By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
The first Saturday in May is more than just the first weekend of the month, especially in Kentucky.
For more than a century, the Kentucky Derby has been the center of attention in the Bluegrass State and all eyes will be on Churchill Downs Saturday for the 143rd running of the yearly event that attracts visitors from all over the world.
“It is the most prestigious race in the world,” thoroughbred owner, trainer and breeder Mike Cameron said earlier this week. “I wouldn’t call it the best race in the world because it’s only for 3-year-olds. Many of the older horses are much-better horses than the 3-year-olds because 3-year-olds are like college athletes. The older horses are like NBA players.”
For all of his life, Cameron, co-host of a daily sports radio show with Matthew Laurence in WLXG 1300 AM in Lexington, has followed the Derby. His No. 28 Barn at the Thoroughbred Center on Paris Pike once housed 1955 Kentucky Derby winner Swaps. One of his ancestors, Don Cameron, trained 1943 Kentucky Derby winner Count Fleet.
“The Derby is just one of those of those races that is prestigious because of the coverage,” Cameron said. “People come from ll over the world. They have 150,000 (attend) every year. It’s a happening and the horse that wins the Derby isn’t always the most important horse. It’s just a great race to win. They’re really good horses, but not always do they turn into great horses.”
This year’s field doesn’t have a clear-cut favorite, but Cameron said five horses have a chance to claim the prestigious crown.
“It’s pretty wide open, but there are three to four horses I like — Classic Empire, McCracken, Almost Dreaming and Practical Joke,” Cameron said. “That doesn’t mean when I am (naming off) a lot of horses that you can bet them all. What you do is bet them in trifectas and exactas. That’s the way you do it.”
Cameron also likes Irish War Bride, but has a favorite in Classic Empire, who won the Arkansas Derby and was last year’s juvenile champion. A full field of 20 horses are expected to compete in the 143rd edition of the yearly event.
“He ran a bang up race in the Arkansas Derby,” Cameron said. “He seems to be coming back really strong. “
The position draw for the event was Wednesday and Cameron said positioning “is important” when it comes down to having a chance to win the mile-and-a-quarter race, the longest stakes race for many of the horses in the field.
“It depends on what kind of horses you have,” he said. “Speed horses like to be inside (of the rail) in the 1-2-3-4-5 hole, because they can jump out and get on the inside and out of the first turn, they want to be in the lead, so they can get on the rail and make the shortest distance around (the track). Tactical horses that come off (the rail), aren’t really concerned with (positioning). They don’t want to get hung too far outside. Positioning is important.”
For the first time in 17 years, veteran trainer Bob Baffert, who won the triple crown with American Pharoah two years ago, won’t have a horse in the field. Cameron said Baffert “just didn’t have a horse good enough” to win the prestigious event.
“He’d be there if he had the horse,” Cameron said.
Although Baffert has captured four Kentucky Derby crowns during his career, winning the “Run for the Roses” isn’t an easy task.
“The Derby is (hard to win),” he said. “(Trainer) Todd Pletcher has had more starters in the Derby than anyone else, but he’s only won it once. I think (trainers) matter as much as anything other than the horse. The horse matters the most. How good is the horse? Then comes the trainer and then the jockey. The trainer has to know how to get the horse prepped well. He’s got to get a horse right leading up to the Derby.”
As for the weather conditions, Cameron said the horses are conditioned to compete in adverse weather conditions and the tolerance level depends on the stallion’s ability to overcome the elements.
“It can (be a factor in the race), but there are some horses that absolutely hate the slop,” Cameron said. “There are some horses that thrive in it. The weather is probably a factor, but not a huge factor. The horses are outside animals and some of them just don’t like that slop hitting them in the face. Some of them don’t (mind). You just have to find that out as you go and sometimes pedigree will indicate (whether they like the mud or not).”
Only 12 horses have won the Triple Crown in 143 yards and Cameron isn’t sure if this year’s field can yield another “Super Horse” similar to American Pharaoh, who swept all three races for the first time since 1977 two years ago.
“There’s always chance, but it’s so difficult to do,” Cameron said. “It’s likely not going to happen but it could. It takes a very, very special horse (to win the Triple Crown) and that’s why there have only 12 of them.”
That’s what makes horse racing and the Kentucky Derby so unique.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter