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Woman has big hand in Derby win

By BERNIE DICKMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 7, 2001

In a sport that has been dominated by men for more than a century, Murray Smith is sitting on top of the world. Despite the great strides women have made in thoroughbred racing in this country in the past 20 years with riders like Julie Krone, Mary Russ, Donna Barton, Rosemary Homeister Jr. and Pattie Cooksey, plus many successful trainers, behind the scenes the women will tell you they're not on equal footing with their male counterparts. Except, perhaps, in "pinhooking."

Pinhookers are those who buy a horse, either privately or at public auction, and offer it for resale.

Smith is an astute observer of horses and has bought and resold many thoroughbreds in the past 10 years, but none as successful as Monarchos.

She happened upon the Kentucky Derby winner in a field at Two-Bux Farm in Kentucky when the colt was a youngster. She inquired if he was for sale and took him home to her training barn near Ocala.

Smith's first pinhook of Monarchos came at the 1999 Saratoga yearling sale, but she couldn't get a bid on the son of champion Maria's Mon. She tried again at the 2000 Fasig-Tipton sale at Calder when Monarchos was 2, and John Oxley and trainer John Ward paid $170,000.

As owner and trainer basked in the limelight in front of the Twin Spires late Saturday after Monarchos posted the second-fastest time in 127 years of the Derby, Smith, the woman who stumbled on the colt in a bluegrass field, stood alongside, enjoying the moment. With a $400 win ticket in her hand.

STAKES FINALE: Saturday's $50,000 Columbia Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs was an excellent betting race. But for a quirk of fate, it would have been even better. Since only 12 could start in the 1 1/8-mile race on the grass, old pros Glok and No Spend No Glow were excluded, taking away a little of the glamor of the final stakes of the season.

Glok, a 7-year-old gelding bred by the late Allen Paulson, had raced just once since 1998, finishing second behind Special Coach in an allowance race April 21. The former stakes winner has career earnings of nearly $270,000. No Spend No Glow, a 9-year-old gelding and earner of more than $510,000, was 4-for-4 at the meeting after a long layoff because of injury.

But neither made it into the race because of the conditions. Without the veterans in the field, the Columbia was won by Guardianofthegate, one of the last runners still hanging around by the late Florida stallion Gate Dancer, winner of the 1984 Preakness. Guardianofthegate sat second behind pacesetter Viva Pentelicus in the early going and swept past the son of Pentelicus to open a 2 1/2-length lead in the stretch before holding on for a neck decision over fast-closing Trooper Red. The 5-year-old horse paid $34.40 and ran his winning streak to three. He's won four of his last five.

AROUND THE TRACK: A crowd of 8,133 turned out for the Derby day program, but total handle for the afternoon was just $2,159,508. The Churchill Downs card was so strong from top to bottom it attracted much of the play at most tracks around the country. ... Tampa Bay Downs wound up its meeting Sunday, but the track will continue to operate daily for simulcasting until it reopens for racing in December.

DERBY LANE: Courageous Nicky powered his way to the front and won the 62nd annual Gold Trophy Juvenile Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths Saturday. Husker Artic was second and Kiowa Bill Blank third. Reward Green overcame trouble in the first turn and passed his rivals on the outside to move from seventh to fourth. Courageous Nicky is the son of America's top sire, Molotov, and races with Thorne kennel. BD's Phillip rebounded from his loss Wednesday to go box-to-wire in Race 10. More than 8,200 fans were at the track for the doubleheader that included wagering on the Kentucky Derby. ... Although she was eliminated from the stakes, Oneco Sudsy eclipsed the 30.33 set by Nicky on Wednesday with a season's best 30.28 in a 10-length Saturday matinee romp. ... A total of $1,261,950 was spent on 165 pups at the National Greyhound Spring Meet, the largest spring sale and the second largest in the history of the auction. Derby Lane's Charter kennel spent $138,000. The Capabal kennel acquired the fastest runner, WMS Castaway, who ran a 30.08 and won a stakes final. Owner Danny Williams of Texas turned down a bid of $30,000 on the champion and will race him at Derby Lane and Tampa. His littermates, WMS Fireway and WMS Stormaway, sold for $25,000 each and will compete in West Virginia and Iowa. Derby Lane runners Dominator, BD's Phillip, Greys Free Bird and JB Junior B were honored at the meet, making up half the field of All-Americans. ... The Night of Stars, the seventh installment of greyhound racing's semiannual simulcast, features top racers at 16 tracks in 13 states Saturday. It is sponsored by the American Greyhound Track Operators Association, and proceeds benefit Greyhound Adoption in America. Among the wagering format is a national pick six guaranteed jackpot of $50,000 that will offer an industry low takeout of 15 percent to winners. Top sprinters BD's Phillip and Courageous Nicky face off in the Derby Lane feature. It begins at 7:50 and is broadcast on the greyhound channel and on the Internet at www.rosnet2000.com. ... Fans can vote for their favorite sprint and distance runners in the seventh annual Fans' All-Star races by submitting ballots from the Derby Lane program. Voting begins at today's matinee and ends after Saturday's matinee. The races are May 19.

-- Correspondent Vera Filipelli contributed to this report.

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