“Horse Racing: Iowa group’s dreams riding on Kentucky Derby entry” plus 1 more

Horse Racing: Iowa group’s dreams riding on Kentucky Derby entry

Posted: 25 Apr 2010 05:27 PM PDT

In the multimillion-dollar world of horse racing, it was a mere $5,000 that allowed a group of Iowans to fulfill a Kentucky Derby dream.

For what is believed to be the second time in history, a horse owned by Iowa residents is scheduled to start Saturday in the sport's most storied event. The Derby Dreams partnership, whose 11 members include 10 Iowans, will saddle up Paddy O'Prado for the 136th running of the history-soaked race.

The group nabbed the horse for $105,000 at a 2008 auction - going one bid beyond a self-imposed limit.

"I tell you, it's amazing," said Peter DeCoster, a Derby Dreams member from Clarion. "We could have easily gone for someone else."

Des Moines attorney Jerry Crawford formed Derby Dreams with the express goal of reaching the Derby, America's premier race since the filly Regret outran the colts in 1915, and the only race in America featuring 20 starters.

Paddy O'Prado is in line to be the first Iowa-owned horse to race in the Derby since Blumin Affair, who was third in 1994.

Statistically, the odds are 1,865-to-1 of landing a horse in the Derby. Out of 37,315 foals in 2007, only 20 will start in a race watched by millions on national television.

Joe Savage, a Boston attorney and the sole partner without Iowa roots, tried to put the accomplishment in perspective.

"It is about 150 times harder for a horse to get into the Kentucky Derby than it is for a kid to get into Harvard," he said.

'It sounded like fun' to join partnership

Businessman Dennis Albaugh and Crawford sat together in the summer of 2008 on a plane. They talked about owning a Kentucky Derby starter and putting together a group that would seek to raise a Derby-caliber horse.

Those thoughts dangled until September, when Crawford attended the posh Keeneland yearling sale in Kentucky. The recession had started, and auction prices for classically bred year-old horses tumbled.

"I was able to buy eight horses for the price of one or two that I would buy the year before," Crawford said. "Then I thought, 'I'll try to put together a partnership to run these horses, and if I don't, I'll do it myself.' "

When he returned to Des Moines, Crawford assembled a 45-page booklet on the eight yearlings for a partnership called Derby Dreams - and sent it to 20 friends. Eight accepted, while George Cataldo and Savage heard about the venture through friends.

"I thought it sounded like fun," Cataldo said. "I never thought we'd make a dime."

The investments vary: Albaugh and Loutsch own 30 percent of the horses, for example, down to Matt Gannon's 1 percent share.

"It's just cool to be a part of it," Gannon said.

Most did it for fun, such as Judi Smith and her husband, Ray, of West Des Moines.

"We don't play golf, so this is going to be our retirement fun together," Judi Smith said. "It's like watching your kids play ball. Sometimes you go to the game and they play lousy or get hurt, and you suffer with them. It's the same way with the horses."

Smith said the gray Paddy O'Prado always proved unique.

"He doesn't look like the rest of the racehorses," she said. "When you think of a thoroughbred, you usually think of a dark brown or chestnut, and Paddy's not. That makes him stand out to start with.

"And he has a wonderful personality. Whenever he comes out for a race, you always know when he's in the paddock, because he always whinnies. It's like, 'Hey everybody, I'm here.' "

A few more dollars buys a dream horse

Crawford formed the partnership after he bought eight yearlings for $475,000 in 2008. The most expensive of the group was Paddy O'Prado.

Heading into the auction, Crawford set a limit of $100,000 for the colt. When bidding reached that amount, he decided to go another $5,000 - enough to land a future Derby horse.

"People set $100,000 or $150,000 as limits for a lot of horses," Crawford said. "Going $5,000 past those numbers buys a lot of horses."

Another group challenge: Four of the 11 Derby Dreams members - Savage, Judi Smith, William Jacobson, and Peter DeCoster - had never owned a horse, and Jacobson had never attended a horse race. Cataldo owned just one horse, an Iowa-bred named Lady Shark that won one race at Prairie Meadows.

