Derby Favorite Happy to Be Sitting Outside

The auxiliary starting gate at Churchill Downs used to be hemlock for horses in the Kentucky Derby. For years, the main gate, the one that holds the first 14 horses, was the place to be.

Not anymore. When posts were selected Wednesday for the 131st Derby, to be run here Saturday, trainers Todd Pletcher and Nick Zito preferred outside posts instead of starting their horses in the main gate.

The selection order was determined by lot, and after that Pletcher, picking first for Bandini, selected the No. 15 stall for his Blue Grass Stakes winner.

Later, Zito, who will tie Wayne Lukas’ 1996 record by starting five horses, chose No. 16 for Bellamy Road, the Derby favorite. Posts 11 and 13 were also available at the time.

“I’m happy with the 16,” Zito said. “Bellamy Road is a big, huge horse, a big cat, and I wanted to be outside so he could get a clear run. He’s on the outside, and that’s just what we wanted.”

Bellamy Road, who’ll be ridden by Javier Castellano, was installed as the 5-2 favorite by Mike Battaglia, who has been making the morning line for the Derby since 1975. Favorites have won only two of the last 25 runnings of the 1 1/4 -mile race, but those two -- Smarty Jones and Fusaichi Pegasus -- have come in the last five years.

This will be the richest Derby. The announced purse was $2 million, but nominating, entering and starting fees have pushed the pot to $2,399,600. First place is worth $1,639,600. One horse, Greeley’s Galaxy, is running as a $200,000 supplemental because he wasn’t nominated.

Barring scratches, this will be the first time a maximum field of 20 horses has run since Swale’s win in 1984. A fast track is likely; the forecast is for a partly sunny day with temperatures in the high 70s. A crowd of more than 150,000 may attend at the newly remodeled Churchill, once a rickety track that was short on customer comfort.

Many thought that Bandini would be the second choice, but that distinction went to Afleet Alex, the Arkansas Derby winner, who is 9-2. After that come Bandini at 6-1 and High Fly at 8-1. The rest are 12-1 or higher.

In another era, Zito’s quintet might have been coupled in the betting, but they’ll run as separate betting interests, as will the trio that’s being saddled by Pletcher. Zito, who has won the Derby twice, will also start High Fly, Noble Causeway (12-1), Sun King (15-1) and Andromeda’s Hero (50-1).

This year, Zito seemed to have no beefs with Battaglia’s making one of his horses 50-1. Last year, when Smarty Jones won, Battaglia listed Zito’s Birdstone at 50-1, and the trainer said those odds were “insane.” Battaglia said that he later called Zito to say that he might have erred. Birdstone finished eighth, at 21-1, but he later won the Belmont Stakes, spoiling Smarty Jones’ Triple Crown bid.

At Zito’s barn Wednesday morning, about eight hours before the draw, there was some byplay between the trainer and the Churchill linemaker.

“Hey, Nick,” Battaglia shouted over a cluster of reporters, “I need some help in making the line today.”

“Between you and I, you do need help,” a smiling Zito replied.

If there is pressure on Zito, trying to win with five horses for five owners, it doesn’t show.

“If there’s pressure, it’s good pressure,” Zito said. “I’ve stolen a line from Billy Turner, when he trained Seattle Slew [the 1977 Triple Crown champion]. I asked him about the pressure, and he said, ‘There’d be more pressure without Seattle Slew.’ This is going to be my most memorable Derby, no matter what happens. May the best horse win.”

Pletcher has been winless with nine Derby horses. His Bandini will be joined Saturday by Coin Silver and Flower Alley, both 20-1.

Regarding Bandini’s post, Pletcher said: “I felt strongly about a spot on the outside. It makes sense to be in the auxiliary gate, and the No. 15 has extra room because there’s space between the gates. Five of the last 10 winners have come from the auxiliary gate, even though a smaller number of horses have run from that gate.”

The auxiliary-gate winners in recent years have been Monarchos (No. 16), Fusaichi Pegasus (15), Charismatic (16), Grindstone (15) and Thunder Gulch (16). Before Thunder Gulch’s win in 1995, the Derby had gone 10 years without a winner from the second gate.

Bellamy Road, who races for George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees, has won his last two starts by 33 1/4 lengths. In his 17 1/2 -length win in the Wood Memorial on April 9, he also tied the track record, running 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.

“What he’s done is stronger than any horse coming into any of the Derbies I’ve worked,” Battaglia said. “In a normal race, he’d be even money or possibly 4-5. On paper, if he runs his race, he should win.”

Trainer Tim Ritchey likes the No. 12 post for Afleet Alex.

“I like sitting outside Jerry Bailey [on High Fly, in the 11 hole], and having Bellamy Road on our outside,” Ritchey said. “Being on the outside, Bellamy Road’s going to have to commit.” Jeremy Rose, Afleet Alex’s jockey, “can look around and see where we are.”

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Post positions

The field for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. The 1 1/4 mile-race is the first leg of the Triple Crown:

*--* PP Horse Jockey Trainer Odds 1. Sort It Out B. Blanc B. Baffert 50-1 2. Andromeda’s Hero R. Bejarano N. Zito 50-1 3. Sun King E. Prado N. Zito 15-1 4. Noble Causeway G. Stevens N. Zito 12-1 5. Coin Silver P. Valenzuela T. Pletcher 20-1 6. High Limit R. Dominguez R. Frankel 12-1 7. Flower Alley J. Chavez T. Pletcher 20-1 8. Greater Good J. McKee B. Holthus 20-1 9. Greeley’s Galaxy K. Desormeaux W. Stute 15-1 10. Giacomo M. Smith J. Shirreffs 50-1 11. High Fly J. Bailey N. Zito 8-1 12. Afleet Alex J. Rose T. Ritchey 9-2 13. Spanish Chestnut J. Bravo P. Biancone 50-1 14. Wilko C. Nakatani C.Dollase 20-1 15. Bandini J. Velazquez T. Pletcher 6-1 16. Bellamy Road J. Castellano N. Zito 5-2 17. Don’t Get Mad T. Baze R. Ellis 30-1 18. Closing Argument C. Velasquez K. McLaughlin 30-1 19. Going Wild J. Valdivia Jr. W. Lukas 50-1 20. Buzzards Bay M. Guidry J. Mullins 20-1

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