Who was your favorite Kentucky Derby winner between 1996 - 1999?

Question

1999 Charismatic C. Antley 2:03 1/5

1998 Real Quiet K. Desormeaux 2:02 1/5

1997 Silver Charm G. Stevens 2:02.44

1996 Grindstone J. Bailey 2:01

and why?

Answer 1

I can't pick a favorite but Grindstone won me alot of dough. So I'll go with Grindstone.

Answer 2

easily silver charm he was great not as a stud though

Answer 3

GREAT QUESTION! I gave it a star because it's thought provoking.

D.Wayne Lukas has been my idol for years ( great guy too!) so it was extremely hard to pass on him and Charismatic. Loved them all... Charismatic, Lukas and Antley.

Also had to pass on Silver Charm, although I bet him all the way around. Love Gary Stevens too.

Passed on Grindstone... he never really grabbed me as anything but a flash in the pan.

But oh how I LOVED Real Quiet! Here's his stallion registry:http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

I just KNEW I was going to see another Triple Crown winner! You can watch his defeat by a nose here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIRP4UbrC...

I am SO looking forward to seeing his progeny Midnight Lute stretch out! He was awesome at the BC Sprint, I can't wait to see how he handles distance!

Answer 4

Close between Charismatic and Silver Charm, but Silver Charm edges out because of my boy Gary.

I have a beautiful Fred Stone print called Rivalry in Grey, it's of Silver Charm and Free House (RIP).

Answer 5

That was a pretty cool time for horse racing!

I'm gonna go with Silver Charm because Gary's my favorite :o)  I read The Perfect Ride last year and it was a truly excellent book and it's clear the respect that Gary has for Silver Charm.  I also think that Silver Charm was the best horse never to be given Horse of the Year honors... he comes a half length from winning the Triple Crown and he loses horse of the year to a 2 year old?  then he went on to win the Dubai World Cup the next year.

It's a close call though... they're all really amazing horses.  

I don't know a lot about Grindstone...  after the Derby he never raced again...  I'm sure he was very talented and it's always a shame when a champion is injured so early in their career.  It's also unfortunate that he was running at a time when the world's attention was diverted from the 3 year olds to the great Cigar.

It would have been nice to see a Triple Crown winner in Real Quiet, but I do take a slightly vindictive pleasure in Gary's usurping the Belmont from Real Quiet as it had been taken from him and Silver Charm the year before.

Charismatic will always be engrained in our memories as he stands after the Belmont being supported by Chris Antley...  there's something magical about a 30-1 shot winning both the derby and preakness.  Thank God Charismatic was ok... too bad we can't say the same for Chris :o(

Answer 6

I'd have to go with Charismatic.He was a former claimer and I'm glad they were able to save him after he brokedown in the Belmont.

Answer 7

Out of those 4, Silver Charm.    I'm a big Gary Stevens fan, And the 1st win for the Lewis'   What a finish too ! Captain Bodgit closing on the outside, But Silver Charm held on by a neck.

Answer 8

Silver Charm, mostly because of that little rivalry he had with Free House.  What I remember about the year Real Quiet won, apart from being happy for Kent D., is that I made a pretty good amount of money taking Victory Gallop and Alex Solis across the board at 12-1...at those odds, place and show paid pretty good.

Answer 9

1999 Charismatic Even though he didn't seem like a likely choice to win the Run for Roses, he was great! D. Wayne Lukas won the 1999 Derby. Chris Antley won his second Derby. Charismatic had the grits and determination to win the Derby. In the stretch, Charismatic kicked it in. He was going with Cat Thief in the stretch and then passed Cat Thief. Menifee came charging in the last couple of seconds but Charismatic won by a head. Charismatic then went off at odds of 30-1 at the Derby. Then Charismatic went off at odds of 8-1 in the Preakness, not even the favorite (Menifee being the favorite at 5-2) Charismatic won the Preakness by 1 1/2 lengths. Then in the Belmont Stakes, Charismatic held on gamely for third and then pulled up after the finish. He had broken his leg in the Belmont and then after surgery was retired. He stands stud at Iburi Stallion Station in Japan.

Here is a great video of the 1999 Kentucky Derby. This gives you the horses loading into the gate and the 1999 Kentucky Derby. There is more coverage too. HOPE YOU ENJOY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUpYCNQbL...