Trainer Larry Demeritte's dream has always been to make it to the Kentucky Derby, and he's now one step closer after 2-year-old colt West Saratoga (Exaggerator) won Saturday's Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes beneath the Twin Spires.
“When I was growing up in the Bahamas, I always watched the Kentucky Derby, and I said, 'In order to win the Kentucky Derby, I need to be in Kentucky,' so I came over here as a very young man,” Demeritte said.
That was 47 years ago.
While the first Saturday in May is still a long way off, the dream feels a lot closer than it did in 2017, when Demeritte was given six months to live.
Diagnosed with multiple myeloma (bone cancer) and a disease called amyloidosis, which causes the body to make abnormal proteins, Demeritte has been undergoing chemotherapy once a month for 6 ½ years.
“You know, I can't focus on what's going on with these frail bodies we have,” said Demeritte. “I said a prayer last week. I said, 'Lord, you always bless everybody, so I got to come over here and I thank you for it. Even if I don't achieve the goal of going to the Kentucky Derby, I can live with that, but that's the desire of my heart.' Because I know that if you do His will, He will bless you with the desire of your heart.
“Life is like bumps in the road. Sometimes you hit some bumps, and sometimes it smooths out for you. That happened today for us, and I'm grateful.”
Of course, Demeritte knows he has to do his part, as well. For example, this colt's purchase for $11,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling sale is the result of years of practice at selecting horses other people may have overlooked.
He's had has some successes: Lady Glamour was a $1,000 yearling who would earn a graded stakes placing and $126,170 on the track before selling in foal to Not This Time for $115,000; Daring Pegasus was a $3,000 yearling who earned $122,092 in Demeritte's name (and $212,518 overall); She's That Cat was a $12,000 yearling who became stakes placed and earned $101,020 in Demeritte's care (and $334,729 overall).
“I go to the sales every year and we don't buy a lot of horses, but we try to get horses that are gonna be racehorses,” Demeritte said. “My motto is I buy a good horse cheap. I don't buy cheap horses.
“I try to look for horses that I think will stand up to the way I train a horse. And you know, if a horse has more than one defect, because they all have a defect, it's about what you can live with. This horse is really balanced and he had a good throat.”
Those bargain successes are a big source of pride for the Bahamian native.
“It's so cool, because I always said when I came here, I was the only farm manager who was Black in Kentucky,” said Demeritte. “I like upsetting the cart, because that's this game. You never know who could come up with a good horse, but you have to keep at it. You've got to keep working, so I am really excited for that.”
So, although it took West Saratoga five starts to break his maiden, a few more than Demeritte thought would be necessary, the trainer never felt overly concerned.
He has a lot of experience training 2-year-olds; in the Bahamas, before Demeritte made the move to the United States, he trained the country's champion 2-year-old three years in a row.
“[West Saratoga] would have broken his maiden earlier, but we had the number one post four times in a row,” Demeritte explained. “It's pretty tough going five-eighths, to come out of the one hole, you know. We never wanted to treat him like a sprinter, because he always seemed like he wanted to stretch out, so we didn't want to really pressure him to go really hard from the break.”
Nonetheless, West Saratoga ran three seconds, two at five furlongs and one at seven furlongs, before finally making it to the winner's circle when stretched out to a mile at Ellis Park.
The progression is reminiscent of something Demeritte learned from his father, also a trainer in the Bahamas.
“My dad was a very, very good conditioner of a horse, so I learned that from him: how to feed a horse, and really condition a horse,” said Demeritte. “The only thing is that I understand there's a peak to every horse, and he would always try to get a little more out of every horse. I learned that if you try to get more than that peak, then it slides over the other side. Now, I understand how to know what I have in the horse, and how to keep them at their peak.”
From his base at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Demeritte watched as West Saratoga approached that peak. So even though the colt was the second-longest chance on the board at 12-1 in the Iroquois, Demeritte remained confident.
“I'd been telling [owner] Harry [Veruchi] all week that they'd have to run 1:36 to beat him, because I knew I had him set up to run that kind of time,” Demeritte said.
West Saratoga was in fourth early on, then went five wide before digging in to pull away from his rivals to win by 1 ¾ lengths.
“I saw the early fractions, but the last part I didn't see, because I was rooting too hard,” he said, laughing. “He's a nice colt, and he's moved forward with every race. … We've had some good horses in the past, but none like this one.”
The next step will be a race like the Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland on Oct. 7, but West Saratoga is unlikely to make the trip out west for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita Park.
“I would really love to start him at Keeneland,” Demeritte said. “That's the right thing for the horse. A lot of the races that he had short were more like workouts, so I feel like that's the proper step, to run him here at Keeneland then give him a breather.”
Demeritte hasn't yet considered how he might plan a spring schedule for West Saratoga, the star of his nine-horse stable. Right now, he's enjoying the ride.
“Hopefully this ride lasts a long time!” he quipped. “Now, I've run a lot of horses on Derby day, practicing for the Kentucky Derby, so when the day comes I don't have to be nervous!”
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