Frankel Has A Lot At Stake On "Super Saturday"
By: William F. Reed

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Apr. 11, 2003) - Wait just a minute. Let's all take a step back and collect our wits. Empire Maker may, indeed, be the next coming of Pegasus. Yet the grizzled veteran in me says that I'm not quite sure it would be wise for Churchill Downs to just go ahead and mail the Kentucky Derby trophy to him.

If he's anywhere nearly as impressive in winning Saturday's Wood Memorial as he was in his record-breaking 9 3/4 length win in the Florida Derby, Empire Maker will become the overwhelming favorite in the 129th Derby, and deservedly so.

But as of this moment, it's too early to put him on the same pedestal that, say, Seattle Slew occupied in 1977 or Spectacular Bid in '79. In other words, let's put a clamp on the hype until we see what happens on, well, what should we call it? Super Saturday? The Day of Reckoning?

Besides the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park will be closely watched by sharp bettors. They'll certainly take note of the winners, but they'll also be looking for that horse that takes a major step forward and looks as if he, or she, is on their way to peaking at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.

Nobody has more of a vested interest in Saturday's preps than Bobby Frankel, one of the best trainers who has never won a Triple Crown race. He'll have the Wood favorite in Empire Maker and the Blue Grass favorite in Peace Rules.

On Saturday night, Frankel will either be (a) the happiest man in America, other than whomever is having dinner with Halle Berry; (b) a horseman who knows he has a lot of work to do before the Derby; or (c) somebody who's more confused than the French ambassador to the U.N.

As impressive as Empire Maker was in the Florida Derby, he faces a new and more difficult challenge in the Wood Memorial.

His rivals will include New York Hero, the gritty winner of the Lane's End Spiral at Turfway Park; Senor Swinger, who recently was moved into trainer Bob Baffert's barn and might end up being Baffert's top Derby contender; and Indy Dancer, who got off to a bad start in the Florida Derby but made up a huge amount of ground to finish third.

Senor Swinger, who's surely named for Triple Crown Productions boss Ed Siegenfeld, will be ridden by Gary Stevens, who also has the mount on Buddy Gil, the gelding who won the Santa Anita Derby. Stevens seems so high on Buddy Gil that Senor Swinger must throw in an incredible performance to get Stevens to switch mounts.

While Frankel will be with Empire Maker in New York, you can bet he'll find a television to find out how Peace Rules, the impressive winner over a strong field in the Louisiana Derby, does in the Blue Grass, which has attracted its usual tough and balanced field.

Besides Peace Rules, the Blue Grass will include Badge Of Silver, who became the Empire Maker du jour after his impressive win in the Risen Star at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. But then he got trounced by Peace Rules in the Louisiana Derby and dropped in the experts' minds quicker than a dot.com stock gone sour.

Badge of Silver, who's trained by Ronny Werner and ridden by Edgar Prado, is owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who also own another Blue Grass entrant, Ten Cents A Shine, who's trained by D. Wayne Lukas and will be ridden by Mike Smith.

After his rousing second in last fall's Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill, Ten Cents A Shine was the Empire Maker du jour. But after a disappointing start in Florida, the Ramseys took him away from Kenny McPeek and gave him to Lukas, who convinced the owners to run the colt in the Blue Grass instead of the Arkansas Derby.

Both Ten Cents A Shine and another Blue Grass entrant, Offlee Wild, will be attempting to re-establish themselves as serious Derby contenders. Each developed a physical problem -- a lung infection for Ten Cents A Shine, an unspecified sickness for Offlee Wild -- that supposedly has been cleared up.

At Oaklawn, the colt to watch is Region of Merit, who will take a four-race winning streak into the starting gate. If he's able to beat a field that includes the formidable Man Among Men, he'll become Calumet Farm's first serious Derby contender since Alydar in 1978.

But the news of the day will be dictated by Empire Maker.

If he rolls in the Wood, the Blue Grass and Arkansas Derby become sidebar stories. But if he's upset, then everybody who has been touting him will have to go back to the drawing board.

And speaking of touts -- well, handicappers -- Madame Wizard has checked in from Florida, where she has been working very hard to overcome her liberal usage of racing jargon. In fact, she's now trying to adapt her writing style to model a turf writer -- let's call him Marvin Joe Washburn, to protect his identity -- that she particularly admires.

So, here's the latest from Madame Wizard headquarters:

1. Empire Maker: Current future book favorite will be a very short price in Louisville if he runs to his odds in Saturday's Wood Memorial. (MJW Speak: He's a good horse right now.)

2. Peace Rules: Traveled six panels in 1:11.60 at Hollywood Park on April 6 in advance of his scheduled start in the Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday. (MJW-speak: He's training well in California for his trip to Lexington.)

3. Indy Dancer: Drilled a bullet five furlongs in :59.47 at Belmont Park on Apr. 6 in his final preparation for a showdown with Empire Maker this weekend. (MJW Speak: He trained faster than any other horse at the distance but has his work cut out for him against Frankel's freak.)

4. Buddy Gil: Hard-knocking Santa Anita Derby champ would be ranked higher had he not bled through Lasix during his win, forcing him to miss the next two weeks of training. (MJW Speak: This is a REALLY bad time to experience physical problems.)

5. Badge Of Silver: Returns to the site of his maiden win in Saturday's Blue Grass Stakes and looms as a dangerous threat to wire the field. (MJW Speak: He won his first race at Keeneland and he'll probably win this weekend if no one challenges him early.)

6. Offlee Wild: This $325 yearling purchase can give veteran trainer T.V. Smith his first Derby starter with a sharp race in the Blue Grass Stakes. (MJW Speak: His trainer has paid his dues and I paid for a hefty future wager in January on this well-bred colt.)

7. Ten Most Wanted: Illinois Derby victor saved ground early behind quick fractions, moved up steadily along the inside, then angled out and took command to draw off impressively in the final furlong. (MJW Speak: Sure wish I had purchased a future ticket on this slow-starter in January.)

8. Kafwain: Remarkably consistent colt is a must use for Derby trifecta and super tickets, but his pedigree limitations were evident at Santa Anita. (MJW Speak: He'll probably clunk up for a distant third or fourth on May 3, but he won't get to the wire first unless he's in a van.)

9. Region Of Merit: Calumet Farm colorbearer was first misidentified by Keeneland clockers last week, then logged four panels in :51 at Florida's Payson Park on Apr. 5. (MJW Speak: The guys with stopwatches in Lexington must have opened their new Maker's Mark commemorative Secretariat bottles.)

10. (tie). Indian Express: Shocking Santa Anita Derby runner-up just missed having his picture taken at odds of 35-1. (MJW Speak: How could I have singled Buddy Gil at $6-1 odds on my Pick 6 ticket and not have keyed him over the field in the exacta for this race?)

10. (tie) Atswhatimtalknbout: Made a sweeping move before flattening out in the Santa Anita stretch to finish fourth, but this son of A.P. Indy still deserves a shot in Kentucky. (MJW-speak: Looks like I'll be putting the future ticket I purchased on this one in January with the one I bought on Danthebluegrassman last year.)

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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