Giacomo proves it's still about the horse
Gettting a Derby winner isn't about who is riding or training your horse, it's about having the right horse on the right day.
It's still about the horse.
That was the primary lesson learned Saturday in the aftermath of this crazy Kentucky Derby. So much of the fuss during the week focused on trainers. It was Nick Zito, Nick Zito, Nick Zito, Nick Zito, Nick Zito. When it wasn't Nick Zito, it was about Todd Pletcher. Between the two of them they had eight of the 20 horses in the race. They were supposed to be the real stars this week. Of course, Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert, even though they both ran longshots, received more than their fair share of attention because Lukas and Baffert always gets attention.
In the end, the race came down to three trainers who had never started a horse in the race. First-timer John Shirreffs won it. First-timer Kiaran McLaughlin was second. First-timer Tim Ritchey was third. Box those three in the trifecta and you're $133,134.80 richer today.
Meanwhile, Zito finished seventh, eighth, tenth, fourteenth and fifteenth. Pletcher's trio was ninth, twelfth and nineteenth.
"What kind of odds could you have gotten that not one of Nick or Todd's horses who have finished in the top five?" wondered McLaughlin.
The 2003 Kentucky Derby was won with Funny Cide by first-timer Barclay Tagg. Same thing in 2004. John Servis, the trainer of Smarty Jones, had never before run a horse in America's greatest horse race. Neither is considered a star or anything close.
"Horses make trainers," said Afleet Alex's trainer Tim Ritchey. "If you have the horse, there are hundreds and hundreds of trainers out there who can do the job. This race just proved it."
"Horses can come from anywhere and win this race and they can be trained by a lot of different people," McLaughlin said. "Good horses fall into everybody's hands. That's what makes this game great. Something has to be said about the first-time trainer situation. It would have been nice to have that trifecta with the rookie trainers."
In many respects, the Zito hype was deserved. Only Wayne Lukas had gotten five horses to the Derby and never had anyone come into the race with a hand this deep and strong. Zito did an excellent job throughout the spring and summer as his troops marched through the preps, winning one after another. There's no doubt he's a good trainer.
"This was very, very hard," Zito said after watching his non-fab five cross the wire. "I thought we had some great shots. It just didn't work out."
But it was the horses that got him there and it was the horses who let him down Saturday. The flop rests on their shoulders, not his.
Pletcher is the brightest young star in the game and he has more quality horses to work with than any trainer. That didn't matter one bit Saturday. He's 0-for-12 in the Derby.
The problem wasn't that Zito or Pletcher didn't come through. The problem was that their horses didn't come through. The horses trained by Shirreffs, McLaughlin and Ritchey did.
While we're at it, it's not about the jockeys, either. Mike Smith was supposed to be washed up. He won. Cornelio Velasquuez is hardly a household name. He was second. Jeremy Rose had never before ridden in a Kentucky Derby. He was third aboard Afleet Alex and gave the horse a flawless ride. You couldn't find Jerry Bailey, John Velazquez, Gary Stevens, Edgar Prado and Kent Desormeaux when it was done. Stewart Elliott won last year and only because he was riding a superior horse.
There's every chance that Zito and Pletcher will win a couple more Derbies among them. But that's only because they are high-profile trainers with serious, wealthy owners who provide them with the type of well-bred talented horses that can get the job done.
Would a Tim Ritchey do just as well if an owner would provide him with the plethora of talent Pletcher gets every year? Without a doubt. Will he ever be in that situation? Definitely not. He's not a star because you can't be a star when you train out of Delaware Park and people like Michael Tabor, Bob and Beverly Lewis and George Steinbenner don't know you're alive.
Clearly, John Shirreffs did a good job with Giacomo. After he ran some uninspiring prep races, the son of Holy Bull was ready to peak on Kentucky Derby Day. That doesn't mean he did a better job than Zito, Pletcher, Lukas, Baffert or any of the other losing Derby trainers. It means he had the right horse on the right day. John Shirreffs wasn't the star of this Kentucky Derby. Giacomo was.
Watch the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 21 at 5 p.m. ET on NBC.
