Arazi made his grand entrance for Saturday`s 118th Kentucky Derby when he went to the track for light excercise Tuesday morning accompanied by a huge media entourage.
When the French colt set foot on Churchill Downs, he was returning to the scene of the most celebrated of his eight triumphs in nine races-his spectacular five-length victory Nov. 2 in the $1 million Breeders` Cup Juvenile.
In the absence of trainer Francois Boutin, who is due Wednesday, traveling head lad Fabien Gerard and exercise rider Raymond Lamornaca played
”Meet the Press.” In European racing, head lads have responsibilities somewhat similar to those of assistant trainers in this country.
Speaking through interpreter Elisabeth Friszer, Gerard predicted Arazi
”will have no trouble handling the track Saturday because he already proved that last year.”
What about the arthroscopic surgery four days after the Breeders` Cup to remove small bone chips from both knees?
”The knees aren`t affecting anything,” replied Gerard. ”He`s stronger now than in November.”
Does the horse have wings?
”He doesn`t need wings,” Gerard answered. ”He`s the Concorde.”
– Randy Romero, who has spent most of his time on the disabled list after Go For Wand`s tragic fall in the stretch run of the Breeders` Cup Distaff in the fall of 1990, is making a comeback and will ride long shot Sir Pinder in the Kentucky Derby.
Romero recorded his first victory in nearly a year Saturday when he won the first race at Aqueduct on Future Question.
While recovering in Florida early last year from his fall from Go for Wand, Romero had another spill, suffering a broken arm. He tried to make a hurried recovery in New York last spring, but the screws that had been inserted into his arm were hindering the healing.
As a result, Romero decided to have surgery to remove the screws and let the injury heal naturally.
Romero, who won two Arlington riding titles in the 1980s, will be making his sixth Kentucky Derby appearance. He has yet to win.
Sir Pinder is an unlikely candidate to end that losing streak. In his prior 14 starts-all in Florida-he has three wins and two places.
– Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who has led the world in purse earnings for the last nine years, doesn`t see his Derby candidates Dance Floor and Al Sabin as serious threats to Arazi. But the owners of these two runners probably have the highest profiles in the race.
Dance Floor is owned by the family of rap music superstar Hammer, while Al Sabin is the property of Henryk de Kwiatkowski, who paid $17 million to purchase the bankrupt Calumet Farm last month.
”Al Sabin is erratic,” conceded Lukas. ”But Henryk wants to run, and he`s kind of a cult hero in this state because of his purchase of Calumet.”
As for Dance Floor, whose form seems to have tailed off since his impressive victory in the Fountain of Youth in February: ”He really thrives here at Churchill. He won the Brown and Williamson here last fall, and if he were to do it again in the Derby he`d collect a $1 million bonus for winning both races.”
– Arkansas Derby winner Pine Bluff worked four furlongs in :47 2/5 Tuesday with Craig Perret in the saddle. ”I was looking for :48 and change, and if he went a little faster that was fine,” said trainer Tom Bohannan. ”This sets us up real well.”
