2005 KENTUCKY DERBY

©2005 HORSEPHOTOS/NTRA

Giacomo, bottom, gets up in the final strides to capture the 131st Kentucky Derby.

GIACOMO STUNS DERBY CROWD & RUNS DOWNS DERBY FIELD 

KENTUCKY DERBY OFFICIAL RESULTS

MAY 7, 2005

KENTUCKY DERBY

GRADE I

CHURCHILL DOWNS; LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY

FOR THREE YEAR OLDS

ONE AND ONE QUARTER MILES

MAIN TRACK: FAST

GIACOMO

Winner

131th Kentucky Derby

Jockey: Mike Smith

Trainer: John Shirreffs

Owners: Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Moss

Grey/Roan Colt

Sire: Holly Bull

Dam: Set Them Free (Stop The Music)

Breeder: Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Moss

OFFICIAL ORDER OF FINISH

Scratches: None

 22.28, 45.38, 1:09.59, 1:35.88, 2:02.75

Attendance: 156,435  Handle: $21,701,887

See below for complete Derby recap:

GIACOMO WINS DERBY FULL OF GREAT PRICES AND EVEN BETTER STORIES

May 7, 2005

Churchill Downs

Louisville, Kentucky

What a week, what a day, what a race!  The 131st Run for the Roses lived up to the hype and along the road to get there the human interest was just as captivating as the horses and the race.  Churchill Downs finally completed their $121 million renovation making the famed track one of the best in the industry which is no small feat considering they didn't knock the entire structure to the ground and start over.  Then there was the great accomplishment of trainers Nick Zito and Todd Pletcher who between them saddled an unheard of one-third of the field.  (Zito - 5 starters, Pletcher - 3 starters).  And then for the second straight year a horse out of the mid-Atlantic captures the nations attention as one of the favorites reminding everyone of one year ago when another mid-Atlantic connection went through Arkansas to go on and capture the roses.  The story of Afleet Alex was even more inspiring as early in the week the story of Alex's Lemonade Stand and the Afleet Alex camp was brought to light.  For those of you  who don't know, Alex's Lemonade Stand is an organization that raises money for research to battle pediatric cancer.  Not only was this horse a handicapping favorite but a favorite in the hearts of every fan.  A finally there was the story of New York Yankees and Bellamy Road owner, George Steinbrenner.  The winner of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct was only an $85,000 purchase and was the best shot "The Boss" has ever had at winning the spring classic.

Now if you followed all the racing shows and pundits the entire week leading up to the Derby, this race was really a six to eight horse race depending on who was prognosticating.  Practically everyone dismissed the west coast horses since the Santa Anita Derby was less than impressive in most horse-players eyes.  Bellamy Road, Afleet Alex and Bandini came into the race off of big time wins.  And there were a few other horses that if things fell the right way would also have a chance.  Once again depending on who was prognosticating there were five to six horses that could round out a superfecta ticket.

Digesting the talk and handicapping of a twenty horse field can be an exhausting task.  Good thing no one told the Giacomo camp as they were allowed to go off at odds of just north of 50/1.   Giacomo had run some uninspiring efforts in California and had never run a Beyer number of 100 or better.  The immediate thought of the pundits dismissed this horse because he would need to improve way to much to compete in a race that was this deep in talent.  Nevertheless, at the eighth pole here comes number 10, Giacomo, mowing down the leaders winning the 131st Kentucky Derby by a half-length over 71/1 shot Closing Argument and Afleet Alex, who would run third.  Bred by Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss, the "M" of A&M Records, the son of Holy Bull would be ridden by that stallions jockey, Mike Smith, giving the talented rider his first Derby victory as well as trainer, John Shirreffs, first derby win with his first starter no less.  The colt was named after the son of Sting, solo artist and former front man for the rock group The Police.  Giacomo paid $102.60 to win, the second-largest win payoff in Derby history to only Donerail, who paid $184.90 in 1913. 

