Horse Racing: A Big Day for Optimists

“I’ve never seen a crowd so big,” said Eddie Arcaro, wondering at the 120,000 people who packed Churchill Downs’ creaking grandstand. “I can’t remember a Derby creating so much excitement.”

There were nine thoroughbreds in last week’s 89th Kentucky Derby, but as far as the crowd was concerned there were only three. And what a trio. Rex Ellsworth’s California colt, Candy Spots, drew most of the attention, partly because of his huge size (16.2 hands) and partly because in six starts, he had never been beaten. “I’ve got the right horse,” said his jockey, Willie Shoemaker, who had ridden six of the nine entries. But for the first time that anybody could remember, there were two undefeated horses in the field. Eastern money was on Joan Whitney Payson’s No Robbery, who had won all five of his races by a minimum of 2½ lengths. Then there was Captain Harry Guggenheim’s Never Bend, the richest horse of all, a dark bay with $502,484 in his bankroll. At post time, Candy Spots was the 3-2 favorite; No Robbery was 5-2; Never Bend was the close third choice at 3-1. The rest of the field went into the gate at odds up to 138-1.

But horsemen, like lovers, are optimists. “If you had your choice, which would you rather win—the World Series or the Kentucky Derby?” someone asked Millionaire Sportsman John Galbreath. He just laughed. His Pittsburgh Pirates had won the Series in 1960; now his Chateaugay was making a run for the roses. The horse had cost Galbreath $2,000,000—the price he paid for its sire, Swaps, the 1955 Derby winner. But Chateaugay was still a 9-1 long shot.

At the break, the experts started congratulating themselves. Never Bend was in front when the horses pounded past the grandstand; No Robbery was close alongside, and Candy Spots, a strong stretch runner, was rating easily in third. All through the long backstretch, they held those positions, opening up a huge gap on the rest of the field.

Far back in seventh place, twelve lengths behind Never Bend, Jockey Braulio Baeza was sitting chilly on Chateaugay. “He wanted to run” said Baeza, 23, a poker-faced Panamanian who rode his first U.S. horse scarcely three years ago. “I took a good hold and just waited.”

Rounding the stretch turn, No Robbery ran out of steam and began to fade. Never Bend was tiring, too, but he was all by himself in the lead: caught in tight quarters along the rail, Willie Shoemaker was forced to check Candy Spots and take him wide. Then he swung his whip—and nothing happened. “I asked Spots to run,” Shoemaker said sadly, “but he just wasn’t there.” One horse was there: Chateaugay. Ranging up on the outside, Chateaugay zoomed past No Robbery as if the two were traveling in opposite directions. Then he caught Candy Spots, and at the eighth pole, scant strides from the finish, Chateaugay pulled alongside Never Bend. He hung for an instant, and Jockey Baeza went to his whip. “It meant so much,” he said. “I couldn’t let him do that to me.” Chateaugay drew out and at the finish he was 1¼ lengths in front.

In the winner’s circle, Chateaugay was still so frisky that he looked ready to run another 1¼ mi. He tossed his head, kicked angrily when a groom tried to drape the traditional garland of roses around his neck. Richer by $108,900, Owner Galbreath, whose Pirates that day had beaten the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0, to take first place in the National League, wisely kept out of range. Why ruin a lovely afternoon?