Mighty comes from last with strong stretch run to win over More Than Ready and Captain Steve

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing a racehorse trainer-or coach of any kind-is taking a physically gifted athlete who has little or no instinctual understanding of what is expected of him and teaching him how to win.

Louisiana Derby (G2)
Fair Grounds, March 12, $750,000, 11/16 miles, fast, 1:43.29
1-MIGHTY, c. 3, Lord At War (Arg)-Madame Gold, by Mr. Prospector.
2-More Than Ready, c. 3, Southern Halo-Woodman's Girl, by Woodman.
3-Captain Steve, c. 3, Fly So Free-Sparkling Delite, by Vice Regent.

Trainer Frank Brothers was given that challenge when Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider's Mighty was sent to his barn as a juvenile last year.

On March 12, Brothers the teacher watched as Mighty the student rolled down the Fair Grounds stretch to win the 88th running of the $750,000 Louisiana Derby (G2). The victory puts Mighty squarely into the Kentucky Derby (G1) picture.

Just after the start, jockey John Velazquez put third choice More Than Ready on the lead and asked him to make all the pace. The Todd Pletcher trainee had strung together five straight wins last spring and summer at distances ranging from 4 1/2 furlongs to six furlongs, including the Tremont (G3) and Sanford (G2) Stakes, and he had not lost until trying a mile in the Futurity Stakes (G1). He followed with another loss, in the 1 1/16-mile Champagne Stakes (G1).

Going two turns for the first time in his career, More Than Ready was dogged from the outset by longshot Peninsula, setting fractions of :23.10, :46.35, and 1:11.19. Mighty trailed the field by almost ten lengths after the first quarter-mile and had only one horse beaten with a half-mile left to run.

As the pacemaker turned for home, More Than Ready shook off Peninsula and opened up a three-length lead. But Shane Sellers had roused Mighty through the turn, and just past the quarter pole he angled the winner out well off the rail for his stretch run.

With More Than Ready tiring, Mighty, fourth choice in the betting at 6-to-1, drew off to record a two-length win. Finishing another half-length behind More Than Ready was the 2-to-1 favorite Captain Steve, the Bob Baffert trainee who had won the Hollywood Futurity (G1).

Exchange Rate, second betting choice at 3.20-to-1, was a head behind Captain Steve in fourth place.

Bob and Beverly Lewis's Tribunal, a $1.8-million Keeneland July sale yearling trained by Baffert, finished last under jockey Jerry Bailey.

Mighty negotiated the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:43.29.

Still learning

After the race Brothers, a New Orleans native, touched on what is involved in teaching a horse like Mighty what is expected of him in the afternoons.

"Physically, he's a very mature horse," Brothers said. "Big, good-looking horse; he was a strong horse as a two-year-old. He ran at two. He looked the part. But he was immature at knowing how to run. Some of his races he would want to show speed; he wasn't really that quick. Sometimes he'd get back and kind of stay there. All his races are good except the race at Keeneland (the Lane's End Breeders' Futurity [G2], finishing seventh to Captain Steve) when he ran down in the mud there. He didn't like Keeneland. I guess I'll have to deal with that next month.

"He's got to learn how to be professional in his running style É and we've been working on that this winter down here. And he was great today."

Brothers said that Mighty has learned his lessons both through racing and during morning training.

"We work on it in the mornings," Brothers said. "We get him back in behind horses and make him finish. Or, in his works he'd want to just blast off, and not go off easy and relaxed and then finish up. And a lot of that (getting him to relax) is attributed to Donna (Brothers's wife, Donna Barton Brothers, a former jockey), who has worked him mostly all of the time, and she's worked very hard with him getting him to relax and finish up."

As for Sellers, did he expect to be trailing the field almost to the half-mile pole?

"Honestly, no," Sellers said. "But I wanted to be back, so my mission was accomplished going into the turn. I got a good trip, I saved all the ground in the first turn É I was happy with where I was. I was just hoping that when I did call on him going into the turn he'd pick it up.

"I knew I had some ground to make up, and I knew they were going quicker than they probably wanted up front, so I knew that would play into my hand, but there's always a question. But ,when I called on him and got him outside, he just exploded. Again, he's not a horse that's got a great, quick, quick acceleration, but when he gets it going and things set up for him the way they did today, he runs his race. And the mile and a quarter's only going to help him. I don't know how many of them want to go a mile and a quarter as of yet."

As for which steppingstone Mighty will use next to get to the 1 1/4-mile distance the first Saturday in May, Brothers says he is keeping all options open.

More Than Ready's performance was outstanding as far as Velazquez was concerned. "He handled the pace very well," Velazquez said, "even though he was a bit bunched up by the six (Peninsula), which didn't give me a chance to give him a breather. He ran awesome."

Jockey Robby Albarado was pleased with Captain Steve's third-place finish.

