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Trainers agree, Fusaichi is royalty
Associated Press
|  | | Neil Drysdale won't commit Fusaichi Pegasus to the Preakness until he sees his horse's second workout next week. |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- After being bothered by flies on his walk to the paddock, Fusaichi Pegasus took flight in the Kentucky Derby, the first step of what some trainers think will be a Triple Crown journey.
"That's a Triple Crown horse right there," said Jenine Sahadi, trainer of The Deputy, 14th as the second favorite in a field of 19 at Churchill Downs.
"If you ask me, he's a Triple Crown winner," said Alex Hassinger, trainer of Anees, the 1999 2-year-old champion who finished 13th.
Trainer Neil Drysdale, however, refused on Sunday to commit Fusaichi Pegasus to the Preakness.
Told that Drysdale was undecided about the May 20 race, trainer
D. Wayne Lukas, whose three starters were not among the first 10
finishers, said: "Count Neil in."
Fusaichi Pegasus can get feisty but was a cool professional in
becoming the first favorite to win the Derby since Spectacular Bid
in 1979. He did kick up his heels in front of the stands on his way
to be saddled.
"He got a little hot going over," Drysdale said. "Some flies
got on him and he got irritated with the flies. I threw a fly sheet
over him and it annoyed him, so I took it off."
The colt finished 1½ lengths ahead of Aptitude. The time of 2:01
for 1¼ miles tied the sixth fastest in 126 Derbys.
"It was very rewarding," Drysdale said.
The colt was hand ridden by Kent Desormeaux through the stretch.
Drysdale was asked if the margin of victory could have been
greater.
"The winning margin is not as important as people make it out
to be," he said. "The idea is to win the race."
That's something Fusaichi Pegasus has done in five starts since
he finished second in his only start as a 2-year-old.
"When he's good, he's good," Lukas said. "I'm hoping he's not
good every day."
Fusao Skeiguchi of Japan, who bought Fusaichi Pegasus as a
yearling for $4 million, said he would like to aim for the Triple
Crown.
"But this will depend on how Mr. Drysdale thinks about it," he
said. "I will leave the decision up to him."
Drysdale said he probably won't make a decision until after the
colt has two workouts at Churchill Downs. The second workout will
be next week.
"I have to see how it comes out of this race before we go on to
the next one," he said.
Drysdale also was undecided about the next race for War Chant,
ninth in the Derby.
Should Fusaichi Pegasus go to Baltimore and win the Preakness,
he would be the fourth straight Derby winner to have a shot at
becoming the 12th Triple Crown champion.
Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (1998) finished second in the
Belmont Stakes and Charismatic finished third last year. The Triple
Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978.
Lukas, at a loss to explain the 15th-place finish of High Yield,
said the Blue Grass winner will run in the Preakness. His other two
Derby starters, Exchange Rate (11th) and Commendable (17th), will
not.
"I haven't made up my mind yet," said Harold Rose, the
88-year-old owner-trainer of Florida Derby winner Hal's Hope, who
finished 16th after leading for the first three-quarters of a mile.
He said the colt stumbled leaving the gate and sustained some cuts
on his left foreleg.
Hassinger said he did not know what is next for Anees, but
Sahadi said The Deputy will go back to California and return to
racing on the grass, a surface he raced on in his five starts in
England last year and for his U.S. debut Jan. 2.
"That's not to say he won't run on dirt again," said Sahadi,
who was trying to become the first female trainer to win a Kentucky
Derby.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed, but I'm grateful the horse is
fine. Chris (McCarron, the jockey) said he never was comfortable,
that he never was really into it."
Trainer Bobby Frankel said the stretch-running Aptitude will
skip the 1 3/16 Preakness and aim for the 1½-mile Belmont Stakes.
Impeachment, More Than Ready and Wheelaway, third through fifth,
respectively, in the Derby, are possible Preakness starters.
Three colts, who did not run in Derby, but are being considered
for the Preakness are Red Bullet, second to Fusaichi Pegasus in the
Wood Memorial; Snuck In, runner-up in the Arkansas Derby; and
Performing Magic, the Derby Trial winner.
Last year, Lukas was elected to National Racing Hall of Fame
during Derby week, then won the race with Charismatic. On Tuesday,
Drysdale was elected to the hall, as was A.P. Indy, the colt he had
to scratch the morning of the 1992 Derby because of a foot problem.
A.P. Indy went on to become Horse of the Year.
In beating Aptitude, Fusaichi Pegasus, a son of the great sire
Mr. Prospector, defeated a son of A.P. Indy.
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