Ferdinand stuns Derby
(MAY 3, 1986)
This story, edited for length, was published after Bill Shoemaker won his fourth Kentucky Derby, riding long-shot Ferdinand to a last-to-first dash for a 2 1⁄4- length win over Bold Arrangement on May 3, 1986.
LOUISVILLE — Charlie Whittingham and Bill Shoemaker, who have forgotten more about racing than most people will ever know, pooled their resources with those of a colt named Ferdinand and produced an unforgettable Kentucky Derby.
The 73-year-old Whittingham has won more major races than any other trainer in history, but until Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs, he never had won the Kentucky Derby.
Ferdinand got him over the hump because the 54-year-old Shoemaker, who previously had won America’s most revered race three times, saved his best for last.
In Shoemaker’s triumphs with Swaps in 1955, Tomy Lee in 1959 and Lucky Debonair in 1965, he was either on the lead or just off the pace.
This time, he came from the rear of a field of 16 and won because he asked Ferdinand to make a brazen move. The colt veered from the outside of three horses to find a narrow opening on the rail in the upper stretch.
Getting the message imparted by Shoemakesr` left-handed whipping, the 17-to-1 long shot responded by becoming a chip off the old block and doing what came naturally to his daddy, 1970 English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky II.
He surged alongside Bold Arrangement, Broad Brush and Badger Land with three-16ths of a mile to run, then swept away to a 2 1⁄4- length triumph that produced win, place and show payoffs of $37.40, $16.20 and $8.60.
Bold Arrangement finished a strong second at 9-to-1 odds, coming in three-quarters of a length in front of 14-to-1 long shot Broad Brush. Bold Arrangement paid $9.40 and $6.80, and Broad Brush returned $9.20 to show bettors in the throng of 123,819.
In the eyes of those who made another far more esteemed Californian the $2.10-to-$1 favorite because of his five straight triumphs, Snow Chief was the abominable snowman. Snow Chief gained a brief advantage with five-16ths of a mile to go, then disappeared when he got some heat and finished 11th.
“He stumbled leaving the gate, and then I had to rush him a little to get a position,” said Snow Chief ’s jockey, Alex Solis. “But at the half-mile pole, he was running easily. I thought he was laying perfect.
“Then, at the three-16ths pole, four horses went past him, and he didn’t respond. He cannot talk and tell what happened. I think he just got tired.”
Snow Chief got tired, and fifth-place Badger Land, the second choice at somewhat surprising odds of $2.60to-$1, got hammered.
“I got killed coming out of the gate,” said Badger Land’s jockey, Jorge Velasquez. “I was in serious trouble for the first three or four strides. I was lucky he didn’t go down.”
Shoemaker downplayed what will go down as one of his most resourceful performances in a career that has seen him win 8,537 races and 942 stakes, including four Kentucky Derbies, two Preaknesses and five Belmonts.
“It wasn’t that difficult, except for the first turn,” he said. “They rammed me into the fence a couple times, and I got pinched back on the rail — way back, farther than I wanted to be.
“I said to myself: `I’m here. Nothing I can do about it. lI`l just take my time, and then start moving on through.’ It worked out perfect.”