Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 20, 1990 TAG: 9005200143
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BALTIMORE LENGTH: Medium
"This is a very courageous horse," jockey Pat Day said after Summer Squall turned the tables on Unbridled, who had beaten him in the Kentucky Derby.
Even jockey Craig Perret, who rode Unbridled, could not resist praising Summer Squall, who stands 15.3 hands and weighs about 950 pounds - small by racing standards.
"Summer Squall, the little guy that he is, was a powerhouse," Perret said.
Cot Campbell, who manages the partnership that owns Summer Squall, said the decision to hold his horse out of the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes on June 9 was "etched in stone."
Carl Nafzger, Unbridled's trainer, said his colt would go on to the New York race.
With his victory in the Derby and second-place finish in the Preakness, Unbridled can earn a $1 million Triple Crown bonus simply by starting and finishing the Belmont.
For a few moments in the upper stretch Saturday, it looked as if Unbridled once again would lead Summer Squall to the wire and move to the brink of becoming racing's 12th Triple Crown winner - the first since Affirmed in 1978.
But Summer Squall blew past Unbridled on the rail and drew away to a 2 1\ 4 -length victory. Unbridled was nine lengths in front of Mister Frisky, who had finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby as the favorite.
"Everything was going right," Nafzger said. "It looked like everything was unfolding for us."
Unbridled had come out of the pack to move into contention just as he did in the Derby, and took the lead at the top of the stretch, as he did in the Derby.
"When the hole opened up, he went for it and the race was virtually over at that point," Day said.
"Pat went inside. If he doesn't get through, he looks like a dummy," Nafzger said.
In a few strides, Day looked like a winner as Summer Squall drove to the wire to finish in 1:53 3/5 for 1 3/16 miles on a fast track.
"I had confidence in the horse, and it makes you feel that the horse has confidence in you," said Neal Howard, Summer Squall's trainer.
Summer Squall has done everything Howard has asked of him, running well every time out, although he has failed to win twice in nine starts, finishing second on both those occasions.
The winner caused a stir Friday at Pimlico when a trickle of blood was found in one of his nostrils as the colt grazed after a strong gallop.
Summer Squall had bled in a workout in February, and it was unclear whether he would ever get a chance to race in the Triple Crown. But the colt, with the help of the diuretic Lasix, bounced back from a respiratory problem just as he had bounced back from a fracture of the right-front cannon bone that ended his 2-year-old campaign after five races last August.
Howard and Campbell said they didn't feel it would be fair to Summer Squall to run him in New York without Lasix after five races in 11 weeks. New York does not allow horses to race on any kind of medication.
Nafzger said before the Preakness that he felt he could get Unbridled, who also races on Lasix, ready for one race without it.
Summer Squall paid $6.80, $3 and $2.60 and boosted his career earnings to $1,330,978 with the winner's share of $445,900 from a purse of $686,000.
Unbridled, owned by 92-year-old Frances A. Genter, returned $3 and $2.80. Mister Frisky, losing for the second straight time after winning his first 16 races, was worth $3.40 to show.
Completing the order of finish were Music Prospector, Fighting Notion, Land Rush, Kentucky Jazz, Baron de Vaux and J.R.'s Horizon.
Day wasn't surprised his colt didn't hesitate to go through a hole on the rail. Summer Squall has done it before, but never had a national stage like the Preakness to show what a combination of speed and heart he has.
The victory was vindication for Day, who had ridden Unbridled to victory in the Florida Derby, but then decided to switch to Summer Squall for the Triple Crown races. The fact that Day can't ride Summer Squall in the Belmont cannot be too much of a disappointment after the kind of performance the colt gave him Saturday.
Summer Squall never was worse than fourth as outsider Fighting Notion, Mister Frisky and Kentucky Jazz led the field past the stands, around the turn and down the backstretch.
Summer Squall moved into third on the turn, but once again appeared headed for disappointment when the hole developed along the rail. The colt and his jockey went for it as though they could see the finish line a few feet away - instead of almost an eighth of a mile.
If many in the crowd of 86,531 were holding their breath when Summer Squall went for the hole, they could not have been any more apprehensive than Gary Stevens, the jockey on Mister Frisky.
"I was very surprised. It was very, very tight at the head of the stretch," Stevens said.
Keywords:
HORSE RACING
by CNB