Antley

NEW YORK -- Only a few years removed from being the winningest rider in New York, Chris Antley's business is sluggish, but his sense of adventure is not. Ready to try something else, Antley will shift permanently to the California circuit shortly before the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita."

PASADENA, Calif. - Chris Antley, a jockey who battled weight and drug problems but won 3,480 races, including the Kentucky Derby twice, was found dead at his home late Saturday, police said. They were investigating the death as a homicide. Antley, 34, died of "severe head trauma," according to the police, who said the motive had not been determined. No one has been arrested. A 911 call was made about 11 p.m. and the caller said a man was "lying inside the house, who may possibly be dead," police said in a statement that was reported by the Associated Press.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Let's start with one basic fact. The best horse won the Kentucky Derby yesterday. That isn't as obvious as it sounds. A sprawling field, a jockey's ride, lousy weather, an unlucky post position -- many are the things that can turn a race in strange directions. Not so this time.Strike the Gold circled the pack as he rallied from 12th in the 16-horse field, outrunning the other contenders from the outside. In other words, he won taking the long route. He didn't need the rail.

LAUGHTER and tears are a lot alike considering how different they are. Each represents an extreme human reaction. Tears express sadness; laughter -- pleasure or amusement.Tears are harder to fake or call up on command. A person can decide to smile or laugh to convey the idea that he or she is pleased or amused but, except for some good actors who can do it on command, tears come unbidden to our eyes.But the mechanics of tears are a mystery. Where do they come from, what evokes them and where do they go?

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Trainer Nick Zito named Angel Cordero Jr. as the new rider of Kentucky Derby winner Strike the Gold yesterday, a day after his colt finished a disappointing third in the Jim Dandy at Saratoga.Cordero will be aboard the Alydar colt in his next scheduled race, the Aug. 17 Travers. Chris Antley, who rode Strike the Gold to victory in the Kentucky Derby, has been fired."It's Saratoga -- and Cordero always seems to do well here," Zito said. "We think he fits this horse.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- With Charismatic bidding to become racing's first Triple Crown winner in 21 years today, where does the pressure lie in the Belmont Stakes?Certainly not on the horse's trainer, D. Wayne Lukas. All he can do is watch at this point. Same goes for the horse's owners, Bob and Beverly Lewis.No, the pressure is all on the jockey, Chris Antley, who has battled problems with drugs, weight and depression in the past decade, and was out of racing as recently as four months ago.Hey, no one said this was going to be easy.

Elmont, N.Y.--He is called the natural, a Roy Hobbs in racing silks. That's what they tell him in the winner's circle, when he is mud-splattered and smiling, overjoyed with victory.They say he is the next Angel Cordero, gifted in finding the spare inch of room along the rail and then summoning the courage to drive through a storm of flesh and dirt, in taming thoroughbreds with nothing more than his hands and his heart.Once, he won nine times in one day, and, later, he won on 64 consecutive days, and they proclaimed him racing's Joe DiMaggio.

After his euphoric ride aboard Charismatic in the Preakness, Chris Antley thanked fellow jockey Gary Stevens, who rode Stephen Got Even, for letting Charismatic swing wide around the far turn and launch his winning move.Antley's comment prompted the Pimlico stewards, who enforce the rules of racing, to review tapes of the race and question both jockeys. Antley and Stevens are close friends. And it prompted Nicholas Di Tullo, a racing fan from Columbia, to write the Maryland Racing Commission.

PASADENA, Calif. - Chris Antley, a jockey who battled weight and drug problems but won 3,480 races, including the Kentucky Derby twice, was found dead at his home late Saturday, police said. They were investigating the death as a homicide. Antley, 34, died of "severe head trauma," according to the police, who said the motive had not been determined. No one has been arrested. A 911 call was made about 11 p.m. and the caller said a man was "lying inside the house, who may possibly be dead," police said in a statement that was reported by the Associated Press.

Chris Antley shared his stirring comeback story with the country again yesterday after winning the Preakness aboard Charismatic."I never really believed enough in myself about a lot of things," Antley said. "And I was ready to live the rest of my life in South Carolina, driving a 1967 Mustang and playing the stock market in a limited role. I accepted the fact that I couldn't come back and ride. My body was too big. The road back was long and hard, but maybe that's what I needed: to have something taken away from me that I wanted so much."

