Sunday, March 09, 2008

Where There is Smoke, There is Pyro

(CHICAGO, IL – March 10, 2008) Saturday was to be a day when the 3-year-old picture came into focus. But only Pyro, winner of the Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds, showed racing fans what a Triple Crown contender looked like.

The Ron and Joan Winchell-owned homebred, a dark bay son of Pulpit, trounced a deep field of Kentucky Derby-bound hopefuls in this spring’s most anticipated race, making like the replacement for Curlin in Steve Asmussen’s barn.

Now look for Asmussen to fire winning jockey Shaun Bridgmohan. Even though less accomplished riders than Bridgmohan have united with great horses, the lack of alternative choices presented by this year’s crop is certain to lead agents of the country’s best riders to come begging for the hook-up. Nevertheless, hiring some other jockey would be a jerk move on Asmussen’s part, but not unprecedented.

Obviously, Bridgmohan has been reliable and is adequate as a pilot. In the Louisiana Derby, he slipped Pyro to the fore after paying proper attention to a modest pace. Pyro was never more than four lengths behind, and when he burst into the lead, the 4-5 post-time favorite left wobbly horses looking like bowling pins scattered by Carmen Salvino. The colt’s winning time of 1:44.44 was no record – in fact, far from it. But Pyro has now won as many races as he has lost to War Pass. Asmussen may want the best rider that’s available to him when facing him again.

The Texan from South Dakota – North America’s leader in races won - said that Pyro will have one more start before Louisville. “We prepped well. It looks like he’s right on target,” Asmussen said about the Louisiana Derby in perspective to the first Saturday in May. “I just did what I was told to do, and it worked out very well for me,” Bridgmohan admitted after Pyro’s faint Risen Star Stakes victory. But, will that be enough when the pressure cooker’s whistling?

Elsewhere, only a man with extraordinary eyesight can predict a bright future for Visionaire, who triumphed in the Long Island fog of the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Although nobody saw more than his stretch run, the son of Grand Slam, who ran third in the Risen Star, managed to collar Texas Wildcatter by a nose at the wire in a breathtaking finish. The time for the Gotham, contested on a sloppy/sealed track, was 1:44.60, a touch slower than Pyro’s. Jose Lezcano - that household name of a jockey - rode Team Valor’s and Vision Racing’s Visionaire for Michael Matz, the former trainer of Barbaro.

By the way, Todd Pletcher trains Texas Wildcatter and, undoubtedly, he should be at least somewhat pleased by the second. The Stonerside homebred by Monarchos, still eligible for non-winners of two other than maiden or claiming, took Pletcher’s decision to put blinkers on him as a sign that the trainer was losing patience. But whenever the four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer boosts Norberto Arroyo Jr. into the saddle, you know that his horse doesn’t have champion credentials.

The Gotham’s biggest disappointment was Saratoga Russell, a well-meant West Point Stable colt that is now short of earnings as well as seasoning to be taken seriously for the Derby. Trainer Rick Violette was so high on this speed-burning son of Trippi that his pre-race remarks caused the bettors to make the horse favored, when, in fact, he wasn’t even worth Visonaire’s appropriate $11 mutuel.

On the opposite coast, the El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows was annexed by Autism Awareness, whose moniker, more than his make up, will give people pause to notice his future exploits. He, of all the horses in action on Saturday, is certain to be around for a long time. One just can’t predict how low he’ll fall in upcoming competitions. Nevertheless, if he stays healthy, which is a “big if” by any stretch, Autism Awareness will record 35 starts before he’s finished. Nowadays, it is this kind of runner that races as 4-year-old.

Purchased for $1000 by Johnny Taboada at the CTBA Northern California yearling sale, Autism Awareness is short of purple as a stud prospect – thus, the reckless prediction. He is a Cal-bred son of Tannersmyman, out of Lady Essex by Sharp Victor. Have you ever heard of any of them? In fact, he hasn’t been nominated for the Triple Crown – yet.

Regardless, as the longest shot on the board in the El Camino Real, Autism Awareness ran his 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.17. It was the swiftest of Saturday’s three Kentucky Derby preps. Luis Contreras was the rider for trainer Genaro Vellejo. Well, it’s horse racing, so even strangers to the winner’s circle are eligible to participate. Autism Awareness paid $126. He’d better prove that his victory was no fluke, however, before booking his passage to Louisville.

All told, it’s beginning to look as if there are four, maybe five, genuine threats to smell the roses. If War Pass, Pyro, Colonel John, El Gato Malo and Denis of Cork get through the next 55 days safely, it will be one helluva Derby.

This, of course, does not mean that any of them is a lock. 2008 could be a year for a Giacomo or a Canonero II, such as Tomcito. Sometimes handicappers find winners by unveiling the reasons why horses can’t win.

That being said, to date, no horse other than the big five has shown the class to reign supreme. Elysium Fields, Cool Coal Man and Georgie Boy shouldn’t be summarily dismissed. And sure, it’s early, with such tell-tale events as this week’s Rebel, Tampa Bay Derby and San Felipe, and, more precisely, the Grade 1s of late March and early April, offering additional clues.

Regardless, where there is smoke, there is Pyro. Call his score in the Louisiana Derby the gauntlet.


Note: As a result of a transaction announced shortly after the posting of this column, Pyro will retire to stud at Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Darley America. He will race in the colors of Winchell Thoroughbreds through the Breeders' Cup.