Madame Wizard Is Waiting For Inspiration To Enhance Picks
By: William F. Reed

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Feb. 26, 2003) - Madame Wizard, our anonymous handicapper for the 129th Kentucky Derby on May 3, is in a bit of a snit. Heading into this weekend's major prep races, as she recently told me, she's "not real crazy about any of these animals yet." In fact, she's still searching for options as she peruses the contenders at Gulfstream Park, where the Florida Derby will be held on Saturday, March 15.

"I've seen some nice allowance winners here in the last few weeks and wouldn't be surprised if the eventual winner is still running in those ranks," she said. "Saw your pal, 'The Whale,' a couple of nights ago. He was relatively subdued for a bit then got cranked up pretty good and his wife left without him. I think he got a ride home with a priest."

Ah, "The Whale."

I can't divulge his indentity except to say that he's truly one of nature's noblemen. He has a heart as big as all outdoors. Unfortunately, his mouth fits the same description. He's a human public-address sytem. He's so loud that he shakes the spires at Churchill Downs every time he clears his throat.

But, bless his heart, he's a whale of a guy. It never bothered me that he's been twice barred from Pat's Steak House, which, considering the regular clientel, is an amazing feat.

I just hope he treats Madame Wizard as kindly and generously as he has me. I must say, however, that I have a difficult time seeing "The Whale" with a priest, unless his name is "Father Boodles" or he had a hot bingo game at the local parish.

Anyhow, here's the latest from our favorite prognosticator:

1. Kafwain: The Thoroughbred Corp.'s Triple Crown hopeful will ship to The Big Easy for a possible showdown with Badge Of Silver in the March 9 Louisiana Derby.

2. Badge Of Silver: Overcame a difficult outside post and rated nicely before destroying a seemingly solid Risen Star field in just a tick off the Fair Grounds track record.

3. Trust N Luck: Hard to imagine this one-dimensional speedball will still be ranked this highly on the first Saturday in May, but he'll be a major player if he can improve on the 106 Beyer he earned in the Fountain Of Youth.

4. Man Among Men: Trainer Gary Mandella's first Triple Crown prospect showed tremendous acceleration in the Sham Stakes but must make another start before the Santa Anita Derby to gain enough experience for a triumph in Louisville.

5. Domestic Dispute: Smoked a six-furlong bullet over the Santa Anita oval in 1:11.80 on February 23 in preparation for the San Felipe Stakes next month.

6. Lion Tamer: Todd Pletcher trainee still must prove he's capable of stretching out to two-turns, but his stalking style in winning the Hutcheson was very encouraging.

7. Sky Mesa: It's bad enough that trainer John Ward will try to defy logic and history by giving him only two preps before the Derby, but his missed training days after suffering a bruised heel last weekend are yet another obstacle this colt must overcome.

8. Senor Swinger: Dull effort in Fountain Of Youth by dead heat co-allowance winner Ten Cents A Shine didn't enhance his reputation, but the reported attempts to purchase this colt indicate he's being taken very seriously by some prior Derby-winning connections.

9. Offlee Wild: Blistering pre-race work left him with no gas in the tank for the Fountain of Youth stretch run. Expect a better effort from this colt next out.

10. Region Of Merit: Calumet Farm's only Triple Crown nominee stalked the early pace then drew off to beat a formidable group of Gulfstream allowance foes by 5 lengths on the Fountain Of Youth undercard.

For all the folks at Pat's, we'll see if the Madame can supplement her predictions with some astute help from "The Whale." Of course, this information will hardly be a secret. He doesn't need a telephone or the Internet. All he has to do is yell "Derby" at the top of his lungs and over in Iraq, Sadaam Hussein will say, "Excuse me, Mr. Rather, but I've got to take a yell."

Madame Wizard is still waiting for inspiration, or something, to dawn. I promise that by Derby week she's going to have at least one longshot who has a chance. If we're at war and the lights go out, her selections will be available on WHAL-AM, the station that depends on lung power instead of electronics.

Native Kentuckian William F. Reed has been a sports writer in various capacities for 43 years and has missed covering the Kentucky Derby a mere two times since 1966. He has been a high-profile sports writer in Kentucky for the Commonwealth's two largest daily newspapers, the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader and was a national columnist for Sports Illustrated, covering among other sports, Thoroughbred horse racing and college basketball. Reed currently pens a column for the Louisville Sports Report and covered Kentucky Derby 128 for kentuckyderby.com. He will be filing frequent installments for CDSN's (Churchill Downs Simulcasting Network) websites throughout 2003.

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