Serious Pleasure

As the trainer of a horse that had won ten out of eleven races and was rated the commanding favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, LeRoy Jolley could not be blamed if he felt a little cocky before the 101st Derby last week. Jolley, though, was anything but arrogant about his sleek bay colt, Foolish Pleasure. And for good reason: 13 years ago Jolley, then an untested young trainer, came to Churchill Downs with popular favorite Ridan, only to see his horse fade in the stretch and finish third in the 1 1/4-mi. test for three-year-olds. This year a similar disappointment seemed possible, since Foolish Pleasure was nursing the soles of his front hoofs, which had been torn as he lost the Florida Derby in late March. Right up to Derby day, Jolley and his assistants applied healing turpentine to Foolish Pleasure's hoofs.

When the field of 15 thoroughbreds broke from the starting gate Saturday afternoon, Jolley thought that his worst fears might be confirmed. Foolish Pleasure, with Panamanian Jockey Jacinto Vasquez at the reins, quickly dropped back to a distant twelfth, far from his usual position close to the pace. Bombay Duck, bred for speed, held the early lead, but as the stallions pounded down the backstretch, Avatar, a California mount, moved up to challenge. Foolish Pleasure, running on the rail, was still no better than seventh. "He looked as if he wasn't handling the track too well," Jolley explained later.

The pressure increased as the horses turned down the homestretch before 113,000 screaming fans. Avatar, ridden by three-time Derby Winner Bill Shoemaker, was striding powerfully into the lead, with Diabolo, another California product, second. Foolish Pleasure was fourth but charging fast as Vasquez began whipping his horse. Suddenly he got an unexpected break: Diabolo and Avatar bumped, momentarily slowing down, and Foolish Pleasure shot ahead with less than one-eighth of a mile to go. "I couldn't see anything but the wire and the track," said Vasquez. "I knew nobody could catch us then." The winning time: an average 2:02.

Bakery Magnate. For conservative horseplayers who had bet on Foolish Pleasure, the payoff was a miserly $5.80. For the winner's owner, John Greer, a banker and bakery magnate in Tennessee, the return was a more satisfying $209,000, bringing Foolish Pleasure's career earnings to $673,000. Greer bought him as a yearling for $20,000.

The most satisfied man at the track, though, was undoubtedly Jolley. A look-alike but not act-alike for Comedian Bob Newhart, the taciturn Jolley, 37, was bred for the Derby. Born in Hot Springs, Ark., while his father, Trainer Moody Jolley, was racing there, LeRoy was a stable veteran at 19, when he received a trainer's license in New York and dropped out of the University of Miami to race full time. Foolish Pleasure was only his second Derby entry in an otherwise solid but unspectacular career. One of the hardest workers in the business, Jolley says: "Most people wonder how a trainer can work seven days a week, 365 days a year. But to me the day just wouldn't seem complete without a trip to the barn in the morning." The Derby victory, added to Foolish Pleasure's other conquests over his peers, makes him a convincing contender for the Triple Crown.

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