Kentucky Derby Horse Race

VERSAILLES, Ky. -- If there is a heaven for horses, it might resemble WinStar Farm, birthplace of Santa Anita Derby winner and top Kentucky Derby contender Colonel John. The 1,500-acre spread, about 10 miles west of Lexington in the heart of Bluegrass Country, could be described as the Augusta National of horse farms. Inside the main gate is a man-made lake complete with a waterfall.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It was a Brown Derby, a Big Brown Derby, on a surprisingly clear sunny day Saturday at Churchill Downs. A day after heavy rain had soaked the folks at the Kentucky Oaks, everything came up roses for favored Big Brown, who started from the outside post position 20 and was well in front at the end of the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby. But while there was joy in the Big Brown camp, there was sadness being felt with those connected to Eight Belles.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It was triumph and tragedy as horse racing gained a superstar and lost a competitor this weekend at the Kentucky Derby. The tragedy was the death of filly Eight Belles on a major stage. It was a freak accident, and longtime horse racing observers, including veterinarian Larry Bramlage, said they had never seen anything quite like it, a horse suffering two broken ankles at once.

On the Monday after, when it should have been just the opposite, the sport of horse racing was riding low in the saddle. Saturday, at the grotto of the sport, a star named Big Brown was born into public consciousness by storming down the homestretch, under the twin spires of Churchill Downs, and winning the Kentucky Derby in dominating fashion. It was what racing wanted, needed, lusts after.

The Kentucky Derby is less than a week away. The majesty of Saturday's race will remind us why the sport of kings has a global following.

Sometimes, it seems, there are more reasons horses \o7can't\f7 win the Kentucky Derby than reasons they can. Some say that Curlin, the undefeated chestnut colt who won the Arkansas Derby by 10 1/2 lengths, can't win Saturday at Churchill Downs because he has run only three races. Some say that Street Sense, who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by a record 10 lengths on the Churchill dirt in November, won't win because no BC Juvenile champion ever has.

\o7A daily look at Kentucky Derby contender Tiago, winner of the Santa Anita Derby and a half brother of 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo. Today, trainer John Shirreffs talks to Times staff writer Robyn Norwood about flying with Tiago from California on Monday, then settling into Barn 41 at Churchill Downs, where the nameplate from Giacomo's 2005 Belmont appearance hangs in front of Tiago's stall. \f7 Oh, yeah, we had to bring a little of the brother with him.

Merv Griffin's colt, Cobalt Blue, was withdrawn from the Kentucky Derby on Tuesday, leaving trainer Doug O'Neill with two starters. Cobalt Blue's seventh-place finish in the Illinois Derby and less-than stellar workouts led Griffin to decide to skip the Derby. "I talked to Merv and he thought it was in the best interest of the horse not to tax him one-and-a-quarter miles," O'Neill said at Churchill Downs. "We're going to slow it down, go back to California and look for a race."

The busiest person other than the mint-julep vendors Saturday at Churchill Downs will be trainer Todd Pletcher, who is poised to start a record-tying five horses in the Kentucky Derby as he tries to break his 0-14 skein and win the Derby for the first time. Pletcher, only 39 but the winner of the Eclipse Award as the nation's top trainer the last three years, will saddle a quarter of the 20-horse field but doesn't have either of the top two choices.

If J. Paul Reddam's original career had stuck, he might have owned horses named Epistemology and Tautology. Of course, if Reddam's original career had stuck, he wouldn't have had the money to buy a Kentucky Derby horse. But on Saturday, the Sunset Beach resident is poised to have two, Great Hunter and another he named Liquidity, both trained by Hollywood Park-based Doug O'Neill. There are plenty of strange tales at the racetrack, but few as unlikely as Reddam's.