Sports

Nehro gives Zayat another shot at Derby glory

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two men, who have suffered the cruelest blow in all of racing, have a chance to rebound in glory and make history in this afternoon’s Kentucky Derby.

The men are Ahmed Zayat, a Jewish businessman from Egypt, and Mike Repole, the son of a waiter and seamstress, who grew up in Queens.

Both have owned outstanding 2-year-olds who went to the Kentucky Derby with reputations as among the best ever to put hoof on dirt, only to see them felled with injury and sickness in the days leading up to the Derby.

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Zayat owned Eskendereya, the stunning winner of last year’s Wood Memorial who came to Louisville a hot favorite to win the Derby, only to see him stricken with injury and taken out of the Derby six days before the race. He never raced again.

This year it was Repole, who owns Uncle Mo, hailed by America’s top trainer, Todd Pletcher, as the best horse he has ever trained. Yesterday, Repole pulled Uncle Mo from the Derby after failing to recover from a gastro-intestinal infection.

But all is not lost. Zayat today will have Nehro, the likely second favorite running in his colors and Repole will go with his second string, Stay Thirsty. Each horse has a chance in a classic thought to be wide open.

The rare good fortune of coming up with a highly favored Kentucky Derby contender, only to see him sidelined at the eleventh hour by sickness, is a shock that lasts a lifetime.

“You never get over it,” Zayat said this week. “Every time I look at Eskendereya’s Wood Memorial I am tortured. It is so painful. I can’t help thinking what might have been.”

A couple of months ago, Zayat thought he had another big Derby horse in Jaycito, who thundered home to get second in the San Felipe at Santa Anita. Disaster struck again when infirmity forced Jaycito out.

Now Zayat is down to his third string, Nehro, the reigning second choice behind Dialed In after Uncle Mo’s withdrawal. Some third string!

Nehro, named after India’s late statesman Pandit Nehru, has won just a maiden race, at Oaklawn, in February. But in his last two races, he stormed home to get second in the Louisiana Derby and second in the Arkansas Derby. He has been dubbed the “buzz horse” of this Derby.

Zayat is bubbling.

“The horse looks awesome,” he said. “But we’re keeping our fingers crossed because we know what happened last year. This game is very humbling and you’ve got to count your blessings every day.”

Zayat bought Nehro for $170,000 and gave him to Steve Asmussen to train. Asmussen is very circumspect on the horse’s chances.

“This is a tough assignment for him,” Asmussen said. “He needs to keep going forward. But he’s got the breeding for the distance, and he’s a closer which should put him right in it in a wide-open field.”

Zayat is a major player in the racing game. He owns 150 horses. In 2009, his horses earned more than $6 million in purses and last year, $4 million.

“This is a game of peaks and valleys,” he said. “I’m very hopeful with Nehro because I don’t see any Eskendereya’s in this year’s Derby.”

Repole was no less shell-shocked announcing Uncle Mo’s defection but thankful that he had another horse like Stay Thirsty in the race.

Said Pletcher: “He’s doing really well. We’re not left without a chance.”

Is there any justice in this world? Don’t be surprised if either Ahmed Zayat or Mike Repole ends up in the winner’s circle at 6.30 this evening. They’re due.