Zipse’s
Kentucky Derby Daily – Day 9
It’s been a few years since Hall of Fame trainer Nick
Zito experienced that most magical moment of seeing his horse cross the
Kentucky Derby wire before all the rest. 17 years to be exact.
Back then, Zito won it
twice in a span of four runnings with Strike the Gold in 1991 and Go For Gin in
1994, but he’s had no winners since. It has not been for a lack of trying. Last
year he had Ice Box come flying down the lane for 2nd. Five years
before that, the native New
Yorker sent the favorite Bellamy Road to the Derby, only to see him tire and
finish a disappointing 7th. Don’t be too sad for the 63-year-old
conditioner, though, for Nicholas P. Zito remains one of America’s top
trainers, and one who has proven time and time again, he knows how to get a
horse ready for the rigors of the Triple Crown.
Zito first became well known at his craft back in 1990,
when he brought a speedy son of Slew O’ Gold, named Thirty Six Red to the
Belmont. As the winner of the Wood Memorial, he was known as a colt with
talent, but few expected him to get the Belmont distance. After a 2nd
place finish in the 12 furlong Test of Champions, Zito’s prominence in the
industry rose. When he guided Strike the Gold to a Derby win and a near miss in
the Belmont the following spring, he became a star.
Since then, Zito has continued to flourish in the Spring
Classics. In 1994, it was Go For Gin who skipped home over a sloppy track to
give his trainer a second Derby triumph. In 1996, his Louis Quatorze rebounded
from a Kentucky Derby debacle, to run one of the fastest editions of the Preakness
ever run. Proving that distance is seldom a problem for his horses, Zito
conditioned longshot Birdstone to power home late to send millions of Smarty
Jones’ fans home unhappy in the 2004 Belmont. Then in 2008, Zito pulled off an
even bigger shocker as Da’ Tara went wire-to wire in the 2008 Belmont.
Just last year, Zito displayed his prowess in the
Spring Classics by sending a different horse off to a big performance in each
leg of the Triple Crown. Ice Box ran a career best in the Derby, while Jackson
Bend likely outran his distance limitations when he just missed 2nd
in the Preakness, and then Fly Down was a somewhat unlucky runner-up in the
Belmont. None of those three entered the Triple Crown with the credentials that
Zito’s present charge will bring to Louisville in 2011.
This year, Zito brings a colt that he has more faith in
than any other horse he has had in years. In Dialed In, he has a well bred colt
that has done little wrong so far in his career. He is already the winner of two
graded stakes in his brief four-race career, including a victory in the Grade 1
Florida Derby in his most recent start. He also has a win over the Churchill
Downs oval in his debut last November. Zito promises that Dialed In will not be
short in the Kentucky Derby. I find it easy to believe what the veteran trainer
says.
Some will say that the son of Mineshaft is too slow, or
benefited from other horse’s poor performances, or even that he can’t go the
distance. Knowing the history of his trainer in the Triple Crown, I tend to
look at those concerns with a grain of salt. When Nick Zito likes a horse this
much, I pay attention. He is one trainer who has proven he can get his horses prepared
to handle the distance.
