1. “THE LONG AND INTERESTING HISTORY OF MAIDENS IN THE DERBY”
One of the mostinterestinghorsesonthisyear’sKentuckyDerbytrail isLaoban.Onthe surface,
Laoban appearsto be a fairlynormal Derbycontender:he wasthirdinthe Sham StakesinJanuary,and
secondinthe Gotham StakesinMarch. He’seleventhinthe pointstandings,with22.What’s so unusual
abouthim?
Well,it’sthathe’sa maiden.Infourcareer tries,he has neverwona race, cominginsecond
twice andthirdonce,while earningarespectable $101,250. Shouldhe runwell inhisnextpreprace,he
will be Derby-bound,evenif he doesn’thave avictoryunderhisbelt.
Maidensaren’ttotallyforeigntothe Derbyexperience—inthe 141 runningsof the race,a
maidenhaswonthree times:Buchananin1884, SirBarton in1919 (of course,he wentonto become
racing’sfirstTriple Crownwinner),andBrokersTipin1933 (he of the infamous“FightingFinish”Derby).
In recenttimes,however,ownershave become leeryof enteringamaideninthe race,forobvious
reasons.Inthe past 40 years,onlythree maidenshave contestedthe race:here’stheirstories.
Great Redeemer:10th
place in 1979
In the daysheadingupto the 1979 KentuckyDerby,the pre-race hooplawasdominatedbytalkof the
expectedshowdownbetweenthe eastcoast’sSpectacularBidandthe west’sFlyingPaster.The two
lookedsodominant,infact,thatit appearedonlysevenotherswouldchallengethem.Then,onrace
day,a curiousentrantwasdroppedinthe entrybox:JamesA.Mohamed’sGreat Redeemer.
Much has beenwrittenaboutthishorse,withmanydubbinghimone of the worsthorsesevertorun for
the roses.In five racespriorto the 1979 DerbyTrial Stakes,GreatRedeemerhadneverfinishedbetter
than third.Inthat DerbyTrial,run on the Tuesdaybefore the bigrace,he somehow woundupinthird
place.This,accordingto Mohamed,whowasa radiologistfromTexas,wasenoughreasoningto enter
hiscolt inthe big dance.
The publicbacklashwasrapid,withmanyin the sportsmediacriticizingthe decisiontoenterthe
lacklustercolt.Itgot to the pointwhere GreatRedeemer’strainer,JimJames,refusedtosaddle the
horse for the race,leadingMohamedtotake out a trainer’slicense the daybefore the Derbyandbe the
trainerhimself.The whole episodeaddedmore dramatoan alreadycircus-likestory.
Great Redeemerbroke frompostpositionthree,brieflycontendedinthe earlystagesof the race,then
fadedto finishaverydistantlast,47 lengthsbehindthe victoriousSpectacularBid.Inamemorable
moment,GreatRedeemernearlytrampledagroupof track photographerswhowere unaware thatall
the horseshad notyet crossedthe finish line.
It was notuntil June of 1980 that Great Redeemerfinallybroke hismaiden,winninginhistwelfthcareer
effortat Calder.He woundupwinningfive timesfrom58 careerraces,withcareer earningsof $19,238.
He livedoutthe remainderof hisdays asa show jumper,winningnumerousmedalsforhis
accomplishments.
PendletonRidge:13th
place in1990
PendletonRidgeisadditionallynotable asbeingthe firstKentuckyDerbyentrantforHall of Fame trainer
BobbyFrankel.He didn’tdebutthishorse until March18, whenhe finishedsecondatSantaAnitaina
maidenrace.The horse followedthatupwithanothersecondinanAqueductmaidenrace,thenwitha
fourthinthe WoodMemorial.Despite hislackof a victoryandrelative inexperience,Frankel andthe
ownershipgroup—whichincludedLosAngelesKingsownerBruce McNall andone of histhen-
employees,Wayne Gretzky--thoughtthatthe coltwas progressingwell,andthata shotat the roseswas

2. inorder.
“The horse belongs”Frankel declaredpre-race.“The distance won’tbotherhim.He wastooclose to the
pace inthe Wood,and I’d like tosee himfartherbackin the Derby”.
