Saturday, April 10, 1999
Zito goal: Decade's top trainer
Derby chase heats up today
BY NEIL SCHMIDT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEXINGTON, Ky. — March Madness, and the debate over basketball's Team of the '90s — Duke or Kentucky? — has given way to the chill winds of April. Next to debate: horse racing's rivalry.
Three weeks from today, the Kentucky Derby could determine the decade's top trainer. Welcome Nick Zito back into the argument.
“I would think if I, (Bob) Baffert or (D. Wayne) Lukas wins the Derby, that person gets that honor,” Zito said. “Having that would mean a ton to me.”
Zito will send three horses in important prep races today, most notably Wondertross, the 5-2 favorite in today's $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. Having had his stable gutted last spring when owner Jim McIngvale pulled 15 horses from his care, Zito has rebounded with a handful of surprising Derby contenders.
Wondertross is listed third in the Courier-Journal's Derby ratings, a compilation of ratings by 10 national racing writers. Stephen Got Even, winner of the Gallery Furniture.com Stakes at Turfway Park, was rated the Derby favorite this week by The Blood-Horse magazine. Adonis is the 4-1 second choice in the Wood Memorial today at Aqueduct, with fellow Zito trainee The Groom is Red (15-1 in the Wood) also still a Derby
possibility.
Only Doneraile Court, scheduled to run in the Grade II Lexington Stakes on April 18 at Keeneland, definitely will miss the Derby.
“It's a pretty strong group,” Zito said. “If you could tell me we'll look this good 24 hours before the Derby instead of 24 hours before the Blue Grass, I'd say it's our best group ever.”
Four possible Derby horses? Only twice has a trainer entered more than three in a Derby: James Rowe Sr. ran four in 1923; Lukas sent five in 1996.
Wondertross and Stephen Got Even, who won't race again until the May 1 Derby, seem to be Zito's top threats. Baffert has contenders in General Challenge, Prime Timber and possibly Silverbulletday. Lukas has Cat Thief, a 4-1 co-third choice today in the Blue Grass.
Those three trainers are easily the decade's best. They have mastered the art of prepping for the Derby, each having won twice in the '90s.
Lukas is prolific, with 18 Derby starters this decade. Baffert is the late bloomer, having placed four of his five starters in the money the past three years. Zito has had a Derby horse all but two years this decade.
The only other trainer to have had as many Derby starters this decade as any of them is Covington native Ron McAnally, but he hasn't hit the board with any of his six entries.
Zito has never been the winningest trainer of the year (Lukas has earned that honor seven times and Baffert once this decade). But no one has a better nose for Churchill Downs.
“He definitely concentrates on the Triple Crown to an extent other trainers don't,” said Bill Condren, who co-owns Wondertross with George Steinbrenner. Zito won the Derby with Condren horses in '91 (Strike the Gold) and '94 (Go for Gin). “He has a great sense of moving one step to the next.”
Zito professes patience. He shakes his head as other trainers push hard in the Derby preps, peaking too early.
“There's too much emphasis put on these prep races,” Zito said. “From the first Saturday in January, it's like the Kentucky Derby every week.
“After Doneraile Court ran second in the Holy Bull, (jockey) Jerry Bailey jumped off the horse yelling, "He should have run better!' Hey, it's Jan.16. What do you want, to win by 40 lengths?”
Three races ago, Wondertross was a 57-1 shot in a Grade II race. Stephen Got Even had never run in a stakes race before winning the Gallery.
“Nobody gave either of those horses a chance,” Edgewood oddsmaker Mike Battaglia said. “But whenever Nick Zito brings a horse up to a big race, you have to respect him.”
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