‘Fading, fading, fading …’
State of Honor first out, but last at the line in greatest two minutes for Manfreds
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Manfred Conrad raised his left fist and pumped it six times.
His Canadian-bred horse, wearing No. 6, was leading the 143rd Kentucky Derby.
In a mint julep minute, State of Honor charged out in front of 19 other mud-churning thoroughbreds on a chocolate-pudding track Saturday evening at hallowed Churchill Downs.
Conrad, a Waterloo Region developer who galloped into the racehorse game a decade ago with his wife, Penny, slapped the concrete ledge in front of his trackside owner’s box seven times with his left hand. His right hand lay flat against the cement rail, as if swearing a solemn oath to hard truthfulness on an invisible courtroom Bible.
State of Honor was on speed trial before a goofy hat-wearing, beer-gripping, cigarpuffing jury of 158,000 standing in the pleasant aftermath of a late-afternoon downpour.
And Conrad was testifying to his three-year-old bay colt’s high stakes worthiness as the early-race leader.
“Come on!” Manfred shouted. “State of Honor, you’re the favourite!”
Penny, hands tightly clasped and finger nails painted pink, smiled and chuckled at her husband’s hearty outburst. She kept quiet beneath her slanted, blueand-white, satellite dish shaped bonnet. Penny is the horse whisperer of this Wellesley couple. She knows State of Honor best.
She knew what was to come. Manfred did, too.
This dream start, with State of Honor rocketing out of the gate, was the prologue to their dreaded twin spires nightmare that led to an exhausted midrace burnout under an unfamiliar jockey in red, black and yellow.
State of Honor was fast. But did he have the stamina to lead all the way? Not a chance. Not at the 54-to-one betting odds he was saddled with at the bustling, bet-happy track.
Leading out of the gate was not the plan.
The horse — carrying Jose Lezcano for the first time while usual jockey Julien Leparoux rode teammate and fourth-place finisher Classic Empire — should have hung back.
This manic start to the “greatest two minutes in sports” was the main ingredient in the bitter recipe for State of Honor’s grating 19th-place finish.
“He is going to lose,” Manfred thought to himself as his horse held the lead.
And then, State of Honor started to wilt.
Always Dreaming caught him as the second half began.
The Conrads, only a few feet from the gargantuan green champagne bottles ready to pop in the winner’s circle, turned sullen.
Penny watched stoically. Manfred took a swig of bourbon. Spearmint leaves slowly submerged like soggy seaweed in his glass. State of Honor was going under too.
“Fading, fading, fading …” Penny said.
Manfred took another gulp and placed both hands flat on the ledge before him. His Kentucky horse-rearing pal Zach Madden, standing at Manfred’s right, folded his arms.
Movie mogul Gary Barber, behind Manfred’s right shoulder, watched the race intently as if one of the movies his studio produced — about James Bond or RoboCop or a Poltergeist — was unspooling on the far side of the track.
Barber and Manfred co-owned last year’s Queen’s Plate entry, Leavem in Malibu.
Now, Barber was in Manfred’s box, where the celebrity content shot up throughout Derby Day like the rising betting odds against State of Honor.
Barber’s friend Katie Couric showed up with her husband, John. Couric, a U.S. television personality who grew up in Virginia horse country, adored Penny’s race-day hat. She snapped pictures of the fascinating fascinator and stroked Manfred’s cheek.
She also sat in the obstructed view zone behind Penny during the race.
“Do you think it would be rude if I asked Penny to take her hat off ?” Couric joked rhetorically from beneath her own magenta hat.
Behind Couric stood actor Jesse Eisenberg and his family.
The cheery young father who played Superman-villain Lex Luthor hardly seemed dastardly as he gently snuggled and entertained his five-month old son. How did the Eisenbergs find their way to the Conrad box? Derby host Anne Burkley brought them in to watch the race. The Conrads were gracious and welcoming hosts.
At times Saturday, the owners’ box for State of Honor resembled the crowded cabin scene from the Marx Brothers’ classic “A Night at the Opera.” Elbow room was scarce in this “A Day at the Races” sequel in rain-soaked Kentucky.
“Good luck! Good luck! Good luck!” Eisenberg said to Penny’s longtime Kitchener friend Ingrid Petersen as race time neared.
But star power couldn’t help State of Honor as his Run for the Roses turned thorny.
Down the final stretch, No. 6 had fallen 40 lengths back. And the bourbon-fuelled energy of the Conrad box poured into the owner’s box beside them, to Manfred’s right.
In the No. 5 owner’s box was the team behind race winner, Always Dreaming. Jackets flew off. Women shrieked with delight as they waved their frilly hats and jumped, pogo-stick style, in stiletto heels.
The Conrads applauded their unbridled joy and congratulated their Derby-champion neighbours.
At race end, Manfred and Penny embraced.
Muck from their pre-race walk along Derby track still coated Manfred’s loafers. Penny, wearing blue boots borrowed from a friend, held Manfred’s hand as they strolled along the gooey, puddle-filled track with State of Honor and the other horses and owners.
Race watchers from along the front rails yelled encouragement. Penny and Manfred, married 48 years, high-fived those who held out their hands. They might have high-fived 158,000 palms if they could have reached them all.
“It goes by in such a flash,” said Penny, turning her thoughts to State of Honor’s deflating finish with soft-tossing football quarterback Tom Brady somewhere in the stands.
“I knew he couldn’t stay in the lead. The race was a little bit too long for him. But we were here and it was a great experience. We’re just happy to be part of it.”
Manfred isn’t sure what’s next for State of Honor.
But there will be another Kentucky Derby next year. Once you’ve sipped a mint julep as an owner watching your horse race at Churchill Downs, you want to do it again.
Got any two-year-olds who might make it here next year?
“We have a few up our sleeves,” Manfred said.