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 6 5 77 TIP T he buildup to every Kentucky Der- by is momentous, but especially so when it features a showdown between two great horses. It's extra special when those horses come from oppo- site ends of the country and have never met before the frst Saturday in May, each carry- ing the hope and racing pride of its respective region. Te classic East-West showdown in Derby history was Swaps-Nashua in 1955. A close second was Sunday Silence-Easy Goer in 1989, 25 years ago. Te pairings have similarities. In 1955 the East Coast was represented by Nashua, a big, impressively bred horse from the famed Maryland farm Belair Stud, with a trainer — "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons, age 80 — who was an integral part of Derby lore. He had won the Derby three times, twice with father-son Triple Crown win- ners Gallant Fox in 1930 and Omaha in 1935, and again with Johnstown, the sire of Nashua's mother, in 1939. Te darling of the Eastern racing press, Nashua was the 6-5 favorite on Derby Day. From California came Swaps, a well-built, sleek horse, but a California-bred (a Cal-bred hadn't won the Derby since 1922), with heretofore unknown connections (it was rancher/owner Rex Ellsworth's frst Derby starter) and a cowboy trainer new to the Derby scene in Mesh Tenney, who at age 47 was a youngster compared to Sunny Jim. Swaps was fast, but who had he beat? Tat was the burning question. He was 5-2. In 1989 Easy Goer, a massive, classically bred steed, represented the East Coast and the establishment. Te son of Calumet Farm's Alydar — who had his own rivalry with Florida-raised Afrmed in 1977-'78 — was trained by Shug McGaughey for the fabled Phipps Stable (a stable in name only; Phipps horses have always boarded at Clai- borne Farm in Paris, Ky.). Already anointed by the eastern racing press and his jockey, Pat Day, who put the colt "in the same class as Secretariat," Easy Goer (coupled with Awe Inspiring) was 4-5, the lowest-priced Derby favorite since Spectacular Bid, at 3-5, in 1979. Representing the West Coast was Ken- tucky-born but California-raced Sunday Silence, tall but not as stout as the imposing Easy Goer (sportswriter Bill Doolittle said Sunday Silence "walked like a tall basketball player in a crowded hallway"). He was well bred but not classically so (his sire, Halo, already had a Derby winner, Sunny's Halo in 1983, but was not popular with U.S. breed- ers), with a fabled veteran trainer — Charlie Whittingham, who had run up the track in the 1958 and '60 Derbies, then didn't return until 1986, when he won with Ferdinand. Whittingham, a Marine veteran of World War II known as the "Bald Eagle," was 76, exactly twice as old as McGaughey. As with Swaps, the quality of Sunday Silence's com- petition was the question. He was 3-1. In both cases, the duel had become per- sonal. Tenney had walked Swaps up to the outer rail at Churchill Downs to watch Nashua's fnal Derby workout, as if to say to his horse, "Tere's the guy you have to beat come Saturday." Sunday Silence and Easy Goer were stabled directly across from each other at Churchill, able to look out their stall doors and size up their principal competition on a daily basis. Tere was another parallel — personali- ties. Nashua's jockey, Eddie Arcaro, called his mount "one mean bastard." Swaps was a friendly sort, like the family dog; Tenney even slept in his stall at Churchill the two weeks prior to the Derby. Easy Goer was "a beautiful horse to be around, easy to train," said McGaughey. Sunday Silence was by Halo, a notoriously vicious horse who passed his belligerence on to his progeny. Sunday Silence wasn't exactly mean, but co-owner Arthur Hancock, who bred and raised him before his racing career, described him as having "a bit of a mischie- vous streak; I think 'recalcitrant' is the word." Whittingham, who carried a pocket-load of peppermints because that was Sunday Silence's favorite treat, nevertheless said that the colt was "very fery . . . he'd kick you in the head if he had the chance." He actually did kick Whittingham in the head the week of the Belmont Stakes, although it didn't appear to be intentional, occurring when "he was spooked and reared (in the tunnel at Belmont)," said Hancock. Finally, in both cases the East Coast favorite lost to his West Coast rival. S unday Silence, who Hancock said was "always running in the feld as a yearling," arrived at Churchill on April 21, coming of a record-breaking 11-length victory in the April 8 Santa Anita Derby. He was three for three at age three, 4-2-0 in six lifetime starts. In his two runner-up fnishes, he was beaten just a neck and a head while still green. Te nearly all-black colt was stabled in barn 41. Easy Goer arrived on April 27, coming of a facile three-length victory in Aqueduct's Wood Memorial on April 22. He also was three for three at age three, 7-2-0 in nine lifetime starts. He was the two-year-old cham- pion after two dominating Grade I victories. Te chestnut colt was bedded down in barn 43, about 60 feet from Sunday Silence. Te rivals had their fnal two pre-Derby works at virtually the same time, separated by about a quarter-mile. On April 29 Easy Goer went a fast fve furlongs (59 seconds) and Sunday Silence a mile in 1:39. On May 4, two days prior to the big day, both worked four furlongs, Easy Goer in a swift 47 seconds, Sunday Silence in an even better 46³⁄₅. Coastal Collision A California horse crashed the East Coast Derby party in 1955, and 34 years later another California-raced colt, Sunday Silence, was looking to do the same. BET ON THE HORSE WITH THE CAGEY BALD TRAINER. By Rick Cushing 64-81.indd 65 3/19/14 5:26 PM

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