Charismatic: The Name Fit the Horse

He lost his first five races and won only one of his first nine starts. He was entered in not one, but two claiming races and could have been claimed for $62,500. He was a 31-1 shot to win the 1999 Kentucky Derby.

But not only did Charismatic overcome these obstacles to win the Kentucky Derby, becoming the third longest shot ever to win it, he came within two broken bones of winning the Triple Crown.

Charismatic was not even on the Derby trail for most of his career. His trailer, D. Wayne Lukas, entered him in the claiming races partly to get a few wins under his belt and improve his confidence, but he himself was not confident in the horse's ability. "Once in a while in this business, you have to cut the bleeding," Lukas told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "You have to say, 'Hey, maybe this is one we ought to give up on. maybe we'll come out with $62,500."

Charismatic won both of the claiming races, but was not claimed in either race. Lukas discovered that the "big, fat horse" needed to run every two weeks. So he started training him harder and running him more often, and the colt responded. Lukas entered him in the Lexington Stakes with only two wins in 12 starts - the two wins being the claiming races. He went off as the seventh choice among the 12 horses running, but in a shocking upset, he won by 2 1/2 lengths in near-track-record time. 

That gave him a spot in the Derby, but no one thought he could win. In fact, Lukas had trouble finding a jockey for Charismatic; both Jerry Bailey and Chris McCarron declined. Lukas turned to Chris Antley, a former winner of the Derby who was just finishing drug rehabilitation and previously had trouble maintaining his weight. He was the seventh different jockey to ride the horse in the last seven races.

Lukas' main entry was the much-heralded Cat Thief; Lukas even sat in the horse's owner's box during the race, yelling, "C'mon Cat Thief!" as the colt took a two-length lead coming into the homestretch.

 

But Charismatic, who started in the auxiliary gate and stayed wide and out of trouble for most of the race, outran Cat Thief down the stretch and held off a hard-charging Menifee to win by a neck. Lukas had another Derby winner - just not the one he thought.

"I'd be foolish to stand here and tell you I thought he was going to win this race," Lukas told the Courier-Journal. "I probably never misjudged a horse so much early on as this one. But he just gets better and better every day."

Still, no one believed in the colt. He was only the third choice in betting in the Preakness Stakes two weeks later. Still, he proved everyone wrong, coming from off the pace to defeat Menifee again, this time by a much more comfortable two lengths.

It was on to the Belmont. And possible immortality as a Triple Crown winner.

This time Charismatic was made the 8-5 favorite. He broke well and chased the fast-paced filly Silverbulletday through speedy opening fractions of 23.79 and 47.60 seconds.

On the far turn, Charismatic made his move on Silverbulletday, sticking a nose in front of her. With a quarter of a mile to go, it looked like he might make history.

No one knows when it happened; some surmise that it was at the eighth pole, when Antley put the whip to Charismatic and he didn't respond. Antley felt Charismatic bobble right before the wire; it could have happened then. He would finish third by 1 1/2 lengths to longshot Lemon Drop Kid.

Instantly, Antley sensed something was wrong. He jumped off his mount, fell down, picked himself back up and immediately tried to lift Charismatic's left foot off the ground to prevent further injury to the leg. With tears in his eyes, he stayed with the colt until an ambulance arrived. His actions probably saved Charismatic's life; the horse was later diagnosed with a fractured cannon bone and sesamoid bone. Perhaps he broke one bone at the eighth pole, and then broke another before he crossed the finish line.

Charismatic underwent surgery, where veterinarians inserted four screws in his leg. The cannon bone was broken into several fragments. Dr. Stephen Selway, who performed the surgery, told The Blood-Horse, "It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle after someone had cut all the little nobs off the pieces." Charismatic made a full recovery, but he never raced again.

Not bad for a former claimer. He defied all odds, winning the first two jewels of the Triple Crown, and his valiant effort in the Belmont, running on a bad leg and still finishing third, made him live up to his name.

~Written by Peter Lee