Ministers Wild Cat Heads North To Try Golden State Mile
By: John Gaver III

(Feb. 8, 2003) - Irv and Marjorie Cowan's homebred colt Ministers Wild Cat had many doing double-takes with the dazzling effort he put forth to break his maiden by 7 ½ lengths at Santa Anita on Jan. 11, and the Deputy Minister colt will have an opportunity to improve upon that effort when he goes to the post in the third running of the $60,000-added Golden State Mile on Feb. 9 at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif.

Ministers Wild Cat, a half-brother to 2000 Breeders' Cup Mile winner War Chant, will be making his two-turn debut in the one-mile stakes and will be facing winners for the first time, facts that are not lost on the colt's Hall of Fame trainer, Neil Drysdale.

"It's obviously not an ideal spot to have to ship a young horse to San Francisco for his third race," Drysdale, who is scheduled to be at Golden Gate Fields to saddle Ministers Wild Cat on Sunday, told Daily Racing Form's Chuck Dybdal. "So far, he's just had two runs, but he's come along well."

In his maiden win, Ministers Wild Cat scored a ground-saving, wire-to-wire victory under jockey Kent Desormeaux, covering seven furlongs in an impressive 1:22 2/5. Prior to that outing, the bay colt finished second as the favorite to Southern Image, a talented colt who came back to finish third in the Grade II San Vicente Stakes in his first start against winners, in his career debut as a 2-year-old at Hollywood Park. Desormeaux will make the trip to Northern California for the mount on Ministers Wild Cat, the 7-5 morning line favorite. The pair will break from post four under an impost of 115 pounds.

The gray or roan gelding Always Remember, fifth, beaten two and three-quarter lengths by Standard Setter in the Grade III Golden Gate Derby on Jan. 11, and Natural Balance, third behind Always Remember in last year's $81,000 Gold Rush Stakes as a juvenile, figure to be the main threats to the Southern California invader Ministers Wild Cat. Winning Stripes, a bay son of Candy Stripes who is riding a two-race winning streak into the Golden State Mile, is another who have a say in the race's outcome with an improved run.

The field for the 2003 renewal of the Golden State Mile, in post position order with riders, weights and morning line odds is Demon Warlock, M. A. Perez, 115, 8-1; Natural Balance, A. L. Castanon, 117, 8-1; Es Special, D. G. Lopez, 115, 20-1; Ministers Wild Cat, Desormeaux, 115, 7-5; Always Remember, Chad Schvaneveldt, 115, 4-1; Winning Stripes, Frank Alvarado, 117, 3-1; Allwood, Russell Baze, 115, 12-1 and Clover Situation, G. Baze, 115, 15-1.

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