Derby poses special kick for graybeard
We became known as the “Arkansas mafia,” a select group of in-state media who annually covered the Kentucky Derby.
Our timing was adroit: Sunny’s Halo, in 1983, became the first horse to pair derby victories in Arkansas and Kentucky.
Some of us celebrated afterward in a dive in suburban Shively, where one in our party, adding to refreshments sampled downtown, asked the waitress, and not in a shy way, for “more spuds, missy.” Another visitor and myself, both teetotalers, enjoyed a mean rendition of Michael Jackson’s monster hit “Billie Jean,” by the Cato Brooks Band.
That band of learned composers included the late Kim Brazzel of the Arkansas Gazette and Rex Nelson of the current-day Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. We stayed with Rex’s aunt and uncle in the St. Matthews portion of the city, she ever willing to make mint juleps that, she said, would slay any served at Churchill Downs.
Other Arkansas visitors over the years included Harry King of the Associated Press’ Little Rock bureau and then-Democrat staffers Wally Hall and Robert Yates. Some of us once almost cleaned out a Po’ Folks location in Jackson, Tennessee. Wally shared a press-box table with Chicago scribe but computer-challenged Dave Feldman and Newark’s Jerry Isenberg, who wrote longer (and better) about Muhammad Ali than others.
I never met Ali, Derbytown’s most famous resident (others include gonzo journalist Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Los Angeles sports columnist Bill Plaschke, actor Victor Mature and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence) or Red Smith. But, with Hall’s introduction, I pressed flesh one day with the Michelangelo of our trade, Pulitzer Prize winner Jim Murray, of the Los Angeles Times. Wordsmiths Blackie Sherrod of Dallas and Edwin Pope of Miami entertained many a late-night throng at press headquarters.
Sometimes, one of us bet on the Derby winner. Brazzel, for one, cleaned up on Sunny’s Halo and, two years later, Spend a Buck. King had the good sense to pair winner Sea Hero and Arkansas-owned Prairie Bayou in 1993 exactas (I asked only of readers the day before to “bet two dollars on Sea Hero”). Prairie Bayou, owned by John Ed Anthony, might have won if not trapped on the Watterson Expressway in deep stretch. Sea Hero, hugging the rail for Jerry Bailey, made Derby winners of esteemed owner Paul Mellon and trainer Mack Miller.
That was during the time that AARP membership seemed a prerequisite for sniffing Derby roses. Frances Genter (Unbridled in 1990) and Magnolia’s Cal Partee (Lil E. Tee in 1992) fit those criteria. Anthony got a latenight call from a Hot Springs turf writer, who advised, “You may not be old enough to win the race.” Twice a Preakness winner after a Belmont Stakes breakthrough with
Temperence Hill, John Ed still searches for the career Triple Crown by a horse owner.
The Derby frankly overwhelmed me for several years, thinking myself unworthy of pressing nouns against verbs with such as Joe Hirsch, whose Daily Racing Form copy I treasured. A tip from Des Moines colleague Dan Johnson helped to steady my hand: “Remember who your readers are and don’t overwrite.”
Dan has been gone 10 years, a victim of cancer, age 58. He would be in his element this year with Iowa-based Albaugh Family Stables’ Catching Freedom a Derby contender. Louisville native Brad Cox trains the colt, Smarty Jones Stakes winner Jan. 1 at Oaklawn and later in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. The same connections finished third in the 2023 Derby with Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire.
Another absent friend is John Harrell, of the since-shuttered Thoroughbred Times, who would bring out pictures of his children upon every Louisville visit. Hearing of John’s passing was quite a blow, exceeded by relaying to Arkansas guys at the 1999 Derby of the tragic death of bespectacled Razorback and former walk-on Brandon Burlsworth in a car crash.
Unthinkably bad news came from Hot Springs on race day (May 1, 1999): 13 people died when a duck boat sank on Lake Hamilton.