Louisville Magazine

APR 2014

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

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4.14 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 1 2 1 Comeback Kids (of All Ages) For the faithful, there are second acts in racing lives. By Bill Doolitle Photos by Ted Tarquinio T he Kentucky Derby holds title to a unique facet that distinguishes it from any other sport: Te race is limited to three-year-old Toroughbreds. Tat means a horse only gets one chance to run for the roses. But for the people of racing — the trainers, jockeys, grooms, exercise riders, owners, breeders and fans — the Derby provides a lifetime of chances. And you never know when the chance of a lifetime will strike. A year ago it struck unexpectedly for Shug McGaughey. Te Hall of Fame trainer had been close enough to snif the roses with Derby favorite Easy Goer in 1989, but that bouquet got away. Ten, suddenly, McGaughey found himself aboard a fying bay carpet named Orb. "It was a lot of fun for me because I saw something that I'd never seen before," McGaughey says. "I saw a horse that was developing before my eyes. He was getting better and better and better." Of course, all the champions trained by McGaughey have developed before his eyes. Born in central Kentucky, where he began his career, and long based in New York, where he is the private trainer for the Phipps family, McGaughey, 63, has developed such notables as the undefeated champion flly Personal Ensign, two-time Breeders' Cup Mile winner Lure and a barnful of sleek speedsters that have earned a trophy case of Eclipse Awards. But Orb the improbable, who'd been just another horse at age two, was the one who came around for McGaughey at just the right time. "When he arrived in Florida the frst of December, I was thinking about an 'A other-than' race for him, an allowance race," McGaughey says. "When we left, with (wins in) the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby, he was the favorite for the Kentucky Derby." McGaughey bedded down Orb in barn 43 on the Churchill backside — the same barn he trained out of at the beginning of his career in Kentucky, a barn that the track kind of reserves for the trainer as he ships in stakes runners for important races. It is Shug's old Kentucky home. Te weather warmed in Louisville, dogwoods blossomed . . . and so did Orb. "As you probably know, some horses just don't like Churchill Downs," McGaughey says. "Well, from day one Orb liked Churchill Downs. Te frst day we galloped him, my eyes were bugged. We felt that if everything goes right, we might have the right horse; it might be our turn. Everything went right." Fans will recall Orb coming from far back to win last year's Derby, circling the feld on the turn for home under young rider Joel Rosario, then pulling away through the stretch to arrive all alone at the wire — his face covered with mud thrown by the hooves of horses he'd run by. G ary Stevens is looking for a horse like that. Over this past winter and through the early Derby prep races this spring, the famous jockey has jumped aboard several promising colts, looking for his Derby horse, the one that might peak on the frst Saturday of May. But if Stevens wins the 140th Kentucky Derby, it won't be his frst Derby victory; it'll be his fourth. What's really remarkable about that is, Stevens spent seven years away from riding — "hanging up his tack," as they say, in 2005 when a recurring knee injury prevented him from riding at the level that had allowed him to win nearly 5,000 races and numerous riding titles. He racked up his Derbies with Winning Colors (1988), Tunder Gulch ('95) and Silver Charm ('97). Before retiring he had starred in the 2003 hit movie Seabiscuit, as jockey Georgie "the Iceman" Woolf; post- retirement, he picked up more acting roles and signed on as a Triple Crown analyst with NBC. Was good at it, too. But at the age of 50, after those seven years out of the saddle, Stevens returned to riding, launching himself into an exhaustive, months-long physical program designed to rehabilitate his knee and get him into shape: hard muscle, strong hands, not an ounce of fat, quick refexes, stamina. "Anything and everything a young rider would have to do," Stevens says. "I'd been known as one of the elite riders throughout my career. Ten being away for seven years, I didn't want to come back and embarrass myself. I didn't want to come back and be half the jockey I was prior to my retirement. I told myself I not only had to be as good — I had to be better than I was because there's going to be a lot of skeptics out there." Te payof came quickly. Stevens earned a Derby mount aboard Oxbow, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, for whom the jockey had won two previous Derbies. Oxbow showed DON'T DISMISS THE AFFECTION OF THE DERBY GODS. 116 TIP 112-128.indd 121 3/19/14 5:39 PM

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