Many Sitting at Captain’s Derby Table

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The unofficial record for most owners of a Kentucky Derby horse is held by the 28-member Dogwood Stable syndicate that finished second at Churchill Downs with Summer Squall seven years ago.

That record will fall Saturday when Team Valor’s Captain Bodgit runs in the 123rd Derby.

Team Valor consists of the home office, syndicators Barry Irwin and Jeff Siegel of Pasadena and 31 other people. All but one will be here Saturday, so if the Derby attendance record falls, Team Valor will deserve some of the credit.

“I’m still not in what you could call good shape on tickets, but by Saturday I hope to be,” Irwin said at Captain Bodgit’s barn the other day. “Counting everybody’s family and friends, we’re going to need between 68 and 72 tickets.”

For Team Valor, whose members are spread across 13 states, Washington, D.C., and Canada, Captain Bodgit has been worth traveling for. Since Feb. 4, when Irwin and his partners bought the colt from Phyllis Susini for $550,000, Captain Bodgit has finished third in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park and won Gulfstream’s Florida Derby and the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. The betting will be close between Captain Bodgit and Pulpit for favoritism in the Kentucky Derby.

Under Team Valor and the now-defunct Clover Racing Stables banner, Irwin and Siegel have been buying horses and luring investors since 1987. And although they hit the jackpot with Prized, a Breeders’ Cup Turf winner; Martial Law, the 50-1 winner of the Santa Anita Handicap, and Star Of Cozzene, who won the Arlington Million and earned more than $2 million, Captain Bodgit is their first Derby horse.

When Irwin and Susini reached agreement on a price for Captain Bodgit about three months ago, the Team Valor president wasn’t sure he could round up enough clients to raise $500,000. The extra $50,000 was paid to Susini after Captain Bodgit won the Florida Derby, a Grade I race.

Irwin faxed a prospectus on Captain Bodgit to about 100 people, most of whom had previously invested in Team Valor horses. In a matter of days, he had reached the $500,000 mark and had at least one person who wanted to join the syndicate but had responded too late. There was an urgency for Team Valor to move quickly, because Irwin feared that Michael Tabor, who had bought Thunder Gulch and won the 1995 Derby, was days away from making a higher offer.

Up front, Irwin had told the potential investors about Captain Bodgit’s tendon injury, which was not a major concern to his consulting veterinarian Alex Harthill. Captain Bodgit’s left foreleg would not get him to the finals of any equine beauty contest, but his future owners still wanted in.

“There was no guarantee that this was a horse that would train on,” Irwin said. “He could have been the kind of horse that could get beaten beyond 6 1/2 furlongs. But I underestimated the lure of the word ‘Derby.’ When everybody came in, I thought it was an extremely game play on the part of all these people.”

Captain Bodgit wasn’t exactly unheralded at the time of the sale. Racing in Maryland and Delaware as a 2-year-old, he had won five of six starts, including a victory at 1 1/8 miles in the Laurel Futurity in November. But in his first start this year--and the last time he ran in Susini’s colors--he finished third, beaten by almost seven lengths at 1 1/16 miles.

Mark Belling, a popular Milwaukee talk-show host, owns 7.5% of Captain Bodgit. He liked the idea of buying into the horse that is a son of Saint Bellado, a well-bred but unproven Florida stallion.

“I’ve always been enamored with Saint Bellado,” Belling said. “I loved him when he raced. I was in Chicago the day he won the Arlington Classic [in 1993]. I think any horse by Saint Bellado would have to have a lot of potential.”

It’s the glory, not the purses, that seems to stir Belling the most.

“After Captain Bodgit won the Wood, I was quoted in Sports Illustrated,” he said.

Rodger Weismann, chief financial officer for a San Francisco software company, owns 25% of Captain Bodgit, which makes him the horse’s largest shareholder. Weismann began investing in horses after listening to Siegel at a seminar at Golden Gate Fields four years ago. Father Hilary Gottbrath, the priest who officiated at the marriage of Rodger and Pam Weismann 14 years ago, had been a roommate of Pam’s father at Notre Dame and had box seats at the Derby for years.

Weismann said, “When my father-in-law died, Father Hilary asked if I would like to take his seat in the box, and I’ve been going to the Derby since Sunny’s Halo’s win [in 1983]. That’s how I got hooked on racing. What I regret, though, is that Father Hilary, who died in January, about a month before Captain Bodgit was sold, won’t be there, cheering on the Captain. And my mother-in-law, who also supported my adventures in racing, died a year ago.”

