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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview with Elizabeth Mitchell
Aired May 05, 2002 - 11:26 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KARL: Well it's not exactly a photo finish. War Emblem finished the Kentucky Derby the way he started, up front. The colt set the pace early and went on to win yesterday's race with the ninth fastest derby time ever. Betters gave War Emblem a 20-1 chance of winning the race. The horse with the best odds came in seventh.
The Kentucky Derby is steeped in history and sometimes controversy. Elizabeth Mitchell has written the book "Three Strides Before the Wire" about the people behind the 1990 Kentucky Derby. Elizabeth Mitchell joins us this morning from New York. Elizabeth, how are you?
ELIZABETH MITCHELL, AUTHOR: I'm doing very well. How are you doing?
KARL: So, we had somewhat of a Cinderella story, if that metaphor is appropriate for horse racing. I don't know, but material for another book here, a 20-1 horse winning the derby?
MITCHELL: Well, I think that -- I mean as opposed to Charismatic, the horse that I wrote about in the 1999 Triple Crown series, this horse didn't exactly have -- it had very strong backing by the Prince of Saudi Arabia, so I guess in that way I guess it is a Cinderella story, and Bob Baffert was the trainer on this horse. The one that I wrote about was trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who was the one who had the horse coming in second.
KARL: But I noticed it seems the day of the race the odds were changing frequently. They were all over the place. Of course, the favorite for this race Buddha, was out the day before the race. So is that typical that you see the odds fluctuate so much right before you get to the starting?
MITCHELL: Well, this was unusual inasmuch as the odds for the favorite were so high. I mean usually there's a horse that everyone thinks is the big horse that season and that wasn't the case.
War Emblem was this -- a horse that was pretty much dismissed because he was purchased three weeks ago by the Prince from a trainer in Illinois, and given to Bob Baffert to run in this particular derby, and no one thought that he really was the horse that had a chance. Speed ratings were great, but you know, he was dismissed.
So that is, you know, I haven't looked at the past records but I would say that must be in the realm of, you know, fifth longest odds in derby history.
KARL: Well and also one of the shortest periods of training for a race.
MITCHELL: Well, yes, he ran in the Illinois Derby and he -- I mean he's been running all along in Illinois, but the shortest time that this particular trainer had the horse.
KARL: So in your story, in your book about the 1990 race, that was another case of kind of this surprise win. I mean do you see any parallels?
MITCHELL: Well, it's actually the 1999 one, which was -
KARL: I'm sorry 1999, yes.
MITCHELL: It was -- Charismatic was this horse that was, he was not just dismissed. There was, at one point he was a claiming horse, which meant you could have gone in, anyone could have gone and bought the horse for $62,000, which is not, you know, certainly not the highest price for a horse in these sorts of races, and he came and -
KARL: This one cost a million dollars right?
MITCHELL: Yes, he did.
KARL: It was a million dollars, yes.
MITCHELL: This is a mystery in and of itself. I mean they know that it was over a million, but no one knows exactly how much he paid. But the other horse was, you know, certainly a long shot. He came in, he had 31-1 odds and he won and surprised everyone and his jockey was this very flamboyant and talented rider named Chris Antley (ph) who had been a superstar when he was just a teenager, and he had gotten down and out over the years through depression and drug use and you know trying to lose weight as all the jockeys have to had taken its toll.
KARL: Yes.
MITCHELL: And he came back that particular year to ride and it was really a thrilling season.
KARL: A great race and a great book. Hey just really quickly, we got to go, but we got the Preakness in two weeks.
MITCHELL: Yes.
KARL: What's your pick?
MITCHELL: -- use and you know trying to lose weight as all the jockeys have to had taken its toll.
KARL: Yes.
MITCHELL: And he came back that particular year to ride and it was really a thrilling season.
KARL: A great race and a great book. Hey just really quickly. We got to go but we've got the Preakness in two weeks.
MITCHELL: Yes.
KARL: What's your prediction?
MITCHELL: Well, I mean War Emblem looked pretty good this time out. I mean he led by four lengths, which is also a very big lead for a horse in the derby. So I mean you'd have to put him in there, although you know I'd like to see, I'd like to see (inaudible) come back for example and see him do well.
KARL: Well I can be assured here, I imagine, that War Emblem will not be a 20-1 favorite again.
MITCHELL: I think that's right.
KARL: This will be much, much lower odds.
MITCHELL: Yes.
KARL: Thank you so much Elizabeth Mitchell for being here.
MITCHELL: Well, thank you.
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