Others have had success.

Crawford has owned horses for 35 years and produced several stakes winners. Gary Kirke Sr. and Jr., plus Gannon, had owned other horses with Crawford. Albaugh and son-in-law Jason Loutsch owned some of the best horses to race at Prairie Meadows, most in partnership with Leroy Gessmann. Their Miss Macy Sue was third in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Loutsch said the Derby tops even the Breeders' Cup - racing's year-end championship.

"The first thing people ask me is, 'Do you race in the Kentucky Derby?' " Loutsch said. "It's the Super Bowl of horse racing."

He's got the look - and the skills

When Crawford saw Paddy O'Prado as a yearling, he bid for potential. His father was a leading stallion named El Prado, and his mother, Fun House, was a daughter of Prized, a premier 1½-mile horse.

"He was immature physically, but if you've been around horses, you try to imagine what they'll look like a year or two later," Crawford said. "He just looked like he could turn into a great physical specimen."

Paddy O'Prado started racing as a 2-year-old in 2009 and failed to win in three starts - though he showed potential. He was third on turf in the With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga, N.Y.

"He was beyond green," Crawford said. "He would go in spectacular bursts, then start looking around to see who was watching him."

Paddy O'Prado lost his first race of 2010, finishing third, before Crawford got a call from trainer Dale Romans.

"Dale said, 'This horse has turned the corner. He trains differently and acts differently,' " Crawford said.

They entered Paddy O'Prado, who had still never won a race, in the Palm Beach Stakes - ranked Grade III, racing's designation for an elite race. He showed more early speed than usual and won by 2½ lengths over Dean's Kitten, who also is scheduled to run in next weekend's Kentucky Derby.

Paddy O'Prado then ran in the Grade I Blue Grass Stakes, a top prep race for the Derby. He pressed the pace and grabbed the lead in the far turn, and opened up a lead in the stretch. Then, 40-to-1 longshot Stately Victor took advantage of the weary pace-setters to roar past the leaders in the final 16th of a mile.

The $150,000 that Paddy O'Prado earned by finishing second lifted him into 19th place on the money list that determines the 20 Derby starters.

All the members celebrated except for Cataldo, who thought it was cheering the obvious.

"I said, 'What's everybody so excited about?' " said Cataldo, a retired owner of the beer distributorship Iowa Beverage Systems in Des Moines.

"The object was to put a horse in the Kentucky Derby. So that's what we did, and now those guys are making a big deal out of it, and I'm giving them crap for it because that's what you told me we did this for.

"I was really kind of serious. I never realized what a big deal this thing is. Seriously, I had no clue that getting to the Derby was this tough."

Paddy O'Prado's status as a Derby starter was cemented Saturday, when Pleasant Prince and Eighty- fiveinafifty were well-beaten in the Derby Trial. Had either won, that horse would have jumped ahead of Paddy O'Prado on the earnings list.

Long odds against even getting this far

While the partnership was formed as Derby Dreams, its horses race under the name of Donegal Racing - named for the county in Ireland where Crawford's ancestors lived.

The success of the group's first set of horses beat the odds even before Paddy O'Prado became Derby-bound.

According to a Thoroughbred Times study, only 3.6 percent of horses win a stakes race and only 0.8 percent win a graded stakes.

Of the eight horses Crawford bought in 2008, two - Paddy O'Prado and Vow to Wager - have already won stakes, with Paddy O'Prado's victory coming in a graded stakes.

At least one Derby veteran has confidence in Paddy O'Prado. Famed jockey Kent Desormeaux, who won three Derbies aboard Real Quiet, Fusaichi Pegasus and Big Brown, agreed before the Blue Grass Stakes to ride Iowa's horse in the Kentucky Derby.

"We just want him to make a good account of himself," Ray Smith said. "And we really think he has a wonderful chance.

"There's the main favorites - Eskendereya, Lookin at Lucky and Sidney's Candy - and then there's six or eight horses that are really all together, coming from different racetracks. This is such a year for upsets that there could well be another surprise. I wouldn't trade places with anybody."

