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Lawyer Ron shares with great Cigar Sunday, Apr 30, 2006 By Harry King LITTLE ROCK - Born to be a weed-eater, a friend would say when he discerned a thoroughbred with bloodlines that trumpeted grass specialist. My man would have gone bust betting Lawyer Ron. As the son of Langfuhr, Lawyer Ron is supposed to take to grass racing like a duck to water. Instead, he's more push-mower than power-mower, never finishing better than third in five tries on the turf. On dirt, he is born-again, the winner of six straight races, and well qualified to represent the Arkansas Derby in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. As the winner at Oaklawn Park, Lawyer Ron is following in the deep hoof prints of Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex. Smarty won the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Alex was third in 2005 although victories in the Preakness and Belmont indicate he might have been the best horse in the Derby. The fact that Lawyer Ron is one of the Derby favorites is testimony to the wisdom of his 71-year-old trainer, Bob Holthus, who will also tell you there was some luck involved last September. It was then that Holthus entered Lawyer Ron in a claiming race, but no horseman was willing to put up $50,000 to buy a colt who showed only three straight blah races. Second that day, Lawyer Ron never sniffed another claiming race and his sales price today could be anything. Although Holthus kept the faith, some bad weather days proved him right. Lawyer Ron woke up last October at Keeneland, Holthus said, but that initial victory was on a sloppy track, and he went right back to the grass for two more so-so races. He was entered in a turf race in Louisiana in December, but the rains came and the race was moved to the dirt track. Lawyer Ron won by almost 11 lengths with John McKee just aboard for the ride. Since then, the only grass for Lawyer Ron has been at meal time. "He's a racehorse now," Holthus said. "For some reason, horses with a lot of ability have a mystique to them. They know it." The turnaround of Lawyer Ron is nothing compared with that of Cigar, who ran 11 times on the grass before Bill Mott put him on the dirt and he won 16 straight races in less than two years. No. 6 on that list was the 1995 Oaklawn Handicap, a race that owner Allen Paulson later said convinced him that Cigar was a champion. In the field were 1994 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Concern and Silver Goblin, winner of eight straight races. Plus, while trying to use the whip on Silver Goblin, jockey Dale Cordova whapped Cigar across the nose - a blow that would have discouraged a lesser competitor. Cigar beat six horses that day; Lawyer Ron likely will deal with 19 in Louisville and the packed starting gate is only one of the factors that makes the Derby so difficult to handicap. Much of the pre-race strategy goes out the window when the gate opens and a bunch of half-ton thoroughbreds high-tail it for the first turn. "It's very hard to have something set in stone," Holtus said. Mostly, the 24-year-old McKee will be making decisions on the fly. "Mainly, it's up to him," Holthus said. "I can tell him where I'd like for him to be, but that place might be occupied." He will remind McKee that trainer Bob Baffert won in 2002 with front-running War Emblem "who lulled everybody to sleep," Holthus said. The Baffert-trained Sinister Minister and others are capable of doing the same. If Holthus has any luck in the Derby draw on Wednesday, Lawyer Ron will start from the middle of the gate on out without being stuck on the far outside. The rail is no good, either, unless the horse is a notorious closer who is comfortable being behind. In the game for 50 years, Holthus said winning would mean much, just because he would like to join friends Lynn Whiting, Nick Zito and others who have won the most well known race in America. "Just being able to participate three years in a row, for a Midwestern trainer, that's a pretty good feat," he said. Two years ago, the Holthus-trained Pro Prado was 13th. Last year, his Greater Good was also 13th. Lawyer Ron will do better. ----- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media Group's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
