LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- By all rights, neither man should be here.
Harold J. Rose, the trainer, is 88. He suffered a heart attack last summer and underwent quadruple-bypass surgery. He returned to his barn within three weeks.
Roger Velez, the jockey, is 43. A rising star in New York in the late 1970s, he was beset by alcoholism and a stroke. Out of racing for four years, he returned as an exercise rider and then, reluctantly, as a jockey.
With a friendship rivaling family and an overachieving horse named, appropriately, Hal's Hope, the two survivors have climbed to the pinnacle of their sport. On Saturday, they will compete in the Kentucky Derby.
"The Good Lord blessed us both," Velez said. "And we're here."
They're at Churchill Downs on center stage for the country's greatest equine drama. Hal's Hope will be one of an expected 20 3-year-olds racing in front of 150,000 screaming patrons and millions more watching around the world on television.
Bred, owned and trained by Rose, the dark brown, nearly black, colt won the Florida Derby March 11 at Gulfstream Park with a gut-wrenching effort that nearly felled him. Hal's Hope staggered with exhaustion returning to the winner's circle.
He had not bounced back by the Blue Grass Stakes on April 15 at Keeneland. After fighting to keep up early with the eventual winner, High Yield -- whom he'd outfought in the Florida Derby -- Hal's Hope faded alarmingly to eighth. After finishing first or second in four straight races, it was by far his worst performance of the year.
Velez and Rose were puzzled. They discovered nothing physically wrong with Hal's Hope. Finally, they simply decided that he had had a bad day, didn't like Keeneland or both.
"The whole time at Keeneland, he didn't roll in his stall once," Velez said. "As soon as he got off the van here [Churchill Downs],he walked into his stall, rolled in the straw and threw a big squeal, as if to say, `I'm here. I'm somewhere that I like.' "
Hal's Hope has trained strongly at Churchill Downs, filling his jockey and trainer with hope that he has regained the competitive edge. Should he win the Derby, Rose would become the oldest trainer, by 12 years, to win the race. Charlie Whittingham was 76 when Sunday Silence won in 1989.
"I want to win, not for me," Velez said. "I'd love to win for Papa Rose. Before the Florida Derby, I hugged and kissed him and said, "This is for you, Papa Rose.
