Seems Everyone Has a Share in the Success of Lil’s Lad

HALLANDALE, Fla. — The owners of Lil’s Lad haven’t outdone Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder--yet.

In the movie “The Producers,” of course, Mostel and Wilder were the bozos who sold so much of a Broadway show that their partners’ holdings totaled well over 100% of the action.

The ownership in Lil’s Lad, the 4-5 favorite for today’s $750,000 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, should come with a diagram. But the point is, the handsome 3-year-old doesn’t know who’s paying the bills, and he keeps right on trucking.

After a lightly raced 2-year-old campaign in which he had trouble beating Grand Slam, Lil’s Lad has blossomed into the star of South Florida and the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby in many Nevada race books.

Lil’s Lad has won three consecutive races here this winter, and today he faces three horses--Coronado’s Quest, Halory Hunter and Cape Town--he beat in the Fountain of Youth Stakes three weeks ago. Longshots Voyamerican and Sharship Charles are also running in the 1 1/8-mile race.

The ownership of Lil’s Lad started with Murray and Lillian Durst, the Queens, N.Y., a couple who bought him at auction for $160,000. After Lil’s Lad ran a strong second against Grand Slam in the Champagne at Belmont Park in October, offers for the horse started trickling in.

Trainer Bob Baffert, who won last year’s Kentucky Derby with Silver Charm, was interested, but the Dursts wanted to keep 50% of their horse, so he dropped out. Then two groups--Will Farish and Donald Little’s Centennial Farm--bought half the horse for $1.3 million in cash and an additional $500,000 if he wins a Grade I race. The Dursts would collect the $500,000 with a victory in the Florida Derby.

Now Bob and Beverly Lewis, who race Silver Charm, are also part of the Lil’s Lad team. The Newport Beach couple bought 10% of Centennial’s 25% for an undisclosed sum. Follow?

For the Dursts, there are no regrets about having half a loaf. Murray Durst and Farish, the owner of Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky., are in charge of managing Lil’s Lad’s career. Durst was agreeable to moving the colt from Hall of Fame trainer Frank “Pancho” Martin to Neil Howard, who trains most of Farish’s horses. Howard, 49, has been over the Triple Crown trail before; for Dogwood Stable in 1990, he trained Summer Squall, second to Unbridled in the Kentucky Derby and winner of the Preakness.

Howard could have a big weekend. On Sunday, he’ll be in New Orleans to saddle favored Comic Strip, another Farish horse, in the $500,000 Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds. Comic Strip is not rated as highly as Lil’s Lad, but he’s also a Kentucky Derby prospect, and Howard is keeping the horses apart as the prep races unfold en route to Churchill Downs on May 2.

Next for Lil’s Lad is the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 11. Options for Comic Strip are the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park and the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct the same day.

Lil’s Lad, who’ll be ridden today by Jerry Bailey for the fifth straight race, is a one-dimensional horse who runs on the lead and then invites the others to catch him. The hyperactive Coronado’s Quest, who is saddled in the Gulfstream tunnel, away from the congested paddock, and runs with cotton in his ears to muffle the crowd noise, wasn’t up to the challenge in the Fountain of Youth. He finished second, beaten by 2 1/4 lengths.

Howard is enough of a student of Kentucky Derby history to know that few horses win the race while running on the lead. There’s usually enough speed in the Derby to keep a front-runner busy early, and the 1 1/4-mile distance is a grueling assignment under any circumstances. The last wire-to-wire winner of the Derby was the filly Winning Colors in 1988. That was an unusual year, in that no other horses went after her in the early stages of the race.

“You might be able to change [Lil’s Lad’s] running style, but it would be a gamble,” Howard said. “If you held him back, he might drop the bit and quit running, so you don’t want to risk that. I’m not saying I’m not going to change him, but the time to do it isn’t now. Right now we’re not going to force the issue. Those would be uncharted waters. You don’t know what the outcome will be.”

Horse Racing Notes

Favorite Trick, 1997 horse of the year, makes his debut as a 3-year-old today, running as the 4-5 favorite in the $100,000 Swale, a seven-furlong race on the Florida Derby undercard. Pat Day, who rode undefeated Favorite Trick to his eight wins last year, is back aboard. The nine-horse field also includes Diamond Studs, who races for former major league relief pitcher Rob Murphy, and Southern Bostonion, who has won two races at the same distance at the meet. . . . Day will ride Souvenir Copy for the first time as the 3-year-old colt tries to end a three-race losing streak Sunday in the Louisiana Derby. Comic Strip is 5-2 and Souvenir Copy is 7-2 on the morning line for the 10-horse race, which Grindstone won in 1996 en route to winning the Kentucky Derby. . . . Risen Star, who won the Louisiana Derby in 1988 before running third in the Kentucky Derby and then winning the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, has died after complications from stomach surgery. Risen Star, one of Secretariat’s most successful offspring, won the Belmont by 14 3/4 lengths in his career finale. . . . Gate Dancer, who won the 1984 Preakness, also died recently.

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Florida Derby Draw

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Pos. Horse Jockey Odds 1. Voyamerican Eibar Coa 15-1 2. Halory Hunter Pat Day 6-1 3. Starship Charles Eduardo Nunez 30-1 4. Cape Town Shane Sellers 8-1 5. Lil’s Lad Jerry Bailey 4-5 6. Coronado’s Quest Mike Smith 9-5

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