Gato Del Sol

History will not be kind to Gato Del Sol. He will be remembered as one of the least accomplished winners of the Kentucky Derby. Gato Del Sol, who won the '82 Derby against 18 horses whose remaining careers were just about as lackluster as his, won only four subsequent races before his owners finally retired him to stud the other day. None of the four later wins--which gave the 6-year-old gray a career total of seven--amounted to anything.

Southern California horse racing has chosen a fitting way to open up a crucial meeting. It named a race for Eddie Delahoussaye. Santa Anita will be back in business Friday, for a meeting highlighted by the first of two straight Breeders' Cups. Around here, the best way for the sport to separate itself from the muck that has stalled recent growth is to put on two more dazzling Breeders' Cups, as it did in 2008 and '09. There is no Zenyatta to carry the show this time, but putting a spotlight on Eddie D. on opening day is a smart and worthy gesture.

More than 17 years later, Arthur Hancock III still feels the elation of his Kentucky Derby victory with Gato Del Sol. "I felt like I could walk on air when they were out there presenting the trophy," said Hancock, a fourth-generation horseman. "It was almost like having an out-of-body experience." That day--May 1, 1982--was the high point of Gato Del Sol's career. He would win only three more races; retired to the breeding shed in 1986, he was a flop, first in the United States, then in Europe.

The most remarkable thing about highly successful thoroughbred trainer John Sadler is that he is so unremarkable. Sadler grew up near Santa Anita in Pasadena, fell in love with the animals he now spends all his time with, and never really wanted to do anything else. He doesn't have the recognition value of Bob Baffert's white hair and quick wit, or Doug O'Neill's oozing Irish charm, nor even Julio Canani's quirky broken English. Sadler is just a guy doing a job. At the moment, he is doing it more successfully than anybody else in Southern California.

No group of sports fans forgets the immediate past faster than horseplayers. Which is why In Excess, because of one race, must prove himself all over again. For different reasons, there are other horses in similar situations this holiday weekend. After In Excess runs today in the $300,000 San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita, two champions from last year--Pleasant Stage and Miss Alleged--are scheduled to make their 1992 debuts.

Sunny skies, balmy temperatures and a humdinger of a horse race was the bill of fare for the 27,765 fans who came out to help Hollywood Park open its 67-day spring-summer meeting Wednesday. Coming just two days after the close of Santa Anita's highly successful meeting, Hollywood Park officials hope to keep the momentum going with good weather, giveaways, promotions and purses expected to exceed $4.3 million. One promotion will award $1 million for picking the winners of all nine races.

Trainer Eddie Gregson, who saddled longshot Gato Del Sol to win the Kentucky Derby in 1982, died of what police believed was a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday night at his office in South Pasadena. The South Pasadena police, who said that Gregson's body was discovered by his wife, Gail, at 9:45 p.m. Sunday, were treating the death as a suicide, pending an investigation. "There's nothing that would indicate foul play," officer Matt Peterson said.

Eddie Delahoussaye got spoiled riding in the Kentucky Derby. The second time he competed in the race, Delahoussaye finished second with Woodchopper in 1981, and he won the Derby the next two years with Gato Del Sol and Sunny's Halo, becoming only the fourth jockey to register back-to-back victories. In the last two years, Delahoussaye has been fourth (disqualified to fifth) with Gate Dancer and sixth with Skywalker in the Derby.

In 1982, less than two weeks before the Kentucky Derby, Eddie Delahoussaye appeared to have lost his mount. He had finished a badly beaten second with Gato Del Sol in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, and the gray colt's ownership wanted a new jockey for Churchill Downs. The late Eddie Gregson, who trained Gato Del Sol, was still in Delahoussaye's corner.

Who: Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye Born: Sept. 21, 1951, New Iberia, La. Height: 5 feet 4. Weight: 116 pounds. Family: Wife Juanita and children Loren and Mandy. Career record: 39,213 mounts, 6,384 wins, purse total, $195,907,400. Triple Crown wins: Gato Del Sol, Kentucky Derby, 1982; Sunny's Halo, Derby, 1983; Risen Star, Preakness, 1988; Risen Star, Belmont, 1988; A.P. Indy, Belmont, 1992. Breeders' Cup wins: Princess Rooney, Distaff, 1984; Prized, Turf, 1989; Pleasant Stage, Juvenile Fillies, 1991; Thirty Slews, Sprint, 1992; A.P. Indy, Classic, 1992; Cardmania, Sprint, 1993; Hollywood Wildcat, Distaff, 1993.

