Fresh Roses for Shoe

By Tom Callahan

The greatest athlete ounce for ounce in the history of sport rode in and out with courage and cunning last week to grasp his fourth Kentucky Derby in his 24th try and his 55th year. Churchill Downs politely applauded the long shot Ferdinand but wildly cheered his passenger, and maybe for the first time in 112 years roses seemed inadequate. Nearly 30 springs after misjudging the finish line on Gallant Man and losing by a nostril to Iron Liege, Willie Shoemaker won the Derby again.

It was a race frisky with 16 three-year-olds: 14 confessed drug users (of one kind or the other lately permissible), a British chestnut addicted only to Guinness Stout (a pint a day with his oats and carrots) and that California fresh-air fiend Ferdinand. For all of his clean living, Ferdinand drew the dreaded rail, and the pinch at the start of the stampede was so precariously tight that Shoemaker had to stand virtually straight up in the irons. With every one of his 96 lbs., he yanked in the reins magnificently to hold Ferdinand on the course. They settled down into last place.

Charlie Whittingham, 73, Shoe's notion of "the best trainer in the country," was blessed to have forgotten his binoculars in the excitement of the morning. "I didn't know where Shoe was," he admitted. After two dismal Mays out of two, in 1958 and '60 (one of those Whittingham horses is now cutting herds in a rodeo), Charlie swore never to return to Louisville without a contender. "I hoped for the big horse, I waited for him." So the trainer was 26 years between Derby starts, and the rider 21 between Derby victories. "I didn't panic," said Shoemaker, who has won 8,537 races worth more than $100 million, including at Churchill Downs on Swaps (1955), Tomy Lee ('59) and Lucky Debonair ('65). "I took my time. I felt good." Moving up surely, going around some and about others, he made his last crucial pass through a needle's eye. "I saw a little spot, and decided to take a chance on getting through, saving a bit of ground. One, two, three, boom. I made it."

Bouncing back to the winner's circle at a wonderful canter, Shoemaker misted like an old golfer (Shoe is a 12 handicap). "Old Jack Nicklaus did it," he said, "and I did it too. I thought that I might have one more chance to win the Derby. When Charlie showed me this big juicy colt last year, he told me, 'Here's one I'm going to save for you. We might have some fun with him.' " The British beer guzzler Bold Arrangement took a lovely second and hurried away with a foaming head to the 205-year-old "real Derby" at Epsom Downs next month. Broad Brush, an affable bay who likes to be taken on joyrides in his trainer's van, came third. All around, it was a happy day for practically everyone but the 1-2 favorites Snow Chief and Badger Land, who finished eleventh and fifth. By the Dosage Index, a perplexing pedigree calibrator much under discussion these days, Snow Chief's fate had been foretold. But the betting public ignored the arithmetic and forgot the old man. Sentimentalists collected $37.40 for $2 on Willie to win.