Holy Bull

A quick-thinking Mike Smith probably saved the life of Holy Bull.Jimmy Croll, owner-trainer of the gray champion, said yesterday that he expected to see a horse with a leg dangling after the colt's jockey suddenly pulled up Holy Bull on Saturday during the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla.Smith's efforts to stop the horse as quickly and smoothly as possible, Croll said, prevented Holy Bull from suffering a life-threatening injury.Holy...

The disappointment has faded. It's been more than 10 years, after all, and he's moved on. He says he doesn't think as much about it as he used to. But if you get 85-year-old Jimmy Croll talking, which isn't hard to do, eventually the 1994 Kentucky Derby will come up. And when it does, one thing is obvious, listening to the Hall of Fame horse trainer's voice: It still hurts. A lot. "In my mind, I'm quite sure that it wasn't a fair race," says Croll, who is retired now and living in Monmouth Beach, N.J. "I've had a hard time getting over it."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Ulises might go down in history as the colt who spoiled Holy Bull's chances to win the Kentucky Derby.At least that's what 13 of the 15 trainers at Churchill Downs probably are hoping when they chart strategy for tomorrow's 120th running of America's most famous horse race.The only way to beat the favorite is to hope that someone challenges Holy Bull early and leaves him empty in the long stretch run, horsemen and many handicappers said yesterday at Churchill Downs.That someone is expected to be Ulises.

DOWN ON THE FARM in Lexington, Ky., his racing days done, Holy Bull is reaping the rewards of his son Giacomo's staggering Kentucky Derby win. Less than 45 seconds after the colt crossed the finish line, breeder Jimmy Bell's cell phone starting beeping. Horse owners were frying cell towers and outer-space satellites to get their mares shacked up with the father of the winner of the season's first Triple Crown race. "He's proud as a peacock," Bell said yesterday about Holy Bull. For the 1994 Horse of the Year, winner of 13 in 16 starts, everything was, finally, coming up roses.

HALLANDALE, Fla. -- The 1994 Horse of the Year broke down yesterday, suffering what may have been a career-ending injury.With bands playing, sun shining, clouds drifting and a shirtsleeve crowd of 18,963 witnessing a Florida farewell to racing's star of the decade, Holy Bull pulled up lame in the $300,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park.It was to have been Holy Bull's last race in Florida before traveling next month to the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap. Now, it appears it was his last race, period.

Holy Bull, Mike Smith and D. Wayne Lukas garnered the most glamorous prizes yesterday when the 1994 Eclipse Awards were announced.Maryland racing interests were shut out, with Robert Meyerhoff, the owner of a powerful stable that includes Concern and Looming, finishing second behind John Franks as the nation's top owner.All winners are selected by three voting groups, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations, National Turf Writers Association and the Daily Racing Form, except the outstanding breeder, who is chosen by a six-person panel.

The fleet rather than flat-footed Holy Bull showed up at Belmont Park yesterday and outran nine older horses on his way to a front-running 5 1/2 -length victory over Cherokee Run in the $500,000 Metropolitan Mile Handicap.Holy Bull's time for the mile, 1 minute, 33 4/5 seconds, ties Star Choice for the third fastest clocking in 101 runnings of the Met Mile, although five horses have previously raced the distance in 1:33 3/5 seconds. The record is held by Conquista dor Cielo, the 1982 winner, who won in 1:33.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Almost seven months ago to the day, Holy Bull was making his racetrack debut, a mere baby, born of undistinguished parents, running in the seventh race at Monmouth Park.Today, just seven races later, he is the 70th Blue Grass Stakes champion, the most popular 3-year-old in the world, winner of nearly $1 million and the undisputed favorite for the Kentucky Derby, which will be run May 7.Today he is insured for $1 million. He has two guards watching his stall night and day and an owner who has turned down an offer to sell him for $1.6 million.

Mike Smith, jockey for Holy Bull, said that the Florida Derby winner came off the track at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., yesterday "bucking and kicking" and is ready to take on California invader Valiant Nature Saturday in the $500,000 Blue Grass Stakes.Keeneland publicist Jim Williams said he expects a six- or seven-horse field. In addition to Holy Bull and Valiant Nature, the prospective lineup includes Louisiana Derby winner, Kandaly; Chimes Band, third in the Jim Beam Stakes; Bonus Money and Mahogany Hall.

