Horses

Nicole Stall boarded the first plane to Maryland she could catch when she heard of Benjamin Boniface's death last June. She was there to grieve the death of a boy she had known since his birth. But also to work. In the days after the 20-year-old's death in an early-morning car accident on the farm, she went to the barns where she had fallen in love with horses as a teenager. “I was completely out of it,” said William K. Boniface, known to most as Billy. “She just went out to the stallion barn, kept it running.

Kevin Krigger walked the shed row this morning at Pimlico, wearing sunglasses and leading Goldencents, the 17th finisher at the Kentucky Derby, around Barn D. The colt had arrived at 1:30 in the morning, a few hours later than planned, on a van from New York, where he had flown earlier in the day from Louisville. Two of trainer Doug O'Neill's assistants -- Jack Sisterson and Tyler Cerin -- drove from Kentucky and were here to meet the horse. That was all planned. Krigger's presence came as a surprise.

Todd Pletcher is now 1-for-36 in the Kentucky Derby. The trainer with a vast empire of horses entered five in Saturday's 139th run for the roses and, as bettors expected, Revolutionary, the colt guided by Calvin Borel, moved well over the wet track - but not well enough to catch winner Orb. Borel had Revolutionary running at the end, but ultimately finished third. A three-time winner of the race - twice in mud - Borel had spurred bettors to make Revolutionary the favorite for much of the day. "The only thing I could have done on the far turn was creep up closer on him," Borel said.

Stuart Janney III slipped into Churchill Downs virtually unnoticed Saturday afternoon, a few hours after landing in Lexington and driving to the track with his wife, two children and son-in-law. The northern Baltimore County resident, who had avoided the Kentucky Derby fanfare all week, soon found himself as the center of attention. Orb, owned by Janney and his cousin Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, captured the 139th Kentucky Derby Saturday through the mud in 2:02.89 to win by 261/27 lengths.

Late Thursday morning, trainer Kelly Breen spoke about his stable's lack of notoriety. "We call it flying under the radar," he said. "You guys might call it lack of respect. We're a small stable. We have some good horses. We've been to the Derby every other year. This is our third one. " On Friday, when his horse, Black Onyx, came up lame after a morning gallop, Breen announced that this would not, in fact, be his third Kentucky Derby. He scratched the winner of the Spiral -- which launched Animal Kingdom toward Derby glory in 2011 -- after X-rays revealed a non-displaced front chip in his front left ankle.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Baltimore lawyer Frank Morgan helped swimmer Michael Phelps , then 16 years old, select Peter Carlisle as his agent. Phelps was years away from stardom, but Carlisle aggressively marketed his client, hoping to eventually elevate him beyond the confines of an Olympic sport that mattered to a broad audience only every four years. Earlier this year, Carlisle signed another client - at the suggestion of Morgan - and put her on the Phelps plan. He's already signed a deal for jockey Rosie Napravnik to endorse Snickers - an agreement proposed before Carlisle learned that the candy bar was named for a horse - and has another in the works that could be announced before Preakness.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Todd Pletcher knew there were rumors. He even figured some of them impugned his horses. When you're one of the winningest trainers in the game who just happens to condition a quarter of the Kentucky Derby field, that, he said, "is part of the deal. " Upon hearing the specific rumor concerning Verrazano, the 4-1 second choice on the morning line for Saturday's race, the man worrying about five Derby horses - plus four in the ultra-competitive Kentucky Oaks field Friday - found a reason to smile.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Standing outside of his barn at Churchill Downs, leaning against a temporary fence that seems more invitation that blockade, D. Wayne Lukas is as much a Kentucky Derby fixture as spilled bourbon and bad bets. The Derby takes thousands of horses in their 3-year-old years and whittles them down to a field of 20 through a series of races run across the country, and no trainer has been there at the end more often than Lukas. His two starters entered in Saturday's race, 30-1 Oxbow and 20-1 Will Take Charge, would be his 46th and 47th.

I disagree with the University of Maryland's Animal Science Department's decision to expand its horse-breeding program. There is a glut of unwanted horses and ponies across the country. Horse Rescue Farms are over-crowded and are turning away the no longer wanted animals for lack of space, feed, medication and shelter. Due to the economy and cost of keeping horses, owners are desperately trying to find homes for their no longer wanted horses, ponies, mules, and donkeys. Many are beloved pets or used for pleasure or racing or work or have outlived their purpose.

On Wednesday at Churchill Downs, a crowd clad mainly in Louisville basketball shirts gathered at Barn 45 to watch Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino as he visited a horse of which he owns five percent. Pitino, a month removed from becoming the first coach in NCAA history to win Division I basketball national championship tournaments with two different schools, appeared at trainer Doug O'Neill 's barn shortly after 8 a.m. and joined an entourage following Goldencents.