Joe Drape - The Race for the Triple Crown: Horses, High Stakes & Eternal Hope

Praise for The Race for the Triple Crown:

Drape, who paid for his wifes engagement ring by winning a trifecta bet, writes poignantly of his personal ties to racingof his mother, who always bet on the gray, and his own quarter horse, Oh Desperado, who made it to the winners circle.

The New York Times Book Review

Drape follows the colts from the spring yearling sales all the way through the Belmont, painting a fascinating picture of how the high-stakes horse industry operates and introducing a cast of characters who stand out even in a business notorious for outsize personalities.

Time Out New York

A fast-paced book The Race for the Triple Crown is for everyone who loves the game.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Its a tribute to Drapes reporting skills and his easy storytelling style that hes able to keep our suspense through the road to the 2000 Kentucky Derby. Drape displays a knack for in-depth characterizations of the many fascinating players, warts and all. He tackles well-known figures like the trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert and still manages to dish up the little-known, telling details.

Lexington Herald-Leader

In this breezy, yet informative look at the highest level of horse racing, the author traces the lives of a handful of preeminent horse owners, trainers and jockeys in their preparations for the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont. Drapes zeal for his subject and his comprehensive knowledge provide a gratifying read.

Publishers Weekly

[Drape] opens up a magical, mysterious worldand he does it with equal parts humor, affection and wisdom. For anyone who has ever felt that intense surge of possibilitiesscratching off a lottery ticket, buying into a church raffle, crossing your fingers for a little luckMr. Drape has boiled it all down.

The Dallas Morning News

[Drape] has penned a terrific book. It gives the reader an exciting look at last years incredible three-year-old season.

Larry King, USA Today

[A] well-researched, spellbinding book Whether you are a novice to the Sport of Kings or a grizzled veteran, you will find Drapes 261-page personal conversation both informative and entertaining, much like a good friend. Drapes work combines humor, drama and pathos there are only eleven Triple Crown winners. Joe Drape, with The Race for the Triple Crown, just became the twelfth.

Lowell Sun

This is a sparkling kaleidoscope of people and horses told at a pace that drives us to the finish line.

Toronto Globe & Mail

Written with an engaging blend of warmth and moxie, and laced with hundreds of candid quotes from the likes of trainers Bob Baffert, D. Wayne Lukas, Neil Drysdale and Jenine Sahadi, the book doesnt candy-coat the years sometimes bitter (and often petty) rivalries, yet manages to show a great deal of respect for everyone involvedespecially the horses.

Louisville Magazine

If youve read Laughing in the Hills, it may be more personal than that. And this book has more meat-and-potatoes facts, and the single-malt scotch of good writing to make it all go down smooth.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Drapes narrative never falters. He captures the personalities that dominate the sport and documents the astounding amounts of money that billionaire owners spend at auction on the equine dreams.

Raleigh News & Observer

[A] compelling chronicle of Triple Crown dramatics, and the owners, trainers and jockeys who made it such a riveting story. Drape does a splendid job on the trainers, capturing the arrogance of D. Wayne Lukas, the mischievousness of Bob Baffert, the inner fire of Jenine Sahadi, the cockeyed optimism of eighty-eight-year-old Harold Rose. There are revealing portraits of jockeys Pat Day and Jerry Bailey, both recovered alcoholics; and some wonderful, raucous inside stuff about owner Mike Pegram, who named Captain Steve after a Louisville cop who bailed him out of an airport jam years earlier.

Philadelphia Daily News

The Race for the Triple Crown gives the reader the excitement of a horse winning at 501 odds. A first-rate and absorbing account by one who knows his materiala wonderful book that leads the field from starting gate to finish line. A delight for both aficionado and novice.

George Plimpton

[Drape] captures the sights, smells and outrageous dreams that are a part of the thoroughbred game, and does so in a way that only a member of the initiated can.

Staten Island Advance

Joe Drape

Copyright 2001 by Joe Drape

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Any members of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or publishers who would like to obtain permission to include the work in an anthology, should send their inquiries to Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.

Triple Crown is a registered trademark of Triple Crown Productions, LLC

Published simultaneously in Canada

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Drape, Joe.

The race for the Triple Crown / Joe Drape.

p. cm.

eBook ISBN-13: 978-0-8021-9645-3

1. Triple Crown (U.S. horse racing) I. Title.

SF357.T74 D73 2001

798.400973dc21 2001016044

Grove Press
841 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

Ive been blessed with a loving family and true, good friends. To all of you.

I am grateful to the owners and horse-men and horsewomen portrayed in this book who were generous with their time and candor. They allowed me remarkable access and spent probably more time than they wanted to talking horses and personal histories with me. Jim and Terry Scatuorchio, Eddie Rosen, Todd and J. J. Pletcher, and their families always saved a seat for me on their roller-coaster Triple Crown ride. Mike Pegram was an ebullient and straight-talking tour guide. Barry Irwin, Fusao Sekiguchi, his daughter-in-law Yukari, Bob and Beverly Lewis, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid alMaktoum, and Frank Stronach were gracious with their time. D. Wayne Lukas, Jenine Sahadi, Neil Drysdale, Bob Baffert, Joe Orseno, Harold Rose, and Bobby Frankel patiently helped me understand their craft. This is true for the riders, tooPat Day, Kent Desormeaux, Jerry Bailey, and Roger Velezall of whom have been gentlemen and professionals.

The same can be said of many others within the industry who, over the years, have been eager to offer insights and share their passion about their sport. Basically, horse people are nice people, and I continue to give many thanks to them for making covering the sport so pleasurable.

Two of my colleagues at The New York Times contributed to my understanding of Sheik Mohammed and Fusao Sekiguchi. Foreign correspondent William J. Orme, Jr., wrote a story from Dubai about the Godolphin operation that was an invaluable guide to the scale of Sheiks ambitions, as was a series in the