Las Vegas celebrates ‘most exciting two minutes’

Steve Carp

Friday, May 1, 1998 | 8:47 a.m.

There isn't a superhorse like Secretariat to capture the public's fancy. But this year's Kentucky Derby, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of Big Red's triumph on his way to the Triple Crown, will be no different for Las Vegas than any other year.

People who never make a wager on the ponies will plunk down a couple of bucks on one of the 15 participants Saturday at Churchill Downs. Meanwhile, the hardcore player will have arrived at 7 or 8 a.m. to get a seat in the race book and play his or her usual tracks along with making a Derby wager.

And there will be parties all over town. From the exclusive high-roller bashes at Caesars Palace and the Las Vegas Hilton to the public parties at The Orleans and Sam's Town, thousands will take part in what has been termed "The most exciting two minutes in sports."

"This is the biggest day of the year for us," Sam's Town's Norm Kelley said. "It's bigger than the Breeders' Cup by far. It brings everyone out of the woodwork."

Art Manteris of the Las Vegas Hilton said: "The Derby is a lot like the Super Bowl. It's a social thing as much as a sporting event. People who won't make a race bet all year will bet the Derby."

If you're new to horse racing and are searching for an opinion, there will be plenty of information disseminated between now and post time Saturday at 2:32 p.m.

Ralph Siraco, the SUN's in-house handicapper and racing writer, will be doing his two-hour "Race Day Las Vegas" radio show live from 9-11 a.m. Saturday at the Imperial Palace. He also will host a betting seminar at 5:30 p.m. today at the Sunset Station Race and Sports Book.

Sam's Town will have a special Derby seminar today in the race book beginning at 5:30, when nationally known handicapper "Professor" Gordon Jones will preside over a panel including John Kelly of the Daily Racing Form and Kurt Hoover, host of the "Racing from Santa Anita" television show.

Virtually every race book will be giving away some sort of Derby item (T-shirt, Kentucky Derby glass, roses, admission tickets to a Derby party) to patrons making a minimum wager (usually $20).

"The people are what make it special," The Orleans' Muggsy Muniz said of Derby weekend in Las Vegas. "What really amazes me if that it's one of the few times the hotels do something special for the horse players."

As for the race itself, the opinions are varied.

"The fact it's so wide open only adds to the appeal," Caesars' Vinny Magliulo said. "You've got champions -- Indian Charlie's undefeated. You've got Favorite Trick, who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. You've got a gutty little horse in Halory Hunter. You've got (D. Wayne) Lukas with Cape Town."

Manteris said: "If you ask 10 people who's going to win, you might get 10 different answers. There's no consensus favorite, even though Indian Charlie is the morning-line favorite (at 2-1)."

The future book action reflects those varied opinions.

Indian Charlie, Halory Hunter, Cape Town and Victory Gallop all opened at odds of 50-1 or higher and closed at single-digits except for Victory Gallop, who went from 100-1 to 15-1.

The one horse in town who may be overexposed to the books is Real Quiet.

A lot of people jumped on Bob Baffert's horse and he closed at 3-1 after opening anywhere from 25-1 to 40-1. Favorite Trick also took a lot of money after his Breeders' Cup victory and some properties may be rooting against the Bill Mott-trained 3-year-old.

And what would the Derby be without proposition bets?

Many race books will be offering head-to-head matchups. For instance, the Hilton has Indian Charlie at minus 130 to beat Halory Hunter. For those who like Boston Celtics coach Rick Pitino's horse, you can get even money on Halory Hunter.

At Caesars, one of the most popular props is will the winner go wire-to-wire. This year, the "won't" is the heavy favorite at minus 1000 with the "will go wire-to-wire" at plus 750.

Most properties will wait until Saturday to see what the track conditions are before posting any over-under propositions on the running time of the race. Churchill Downs was sloppy Thursday and the forecast for Saturday calls for a possibility of showers.

But that won't dampen the spirits of the thousands who have come to town to party and take in the festivities. They'll be singing "My Old Kentucky Home" just as loudly as in Louisville.

And when the gate opens, that's when the real excitement begins.

"Let me try and put it into perspective," Caesars' Magliulo said. "We're open 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year. For those two minutes (the Derby is run), nobody makes a bet or takes a bet.

"We revere the Derby."