The Following statement is from the Daily Racing Form, Special Edition for the Kentucky Derby, written by Frank Mitchell; about Charismatics' outlook on winning the KY. Derby.
"A point of greater interest to many bebunkers of superstition is that the colt has a Dosage Index of 5.22, which is a hoot for a racehorse whose best form has come as the distances have increased".
Well, we already have two hoots, after the Belmont Stakes everybody's going to holler, if they haven't already. Before the Ky. Derby, I kept having a re-occuring thought of a race tele-cast from about thirteen years ago. I couldn't figure out why this memory kept coming to mind after all these years. Charismatic has brought reason for this thought:
Sitting, waiting, after tuning in the television set (remember back before everybody had cable TV. I'm not going back any further.), for the greatest entertainment I could ever find on television, a Saturday afternoon horserace. About five minutes before the race the producers were frantically looking for filler material, so the broadcast would coincide with the actual post time An un-expected break from the anchor team of sportscasters presenting the event, to an on-the-scene reporter, trying to catch a well known horse trainer going to his seat for the race. The reporter introduces the trainer and imediately asks him a question: "Nobody seems to give your horse much of a chance today....they say he'll have a hard time getting the distance...". Said the reporter with a big smile on his face. "Ahh, heck!...you can trian a horse to run longer". Said the trainer witha a big smile on his face.
That was it,....filler material.....interview over. All of a sudden my jaw dropped, all I could say was..."What!!". Had I just heard that right? To this day, almost fifteen years later, I still remember this trainer speaking those words..."Ahh, heck!....you can train a horse to run longer". The impression was clear, a strong implication; Take your pedigree books, your dosage systems, your stamina index chatrs and any other modern day Witch Craft you might use in determining what a horse is capable of. Throw them all out the window, all that stuff, get rid of it, it has nothing to do with training a horse.
1986, Belmont Park, Elmont, New York...just moments away from the Belmont Stakes contested at 1 1/2 miles. Three year-old horses will attempt this distance for the first time in their carreer.
Trainer Woody Stevens has already tied the record for a trainer to win this race four times, but he is the only trainer to win this race four consecutive times. With a win today he will have achieved what no other trainer has; five times winning this race and five times winning this race consecutively.
But this year, the horse to fulfill these dreams, Danzig Connection, doesn't seem to have the ability or the breeding to achieve at this distance. The betting-public also reflects these sentiments by cold 8-1 odds for Danzig Connection. It was stated in the press all week long, and it had become o forgone conclusion, that Woody has only entered his horse as a Token Gesture, only for the sake of being represented. That was the tip-off, I don't think Woody Stephens in his entire carreer ever entered any horse as a token anything.
As we all know, Danzig Connection won the 1986 Belmont Stakes. How many people remember that ten second interview? I almost missed the race because of the impact of that statement. My head was doing 360's.
I also remember just last Fall, a comment made by a high-profile trainer in racing today, saying that he wouldn't consider training a horse (2yo), that didn't have the potential to be a dual-qualifier. (A horse that has a Dosage Index below 4.00, and has been rated within 10 lbs. of the Expiermental Handicap system high-weighted 2yo)
Like Woody Stephens or not, approve of his training methods, or not. He was always lengths ahead of the rest of the pack with his work. Trainers with his attributes are few and far between, in fact, I can't imagine a trainer in the future to be like him.
I miss him
Wahoo
May 28, 1999
