Charismatic named Horse of the Year

Greg Risling

NEWPORT BEACH -- For all the worries they had to stomach watching their

prized thoroughbred suffer a broken leg in a key race last year, the

moment was sweet one for Bob and Beverly Lewis on Monday night.

The Lido Isle couple were presented horse racing’s top honor at a lavish

Beverly Hills reception for one of the horses they own.

Charismatic, a gutsy 3-year-old that no one wanted a year ago, was named

1999’s Horse of the Year by the voting bloc that consists of the National

Thoroughbred Racing Assn., the National Turf Writers Assn. and select

members of the Daily Racing Form. The latter two groups selected

Charismatic as the top horse, enabling the courageous colt to garner the

esteemed honor.

“We certainly had guarded optimism about our chances,” Bob Lewis said of

the industry’s annual Eclipse Awards. “We were fortunate enough votes

came our way.”

It may have been redemption for the Lewises. The Newport Beach residents

were previously denied Horse of the Year accolades for Silver Charm, a

colt that won the 1997 running of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness

Stakes. “The Charm,” as he was known to those who followed him, lost the

third leg of the Triple Crown, but went on to win several more races

before he was retired.

“He [Silver Charm] had some competition that Charismatic didn’t have,”

Lewis said Wednesday. “No horse came strongly to the forefront for Horse

of the Year. Something has to be said for a horse that wins the first two

legs of the Triple Crown.”

Charismatic followed a similar path but never received the stardom

bestowed on his stablemate until Monday. Charismatic was floundering

early last year and the Lewises entered him in two claiming races --

events where other owners could have purchased the chestnut colt.

No one did, and Charismatic first shocked bettors when he won the

Lexington Stakes decisively in April before heading to the Kentucky

Derby. Dismissed at odds of 31-1, Charismatic stunned race fans by

winning the prestigious race and then taking the Preakness two weeks

later.

Poised to sweep the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes, Charismatic

struggled to reach the wire and finished third. Jockey Chris Antley

realized something was wrong and jumped off the horse and held one of his

legs. The horse had suffered a broken leg in two areas, a potentially

life-threatening injury. But doctors were able to repair the leg and

Charismatic was retired.

Of 17 races in his career, Charismatic won only five. But he amassed more

than $2 million in earnings for his owners.

Antley’s quick action to help Charismatic was lauded as the industry’s

“Moment of the Year,” a distinction voted by race fans. Charismatic was

also voted 3-year-old champion.

The Horse of the Year trophy will sit on the couple’s mantle place, where

five other Eclipse Awards sit. One of the categories in which the Lewises

didn’t win was best owner, which is perfectly fine with them.

“We’ll take Horse of the Year over Owner of the Year,” Lewis chuckled.

No sooner than the couple received their gold statues were they preparing

for another campaign toward the Kentucky Derby. The couple have more than

a dozen 3-year-olds, several of which look promising to give them their

third derby in four years.

However, Lewis said it’s too soon to predict an outcome.

“Race horses are very temperamental and you never know if you will be

lucky enough to have a horse in the Derby,” he said. “I always think I’m

going to wake up from this dream. But I haven’t yet.”