By Andrew Beyer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 2, 1999; Page D1

Robert and Beverly Lewis, right, hold up the winners trophy after their horse, Charismatic, won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. (Reuters)

LOUISVILLE, May 1 – A horse named Charismatic today mocked the owners who spend millions of dollars in the quest for a Kentucky Derby winner. Less than three months after running in a claiming race – where anyone could have purchased him for $62,500 – the long shot scored a shocking upset in America's great race.

After the 31-to-1 colt gave Wayne Lukas his fourth Derby victory, the trainer admitted, "In my career, I have never misjudged a horse as badly as this one." Realizing how easily and cheaply he could have lost an eventual Derby winner, he told owner Bob Lewis, "Whew, Bob, did we just escape one!"

If they were lucky not to lose the horse in February, so, too, were the trainer and owner blessed by good luck in the running of the 125th Derby. In a trouble-filled 19-horse field, Charismatic's jockey, Chris Antley, managed to avoid the travails that compromised the chances of many of his rivals, and he held on desperately to avoid Menifee's powerful late charge by a neck. Cat Thief, Lukas's other entrant, finished third.

The result spoiled trainer Bob Baffert's bid to make history by winning the Derby for a third consecutive year. The Californian saddled three powerful contenders – Prime Timber, Excellent Meeting and General Challenge – but none of them reached serious contention, and they finished fourth, fifth and 11th, respectively.

The outcome of the 125th Derby was shaped as the oversized field charged into the first turn. Usually the early pace of the Derby is very fast and the field is spread out, giving most horses a chance to secure a decent tactical position. But little speed materialized today – partly because the saddle slipped on the expected pacesetter, the filly Three Ring, and she never got near the lead.

As Valhol took command early, pressed by Cat Thief, he covered the first quarter-mile in 23.52 seconds and the half mile in a dawdling 47.88 seconds, and the field was tightly bunched. Some horses got caught in traffic at the first turn; others were parked very wide. Pat Day, Menifee's rider, said, "The field was bunched up significantly and so I had to take him back a lot farther than I wanted."

Charismatic had started from Post Position 16, and he was forced to race four-wide at the first turn, but he did get into the spot that he had wanted. Antley said, "Wayne said he hoped the horse could be in the second tier, and I chose to sit in the second tier." In this Derby it was crucial to be within striking position, because the slow pace would make it difficult for any horse to rally from far behind.

As Valhol began to weaken, Cat Thief took the lead, and Lukas was yelling for the colt whom he regarded as his best Derby hope. Cat Thief was immediately challenged by the mystery horse in the field, Worldly Manner, who had defied all precedent by training in Dubai and coming into the Derby without a prep race as a 3-year-old. Most experts questioned whether Worldly Manner could be fit enough to win, but as he turned into the stretch he appeared poised to stun the racing world.

Behind the $5 million colt Worldly Manner, the one-time $62,500 animal was starting to make his move. Charismatic moved three-wide on the turn, reached third place and began to wear down the leaders. Worldly Manner tired; he may not have had the necessary conditioning. Cat Thief, who never has quite enough punch in the stretch, may have found the 1¼-mile distance slightly beyond his capabilities.

When Charismatic moved to the lead, Menifee was just starting to make a dramatic late charge. The colt had been 17th in the field after a half mile. As he turned for home, a quarter-mile from the finish, he was running 12th, in the midst of heavy traffic. "There was a horrible jam," Day said. But when Day finally found running room, Menifee flew. He was gaining on Charismatic with every stride, but his rally fell a neck short.

Day was just one of many jockeys lamenting the bumper-car nature of this Derby. Robbie Davis, the rider of Ecton Park, said, "This was the worst race to ride in that I can recall." Kent Desormeaux, Excellent Meeting's jockey, said, "We had a horrible trip." Jose Santos said his horse, Lemon Drop Kid, had been so wide that he ran 1 3/8 miles rather than 1¼ and concluded, "I don't think the best horse won."

Charismatic was timed in an unexceptional 2:03.29. He earned $886,200 of the record $1,186,200 purse for the Lewises, who had won the 1997 Derby with Silver Charm.

A son of Preakness winner Summer Squall, Charismatic had been cut out to be a decent racehorse. Lewis and his wife, Beverly, paid $200,000 for the colt as a weanling. But the colt flopped in his first three starts before Lukas dropped him into a $62,500 maiden claiming race at Hollywood Park. He won it, but was trounced three more times, and on Feb. 13 he dropped into a claiming race again, winning on a disqualification.

He improved enough thereafter to run in the Santa Anita Derby, where he was a badly beaten fourth, and he still hardly looked like a Derby contender. But Lukas said he finally discovered that Charismatic thrives on frequent racing. Fifteen days after the Santa Anita Derby, the colt won the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland at odds of 12 to 1, running in fast time that earned him a berth in the Derby. Still, even the habitually optimistic Lukas was realistic about his former claimer.

"I'd be foolish to tell you," he admitted, "that I thought he was going to win the race."