LaffitPincaypickedupthe mounton the maiden,forhissixteenthride inthe race.PendletonRidge was
dismissedat33/1 odds,coupledinthe wageringwiththe otherFrankel entrant,BurntHills.He was
nevera factor (hislone chartcommentisa dismissive“racedwide”) andwasthirteenth,beaten28 ½
lengthsbyvictoriousUnbridled.If nothingelse,one of the twohorseshe finished aheadof wasBurnt
Hills.
PendletonRidgewoundupbreakinghismaideninSeptemberof 1990 at BelmontPark,and retiredwith
a 2-14 lifetime recordand$93,250 in earnings.
Nationalore:9th
in 1998
Perhapsnomaideninhistorywasmore accomplishedthanNationalore wasgoingintothe 1998 Derby.
He had runfifteentimes,withnovictories,six seconds,fivethirds,athird-place inthe 1997 Breeders’
Cup Juvenile,and$283,767 in earnings.Yet,despiteall the hoopla—andplentyof triesagainstrather
sorry California-bredmaidens—thegeldingwaswinlessgoingintothe firstSaturdayinMay of 1998.
Like Great RedeemerandPendletonRidge before him, Nationalore receivedplentyof attentionbefore
the big race.
Notunlike PendletonRidge’sconnectionseightyearsearlier,the rationale forNationalore’sentrywas
the addeddistance:“The problemwiththe maidenracesare distance”,assistanttrainerRafaelMartinez
said(the primarytrainer,MyungKwonCho,finished4th
in1990 withVideoRanger).“The longerhe
goes,the better”.GiventhatNationalore hadneverrun1 ¼ milesbefore,Chopresumablythoughthat
the distance wasrightup hisalley.
He thoughtwrong.Dismissedat109/1 off hissixth-place finishinthe SantaAnitaDerby,Nationalore
was nowhere close atanypointinthe race and woundupninth,nineteenlengthsbehindvictoriousReal
Quiet.Unlike GreatRedeemerorPendletonRidge,Nationaloreneverwonarace, unsuccessfullytrying
tenmore timesafterthe Derbybefore sadlybreakingdownina 2000 maidenrace at HollywoodPark.
Here’sthe storiesof a fewalmost-maidensinthe Derby
Big Al’s Express:1991
As ridiculousasafewof the above entriesmayseem, atleastthose horseshadrunbefore.BigAl’s
Express,onthe otherhand,had neverracedbefore whenhe shippedintoLouisville twoweeksbefore
the 1991 KentuckyDerby.He had beentrainingatStockton,a fairtrack up inNorthernCalifornia,and
trainerTommyAllenthoughtthathisworkoutswere sogreat,he shouldshiphishorse all the wayto
Louisville toruninthe Derby.
It had been80 yearssince a first-time-starterhadrunin the Derby(I.B’sValdorin1971 andOne-Eyed-
Tom in1972 had both triedtoenter,butdidnot make it to the race),and Allenwasmetwithplentyof
ridicule.Toensure thatBigAl’sExpresswasreadyto run,Churchill Downsofficialshadhimgothrough
startinggate tests.However,he hadnumerousproblemsbreakingfromthe gate,makingChurchill
Downsofficialsleeryof puttingthe maideninthe Derbystartinggate.Eventually,though,BigAl’s
Expressgotthe hangof the gate routine,andhisconnectionsdecidedtoenterhiminthe DerbyTrial
Stakesas a prepfor the bigrace.
Unsurprisingly,itwasacomplete disaster.Inexplicablysentoff at27/1 odds, BigAl’sExpressfinished
deadlast,beaten31 ½ lengths.Thatepisode endedthe DerbydreamforAl,andhe wasnot enteredin

3. the big one.He raced thirteenmore timesinhiscareer,winningonlyamaidenrace at SantaAnitain
Decemberof 1991.
Valhol:15th
in1999
Valhol is,technically,the lastmaidentorunin the Derby.It’sjustthat no one knew itwhenhe entered
the gate.
