Empire Maker Becomes Millionaire, Derby Chalk With Wood Win
By: Jenny Kellner

OZONE PARK, N.Y. (Apr. 12, 2003) - Bobby Frankel couldn't be happier.

The Hall of Fame trainer got exactly what he wanted Saturday - Empire Maker won the $750,000 Wood Memorial (GI) at Aqueduct with a minimum of effort and stamped himself as the horse to beat in the Kentucky Derby (GI) on May 3.

"He probably could have won easier if Jerry got after him," Frankel said of Empire Maker's half-length win over Funny Cide. "But Jerry did the right thing with the Derby three weeks away."

Coming into the Wood, Frankel said he'd like to win but not at the expense of having Empire Maker run as hard as he did in winning the Florida Derby (GI) by 9 3/4 lengths on Ma. 15.

Mission accomplished.

Empire Maker, owned by Saudi prince Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms, broke quickly in the field of eight 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles. He raced close to the leaders, New York Hero and Funny Cide, and Bailey kept the son of 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled a comfortable third, running three wide.

Bailey urged him on around the far turn, and the 1-2 favorite responded. As New York Hero, winner of the Lane's End Stakes (GII) on Mar. 22, faded at the top of the stretch, Empire Maker caught Funny Cide at the eighth pole and Bailey chose to hand slap the colt a few times near the finish line.

Empire Maker, winning for the third time in five career starts, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.70 over a "muddy" track.

"This is exactly what we wanted to get out of this race," said Bailey. "I knew as soon as we broke, he would handle the surface. I didn't want to get in any trouble, and being in the outside post, we didn't."

Bailey made a conscious decision to avoid the whip, and Empire Maker drifted in slightly in the stretch.

"He always has a tendency to get a little distracted," said Bailey, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner. "If I hit him, he would have gotten back into it, but I let him goof off a little bit. If I had really gotten into him, and we would have won by more, it would have defeated the purpose of saving something for the Kentucky Derby."

Frankel has been close to winning the Derby, but is zero-for-4. In 2000, he finished second with Aptitude and was fourth with Medaglia d'Oro last year. In Empire Maker, Frankel could have an odds-on favorite.

"You get overconfident but you can't get overconfident," Frankel said. "You can talk all you want but until you do it on the track it doesn't matter."

Frankel made those comments just after his other Derby contender, Peace Rules, won the Blue Grass Stakes (GI) at Keeneland, giving the trainer two strong chances to win the Run for the Roses.

Funny Cide, a New York bred trained by Barclay Tagg, also is headed to the 1 1/4-mile Derby.

"If he hadn't run as well as he did, it would have taken pressure off of going to the Kentucky Derby," Tagg said. "Now we have to go. At a mile and a quarter he just might beat that other horse [Empire Maker]."

Kissin Saint, ridden by Richard Migliore, was a surprising third at odds of 16-1, eight lengths behind the winner.

"I think he took a huge step forward," trainer Lisa Lewis said of her colt running in his first stakes race. "We would love to see him win, but Empire Maker is just too tough. I don't know about the Kentucky Derby. We really have to see how he comes out of this race before we make a decision." New York Hero, with Norberto Arroyo Jr. aboard, apparently did not like the "muddy" track. Leaving from the one post, he briefly veered into the field at the start before straightening out.

"He was real uncomfortable," Arroyo said. "That's why he ducked out in the first few strides. He was slipping and sliding on the backstretch. He was trying to get a hold of the track, but couldn't. He's better than this."

Senor Swinger, running for trainer Bob Baffert for the first time, was bumped at the start and finished fifth, followed by Indy Dancer, Sky Soldier and Spite the Devil.

Indy Dancer, ridden by John Velazquez, was never a factor despite wearing blinkers for the first time.

"He just didn't like the track," Velazquez said. "He ran a bad race on a wet-fast track in Louisiana and it seems like he just can't handle an off track."

Empire Maker paid $3.10 to win. There was a minus show pool of $22,776.19.

Empire Maker earned $450,000, boositng his career earnings to $1,115,800. If he wins the Kentucky Derby, the New York Racing Association will give Frankel a $100,000 bonus for a Wood-Derby sweep.

The Juddmonte homebred is scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. on Sunday (Apr. 13) night.

Jenny Kellner is one of the most respected, multi-faceted journalists in New York. She served as the New York Islanders beat writer for the New York Times and has covered Thoroughbred horse racing and professional football for several major publications in the Big Apple and beyond. She is a frequent contributor to a myriad of Thoroughbred racing trade publications and has covered numerous Kentucky Derbys and Breeders' Cups.

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