Derby Trainers Have Tales to Tell

Wide-Open Field Gives Many a Chance to Enter Winner's Circle at Churchill Downs

LOUISVILLE -- It's tough to pick a horse that suits your personality, especially before the Kentucky Derby is even run.

We're still getting to know them at this point. We're hoping, the way we do every year as the Triple Crown season is set to unfold, that one might emerge with the heart of, say, Secretariat. Or the everyman charm of Smarty Jones. Or the fighting spirit of Barbaro.

But one thing you can do at the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday is find a trainer who speaks to your rooting interests. Maybe you want a proven, cutthroat winner who is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure a payout. Or perhaps you prefer an underdog who has come close but has never seen the winner's circle. Maybe you're even the sentimental type, interested in backing a long shot for reasons beyond financial.

The beauty of the wide-open field this year is that there are a number of trainers to root for.

If you're looking for a good story, then Thomas R. McCarthy's tale is probably one of the best. The 75-year-old Louisville native -- trainer and owner of General Quarters -- has never had a horse in the Derby. In fact, he spent most of his life as a teacher, having walked away from his dream to support his family with a steady paycheck. But from afar, he remained in love with horse racing. He's attended the Derby since the early 1950s as a fan, but he was unable to break back into the game until recently when he snagged General Quarters in a claiming race for $20,000. Just don't tell him his only horse, a 20-1 wager, is of humble beginnings. General Quarters proved he deserved to be here with an April victory in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

"This is one of the best bred horses in the Derby if you'll just look at his breeding," said McCarthy, who has a gruff voice and a salt and pepper mustache. "I might have been lucky enough to get him for $20,000 but this horse is impeccably bred."

Just don't expect him to get caught up enjoying the moment too much. Instead of embracing his role as the feel-good long shot this week, McCarthy has been all business. He believes he's here to win.

"I'll be sitting right there in that tack room and be with my horse all day," he said. "I don't get into all that other stuff. We're here to do a job, and [General Quarters] is the only person I need to be with on race day."

Todd Pletcher's story centers around his breakthrough opportunity in this Derby. Pletcher, a regal-looking, silver-haired 41-year-old, won four consecutive Eclipse Awards for outstanding trainer from 2004 to 2007. But he's never won a Derby, going 0 for 21, a historic streak he desperately wants to end this year with one of his three horses: Advice, Join In The Dance, and Dunkirk. He thinks Dunkirk, who comes in with 4-to-1 odds, gives him his best chance to win.

"We couldn't be more pleased with the way things have gone as he's come up to this race," Pletcher said. "Everything has fallen into place. We couldn't be happier."

There's also Bob Baffert, the newly-inducted Hall of Fame trainer and three-time Derby winner. In the eyes of some, he's a charming 56-year-old who gets results and isn't afraid to speak his mind. To others, he's a cocky Californian with a thorny demeanor who doesn't work hard enough and only wins because he trains the most expensive horses. Baffert, who saddles Pioneerof the Nile, doesn't care what you think. He has his ambitions regardless.

"I'm still trying to win that damn Triple Crown," he said.

Controversy has followed training favorite, I Want Revenge. Trainer Jeff Mullins doesn't seem to mind playing the bad guy, and it's a role he's been tagged with after several medical violations. The day after the Derby, he'll begin serving a seven-day suspension for administering an over-the-counter medication to one of his horses, which can mask pain and hide injuries. Baffert even joked to Mullins that he needs to ditch his cowboy hat, because it's too easy to cast him as the villain and it makes owners with money uncomfortable.

Mullins's response?

"If I win maybe I can start coming to work at 8 o'clock and barking orders into a walkie-talkie," Mullins said, digging back at Baffert's reputation.

The wild card in all this may be the track, which is the biggest unknown. California race courses recently ditched dirt tracks in favor of synthetic tracks, so no one knows exactly how those horses will react to what is shaping up to be wet day at Churchill Downs. Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Derby winner, said he likes Desert Party, Pioneerof the Nile and I Want Revenge, but also believes anything can happen.

"The only thing that confusing about it are those horses coming from different areas with synthetic surfaces," Lukas said. "It's hard to evaluate how good they are. Some of them could adapt to this beautifully and others bomb, so it makes it a nightmare to handicap. There could be a $50 or $60 payoff pretty easy."