Spectacular Bid Trumps the Field

The pride of Maryland wins the Kentucky Derby

It was a showdown made for Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day. Spectacular Bid was the king of the Eastern three-year-olds, a smooth-striding colt that had simply overwhelmed his competition in Florida and Kentucky. Flying Paster was the best of the West, a dangerous stretch runner that had dominated California racing throughout the spring. The two colts battled behind the leaders for the first mile on the old course in Louisville, Ky., last week, but when it came to the testing moment on the far turn, Spectacular Bid ran off from Flying Paster and away from the field, winning the 105th Run for the Roses by 2 3/4 lengths over General Assembly. His right foreleg cut, Flying Paster finished fifth, ten lengths back.

Spectacular Bid's victory in the first event of the Triple Crown, earning $228,650 for Owner Harry Meyerhoff, a Baltimore developer, was all the more convincing because of the rocky way he was handled during the preparation for the Derby. Trainer Grover ("Bud") Delp had boasted that Spectacular Bid was "better than Man o' War," and then asked the big, gun-metal gray colt to prove it. The Thoroughbred was whipped hard in almost every race, no matter how far ahead he was. He won every time, yet his very success raised a serious question: Had he been forced to peak prematurely?

But the race was even a bigger test for his unproven jockey, 19-year-old Ronnie Franklin. He came to Churchill Downs a vulnerable boy. He rode past the finish line a triumphant young man, his fist stabbed aloft in celebration.

There was just cause for Franklin's exultation. Only three months past his apprenticeship, he was a risky choice for the most famous stakes race. Although managing to win, Franklin had ridden Spectacular Bid so erratically in the Florida Derby that Delp chewed him out in public. "You idiot!" Delp screamed. "You nearly killed that horse!"

After a week of anguished waiting, Owner Meyerhoff announced that Franklin would retain his mount on Spectacular Bid. Said Meyerhoff: "The horse always runs very well for Ronnie. They have an affinity for each other."

So it seemed on Derby day. Franklin broke the colt cleanly from the gate, then held him under firm control through the clubhouse turn. In the backstretch, he took Spectacular Bid to the outside, avoiding the tight traffic near the rail. When Flying Paster moved up inside on the far turn, Franklin held his ground. Spectacular Bid looked Flying Paster right in the eye and then went to work. As they swung into the home stretch, Franklin and Spectacular Bid were free and clear. "I talked to him and tweaked him," said Franklin later, "and he moved right up. I said, 'Let's go, Big Daddy.' "

Spectacular Bid now goes to Maryland's Pimlico Race Course for the Preakness on May 19. He took the first two races of his career there, as it happens, and the bandbox track with the tight turns was also a training ground for Ronnie Franklin. It should be quite a homecoming for a pair of winners--a horse with enormous potential and a 19-year-old boy who proved at Churchill Downs that he could ride.

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