Thomas B. Evans, who owns 2% of Captain Bodgit, is one of the smallest Team Valor investors. Evans, 65, is a lawyer, a former congressman from Delaware and for four years, during the Nixon administration, was chairman of the National Republican Committee.

“I started going to the races at Delaware Park when I was 17,” Evans said. “The first Derby I ever saw was the year Proud Clarion won [1967], and I’ve been to many Derbies since then. I joined Team Valor through the urging of Dick Abrams, who’s a lawyer in Delaware. Dick is also a partner in the horse. I think it took a lot of courage for Barry Irwin to spend this much money on this horse. I get tears in my eyes when they play ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ at Churchill, even when I’m just watching the Derby on TV. I can’t imagine how I’ll handle ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ on Saturday.”

Come Saturday, Rodger Weismann will face a decision.

“Captain Bodgit’s [handicapping] numbers set it up for me to make a potentially big bet on him,” Weismann said. “Trying to be objective, I think he’s the best horse. But over the years, I haven’t been too successful handicapping the Derby. I had Swale [in 1984]. I had Grindstone last year, but for the wrong reason. The horse I really liked was Editor’s Note.”

Editor’s Note finished sixth, but Weismann still cashed in because he was coupled in the betting with Grindstone.

“Now I don’t know what to do,” Weismann said. “I don’t want to make a big bet on Captain Bodgit and then jinx him.”

Kentucky Derby Notes

Phantom On Tour worked three furlongs Thursday in 35 3/5 seconds and it appears that the second-place finisher from the Arkansas Derby will be able to run in the Kentucky Derby. Trainer Lynn Whiting, who won the 1992 Derby with Lil E. Tee, had feared that his horse might have an ulcer.

“The thing I would be concerned about right now is how he is post-work, so this doesn’t set him back,” Whiting said. “He came through for us [Thursday]. We’ll continue to monitor the horse closely. We were very pleased with what we saw.”

The forecast for Saturday calls for a chance of thunderstorms with temperatures in the low 70s. . . . A crowd of about 90,000 is expected today at Churchill Downs for a 10-race card that includes the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. Glitter Woman, the favorite, will be opposed by Sharp Cat, Blushing K.D. and six others going 1 1/8 miles.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Kentucky Derby at a Glance

* Where: Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

* When: Saturday, 2:30 PDT

* Television: Channel 7

POST POSITIONS FOR 123RD DERBY

*--*

PP Horse Jockey Trainer Odds 1. Crypto Star Pat Day Wayne Catalano 10-1 2. Phantom On Tour Jerry Bailey Lynn Whiting 12-1 3. Concerto Carlos Marquez John Tammaro III 8-1 4. Captain Bodgit Alex Solis Gary Capuano 5-2 5. Silver Charm Gary Stevens Bob Baffert 5-1 6. Celtic Warrior Francisco Torres Danny Hutt 50-1 7. Pulpit Shane Sellers Frank Brothers 2-1 8. Hello Mike Smith Ron McAnally 12-1 9. a-Jack Flash Craig Perret Nick Zito 30-1 10. a-Shammy Davis Willie Martinez Nick Zito 30-1 11. Deeds Not Words Corey Nakatani Wayne Lukas 50-1 12. Crimson Classic Robby Albarado Forrest Kaelin 50-1 13. Free House David Flores Paco Gonzalez 8-1

*--*

a--entry.

Following are Southern California locations where you can bet the Derby, in addition to Hollywood Park (all are simulcast sites):

1. Santa Anita

2. Fairplex Park, Pomona

3. Los Alamitos

4. Earl Warren Showgrounds, Santa Barbara

5. Del Mar

6. Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, Lancaster

7. Ventura County Fairgrounds, Ventura

8. San Bernardino County Fairgrounds, Victorville

9. National Orange Show Sports Center, San Bernardino

10. Lake Perris Fairgrounds

11. Fantasy Springs Casino, Cabazon

12. Shalimar Sports Center, Indio

13. Barona Casino, Lakeside

14. Viejas Casino and Turf Club, Alpine

15. Sycuan Gaming Center, El Cajon

16. Santa Barbara County Fairgrounds, Santa Maria

First Churchill Downs simulcast ($50,000 Northern Dancer) goes at 9:20 a.m. There will be win-place-show, exacta, quinella, trifecta and superfecta wagering on the Derby.

KENTUCKY DERBY

* Where: Louisville, Ky.

* When: 2:30 p.m. Saturday

* TV: Channel 7