from Honour and Glory with just over a quarter-mile to go, Unbridled's Song looked perhaps like a "superhorse" before losing ground and quickly running out of gas down the stretch. He finished fifth.

"Actually," said Bailey, "I never saw Unbridled's Song until I got into the stretch and moved outside. A telltale sign a horse is getting tired is that his rear end starts to wobble. I noticed (Unbridled's Song) wasn't fluid. I felt then he was catchable."

And what, if anything, surprised Bailey?

"I didn't know Cavonnier would have as much punch as he did," he said.

HAD CAVONNIER WON, HE WOULD have been the first gelding to win a Derby since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929, and the first California-bred horse since Decidedly in 1962.

Had Prince of Thieves won, he would have been the first Derby favorite to win since Spectacular Bid in 1979.

Instead, the winner was the least mentioned of Lukas' Derby quintuplets -- a horse that won the Louisiana Derby in only his second start following arthroscopic knee surgery (requiring a 7 1/2-month layoff) and only his fourth start overall.

That's why the Derby favorite seldom wins here. It takes a horse that can go out and run the race of his career.

And in this case, it also took the best jockey in the business today.

Ray Buck is the national columnist for the SportsLine USA staff.

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