All Out for the Roses

When owners first nominated their horses for this week's 92nd running of the Kentucky Derby last winter, the handicappers all figured it for strictly a three-horse race: Buckpasser, 1965's champion two-year-old, Moccasin, 1965's champion two-year-old filly, and Graustark, the much-touted, undefeated wonder horse. But there is many a slip 'twixt the Cup and such lip. Two months ago, Buckpasser cracked his right front hoof and had to be scratched. As sometimes happens with fillies, Moccasin failed to improve; she will not run. That left all the roses to Graustark--or so it seemed until last week's $29,500 Blue Grass Stakes.

Of course, Graustark had never run more than seven furlongs. So his Darby Dan Farm owners and Trainer Loyd Gentry decided to give him his final prep over the nine furlongs (1 1/2 miles) of the Blue Grass Stakes, just one furlong short of the Derby distance. Though he had a slight infection in his left front hoof, the mere mention of his name was enough to reduce the field to two other horses: Rehabilitate, an also-runner, and Abe's Hope, a hard-luck colt who won the Florida Derby last month only to have the victory wiped out by a foul.

By a Nose. With win bets only allowed, Graustark broke in front and flashed to a six-length lead. Everyone expected that to be it. Jockey Braulio Baeza eased up, and suddenly from dead last, there came Willie Shoemaker on Abe's Hope. The horses were neck and neck at the top of the stretch--then Abe's Hope drew out to a half-length lead. Baeza went to the whip, and Graustark came on hard. But not hard enough. Abe's Hope won by a nose.

Before the race, Abe's Hope's trainer, Del Carroll, had declared, "Graustark looks invincible." After the race, many owners and trainers, who were thinking of staying out of it, decided to ship their colts to Churchill Downs after all. It looked as if it would be a large field "of 16 or 18," said a Derby spokesman. And when news came that Graustark's infection was worse following the Blue Grass, the early odds on him shifted from 4-5 to 6-5.

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