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5 6 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 4.14 eighth on the frst Saturday in May at the Derby; I would go four weeks to Memorial Day weekend and make it a holiday weekend at the Preakness (at 1 3/16 miles); then maybe go all the way to the Fourth of July and run the Belmont at the classic American distance of a mile and a quarter. . . . Time is your ally. Always remember that as a horse trainer. Time is your ally. Trow in the Breeders' Cup in the fall and you'd have a year of marquee horses and you'd get a better fan base." Having won the Preakness with Calumet Farm's Oxbow, how is that farm's comeback proceeding (see story beginning on page 106)? "Brad Kelley is really trying to revive it, so to get a classic win so early is really special. I thought that horse had a legitimate chance in the Derby, but he got caught up in that speed duel (with Palace Malice) and that ended that. But that was special. It was special for me. I had trained for Calumet before. Criminal Type was horse of the year (in 1990). Kelley is committed to doing it with homebreds like the old Calumet, but this day and age that's very difcult to do. Tat era in the '50s was wonderful, but it's difcult to do now." I wish he could get the devil's-red-and-blue silks back. "We talked at great length about that. I'm training for the people (the Borges Torrealba family of Brazil) who bought the silks. Tey own half of Will Take Charge. We talked about that, but Brad came to the conclusion, I think, that he wanted to have his own identity." What's the greatest performance you saw in a Derby frsthand, your horse or another? "One that afected me the most was when Unbridled won for owner Frances Genter and she was in her 80s and Carl Nafzger did that precious call for her. I thought we could win that Derby (with a three- horse entry of Land Rush, Power Lunch and Real Cash). But after hearing Carl call that race to her — that emotional minute, that's what the Derby is about — I went back to my son at the barn and told him, 'We weren't supposed to win today.'" What was the best horse you saw or trained who didn't win the Triple Crown but should have? "Spectacular Bid (won the Derby and Preakness in '79, trained by Bud Delp). I thought he and Secretariat were the two best horses I ever saw. Period." Is there a horse that you've had that, through bad racing luck or health problems, never got his due? "Tat horse right there. (He points to a picture on the wall of Charismatic winning the Derby in 1999.) Tat horse should have won the Triple Crown. He was good enough to win all three." What do you enjoy about training now that maybe you didn't 30 years ago? "I'm more comfortable doing it. When you're frst training and you're trying to establish your career, you push and try to prove yourself. But now I don't get up every day trying to prove I can train a horse. I'm very comfortable with what I can do. Our record stands. It's out there. I'm comfortable. I don't feel the pressure any more. Te passion of developing a good horse is probably stronger for me now than ever. I look forward to the young ones, the challenge of the three-year-olds. We put emphasis on the Triple Crown." What time do you get up every morning? "3:30 every day of my life. Seven days a week. I never miss. I get here a little after 4." you are very well accepted. New York, I never felt like they embraced my colleagues or me. In Louisville, I feel very much a part of the community. I can go to a restaurant and have dinner, get ready to pay the check and they'll say, 'Te fellow over in the corner picked up the tab.' I'll look over, never saw him before in my life, go thank him, and he'll say, 'Hell, I enjoyed watching your horses. I bet on your horses. We'd like to buy you dinner.' You don't fnd that in a lot of places." Being a basketball fan, you must enjoy that part of it too. "I do, and I consider (University of Louisville basketball coach) Rick Pitino a good friend. You know, Louisville, as a sports town, is hard to beat. When ESPN did that 'Sports Town USA' special and traveled all over the country, (former U of L hoops great) Darrell Grifth and I did the Louisville section for TV. I said, 'Where else in the world would they close the schools on Friday for a horse race on Saturday?'" Yeah, and now it seems as if the Derby has become a week-long event. Time was, you could go to the Oaks on Friday and be able to move. Now it's packed. Tursdays are packed. "For years, I brought all my coaching buddies and associates to watch the Derby and I told them they had to come at least Wednesday, and I'd prefer you come on Tuesday because you need to be there for the whole nine yards." Why has the Triple Crown become so damn hard to win? "I have some quite strong opinions about that. Everything surrounding the Triple Crown has changed. Te only things that haven't changed are where they're located, when they're run and their distances. Back when we were getting Triple Crown winners (every) few years, instead of every 35 years, the felds were smaller. Te larger the feld, the tougher it is. Te second thing is, you have more people who want to run in it, so the prep races that run up to it have become much more important. You used to develop horses and use a 'soft approach,' as I call it, and not worry too much about getting in the Derby as much as having the horse right on the day of the race. Now, you've got to go to the well with him to get in. So, in reality, instead of a Triple Crown, it's more like a fve-race series because the two races prior to the Kentucky Derby are so important and so tough. "You come into the Derby, get past that, come back in two weeks and you're in your fourth real tough race in a row. Ten you've got to go a mile and a half (in the Belmont Stakes, the fnal leg of the Triple Crown). Te third thing is, we have bred horses more for speed than we used to. Nobody that I know of is breeding a horse with the idea that he'd run a mile and a half. Speed sells and precocious horses sell, and the breeders are giving them what they want. "We'll get a Triple Crown winner when we get a mediocre feld and a superstar." If you could change the Triple Crown, how would you do it? "It'll never happen because the traditionalists are so strong, but if I were the czar of racing, I would suggest that we run a mile and an "We're disciplined. There's no conversation in the barn. Nobody has an iPod or Walkman or earphones that they're tuned into. None of that. Nobody is allowed to swear but me." 44-63.indd 56 3/19/14 5:22 PM