The magic and mysteries of the Derby

THE MAGIC

AND MYSTERIES OF THE DERBY

AUTHOR: JAN ZABIEGLIK PHOTOS: SŁUŻEWIEC RACECOURSE

As soon as the first early registration for this year’s Derby, the most iconic race for three-year-old stallions and mares over 2400 m was announced (April 21, while the Derby will be held on July 4), not only breeders, horse owners, trainers, riders and stable employees but also racecourse’s regular visitors tried to find out what secrets it holds.

Pre-Derby experiences, paths and mistakes

The fact that a horse is registered for the Derby at the first signing does have an impact on the evaluation of his chances in the first starts of the season, and the interest in him increases if he performs well enough not to be crossed off the Derby list at the first and second dates. There have been times when trainers and owners, dissatisfied with a horse’s first performance at the age of three which they were expecting to perform well, did not enlist them for the Blue Ribbon Race. In recent years, the most spectacular case of this kind was the absence of Tantalus, purchased by the Ukrainian Konstantin Zhara in Ireland in 2015 for 110 thousand euros, at the Derby list. All it took for Zgara and Walicki to give up on signing him up for the Derby was that he finished eighth and last in his first pre-Derby trial, the Strzegom race (Cat B, 1600m).

The ambitious chestnut, to put it humorously, must have felt offended, because just three weeks later he won the run of Group II in a good style and then the Iwna Stakes (category A, 2220 m), the main race before the Derby. Moreover, he set the racecourse record over 2200 m - 2’14,7”. Then he won the Kozienice Stakes (class A, 2000 m) and came in second in the St. Leger and Great Warsaw Race, right behind the phenomenal, triple-

-crowned Derby winner Va Bank, who in Maciej Janikowski’s training was undefeated in as many as 12 starts (he was the only horse trained in Poland to win the group III race in Baden-Baden). Due to a slight injury, after a six-week break, following excellent wins in Strzegom and in the Ruler Stakes (1600 m), he ran in the Derby without any checks to see if he could „keep the distance”.

In order to keep the competition under control, Janikowski did not enter Ophelia’s Aidan in the 2019 Iwna Stakes. When I asked what the reasons for this decision were, he replied: „He doesn’t need any distance trial. Let him rest after the strenuous Strzegom and Ruler races in which he reached the finish line in second place.” In the Derby, however, Ophelia’s Aidan came in second again!

There are some trainers who choose the so-called side track to the Derby for their horses in order to avoid an early confrontation with horses of higher ratings. In 2013 this path was followed by Patronus, bred by Andrzej Zieliński, who was fourth in the Iranda Stakes (gr. I, 2000 m) and third in the Jednaszewski’s Memorial (gr. I, 2200 m), but made a big surprise in the Derby, winning the 11th Blue Ribbon with Piotr Piętkowski for trainer Walicki, who holds the record in this regard. He boasts as many as thirteen victories in the Służewiec Derby and one abroad (Korab in Vienna in 1984).

Ironically enough Zieliński sold Patronus after a two-year-long career to the Ukrainian tycoon Zgara for 30 thousand euro on the condition that Walicki continue to train the horse. What needs adding here is that Walicki recorded his second career derby double (the first was Dżesmin - Sodana in 2005), because Patronus won by three lengths over Kundalini, bred and owned by the Indian businessman Kishore Mirpuri, who has been based in Poland since the early 90s. Then he came second in the St. Leger and first in the Great Warsaw Race. He was named Horse of the Year and Zieliński was awarded the Breeder of the Year trophy.

Andrzej Zieliński celebrated his first Derby victory, but only as co-owner, with his brother Ryszard and trainer Adam Wyrzyk, three years later when Caccini, purchased at an auction in Ireland by Krzysztof Falba, claimed victory. Falba paid around 9 thousand euro for the horse that trainer Wyrzyk chose for him, but even before Caccini started at the age of two, he had second thoughts.

He did not believe that it could be a good horse and sold it back to trainer Wyrzyk who offered the shares to the Zieliński brothers for a little money. Ironically for Falba on this occasion, Caccini only lost as a two-year-old in his debut, but later kept winning at the Służewiec Racecourse (the victorious duel with Va Bank in the Great Warsaw Race will go down in history), despite the fact that trainer Wyrzyk was initially reluctant to throw him into the deep water. At the age of three he entered him immediately for the distance trial (Iranda, 2000 m), bypassing the Strzegom and Ruler stakes. It was only in Iwna that Caccini showed his class, winning easily in a time of 2’16,6”, on a mildly loose track. At that point it was clear that he was already in the Derby, meaning that his starting number would be placed first on the scoreboard. And so it happened! He won easily by 3 lengths, during a race settled towards the finish (29.5).