OCEANPORT, N.J. -- Holy Bull, beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby, may be headed to the May 30 Metropolitan Mile at Belmont and not the Preakness, trainer Jimmy Croll said yesterday.If so, it would be another blow to the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, which also has lost Santa Anita Derby winner Brocco, the beaten second choice in the Derby.Croll, racing's newest Hall of Fame trainer, said he will decide between the May 21 Preakness and the Met Mile in the next few days, but would not say which direction he was leaning.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - It's March16, seven weeks before the Kentucky Derby. Do you know who your Derby horse is? You're not alone; neither does hardly anybody else. This has been a dull year so far, when no single 3-year-old has separated himself from the pack. Even those few who head most prognosticators' lists offer a mixed bag of unanswered questions and nagging flaws. However, if racing fans are ever going to start solving the riddle of this year's Triple Crown series, then solutions will begin taking shape this weekend.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -- Perhaps it's the name: Booklet. It's not "Novel" or "Epic" or even "Abridged Version." It's just Booklet. He gets no respect. Booklet is a smallish bay colt, a son of Notebook, who has won six of his seven races. He could become the first horse ever to sweep Gulfstream Park's three major stakes for 3-year-olds: the Holy Bull Stakes, Fountain of Youth Stakes and Florida Derby. He already has won the $100,000 Holy Bull and $200,000 Fountain of Youth, and he will compete Saturday in the $1 million Florida Derby.

Cape Town has been retired from racing because of a fractured left front leg suffered in the Preakness, Overbrook Farm announced yesterday.The Florida Derby winner finished ninth in the Preakness after being installed as a solid 5-2 third choice in the betting behind Real Quiet and Victory Gallop.He will stand at stud beginning in February at William T. Young's Overbrook Farm, which bred him.Overbrook Farm manager Jim Cannon said he is convinced Cape Town, fifth in the Kentucky Derby, was injured when he pulled a shoe off at the top of the stretch and began fading from contention to the back of the pack.

Gary Capuano shivered in Florida."It must be in the 50s down here," he said by telephone last night from Gulfstream Park near Fort Lauderdale. "But it could be worse. Every time I call back to Maryland they tell me it's 40 below."It could have been worse yesterday for Capuano as he began his first Kentucky Derby quest with the promising 3-year-old Captain Bodgit -- and it could have been better. Captain Bodgit finished third in the $100,000 Holy Bull Stakes.At 1 1/16 miles, the Holy Bull is an early prep for the Triple Crown races.

Gary Capuano begins today what could be the journey of his life: a trip down the road to the Kentucky Derby.Capuano, 33, a trainer based at Bowie, saddles the promising colt Captain Bodgit in the $100,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park near Fort Lauderdale, Fla.The Holy Bull is a prep for the Fountain of Youth, which is in turn a prep for the Florida Derby, which is one of the major preps for the Kentucky Derby. But this year, the Holy Bull is a whale of a horse race on its own.The Florida-bred Captain Bodgit brings a five-race win streak into the Holy Bull.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Winner of 11 straight races by a combined 38 lengths, Cigar has championship credentials beyond suspicion. He is obviously the real deal.But just how great is he? Is he a legitimate heir to Spectacular Bid, Seattle Slew, Secretariat and the other horses considered the best since World War II? Or is he just the best of a mediocre generation?These are bar-stool questions without definitive answers, like "Who was better, Bird or Magic?" But the subjective nature of the issue isn't keeping opinions from flying before the Breeders' Cup tomorrow at Belmont Park, where Cigar is a 3-5 favorite to win the Classic.

HALLANDALE, Fla. -- With the way he performed on the racetrack Saturday in the Florida Derby, it looks as if Holy Bull is so good, so fast, so superior to every other 3-year-old (at least in the East) that they'll never catch him in the Kentucky Derby on May 7.When it comes to the Kentucky Derby, there's a lot to like about Holy Bull, a horse who may be in a class by himself. Problem is, there's a lot to dislike. With his breeding and his running style, he doesn't fit the profile of the typical Kentucky Derby winner.

A combination of factors, including the possible start of Kentucky Derby troublemaker Ulises, has prompted Holy Bull's owner-trainer, Jimmy Croll, to bypass the Preakness.Croll informed Pimlico/Laurel vice president of racing Lenny Hale yesterday of the decision after discussing results of post-Derby blood and urine tests with his stable veterinarian at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.Croll said the tests showed that Holy Bull, the Derby favorite who finished 12th, has a low red-blood cell count.

For the fourth consecutive year, the yellow and royal blue silks of Robert and Jane Meyerhoff will be carried in the Pimlico Special by one of his champion Maryland-breds.Today, they may appear in the winner's circle, worn by Eclipse Award-winning jockey Mike Smith.Previously, Meyerhoff's Valley Crossing came closest to achieving that feat when the handsome horse, now retired to stud at Bonita Farm in Harford County, finished second by a length to Devil His Due in 1993. He was also third and fifth on other occasions.

It has been two months since Horse of the Year Holy Bull bowed out of racing when he strained ligaments in his left foreleg.Now the 4-year-old colt is about to undergo the first big test of his second career.The Bull's first mate in his stud career, the stakes-winning mare Second Glance, is due to be checked for pregnancy."All indications look good," said Bennie Bell Williams, whose family owns Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky., where Holy Bull went to stud about a month ago. "The mare will be checked sometime during the weekend."