"He made all the right moves," Albarado said. "In the first turn he got shuffled back. I'm looking forward to the next race. He went in tight quarters for the first time today. He definitely needed this experience. He should be a better horse next time out."

Mighty is a dark bay colt by Lord At War (Arg) out of the Mr. Prospector mare Madame Gold. He was bred in Kentucky by Aspiration Stable and was purchased by Claiborne and Dilschneider for $375,000 at the 1998 Keeneland September yearling sale.

Second to Exchange Rate in the Risen Star Stakes last out at Fair Grounds, Mighty has won 3-of-10 starts and earned $699,848. Last fall, he was second to Captain Steve in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2).

Shawnee Country's Oaks

On Louisiana Derby eve, Overbrook Farm's Shawnee Country showed in a resounding manner that her previous race, a win in the Davona Dale Stakes (G3) on February 19, was no fluke when she duplicated that performance in the 35th running of the $350,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G3).

Fair Grounds Oaks (G3)
Fair Grounds, March 11, $350,000, 11/16 miles, fast, 1:44.81
1-SHAWNEE COUNTRY, f. 3, Chief's Crown-Mi Lucia, by Icecapade.
2-Eden Lodge, f. 3, Numerous-Lafayette's Lady, by Young Commander.
3-Zoftig, f. 3, Cozzene-Mrs. Marcos, by Private Account.

And Chilukki, odds-on, tiring runner-up in the Davona Dale, was odds-on once again, but the 1999 two-year-old filly champion regressed in the Oaks, beating only one filly in the nine-horse field and ending up 25 1/2 lengths to the rear of Shawnee Country.

Sent to the post at odds of 6.90-to-1, Shawnee Country and jockey Donnie Meche relied on their tried-and-true plan from the Davona Dale. As November Slew, a stablemate from trainer D. Wayne Lukas's barn but owned by Padua Stables, zipped to the lead, Meche took Shawnee Country back to seventh, some six lengths off the pace.

November Slew was quickly joined on the front end by Frankly My Dear, a Mike Stidham-trained runner who was third choice at 5.60-1 off of an impressive four-length victory in the Tiffany Lass Stakes on January 30, her only previous start in 2000. The pair went through early fractions of :23.60, :47.56, and 1:12.78.

As the field neared the far turn, Meche began to advance on the outside, and as the fillies straightened and headed for home, the leader looming ahead of Meche was not November Slew or Frankly My Dear, but 99-to-1 longshot Gold for My Gal.

It quickly became apparent, however, that the top three finishers would be those who chose to do their best running late. After rallying five wide, Shawnee Country crossed the wire two lengths in front of Eden Lodge, followed by Zoftig another 1 1/4 lengths back. All three had run in close company toward the rear of the pack early.

Running time for the 1 1/16 miles over a fast track was 1:44.81.

"She broke sharp and put me right into the race," said Meche, who also rode Shawnee Country in the Davona Dale. "She let the speed go on. I thought they'd have a little faster pace than they had today, considering the speed they had in there. But she just handled it real, real well and moved up going into the turn. She was really tugging on me and I thought I had a ton of horse left. And at the head of the lane I just moved her out and smooched to her and she did just like last time. I was able to save a little more ground this time (she was six wide during most of the Davona Dale)."

As for a comparison between her Oaks and her Davona Dale, Meche said Shawnee Country had perhaps improved a notch.

"Last time I was wide and I was trying to save horse and I started riding early," he said. "Today I was able to sit a little longer, and at the head of the lane when she switched to her right lead, she just really responded well. A lot stronger than last time."

"She had a troubled trip last time and was good enough to win," said assistant trainer Mike Maker after the Oaks while substituting for Lukas, who was in Florida for High Yield's second-place effort in the Florida Derby (G1). "It was a great (Oaks) field. She had a ground-saving trip this time, was still a little wide turning for home, but still was impressive."

So, could this filly be good enough to try the Kentucky Oaks (G1)? "I think so," Maker said.

As for the beaten favorite Chilukki, jockey Robby Albarado had no excuses.

"She placed herself nicely up the backside," Albarado said. "She was very comfortable and content on where she was. Midway on the turn, I kind of nudged her just to see if I could take over the race, and today wasn't her day. I'm sure Bob's (trainer Baffert) going to reevaluate ... hopefully, she didn't get hurt or anything, and see how she comes back. She felt fine. She just wasn't there for me today. Take nothing from her, it just wasn't her day."

A dark bay or brown daughter of Chief's Crown and the Icecapade mare Mi Lucia, Shawnee Country was bred in Kentucky by Lucy W. Yu and Carl Rosen Associates. She has five victories from 11 lifetime starts and has earned $430,660 for William T. Young's Overbrook.

Finally, for those interested in such things, Blushing K. D. won the 1997 Fair Grounds Oaks while ridden by Lonnie Meche, twin brother of Donnie. Lonnie Meche and Blushing

K. D. went on to score a victory in the Kentucky Oaks that year.