Bellamy Road gives Steinbrenner his best shot at winning Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- There's nothing Yankees boss George Steinbrenner loves more than winning the World Series. Then again, he hasn't won the Kentucky Derby -- yet.

That could change with the Boss' Bellamy Road, the record-setting Wood Memorial winner expected to be the early favorite for Saturday's $2 million Derby.

"You just don't win the Wood by 17 1/2 lengths and run that quick. It's unheard of," Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia said. "He will be the favorite, at about 3-1. But nothing less than that."

A full field of 20 3-year-olds is expected to be entered Wednesday at the post position draw. Battaglia sets the morning line afterward.

"When you look at Bellamy Road's last two races, you see him winning by 15 and by 17, and that's since Nick Zito took over," Battaglia said. "He was no slouch before that, winning his first two races before losing in the Breeders' Futurity for whatever reason.

"If he runs that race he ran in the Wood in the Derby, then they won't beat him -- there's nothing in there that can run like that."

Bellamy Road showed he's still on his game Sunday morning, working five furlongs in a speedy 1:00.40 at Churchill Downs in his final tuneup before the 1 1/4-mile Derby.

"He finished up good and he really looked totally relaxed doing it," Zito said.

Bellamy Road is one of five Derby horses trained by Zito, who Battaglia jokingly said would be the 4-5 choice if there was a betting line on trainers. Two others, High Fly and Noble Causeway, also worked five furlongs Sunday -- High Fly went in 1:00.40; Noble Causeway was timed in 1:00.

While Bellamy Road has created a buzz with his dominating wins, Steinbrenner has been all but mum on the colt he bought for a bargain-basement $87,000. At Legends Field in Tampa, Fla., last week, he was asked what it would be like to join the late John Galbreath, the former Pittsburgh Pirates owner, as a World Series-Kentucky Derby champion.

"He was a great friend of mine. It would be great. It would be a great feeling for me," Steinbrenner said. "It's very hard to win the Derby. Thirty-thousand foals are eligible every year. And to be one out of 30,000 is hard."

Galbreath, who owned Darby Dan Farm, won the Derby twice, with Chateaugay in 1963 and Proud Clarion in 1967.

Steinbrenner's Yankees have won six World Series, but the owner's Derby record is 0-for-5. His first starter, Steve's Friend, was fifth in 1977. Eternal Prince was 12th in 1985, Diligence (1996) and Concerto (1997) each finished ninth and Blue Burner was 11th in 2002. None was close to being in Bellamy Road's league.

Favorites have fared relatively well in recent Derbys. Smarty Jones won last year as the 4-1 favorite, while Fusaichi Pegasus won in 2000 as the 2-1 choice -- the first favorite to win the race since Spectacular Bid in 1979.

Battaglia is having a tougher time with the second choice, still trying to decide among Blue Grass winner Bandini, Arkansas Derby winner Afleet Alex and Florida Derby winner High Fly.

"Whoever I make second choice, the other two will be co-third choices, maybe 5-1 for one and 6-1 for the others, depending what adjustments need to be made after the draw," he said. "They're that close."

Battaglia believes several other top contenders will go off at tempting double-digit odds, such as Zito's Noble Causeway and Sun King. And there's also trainer Bobby Frankel's High Limit, second in the Blue Grass after winning his three previous races.

"Noble Causeway has a heck of a chance off his closing second in the Florida Derby, and High Limit might get loose on the front end," Battaglia said. "Sun King had a huge workout a few days ago. The three of them could all go off at about 12, 15-1. That's a pretty good price.

"And look at Wilko. He's always right there and he'll be a huge price for a Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner," he added. "He'll be right around 15-1."

The rest of the field will be in the long shot range, from 20-1 to 50-1. Even Consolidator, trained by four-time Derby winner D. Wayne Lukas? "If it wasn't Lukas, he'd be 50-1," Battaglia said.

Trainer Todd Pletcher has three horses in the field -- Bandini, Lexington States winner Coin Silver and Arkansas Derby runner-up Flower Alley.

"If I had to make a line on one of those two trainers winning, it would probably be like 2-5," Battaglia said. "If Zito or Pletcher don't win the Derby this year, it's a huge upset."

Two-time Derby winner Jerry Bailey, who rides High Fly, agrees Bellamy Road looks like the horse to beat.

"Obviously, the most impressive performance was Bellamy Road," Bailey said, referring to the colt's Wood win in a time that equaled the track record. "Now, was it too impressive? We'll see. Can he run back to it? And even if he doesn't, will his performance be good enough to win anyway? Time will tell."

Not everything is in Bellamy Road's favor. The colt is trying to become the first Derby winner off two starts as a 3-year-old since Sunny Halo's in 1983. Before that, the last winner off two 3-year-old starts was Jet Pilot in 1947.