05/03/24 05:02:00
Printable Page
05/03 05:00 CDT Black trainer Larry Demeritte brings his $11,000 horse to the
Kentucky Derby
Black trainer Larry Demeritte brings his $11,000 horse to the Kentucky Derby
By BETH HARRIS
AP Racing Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) --- If Larry Demeritte is looking for a positive sign
heading into his first Kentucky Derby as a trainer, it's right where his horse
is assigned.
Long-shot West Saratoga is staying in Barn 42 at Churchill Downs, the same
location where Seattle Slew was before he won the 1977 Derby and went on to
sweep the Triple Crown. It was the first Derby that Demeritte attended.
Now, he is the second Black trainer since 1951 to be saddling a horse in the
150th Derby on Saturday. The other, Hank Allen, finished sixth with Northern
Wolf in 1989.
Black trainers dominated the Derby's early years, winning seven of the first 17
from 1875-1891.
"We're so grateful to be here and enjoying every single minute," Demeritte said.
Everything is meaningful to the 74-year-old from the Bahamas since he was
diagnosed with cancer in 1996 and underwent chemotherapy. His father was a
trainer in the islands and Dermeritte still carries the accent of his home
country, where he was leading trainer for two years.
"My motto is, `I don't buy cheap horses. I buy good horses cheap,'" he said,
smiling.
Purchased for $11,000, West Saratoga is the pride of Demeritte's 11-horse
stable at The Thoroughbred Center in nearby Lexington. The colt has earned
$460,140.
"He's getting better with every start," he said. "I've been around a lot of
good horses and this horse really matches up to a lot of them."
The costliest horse in the 20-horse Derby field is morning-line second choice
Sierra Leone, purchased for $2.3 million.
It's the first Derby for owner Harry Veruchi.
"I bought my first horse in 1982, and two weeks later he won at Centennial Race
Track in Littleton, Colorado," Veruchi said. "I thought, this is easy. And now,
to be here, who would have thought it? I don't know anybody who has been in the
Kentucky Derby or even anybody who has won a graded stake."
West Saratoga is named for the street in Littleton where Veruchi grew up. It's
located six blocks from the Centennial track, which closed in 1983.
The only one with any Derby experience in their group is jockey Jesus Castanon.
He finished fourth aboard Shackleford in 2011. They set the pace and led at the
eighth pole only to be overtaken by eventual winner Animal Kingdom.
"I thought I was going to win it," Castanon said. "In my mind, I was going
crazy."
Demeritte has run horses on the Derby undercard in past years.
"I've been practicing," he said, his smile exposing the gap in his front teeth.
"I used to pray to get to the Derby. I feel like I am blessed with this horse."
Demeritte has his eyes on the sky for Saturday, when the forecast calls for a
43% chance of rain. The gray colt has never run on a wet track, but his sire
did.
Exaggerator was runner-up in the 2016 Derby and went on to win the Preakness
and the Haskell. Both of those races were run on sloppy tracks.
"This is truly amazing how we got to this position with this horse," Demeritte
said. "I'm hopeful people will see our story and become interested in this
sport because this horse is proving anyone with a dream can make it to the
Derby stage."
___
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
|