In 1982, less than two weeks before the Kentucky Derby, Eddie Delahoussaye appeared to have lost his mount. He had finished a badly beaten second with Gato Del Sol in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, and the gray colt's ownership wanted a new jockey for Churchill Downs. The late Eddie Gregson, who trained Gato Del Sol, was still in Delahoussaye's corner.

Who: Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye Born: Sept. 21, 1951, New Iberia, La. Height: 5 feet 4. Weight: 116 pounds. Family: Wife Juanita and children Loren and Mandy. Career record: 39,213 mounts, 6,384 wins, purse total, $195,907,400. Triple Crown wins: Gato Del Sol, Kentucky Derby, 1982; Sunny's Halo, Derby, 1983; Risen Star, Preakness, 1988; Risen Star, Belmont, 1988; A.P. Indy, Belmont, 1992. Breeders' Cup wins: Princess Rooney, Distaff, 1984; Prized, Turf, 1989; Pleasant Stage, Juvenile Fillies, 1991; Thirty Slews, Sprint, 1992; A.P. Indy, Classic, 1992; Cardmania, Sprint, 1993; Hollywood Wildcat, Distaff, 1993.

Trainer Eddie Gregson, who saddled longshot Gato Del Sol to win the Kentucky Derby in 1982, died of what police believed was a self-inflicted gunshot wound Sunday night at his office in South Pasadena. The South Pasadena police, who said that Gregson's body was discovered by his wife, Gail, at 9:45 p.m. Sunday, were treating the death as a suicide, pending an investigation. "There's nothing that would indicate foul play," officer Matt Peterson said.

More than 17 years later, Arthur Hancock III still feels the elation of his Kentucky Derby victory with Gato Del Sol. "I felt like I could walk on air when they were out there presenting the trophy," said Hancock, a fourth-generation horseman. "It was almost like having an out-of-body experience." That day--May 1, 1982--was the high point of Gato Del Sol's career. He would win only three more races; retired to the breeding shed in 1986, he was a flop, first in the United States, then in Europe.

No group of sports fans forgets the immediate past faster than horseplayers. Which is why In Excess, because of one race, must prove himself all over again. For different reasons, there are other horses in similar situations this holiday weekend. After In Excess runs today in the $300,000 San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita, two champions from last year--Pleasant Stage and Miss Alleged--are scheduled to make their 1992 debuts.

In the 1960 World Series, the Pirates were outscored by the Yankees, 55-27, but Pittsburgh still won the title by taking four of the seven games. The Pirates won by 6-4, 3-2, 5-2, and 10-9, while New York was winning, 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0. However, no one suggested that the Yankees be declared the champions. But under the rules of racing's Triple Crown, a horse can win two out of the three races in the series and still not earn a $1-million bonus. That happened in 1987, the first year the $1-million bonus was offered.

REMARKS: Good horses, of course, win the Kentucky Derby, not numerology or letters of the alphabet, but there have been some odd coincidences about the winners at Churchill Downs in the last two decades. When Sunday Silence won Saturday's 115th Derby, he became the third horse from the 1980s to win from the No. 10 post position. Other No. 10 colts who have won were Sunny's Halo in 1983 and Spend a Buck in 1985. Two horses breaking from the 10th post in the 1970s also won the Derby--Secretariat in 1973 and Genuine Risk in 1980.

In the 1960 World Series, the Pirates were outscored by the Yankees, 55-27, but Pittsburgh still won the title by taking four of the seven games. The Pirates won by 6-4, 3-2, 5-2, and 10-9, while New York was winning, 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0. However, no one suggested that the Yankees be declared the champions. But under the rules of racing's Triple Crown, a horse can win two out of the three races in the series and still not earn a $1-million bonus. That happened in 1987, the first year the $1-million bonus was offered.

REMARKS: Good horses, of course, win the Kentucky Derby, not numerology or letters of the alphabet, but there have been some odd coincidences about the winners at Churchill Downs in the last two decades. When Sunday Silence won Saturday's 115th Derby, he became the third horse from the 1980s to win from the No. 10 post position. Other No. 10 colts who have won were Sunny's Halo in 1983 and Spend a Buck in 1985. Two horses breaking from the 10th post in the 1970s also won the Derby--Secretariat in 1973 and Genuine Risk in 1980.

Half of the six-horse field for today's $150,000 Silver Screen Handicap at Hollywood Park was at Churchill Downs two months ago preparing for the Kentucky Derby. One of the three horses, Temperate Sil, might have won the Derby, but he started coughing several days before the race and didn't run. The Silver Screen will be Temperate Sil's first start since he won the Santa Anita Derby April 4.