Paul Lo Duca is hoping a little horse sense will lead to a mint julep.
The Nationals catcher is part owner of Golden Spikes, a three-year-old colt in Saturday’s Illinois Derby. A big effort by the speedster might send Golden Spikes to the Kentucky Derby. That is, if the horse can learn to race a little smarter early to save himself for the stretch.
“We’re trying to teach him to lay back,” Lo Duca said. “His best races have been laying second or third. In the Hutcheson [Stakes] he went to the front, the rail was dead and he got stuck down the rail. We’ll try to lay him off the pace a little. He definitely has a lot of ability.”
Lo Duca has been a railbird since his father took him to Turf Paradise outside Phoenix as a kid. The small track well off the Derby trail was a “hangout” for Lo Duca, who rekindled his interest while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1998-2004. Lo Duca lived in the same apartment complex as jockey Mike Smith, a prominent southern California rider who won the 2005 Derby aboard Giacomo.
“I just gradually got into it,” Lo Duca said.
Those are famous last words for many horse owners, who one day realize their little stables suddenly number dozens of runners. Lo Duca’s barn now numbers six current runners, two mending on the farm and three babies readying for their first start.
Racing will become a second career whenever the catcher, who turns 36 on April 12, finally retires. He loves the breeding end, rattling off Golden Spikes’ bloodline like a chemist. Two by this, half by that — breeder talk that validates his interest. It sounds like gibberish to most teammates.
“I tried to explain a little to Nick [Johnson],” Lo Duca said. “[Austin] Kearns knows a little bit coming from Kentucky. They’ve all asked me and want to learn a little bit.”
The best way to double your money at the racetrack is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket while leaving, the old racegoers joke goes. But for those who love the sport like Lo Duca, horses become a passion. Derby fever has Lo Duca already smelling roses on the first Saturday in May if Golden Spikes steals the Illinois Derby as the fifth choice.
“That would be amazing,” said Lo Duca like someone eyeing a fat pitch. “I couldn’t go because this is my job, but it would be a dream come true.”
Golden Spikes has a chance of seeing Louisville. The son of Seeking the Gold, seventh in the 1988 Derby, has the same early speed War Emblem used to steal the 2002 Illinois and Kentucky derbies. Named for Lo Duca’s nomination for the 1993 Golden Spikes award as the nation’s best college player, the colt is a prominent part of Lo Duca’s future as a breeder.
“He’s a very good stallion prospect if he can cross that Grade 1 [stakes] line,” Lo Duca said.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