If you were betting on this race and could somehow dismiss Bellamy Road and Afleet Alex the prices in this race could have made backers extremely wealthy with a little faith.  With that said we can dismiss some of what we may want to call as myths right here and now.  First, nowhere does it say that the winner of the Derby needs to win his last prep before the Derby.  The goal is to be peaking on the first Saturday in May not the first Saturday in April.  Second, nowhere does it say that the winner had to have run a Beyer number of 100 or more previous to the start in the Derby.  Beyer numbers are a good tool but not something that should eliminate one from contention on its own.  Third, trying to judge a group of horses as a whole will most often tend to mask some good horses.  The east coast horses were supposed to be much better than their west coast brethren, on paper they may have been but on the track not as much as one might have thought.  Fourth, can we now say that Keeneland preps are not as good as advertised.  There is something about that track where either you like it or you don't.  Bandini and High Limit ran up the track after a very good race there and some others just ran poorly there and didn't even give the Derby a thought.  It should be interesting to see who may come back to the trail at Pimlico.  Finally,  who says you can't run in the Derby Trial a week before the Derby and come back and run well.  If you have a good enough horse you can and Don't Get Mad ran a good one today running fourth.  In twenty horse fields anything can happen and they usually do.  Joe Bravo rode Spanish Chestnut to the second fastest three-quarter split in Derby history somewhat reminiscent of Songandaprayer's performance in the 2001 edition a few years ago.  Trip means a lot when there are this many horses in the starting gate and for his first Derby jockey Jeremy Rose rode a fantastic race saving as much ground as he could and getting his horse to the front when it counted.  The blimp views from NBC Sports gave us an excellent view of the ride Rose had and there are not many people who can squeeze horses through some of the narrow holes he did in such a high profile event.  The talk of his inexperience was rubbish, had his horse not drifted to the fence in the final 50 yards he may have gotten there.  Nevertheless, a great ride and there are many more yet to come from this youngster.

And then there is the aftermath in the camps of Zito and Pletcher.  How do you answer when asked what happened after you failed to win the race with one-third of the entrants under your care.  Well, nobody said it was easy to win this event.  Many sportsmen have spent millions of dollars and have not even made the starting gate.  When it is meant to happen it will happen.  They are good horsemen and they will be back again.  As Zito stated after the race, "Great expectations bring great disappointment." 

Nobody could have said it any better.  Now on to Baltimore where Giacomo takes his next step toward the Triple.  See you there.

After a good start Spanish Chestnut took the lead, as expected, and led the field through the first three-quarters of a mile getting the distance in a swift 1:09.59.  Flower Ally was moving into second passing Going Wild and High Fly as the field was moving into the far turn.  In the turn the leader, Spanish Chestnut, was now feeling the affects of his torrid early pace and started to back up as High Fly poked a head in front to lead while Bellamy Road, Closing Argument and Afleet Alex were all moving into a position to contend to the finish.  In the lane, Closing Argument went by High Fly and Bellamy Road and looked to try and lead to the wire as Bellamy Road was still in with a good chance.  After getting out from underneath the early speed that was backing up Afleet Alex was splitting horses and moved alongside Closing Argument as the leaders went past the eighth pole.  On the outside Don't Get Mad and Giacomo were making a late run as the leaders were two hundred yards from home.  Afleet Alex's rider went to a right handed whip and the colt moved to the fence, a little leg weary, while Giacomo was gaining with every stride and got the lead nearing the wire eventually winning the 131st Kentucky Derby by one and one-half lengths at the wire.  Closing Argument was stubborn in defeat running a game second as Afleet Alex settled for third.  The winner covered the one and one-quarter mile distance in a final time of 2:02.75 over the main track labeled as fast.  Giacomo is a three-year-old grey/roan colt owned and bred by Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Moss, trained by Jeff Shirreffs and was ridden by Mike Smith.