Despite much hemming and hawing about whether I should subject myself to a 5:30 am wakeup call on a Saturday morning, I found myself awakening to the screaming of both the alarm clock and the cat. (The cat is a recent adoption from another family who apparently got up around 6 am everyday and fed her. Ahhh, cats...) Anyway, I was quickly showered, dressed, and on my way with only a brief stop to get coffee at the BP Tobacco Road.

I pulled into the lot just outside the stable gates while it was still dark, about 6 am. The security guard just waved me through as I walked into the backside rather than venturing a drive. Just as an aside, I was wearing my spiffy black leather jacket that Beth got me for Christmas, and I think it either made me look like a Mafia guy he didn't want to mess with, or some kind of New York owner/trainer. Anyway, no troubles getting into the stables this early before the derby. (I also think it helped that I was there before the sun.) I was instantly happy I had made the trip. There is nothing quite like the backside at Churchill Downs to get your blood pumping for horse racing in general, and the Derby in particular. There is a buzz of activity while every horse from the cheapest claimer to the Derby potentials gets the full attention of their grooms and trainers.

Everywhere there are people involved in getting horses to the races. I headed for Popeye's (ed. note: Popeye is a nickname for Event of the Year given to him on the Derby list because of the eye surgery he had as a foal) barn as it was reported that he had worked shortly after the track had opened for training in his first work over the Churchill surface. When I arrived, I found there were only 3 occupants in Barn 43. On one side, two fillies, and on the other side (all alone) was Event of the Year. He had his backed turned to me when I first showed up, but he was at an angle. Let me just say this first. Everybody keeps saying how much he looks like his dad, well, he does! Sure when I saw Seattle Slew he was fat and swaybacked, but you can tell what he looked like in his early days, and Event of the Year looks just like that. A very tall colt, with a deep brown coat fading to black socks covering all four legs. His left fore hoof is white in color, but that is the only light color anywhere on his body.

When I first arrived, a guy who I would later find out was Jay Warhol was just leaving. So there was only a Mexican groom with Event of the Year. I asked if he was going to work that day, but the groom had absolutely no understanding of English and just kind of looked at me. Ah well, even if he doesn't I still want to stick around. Besides, it's early yet. I wandered around the barns a little more and later wished that I had researched more thoroughly where the other Derby contenders were stabled. I was disappointed to find out later that afternoon that Artax was on track, and I didn't even see him. Chilito was there, in barn 41 just across the row and down a little from Popeye. He looked good, but there are horses that look good for the Wednesday afternoon feature allowance, and then there are horses that look good for the Derby. I would classify Chilito as the former, and Event of the Year as the latter.

During the training before the break, there was one bit of excitement. A two year old filly dumped his exercise rider on the front side, then ran around the track a full revolution before the outriders could trap her in the chute. She then proceeded to run up and down the chute about 6 times, constantly evading the outriders just before they were about to get a hold of her lead by stopping and changing direction. Finally, she escaped again and circled the track again before the outriders were finally able to get a hold of the completely exhausted filly. She must have had a 3 1/2 mile work by the time it was all finished. No one was hurt, and training continued as scheduled. Everybody got a good laugh watching the crafty filly outsmart the men on horseback.

Apparently I missed seeing Cape Town loaded for his trip to Keeneland, and D. Wayne's barn has those awnings covering the openings so I couldn't check out Comic Strip. Hell, he may have even worked, but Wayne getting around on horseback didn't give any real indication if he did. There weren't any press there watching him, so I'm assuming Comic Strip didn't do much more than walk the shedrow.

