Columnist Ralph Siraco: Kentucky Derby favorites come to forefront

Ralph Siraco

Monday, March 17, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

The road to the Kentucky Derby wound through Florida, California and New York over the weekend. Now, with just seven weeks before America's most famous horse race, the only certainty about this year's run for the roses is that the starting gate should be at maximum capacity.

Expect the field to be whittled to 20 in Louisville, with at least that many looking in from the outside.

The top-rated pair on the Daily Racing Form list of Derby contenders competed over the weekend. Domestic Dispute ran in Sunday's San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita and Empire Maker went in Saturday's Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. Another dozen on the "Derby Watch" list also competed in six key races for sophomores looking to break through a very muddled Derby picture.

So what else is new?

It seems trainer Bobby Frankel holds the aces, maybe three aces, for the May 3 Kentucky Derby. His Empire Maker blew away the competition in the marquee event of the weekend's Derby prep races. While the stable's Peace Rules, fresh from a solid victory in the Louisiana Derby just a week ago, sits waiting for his next move, Empire Maker invaded South Florida from Southern California to re-establish his perch as Frankel's top Derby hopeful.

Empire Maker faced his toughest challenge in a brief three-race career but his lack of experience was overshadowed by his brilliant talent. The promising son of 1990 Kentucky Derby winner and Horse of the Year Unbridled won the Florida Derby by the widest margin in the 52-year-history of the Sunshine State's most prestigious Derby steppingstone.

Under jockey Jerry Bailey, Empire Maker polished off a solid field that included Fountain of Youth winner and race favorite Trust N Luck, who finished a distant runner-up, and four others on the Daily Racing Form top 25. One of those, Midway Cat, broke down and had to be euthanized. Empire Maker should be the new leader while Senor Swinger (5th), Supah Blitz (4th) and Indy Dancer (3rd) may be downgraded.

Later on the Saturday card, the Grade III Swale Stakes featured yet another royally bred runner from the Frankel stable. Midas Eyes registered his first stakes victory in his sophomore debut since a maiden victory last August at Calder Race Course. Also ridden by Bailey, the son of 1997 Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold won with such authority that a Derby berth may be just one more stakes victory away.

The most competitive and promising in a trio of stakes races for 3-year-olds on Sunday was the Grade II San Felipe at Santa Anita. The 1 1/16th mile event featured five on the Daily Racing Form top 25 list.

Those included Man Among Men, who had beaten Empire Maker in their last meeting, list leader Domestic Dispute and the much publicized Atswhatimtalknbout. The later gained celebrity owners when movie mogul Steven Spielberg recently bought a 10-percent interest in the Derby hopeful.

However, jockey Gary Stevens, who plays legendary rider George Wolf in the upcoming movie "Seabiscuit", stole the show aboard Buddy Gil, who just lasted by a whisker over the fast-closing Atswhatimtalknbout. Brancusi may have emerged as a new Derby hopeful with a close third-place finish at odds of 50-1.

The first three finishers should return in the April 5 Santa Anita Derby. An off-the-board performance by Domestic Dispute should knock him of the top spot on the Derby Watch list while the top three finishers are certain to make their way into the lineup.

Although a gate-to-wire victory by Alysweep in the Grade III Gotham at Aqueduct was a solid effort, the front-end in the Derby should be well occupied. The son of End Sweep may have a penchant for the New York track, having won all four of his seven lifetime starts over the Big Apple oval. It now remains to be seen if his connections will get Derby fever.

The Tampa Bay Derby served as the proving ground for Region Of Merit and Aristocat. Each came into the other Florida sophomore feature off victories in allowance races at Gulfstream Park. Region Of Merit needed the entire homestretch at Tampa Bay Downs to run down longshot Hear No Evil and hold off the late-closing kick of runner-up Aristocat in the 1 1/16th mile Grade III event. Those three are now added to a list that is expanding rather than shrinking for the Kentucky Derby.

And, from the sands of Dubai, Inamorato won the Al Bastikiya at Nad Al Sheba race course. The son of Tale of the Cat broke his maiden at Hollywood Park as a juvenile and could return stateside for the Derby as the only hope for Godolphin Racing, Inc.

Next Monday, Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye will be honored at The Orleans race book. Delahoussaye, who won back-to-back Derbies with Gato Del Sol in 1982 and the next year with Sunny's Halo, retired following injuries sustained in a spill at Del Mar last summer. Now a bloodstock agent in the sport, Delahoussaye will be making his first "official" appearance since that retirement. In addition to the retirement party, the race book will also present a free $1,000 handicapping contest and a question and answer session with Eddie D. The Delahoussaye event starts at 9 a.m. and is free to the public.