The racing industry has turned itself inside out in recent years searching for that most elusive of marketing entities-the superstar horse. But the Triple Crown has become the main stage for a series of teases and tragedies.

Arazi seemed to be about to give the sport a superstar to market to the masses, but his meteoric rise in the 1991 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) led not to superstardom but to a total eclipse in the '92 Kentucky Derby (G1).

Then there were Holy Bull and Unbridled's Song, sublimely talented three-year-olds who, for varied reasons, failed to exhibit their best form on the first Saturday in May.

Then came the past three years. Silver Charm, Real Quiet, and Charismatic all possessed intangible qualities for stardom, either through their backgrounds or through the personalities of their connections. All three reached the Belmont Stakes (G1) with a Triple Crown within their reach, and an eager sports public prepared to bestow the deserved accolades on them if they succeeded. For varied reasons, all three failed.

The racing gods, it seemed, were sending a sign. Racing heroes must be carefully nurtured and allowed to find flight on their own. They cannot be marketed into stardom.

So in the context of all that had occurred before the 126th renewal of the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs, it was easy to see why some cynics cast a skeptical eye toward Fusaichi Pegasus. The colt gave every indication of being a star in the making, perhaps even a superstar. But everything had to go just right for Fusaichi Pegasus, who did not reach the races until mid-December of his two-year-old season and was facing 18 other three-year-olds in a 1 1/4-mile race that would test his temper, tractability, and ability to weave in and out of traffic.

It turned out that everything, from the time he stepped on the track in December at Hollywood Park until he entered the winner's circle on Derby day, went just right.

He never took a bad step, according to trainer Neil Drysdale. He also got a break. A late scratch in the Derby moved Fusaichi Pegasus to starting post 15, the inside of the auxiliary gate, and gave jockey Kent Desormeaux plenty of early maneuverability.

Desormeaux took advantage. He hugged the rail, picked off rivals one by one, then swung wide coming out of the final turn, found an opening, and cruised to a 1 1/2-length victory over Aptitude. Impeachment closed on the rail to take third from More Than Ready. Wheelaway was fifth and Godolphin Racing's China Visit finished sixth.

Highly regarded The Deputy (Ire), and High Yield both ran disappointing races to finish 14th and 15th, respectively.

When Fusaichi Pegasus crossed the finish line first, he became the first favorite to win the Derby in 21 years, the first to do so without winning at age two in 33 years, the first to win the Derby off just one two-year-old start in 35 years, and only the third three-year-old in the past 80 years to win the Derby in just his sixth career start.

"With 20 horses you do need to have racing luck," Drysdale said. "It's good to have the horse, but you've got to have the breaks. We didn't miss a beat, and that's what it takes to win a Derby. Everything went smoothly. History does repeat itself but, at the same time, new things do happen."

The racing gods may have been sending us all a sign about Fusaichi Pegasus. That may have been telling on Drysdale's mind when a man approached him on the track an hour after the race as he walked back to the barn and asked him to sign a hand-held Fusaichi Pegasus fan. Drysdale asked his name, peered toward the stable area pondering what to write, then broke out in a sly smile.

"To Mike," Drysdale wrote. "Good luck, Neil."

Born to run

By the late Mr. Prospector out of Angel Fever, a stakes-placed Danzig mare and a full sister to 1992 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Pine Bluff, Fusaichi Pegasus was bred by Arthur B. Hancock III and Stonerside Ltd. and represents the finest elements of Central Kentucky's breeding industry.

When Hancock sent him through the sales ring at Keeneland during the 1998 July selected yearling sale, Japanese entrepreneur Fusao Sekiguchi was entranced. Two years earlier, he had purchased seven yearlings at the July sale for $5.7-million but defaulted on the payments after encountering business problems in Japan. Restored to full standing with Keeneland, Sekiguchi went to $4-million to purchase Fusaichi Pegasus, the most spent for a horse at the July sale since the buying orgies of the 1980s ended with the '85 sale.

It could have been another example of a talented American-bred horse leaving for Japan, where the purses are significantly greater, but the 64-year-old Sekiguchi had other ideas. Having already won the Japanese Derby (1996), he wanted to win a Kentucky Derby.

"To me, racing is a hobby, it's not my business," Sekiguchi said through his interpreter, Mikki Tsuge. "The income and the outgoing money is not really my concern as a business, so I really didn't think about it. As soon as I acquired the colt, I intended to keep him in the States and knew he should run in the States. There is the challenge and the romance of racing, which I love."

The next step was to find a trainer, and Sekiguchi took a contrarian view when he selected Drysdale. The taciturn disciple of legendary trainer Charlie Whittingham had Racing Hall of Fame credentials-he would, in fact, be announced as a 2000 inductee four days before the Derby-but had never saddled a Kentucky Derby starter. The closest he had ever gotten was with A.P. Indy, who was scratched from the 1992 Derby on race morning because of a bruised foot.

"I asked people in the industry, pinhookers and people in that area, and they all said Mr. Drysdale was very difficult, very strict, very correct," Sekiguchi said. "My impression was that Mr. Drysdale was the most disliked trainer among all those people, and I knew he would be the right person to train my horse."

The master and his plan

When the colt arrived in Drysdale's barn in March of 1999 as a strapping two-year-old who had grown significantly since his yearling sale, Drysdale immediately knew that the path to the Derby would require patience. He did not even take Fusaichi Pegasus to Del Mar last summer, preferring to leave him in training at San Luis Rey Downs. He kept another unraced but promising two-year-old named War Chant at San Luis Rey. A May foal, War Chant would also get his career off to a late start but would also make it to the Derby for Drysdale.

"The $4-million equation goes out the door (when a horse arrives)," Drysdale said. "When a horse comes in, you look at him as an individual as to what to do and where to go with him and try to think what's the best for him. We thought he was big and needed maturing and would come good later on in the year."

Fusaichi Pegasus made his career debut at Hollywood Park on December 11, finishing second to David Copperfield in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race after dueling down the lane. Victor Espinoza was in the saddle. Kent Desormeaux slipped into the saddle for Fusaichi Pegasus's three-year-old debut on January 2 at Santa Anita Park, which he won by two widening lengths. Desormeaux would stay with the colt all the way into the Derby, riding him to victories in all of his next three starts: a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Santa Anita on February 19, the San Felipe Stakes (G2) on March 19, and the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct on April 15.

The withering burst of acceleration Fusaichi Pegasus displayed in the Wood Memorial had many wondering if the colt was a superstar in the making. But the naysayers were out, too. They watched Fusaichi Pegasus stop on the far turn, intent on staring at a parking lot, before loading in the starting gate. They wondered if 150,000 people at Churchill Downs might send him into a frenzy on Derby day, ‡