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With video: Ralliers flock to Saratoga Race Course in support of New York's horse racing industry

Posted: 26 Apr 2010 02:11 AM PDT

Click thumbnails to enlarge

Saratoga Springs Supervisor Joanne Yepsen speaks at the rally in support of New York's horse racing industry Sunday at Saratoga Race Course. (ERICA MILLER/The Saratogian)

Assemblyman James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, speaks at Sunday's rally at Saratoga Race Course. (ERICA MILLER/The Saratogian)

Sackatoga Stable managing general partner Jack Knowlton, owner of Funny Cide, speaks at Sunday's rally. (ERICA MILLER/The Saratogian)

Donna Martin, of Saratoga, signs a petition after the rally in support of protecting New York's horse racing industry. (ERICA MILLER/The Saratogian)

By PATRICK H. DONGES, The Saratogian

Click to enlarge

Saratoga resident and owner of Glas-Tipp Stable Mary Murray holds up a sign stressing the importance of saving New York horse racing industry jobs Sunday at Saratoga Race Course. (ERICA MILLER/The Saratogian)

SARATOGA SPRINGS — More than 200 local fans of thoroughbred horse racing rallied in front of Saratoga Race Course Sunday morning.

It was the latest of several recent events organized to inform state leaders and residents of the economic devastation that could lie ahead if the proper legislative steps aren't taken in the coming weeks to help New York's imperiled horse racing industry.

Organized by Saratoga-based racing advocacy group ThoroFan, the rally brought out thoroughbred breeders and trainers and city business owners.

"We have a sincere interest in the need for near-term resolution of the several issues surrounding the upcoming racing meet and the long-term preservation of the city's racing heritage," ThoroFan education committee chairman Bob Giordano said.

"It's the fans' turn," he said. "We need to have our voice heard."

While this year's Saratoga racing schedule has already been announced, New York Racing Association has been teetering on the edge of fiscal insolvency due in great part to the state's inability to select an operator for video lottery terminals at the proposed Aqueduct racino.

Several state, county and city officials attended Sunday's rally, including Saratoga Springs supervisors Matthew Veitch and Joanne Yepsen.

"This is not just about Saratoga Springs, this is not just about horses running around a track," Yepsen said, referring to placards declaring the 35,000 jobs across the state that would be lost if racing is discontinued.

"Stop playing games with this industry," Veitch said. "We don't want Saratoga to become an exhibit," he added, motioning toward the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame located only blocks away.

"It's a quality of life issue," Saratoga Springs Finance Commissioner Kenneth Ivins Jr. said. "We're looking at probably a 10 percent loss in revenue. That also means a 25 percent loss of what we make in property tax."

Deputy Mayor Shauna Sutton also attended the rally.

State Assemblyman James Tedisco contributed his thoughts on the importance of the Saratoga racing meet as well. "This is not only a jewel for Saratoga or for the region. This is a jewel for the state and the United States of America," he said. Tedisco's primary residence is in his Schenectady County district, but he owns a second home in Saratoga Springs. He told those in attendance to keep putting pressure on state leaders and to not let them forget that racing is a key economic issue as they move slowly toward passing the state's budget, now almost a month overdue.

"The budget works with three men in a room, and three men in a room can't even get out of the room," he said, adding that on racing issues, the governor and legislative leaders have "shot themselves in both feet."

Leaders have yet to agree on the protocol that should be used to select a vendor following the New York State Lottery Division's refusal to certify Aqueduct Entertainment Group citing possible conflicts of interest between state leaders and corporation stakeholders. On March 11, Gov. David Paterson withdrew support for AEG in light of state and federal investigations into allegations of corruption in the selection process.

This week, the governor and local legislators will try to push a plan through to allow NYRA to borrow $17 million in funds meant for the construction of the Aqueduct facility. The money could be used to make scheduled capital improvements to facilities at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga.

"We all need to contact them," said Jeff Clark, president of the Downtown Business Association. He urged supporters to sign a petition being circulated and to ask their friends and family members statewide to call and write to state leaders.

"The vitality of Saratoga is at stake," he said.

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Horse Racing

Monday, April 26, 2010