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Back at D. Wayne Lukas' barn after the Belmont, the trainer, jockey and owners of Charismatic congregated as the colt stood in his stall, a compression cast on his broken right front ankle.Jockey Chris Antley cried and hugged Bob Lewis, who owns Charismatic with his wife, Beverly."I'm a crying son of a gun," Antley said."I'm kind of a weeping willow myself," Lewis said.Lewis thanked Antley for jumping off the horse as soon as possible after the injury."Thank God we had Chris Antley on that horse," Lewis said.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- The horse deserved better. So much better.His jockey blew it. His trainer didn't help. His Triple Crown bid was foiled by tactical mistakes.Then, worst of all, his powerful body failed him.But none of that kept Charismatic from running with all his heart yesterday in the Belmont Stakes, running after the leaders down the stretch, running until he abruptly fractured two bones in his left front ankle, to the horror of a record crowd.No horse deserves to be vanned off the track with such an injury, as Charismatic was after finishing third in the Belmont yesterday and failing to become racing's 12th Triple Crown winner.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Charismatic's bid for a Triple Crown and his racing career ended yesterday in front of a record crowd at Belmont Park. His life nearly ended as well.After finishing third in the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the three-race series for 3-year-olds known as the Triple Crown, Charismatic pulled up suddenly. His jockey Chris Antley jumped off, lost his balance and fell into the dirt. He struggled to his knees and reached for Charismatic's left front leg.The handsome chestnut colt, a near twin to his great-grandsire Secretariat, had broken two bones in his left front ankle.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- With Charismatic bidding to become racing's first Triple Crown winner in 21 years today, where does the pressure lie in the Belmont Stakes?Certainly not on the horse's trainer, D. Wayne Lukas. All he can do is watch at this point. Same goes for the horse's owners, Bob and Beverly Lewis.No, the pressure is all on the jockey, Chris Antley, who has battled problems with drugs, weight and depression in the past decade, and was out of racing as recently as four months ago.Hey, no one said this was going to be easy.

It's funny how a little winning can change perception.Three weeks ago, hardly anyone could have picked Charismatic out of a lineup of horses or humans. The former claiming horse had just won the Kentucky Derby, but got so little respect that he didn't even go off as the second choice in the Preakness, much less the favorite.Only one person on the ABC announce team, Jim McKay even picked Charismatic to win the Preakness, but now that he has, and stands a win in tomorrow's Belmont away from the Triple Crown, the network will ride him as hard as jockey Chris Antley during tomorrow's telecast (Channel 2, 4: 30 p.m.)

Trainer Graham Motion went to Belmont Park yesterday to saddle Bursting Forth for the Sheepshead Bay Handicap and didn't experience much luck.But back home at Pimlico, another of his trainees, Mythical Gem, was romping to an easy victory.The chestnut colt by Jade Hunter out of Charlotte Augusta controlled the $50,000 Honor Guard Stakes from the first jump and went on to score by six lengths without being under serious pressure.Jockey Mario Verge brought Mythical Gem home in 1: 49 4/5 for the 1 1/8-mile distance on the turf, easily holding off the late rally of Middleworth Bay."

Trainer Graham Motion went to Belmont Park yesterday to saddle Bursting Forth for the Sheepshead Bay Handicap and didn't experience much luck.But back home at Pimlico, another of his trainees, Mythical Gem, was romping to an easy victory.The chestnut colt by Jade Hunter out of Charlotte Augusta controlled the $50,000 Honor Guard Stakes from the first jump and went on to score by six lengths without being under serious pressure.Jockey Mario Verge brought Mythical Gem home in 1: 49 4/5 for the 1 1/8-mile distance on the turf, easily holding off the late rally of Middleworth Bay."

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Back at D. Wayne Lukas' barn after the Belmont, the trainer, jockey and owners of Charismatic congregated as the colt stood in his stall, a compression cast on his broken right front ankle.Jockey Chris Antley cried and hugged Bob Lewis, who owns Charismatic with his wife, Beverly."I'm a crying son of a gun," Antley said."I'm kind of a weeping willow myself," Lewis said.Lewis thanked Antley for jumping off the horse as soon as possible after the injury."Thank God we had Chris Antley on that horse," Lewis said.

After his euphoric ride aboard Charismatic in the Preakness, Chris Antley thanked fellow jockey Gary Stevens, who rode Stephen Got Even, for letting Charismatic swing wide around the far turn and launch his winning move.Antley's comment prompted the Pimlico stewards, who enforce the rules of racing, to review tapes of the race and question both jockeys. Antley and Stevens are close friends. And it prompted Nicholas Di Tullo, a racing fan from Columbia, to write the Maryland Racing Commission.

Chris Antley shared his stirring comeback story with the country again yesterday after winning the Preakness aboard Charismatic."I never really believed enough in myself about a lot of things," Antley said. "And I was ready to live the rest of my life in South Carolina, driving a 1967 Mustang and playing the stock market in a limited role. I accepted the fact that I couldn't come back and ride. My body was too big. The road back was long and hard, but maybe that's what I needed: to have something taken away from me that I wanted so much."