Nick Zito
Zito, a New York City native, started in racing as a teenager as a hotwalker and groom for trainer Buddy Jacobson. He later worked as an assistant to trainers LeRoy Jolley and John Campo. He saddled his first winner in 1972 and is one of only 17 trainers in history to saddle two or more Kentucky Derby winners (Strike The Gold and Go For Gin), as well as the 2003 Kentucky Oaks winner Bird Town, and Birdstone to upset Smarty Jones in last year's Belmont Stakes (GI). His stable is loaded with potential Derby starters in Andromeda's Hero, Noble Causeway, High Fly, and Bellamy Road. His principal clients include George Steinbrenner, Tracy Farmer and Marylou Whitney. He and his wife, Kim, son Alexander and daughter Sara live in Garden City, N.Y.
Javier Castellano
Castellano was born Oct 23, 1977 in Maracaibo, Venezuela. His father and uncle were riders in his home country, where the young Castellano first rode in 1996. He began riding in North America in 1997, and his brother Abel rides on the mid-Atlantic circuit. He was leading rider at Calder on two separate occasions, as well as at Hialeah and Aqueduct. In 2004, he won 212 races with $13,038,943 in purses. He won the Breeders' Cup Classic last year aboard Horse of the Year Ghostzapper. He won the 2003 Clark Handicap (GII) for trainer Nick Zito at Churchill Downs, but has yet to ride in the Kentucky Derby.
Kinsman Stable
New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner runs his racing empire in the name of Kinsman. Steinbrenner's son, Hank, runs the family racing operation, an 850 acre farm located in Ocala. All four Steinbrenner children have homes on the farm. The elder Steinbrenner was raised around horses, and when he was a child rode in pony races at the county fair near his home in Bay Village, Ohio. Kinsman is named for the Cleveland, Ohio, street where the Steinbrenner's German ancestors settled in 1840. Kinsman Stable typically has about 40 horses in training annually and has bred and/or raced more than 35 stakes winners, including Dream Supreme, Crystal Symphony, Acceptable, Concerto, Diligence and Spinning Round. Kinsman has started four horses in the Derby, most recently Blue Burner, 11th in 2002.
Diane D. Cotter (FL)
Cotter, with her husband Julian, owns and operates 340-acre Snooty Fox Farm in Alachua, Florida. Diane and her husband originally bought the farm to house riding horses for their children, but became involved in the breeding business as well some thirty years ago. The couple met while attending Johns Hopkins University, where she graduated with a nursing degree and he from their School of Medicine. Their current farm, which they bought 12 years ago, is home to five broodmares and their foals.
05.06.05 - Spanish Chestnut Due In Saturday Morning 05.01.05 - Sunday Barn Notes 04.30.05 - Saturday Barn Notes 04.29.05 - Friday Barn Notes 04.28.05 - Thursday Barn Notes 04.21.05 - Bellamy Road Glides Through Easy Breeze
04.10.05 - Zito Reflects On Wood Memorial Win 04.09.05 - Bellamy Road Crushes His Competition With 17-Length Wood Memorial Win
The favorite for the 131st Kentucky Derby comes into the race off of one of the most dazzling performances ever seen in a Derby prep - a track record-tying, 17 1/2-length victory in the Wood Memorial. The son of Concerto is owned by George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees, and is one of five Derby contenders trained by two-time Kentucky Derby winner Nick Zito. Bellamy Road has won his two starts in 2005 by a combined margin of 32 1/2-lengths - but must overcome Derby history to win the race. The last horse to win the roses off only two preps as a 3-year-old was Sunny's Halo in 1983.
Bellamy Road is a son of Concerto, winner of the Jim Beam Stakes (GII) prior to his 9th place finish in the 1997 Kentucky Derby. Concerto had plenty of success at Churchill, winning the Brown and Williamson Jockey Club (GIII) at age two and the Clark Handicap (GIII) the following year. Overall, he won nine stakes and finished second in four others in 21 lifetime starts, earning over $1.3 million. On the small side, he may have not looked like an imposing distance of ground type horse, but nearly all of his wins came going two turns, including a victory in the 1 1/4 mile Congressional Handicap. This son of 1985 Derby third place finisher Chief's Crown stands stud at Ocala Stud Farm in Florida. From his four crops of racing age, he has four graded stakes winners and five stakes winners overall last year, with Bellamy Road being his top earner.
Bellamy Road is just the second foal from his dam Hurry Home Hillary. Her first offspring was winless in seven starts. "Hillary" herself won only once in six starts. She is a daughter of Preakness winner Deputed Testamony, and comes from the same family as Out of Place, who, like Concerto, won the Clark Handicap at Churchill.
Interesting note in Bellamy Road's pedigree is that there is no inbreeding in his first five generations, something that is becoming increasingly rare in the North American Thoroughbred.
Dosage Index: 3.50
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