GOLDEN GLIMPSES #214

May 23, 2000

By ED GOLDEN

FUSAICHI PEGASUS HAS PLENTY OF EXCUSES FOR DEFEAT

Top 10 reasons Fusaichi Pegasus lost the Preakness:
10--Frank Stronach needed the money to buy another race track.
9---Neil Drysdale never ran a horse with only two weeks� rest between races.
8---None of ABC TV�s staff of racing experts picked Red Bullet to win the race.
7---Drysdale was running out of leg bandages.
6---Vegas was vulnerable on Triple Crown futures.
5---Bob Baffert wasn�t getting enough publicity.
4---Drysdale didn�t want any more "touchy-feely" questions.
3---He wanted to make proponents of the "bounce" theory look good.
2---Kent Desormeaux already had won plenty of races at Pimlico anyway.
And the No. 1 reason Fusaichi Pegasus lost the Preakness:
Now with no Triple Crown winner assured for the 22nd consecutive year, there are just two words for the third and final leg of the series in New York on June 10: Belmont, schmelmont.

THE HOMESTRETCH: To the media and to the average fan, Drysdale may seem like the second coming of Ben Jones, but there�s a minority opinion of the newest member of the Hall of Fame, held by an industry insider, to wit: "As much press as Neil and Fusaichi Pegasus receive, the best story has been untouched. Between Fusaichi Pegasus� veterinarian and his exercise rider, Neil may as well stay home. Everyone seems so in awe of his �unconventional� training. He�s tried this silly stuff in California and it�s usually not tolerated. He has a barn full of horses that act just like Fusaichi Pegasus (what�s wrong with that picture?). Every trainer would like to have special attention and circumstances, but they don�t. Neil�s tried to bully his way around for a long time. It doesn�t usually work in California. And now that he�s a Hall of Famer, it�s even worse. That�s (being in the Hall of Fame) been meaningless for a long time. I don�t know what the media is thinking. There are so many old trainers who have come and gone who made racing as great as it was and they don�t get the recognition they deserve." . . . So Team Stronach passed the Kentucky Derby to win the Preakness. Better it should have skipped the Wood to win the Derby. Years from now, at least, people would remember that . . . Bridge jumpers would have been smart to bet Fusaichi Pegasus to place instead of win. He paid $2.60 in the middle, the same as he would have up front as the 3-10 favorite . . . Possible for the Belmont: Fusaichi Pegasus, Red Bullet, Impeachment, Aptitude, Wheelaway, Tahkodha Hills, Unshaded, Chief Seattle, Curule and Globalize . . . Graphics goof: On ESPN�s draw for the Preakness, it listed the owner of longshot Hugh Hefner as "Ed Mahem," as in mayhem. In truth, the name is as mild as the man: Nahem. . . David La Croix doesn�t have to worry about where his next meal is coming from, especially since he�s been naming his horses after pubs and eating establishments in Southern California. The 46-year-old trainer has it down to a science and has enjoyed more free meals than a Las Vegas high roller. "We�ve been naming horses for 25 years and been through a lot of different angles," La Croix (pronounced La CROY) said. "My mom kind of put me in charge of naming the horses. I saw other horses named after people and I go to lots of bars and restaurants, so I thought, �Why don�t we name horses after them?� The places seem to like it, especially when I bring them in a picture of the horse when it wins." Included among La Croix�s handiwork are Meetyouathebrig, named after The Brigantine in Del Mar; The Station, named for a bar off Baldwin Ave. near Santa Anita where La Croix usually stops on his way home when traffic is heavy; Cafe Del Mar, named after a restaurant in Del Mar; Dinnerathepalms, named after The Palm restaurant in Beverly Hills; Bottle Inn, named for an Italian restaurant in Hermosa Beach; Bully�s North, after a popular Del Mar watering hole; and Stick N Stein, after a sports bar in El Segundo. "A buddy of mine named Steve Petroff used to own Shellback Tavern and I had a horse named Shellbacks and another one named Petroff, after Steve," La Croix said. "The first horse I named after a restaurant was Orville N Wilbur�s, but that place is closed now." . . . Trinidad native Emile Ramsammy, finding business lean in Southern California, has gone back to Canada where he has two Sovereign Awards as the country�s top rider. He could return when the Oak Tree meet starts in the fall . . . May 19 marked the 36th anniversary of Laffit Pincay Jr.�s maiden victory, aboard Huelen, in 1964, at Presidente Remon, Panama. Racing�s all-time leader with 8,918 career wins, Pincay is 82 shy of 9,000. If and when he reaches that plateau, Pincay says there�s no way he�ll go for 10,000 . . . On May 12, 1936, 64 years ago, jockey Ralph Neves was involved in a spill at Bay Meadows and erroneously pronounced dead. Revived at the morgue, he returned to the track, where he was forced to miss a half-day of work because of his "death."

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