Goingintothe 1999 ArkansasDerby,Valhol hadonlyracedtwice:asecondina maidenrace at Fair
Grounds,thena fourthin the LouisianaDerby.Because of hislackof credentials,he wasdismissedat
30/1 at OaklawnPark.However,he shocked(foreshadowing) the worldbywinningby4 ½ lengths.It
lookedlike agreathumanintereststory:ahorse withsmall-timeconnections,includingjockeyBilly
Patin,broke theirmaideninthe ArkansasDerby,andnow were goingtothe KentuckyDerby!Iseemed
too goodto be true!
And,infact, itwas. A fewdaysafterthe race, the stewardsatOaklawnPark announcedtheywere
launchinganinvestigation,aftersuspicionarose thatPatinuseda buzzeronhismountduringthe race.
The $300,000 first-place prizewasoriginallysuspended,butanArkansascourt orderedthe purse tobe
paidout to ownerJamesJacksonbefore the investigationwascomplete.The infusionof graded-stakes
moneywasenoughtoget Valhol inthe KentuckyDerbystartinggate, althoughWillieMartineztookthe
mountin place of the now-damnedPatin.Valhol brieflyledinthe Derby,butwasnowhere close atthe
end,finishingadistantfifteenth.
Four daysafterthe race, the stewardsannouncedtheirruling:Patinwasguiltyof usingabuzzeron
Valhol.The horse wasdisqualifiedfromthe victory,Patinwassuspendedforfive years,andthe purse
moneywastakenaway.A maidenonce again,Valhol wasundeterrentlysentoff tothe Preakness,where
he finishedninthafterbeingnearthe lead.
In the race afterthat, Valhol broke hismaiden—honestlythistime—atLone StarPark.He wenton to a
successful career,winningfourdifferentstakesracesandearning$444,850.
Tincin: 2001
As muchridicule asa horse like,say,GreatRedeemergotforrunninginthe Derby,Tincinwould’ve
made himlooklike Secretariat.
Goingintothe 2001 KentuckyDerby,Tincindidnothave the credentialsto be a contenderina maiden
race, muchlessthe Run forthe Roses.He had runsevenraces,neverfinishingbetterthanfifth,while
earninga whopping$390. In hislastrace before the Derby,he finishedeleventhinamaidenspecial
weightatTurfwayPark, earningaBeyerfigure of 7. On the surface,Tincinhadas much chance of
winningthe Derbyasan elementaryschool gymclasswouldhave of defeatingBarcelonaFCina soccer
match.
Despite these facts,ownerandtrainerSteve LaRue wasdeterminedtorun: “I’ve dreamedof runningof
thishorse inthe Derbyfromthe word ‘go’.He’sa big,long-stridinghorse withalotof ability.People
mightlaughat me,but I’mstill goingahead”.SuchcommentssentChurchill Downsofficialsandracing
fansintoa tizzy, withmanywonderingif itwassafe orethical torun such a bad horse inthe Derby.
Steve CristblastedLaRue:“The people whoare planningtorunningthe maidenTincinare adisgrace to
the sport and have norespectfor the race,the horse,orthe welfare of the otherhorsesorjockeys”.
Fortunatelyforjustabouteveryone involved,Tincindevelopedacougha few daysbefore the Derby,
and waswithdrawn.Afterthe fact,Churchill DownspresidentJohnAshersaidthathe probablywould’ve
allowedthe horse torunin the Derby,thoughhe didacknowledge “Derbyfevermakespeople dosome
unusual things”.

4. The summerof 2001 sawTincinprove whypeople thoughthe wasn’tDerbymaterial.He droppedall the
waydownto $7,500 maidenclaimingcompanyatEllisParkatone point,earninghisfirsttop-three finish
inthat race. LaRue got intoa feudwithEllismanagementoveradenial of hisstall application,claiming
that he was beingblacklistedfortryingtoenterhishorse inthe Derby.
Ultimately,Tincinneverwonin28 tries,closinghiscareerwithafifth-place finishina$5,000 maiden
claimingrace at EllisinJulyof 2003. Had he run in the Derby,he mightstill be running.
Overall,Laobanmaybe a Derbycuriosity,butatleasthe’sa betterhorse thanGreat Redeemeror
Tincin.