Finally, about a quarter 'til 8 I wandered back to EOTY's barn and Jay Warhol was back. This time with an older fellow watching over the proceedings. It was Jerry Hollendorfer. Also, there were WAVE and WHAS TV sports guys there with cameras, and another guy who had to be a print reporter, and I assumed was from the Courier-Journal. I found out that they were waiting for Russell "the Muscle" Baze himself to arrive for the workout. The expected him around 8:30, as he was flying in to Cincinnati and driving down to Churchill. I overheard the reporters say that Chilito had galloped a mile and 3/4 that morning and looked "as fresh as a daisy." Jay carefully wrapped Popeye's rear ankles with standard wrap and no ointment, so I'm assuming that they weren't concerned with any leg problems. After the one of their fillies worked about 6:45 am, they went back and applied ointment and a careful wrap to her right rear ankle. I don't know who the filly was, but she was wearing Pike Place Dancer's 1996 Kentucky Oaks blanket, and I think it might have actually been her. There was a brief mention of something like her working before she went off to the breeding shed that afternoon.

Anyway we sat around an waited, and I watched EOTY. He looked like he was ready to go. He was calm, but looked like he was psyching himself up getting ready to do some running. Jay continued to get him ready for his work. Russell arrived right about 8:30, and we found out that Event of the Year was going to work 7 furlongs. About 8:40 he headed to the track, and when he came out of the barn I got my first real good look at him as a package. This horse is impressive looking. He is very much on the muscle, but has plenty of space left to bulk up even more. He has very long legs, but doesn't look out of balance in the least. They headed to the track very calmly with his lead pony and walked around the opposite direction up to about the start finish line. I took up position on the bleachers behind the clockers stand so that I could see most of the opposite side of the track. He started galloping with his lead pony and then hit the 7f pole just into to the first turn. The first furlong looked a little awkward like he was climbing a little, but by the time he hit the 6 furlong pole, he was moving. Down the backstretch, he looked different than all the other horses I had seen working that morning. Those long legs were reaching out for ground so smoothly that to look at it, it almost looked like a breeze, except for the fact that he was traveling so fast. Russell was down in a good riding position not giving free rein, but not really holding back strongly either. Popeye just looked like he was working well with Baze, giving him exactly the amount of effort he wanted. No evidence of being rank. I watched him through the first turn and down the front stretch as much as I could see. The whole while, Event of the Year was a smooth as he could be. When the hit the line I stopped my watch with 6 furlongs in 1:12 and 2, exactly what the clockers caught him in.

When he came galloping by after the work, he wasn't even blowing. In fact his breath sounded like he was just out on a regular gallop. (If you've ever spent any time at works, you can usually hear every horse that has just finished his work because he's blowing like he'd just finished running for his life.) He galloped out nicely. As I caught up to the reporters coming down from the stand, they said that he had run the 7 furlongs in 25 and 2. That blew me away. Despite the time I had caught for the 6 furlongs, I just assumed that it was a mistake of me not seeing exactly when he crossed the finish line. I was expecting a time more like 1:28 just from how easy he went. I got the fractions and was genuinely excited. :23 and 3, : 48 and 2, 1:12 and 2, 1:25 and 2, and galloping out the mile in 1:41 and 2. Outstanding. We headed back to the barn for the interview with Russell (Everybody assumed by this point that I must be a reporter.) They got Popeye back to the stall, and he didn't even looked like he had worked hard. It was probably about 50 degrees by this point, but there was almost no trace of a sweat on him. Hell, he didn't look like he had just set the bullet for the distance for the day.

Russell explained that since he was going to the Arkansas Derby anyway, they figured that he should make the extra short trip out to Churchill for the work. It was mostly a matter of convenience. (Ed. Note: No Way this was convenient, they wanted their jock for the work to ensure that his first work had been a fluke) He had flown from San Francisco that morning, got into Cinci about 7. Drove to the track and was due on a flight out of Cinci to Arkansas at 11:15. What that tells me is that Jerry and Russell both believe that this horse is very special and are willing to do anything to get their first Derby wins.

Russell explained that the first furlong problems for the work were basically due to Russell having to hold Popeye back until they got to the pole. He wanted to go earlier, but once Russell gave him his head, he laid into the bit and got going. He wasn't surprised that he got over the slow Churchill surface so well, because he believes that Popeye can handle anything: Wet and slow, deep, or hard and fast. He loves to ride him because he is a push button horse. He explained that the first work was nothing to worry about because they didn't want to blow him out first time around. Also, I must point out to Jim Sloan that Russell seems to use the phrase "Stretching his legs a little," regularly when referring to a workout, so I don't think his description of the first Churchill work was anything to worry about. Russell was visibly excited, and you could tell that despite having no sleep and another 3000 miles to go before his day was done, that he was very happy to be where he was at that moment.

Next, Jerry Hollendorfer gave his little spiel to the 5 "reporters" gathered there. Shortly after he started, he had to pause to take a phone call from Mr. Mabee who had already called once that morning. (The first time he was with Bob Baffert, and Bob wanted to call to razz Jerry a little.) From the sound of it, Mr. Mabee was very happy with the work as well. Jerry explained Popeye had disappointed him with his first work. His head wasn't completely into it, and he was playing around some. Part of it had to do with the 50,000 Boy Scouts who were in the infield. But Jerry had forgiven him now because this morning he showed his professionalism. That was the reason that they decided to get to Churchill early so that he could just get used to the place. He added that he really liked the work because the track was pretty dead that morning. Also, that Russell coming in had been more of a matter of convenience rather than a measure of some sort of desperation over the first work. Jerry was asked if this would be his longest work. He responded that they would see how he came out of this one, but that they might go a mile in about a week, and then blow him out 4 furlongs the week before the derby.

I then watched them wipe Event of the Year down. He was just as calm as could be. This also gave me an excellent opportunity to examine his conformation from a distance of about 10 feet. The first thing you notice is his rear legs. His thigh bone (I'm forgetting the proper term) is very upright resulting in an unusually straight leg package. This indicates a horse who can really stretch out and get some ground with his strongest legs. His legs look very sturdy and stout all around. He has none of that Mr. Prospector delicate/fragile look to his bones. His knees look very normal, and he is over his knees very nicely in the front. The ankles are normal in slope and length. He has a larger hoof than many, so pressure based hoof problems shouldn't be a major consideration. He is in very slightly on both the right fore and rear. This is not a major issuer, but still a small conformation fault. That said, he still has a very straight leg action from front to rear, so I wouldn't worry about this being a durability issue. There are marks from being hot pinned on all four legs, but that is the only indication you get of any past problems. Most likely, they were worried about his leg development early on, and that is why he didn't run until the end of his 2 YO year. Fortunately, the treatment looks like it worked and he has grown up very strong.

His back line is nicely equal, with his slanted rear sitting about equal with very prominent withers, indicated a strong foreleg structure. His balance is slightly forward, but this is not a serious problem at all because his neck is not long. Also, it gives him some space to reach out with those long straight hind legs. His neck is slightly shorter than usual, but is carried at a nice angle. His head is about average. Overall, I would say that he has adequate wind capacity, but doesn't show a tendency toward an unusually large air passage.

His musculature looks very good, but then that is true of nearly all Derby contenders. He is well balanced, but you can still see where he has space to add muscle on his hind as well as his shoulders. This in my opinion looks like a horse that physically should just get stronger and stronger.

The rub down was uneventful, and while they checked his ankles and knees, it seemed that everything was to their liking and he headed back to his stall without any additional treatment.

All in all, it was a beautiful morning at the track, and Event of the Year's work was a truly impressive thing to watch. As he headed down the backside he looked so different from the other 50 or so horses I had seen that morning. He was long and lean, reaching out and grabbing ground like he was a part of it, and he couldn't have been more smooth. Russell was able to sit up there as quiet as could be. This was a horse that could move without really trying, unlike so many of the tough knockers that had been to the track that morning to work. To summarize, he looked like a Derby winner on this morning.

From Louisville, KY

Tim Clauss

©1998, Tim Clauss

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