The most spectacular victory in the last decade was that of Intens in 2011, trained by Krzysztof Ziemiański, the penultimate Polish-bred Derby winner (the last was Patronus in 2013) and owned by Roman Piwka. In Strzegom he came fourth, while he won the Ruler, yet went head to head with Mały Kapral. In the Iwna Stakes the rider led him so badly in the distance („He did not follow my instructions. He was supposed to lead the race, but he rode in the group,” recalls Ziemiański) that he let himself be locked up like in a cage on the straight, as a result of which Intens finished only fifth. Moreover, after the race it turned out that he had been injured by the horseshoe of the horse running behind him. He was out of training for a week and Ziemiański was not sure whether Intens would start at all. No wonder that in the regular Totalizator (stakes for victory) his odds were 11:1 (33 for 3). Yet Intens won with Czech Tomáš Lukášek, as they say in racing, by as much as 12 lengths. He then took the third crown in the St. Leger by a similar margin and won the Great Warsaw Race.

“It is a pity that I couldn’t keep him in training. The breeder and owner were tempted by the sum of 1 million złoty and sold him to Zgara. At the age of 4, Intens was being prepared to perform in Moscow for the President’s Stakes. However, he died in the stable due to an intestine problem a few days before the race and the circumstances remain unclear. It was a great pity. Such a horse is born once every several dozen years”, regrets trainer Ziemiański.

The uniqueness and uncertainty of the Derby

It is only this race, in which the stallions and mares have to face the distance of 2400 meters for the first time, that reveals their true capabilities, not those which are often implied by their pedigrees. All the previous distance trials (2000 and 2200 meters) are only meaningful to some extent, and yet some trainers, as I have already mentioned, sometimes give up on them.

That’s what Andrzej Walicki did this year when he got the winter favorite for the Derby Power Barbarian for training three weeks ago. The owner took him from the stable, where he was successful as a two-year-old, following the first race for this year’s Strzegom Stakes (May 2nd). Power Barbarian was the winter Derby favorite (he won the Mokotow Stakes), but this time he came in last, nearly 13 furlongs behind the winner. The result was so shocking for the owner that he decided to change the trainer overnight.

“I haven’t had time to get to know Power Barbarian well yet”, says Walicki, and adds “I am taking it easy to prepare him for the Derby only. Every method is good if it ends in a good result.”

Will a lucky horse win?

The Derby is a mysterious race because not everything is clear beforehand. People from the racing industry keep saying that this race is won by a lucky horse, one that is not necessarily the best in the year, but one that has everything going right from the start to the finish line and is having its so-called „horse day”, such as Daglezja (in 1971) or Soros in 2009 (they were caught in heavy rain and they liked mud), or ones like Durand (1993), Infamia (2010) and Natalie of Budysin (2012), whose victories took the public and the experts completely by surprise though their odds were not very good. There have been more than a dozen similar lucky races in the history of the Służewiec Derby. In 2008, Ruten, who won the Derby, achieved a unique

The Derby was founded by Sir Edward, the 12th Lord of Derby, in 1780 and over time it has become the most important selection race for three-year-old thoroughbred English stallions and mares (geldings are not allowed) at racecourses around the world. The English Derby is held at Epsom over a distance of 1.5 miles (2426 m to be exact). In Warsaw (at Pola Mokotowskie) they were first held in 1896. Their distance at the Służewiec Racecourse is 2400 m (one lap of the racecourse). The Derby is the so-called second crown. If a horse previously wins the Ruler’s Prize (1600 m), and later wins the St. Leger’s Prize (2800 m), it becomes a Triple Crown winner. We are presenting 14 such horses in the history of the Służewiec Racecourse in a separate article.

result. Ruten won his first career race in the Derby (he had started four times before) and seemingly got a new lease of life after this feat, as he also won the St. Leger and then was among the best.

Which horse will turn out to be the lucky one in the 2021 Westminster Derby? You will find their profiles in a special supplement to Kanat.