Columnist Ralph Siraco: March Madness not confined to the basketball court

Ralph Siraco

Monday, March 16, 1998 | 9:13 a.m.

If you think the only fouls were committed on the roundball courts, then you didn't catch the 47rh running of the Florida Derby.

Spring fever was quickly displaced by Pick-6 fever as more than a half-million dollars of St. Patty's green was sitting in a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, carryover pools from coast to coast, and Derby fever struck 1997 Horse of the Year Favorite Trick.

By the time the sun set on Sunday, the NCAA had its sweet 16, 30 of 438 handicappers had cased at the Orleans, lucky ticket-holders had cashed big in Pick-6 payoffs at Santa Anita and Aqueduct, and the road to the Kentucky Derby added a champion, an upstart and a trio of graded-stakes winners to the list.

While a field of 64 started on Thursday in college basketball's post-season play, a record field of the country's best thoroughbred handicappers started their own version of March Madness at the Orleans hotel-casino.

The inaugural edition of the National Handicapping Challenge was the perfect backdrop of a super weekend of Las Vegas racing action.

As the field of players began their assault on a purse of $267,000, fans were treated to at least one additional Derby prospect Friday at Santa Anita.

Trainer Bob Baffert, who won last year's Derby with Silver Charm, sent his lightly raced Indian Charlie postward against the returning Old Trieste and a promising field in the seventh race. The Cal-bred son of In Excess polished off the competition with an impressive run, to remain undefeated in three starts, and has thrust himself into the Derby picture, with the Santa Anita Derby as the next objective.

Saturday was Florida Derby Day at Gulfstream Park and the finald day of the Handicapping Challenge. The day would mark the return of a champion to the winner's circle and circle a new handicapping champion.

New trainer Bill Mott elected to bypass the main event in favor of an "easier spot" for Favorite Trick's sophomore debut. The seven-furlong Swale Stakes, carded as the fifth race on the program, had more challengers for the champ than the featured Florida Derby. It was reasoned that, if Favorite Trick was vulnerable, it would be in his comeback outing. Ours is not to reason why, ours is to admire perfection. Although providing some anxious moments, the champ stayed undefeated with an impressive off-the-pace victory. Favorite Trick disposed of the competition with the same authority that gained him a perfect eight-for-eight record and Horse-of-the-Year honors last year. His next stop is the Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland before a Kentucky Derby start over a Churchill track he is three-for-three on.

The Florida Derby drama began when trainer Shug McGaughey employed Robbie Davis to ride his roguish Coronado's Quest after regular rider Mike Smith was involved in an earlier race mishap. That led to the thrill of staying on the unruly chestnut while facing the favorite Lil's Lad in the 1 1/8-mile Grade I event.

Undefeated in three starts this year, Lil's Lad assumed his usual front-running position and reeled off suicide fractions through six panels in 1:10 when Coronado's Quest rolled past him turning for home. Lil's Lad refused to give it up and battled Quest into submission halfway down the stretch before Cape Town came roaring up to challenge. Under pressure and fatigue, Lad bore out into the path of Cape Town and, although he finished first by a head, was disqualified for the interference. Jockey Jerry Bailey, who rode Lil's Lad, was noticeably upset after the race and gave his hose due praise in defeat.

At Santa Anita later that afternoon, five West Coast Derby hopefuls took the track in the San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles. Leading Derby candidate Artax took on the undefeated Prosperous Bid and the Bob Baffert-trained Real Quiet. Jockey Chris McCarron, with a masterful ride aboard Artax, put away an early test by Prosperous Bid while leading the field, then held off a hard-charging Real Quiet under Kent Desormeaux to win by a head. McCarron praised his horse while Desormeaux replied he had lost the battle, but not the war, referring to the rematch of the two in the Santa Anita Derby, where they'll hook up with Indian Charlie. Baffert should have a potent one-two punch for the west's most important Kentucky Derby prep. Prosperous Bid may look for easier spots to gain seasoning.

On Sunday, a breakfast banquet at the Orleans highlighted the check presentations for 30 cash winners. The National Handicapping Challenge top prize of $87,000 went to top dog Steve Duffy and, soon after, money was flowing into two Pick 6 carryover pools as this day's derby would be at the Fairgrounds race track in Louisiana.

The 86th running of the Louisiana Derby saw a full field of 10, headed up by Comic Strip and California invader Souvenir Copy. The historic bayou racing emporium has one of the longest stretches in the country and the winner needed every inch of the long homestretch. Longshot Nite Dreamer led the field after Souvenir Copy and pacesetter Cowboy Dan chucked it in, but could not hold off the final closing challenge of Comic Strip, who prevailed in a photo finish. It must have been bittersweet for trainer Neil Howard, who trains both Comic Strip and Lil's Lad. You see, jockey Shane Sellers rode Cape Town in the Florida Derby and Comic Strip in Louisiana, so I guess he owed Neil one.

Who would have thought that Steve Duffy would earn more money at the races over the weekend than Coronado's Quest, Prosperous Bid and Souvenir Copy combined?

For Duffy, and many more, the Orleans was a much better place to be than Gulfstream Park, the Fairgrounds or Santa Anita.

And isn't it appropriate that a man named Duffy should have the luck of the Irish on St. Patrick's Day weekend?

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