Giacomo's Diary

Giacomo at Hollywood Park on 7/3 © Emily Hufford 2005

Giacomo's Diary 7/3 by Emily Hufford He is a kinder, gentler version of the Kentucky Derby hero that we saw this spring. Giacomo, sidelined by knee and ankle chips, is resting well at Hollywood Park. The three-year-old son of Holy Bull will be out until the winter, but those closest to the colt are optimistic that he will make a successful comeback next year. John Shirreffs stood in his office, eagerly watching the racing debut of Tafcar, the first daughter of the best mare he ever trained, Manistique. Tafcar debuted at Churchill Downs for trainer Carl Nafzgar, but finished last in a field of maiden fillies. Shirreffs shook his head, disappointed, but smiled when I asked how the big horse was progressing. Later that day, Giacomo would graze and the Derby winner is simply enjoying leisure time right now. He is far sweeter

than he was in the spring, perhaps a little lonely now that the press, fans, and hoopla have all gone. "He's just taking it easy," assistant Frank Leal said. "He was so busy, now he's just relaxing."

Giacomo at Hollywood Park on 6/5 © Emily Hufford 2005

Giacomo's Diary by Emily Hufford On Sunday afternoon at Hollywood Park, hours after working six furlongs in 1:14.4, Giacomo rested quietly in the straw of his stall. He seemed oblivious to the admiring fans outside of his stall as he stretched luxuriously on his side. Then the lights in the barn were turned on, and the Kentucky Derby winning colt leapt to his feet with the ease of a cat and stared down the aisle, alert and business-like, as usual. Giacomo leaves for Belmont Park on Wednesday, and will be accompanied by the regular crew that took him through the first two legs of the Triple Crown; trainer John Shirreffs, exercise rider Frankie Herrarte, and barn foreman Frank Leal. In the quiet afternoon light at home, however, Giacomo is unaware of what lies ahead. In the stall next to Giacomo lives Honorable Coach, a decent horse who won the last race at Hollywood Park on Saturday afternoon. Jealousy or boredom caused Honorable Coach to snake his

Giacomo and Exercise Rider Frankie Herrarte at Hollywood Park © Emily Hufford 2005

Giacomo's Diary by Emily Hufford Giacomo stood in the wide, airy entrance to John Shirreff's shedrow at Hollywood Park, tongue hanging out as usual and one foot relaxed. In a barn that includes graded stakes horses Hollywood Story, Tarlow, and Makeup Artist, Giacomo is the King of all he surveys. Trainer John Shirreffs is relaxed and happy at his home track, much like the racehorse. The barn employees are bursting with excitement, and they can't help but look over each time they pass the big horse, whether he be in his stall or relaxing in the sunshine in the aisle. On the track that morning, Giacomo had finished his first timed workout since the Preakness Stakes. Now he relaxed quietly before moving back to his stall for breakfast.

Giacomo's groom worked on his bandages while exercise rider Frankie Herrarte fed him grain by the handful. The dark gray colt lipped it up eagerly, then posed for photos and watched the activity before returning to his hay. Down the aisle, his full sister Styler is completely unaware of her brother's fame.

All throughout the Memorial Day racecard at Hollywood Park, the name Giacomo seemed to be on people's lips. No one mentioned Afleet Alex, Scrappy T, or even Ghostzapper. Everyone wanted to know how the Derby winner was, how the Big Horse was doing. On June 11, Derby winner Giacomo will meet Preakness winner Afleet Alex in a rubber match at Belmont Park in the Belmont Stakes in New York. Afleet Alex will go favored, but to the California racegoers and in the John Shirreffs barn, Giacomo is a beloved icon.

Giacomo and Frankie Herrarte © Emily Hufford 2005

Giacomo's Diary by Emily Hufford Almost two weeks ago, Giacomo lived in relative obscurity around the backside. After a two-year-old season that promised success and greater things to come, he had slipped under the radar with a few sub-par performances as a three-year-old. None of his races was particularly bad; in one race where he appeared to hang in the stretch he'd gone wide and lost a shoe, and in another he ran on to finish well despite a track that played against his late-closing style. Still, consistent efforts are not typically what win you races, they only earn you checks. Giacomo arrived on the Churchill Downs backstretch the Wednesday before the race to little fanfare. The morning after, we went on a hunt for him and found him getting his legs washed outside the barn.

There was not a single reporter around. All alone the colt stood, then he gave us a commanding look before disappearing back into the barn.

A few hours later he emerged on the track. After the Derby, jockey Mike Smith told us that Giacomo will do anything you ask, as long as he can carry his head low, so low that you're afraid he will knock his chin with his knees. He's not a particularly aggressive galloper, either, not like the high profile Bellamy Road or some of the other Derby entrants. He simply cruises around the track, head low, listening to his rider and doing as he is told.

Friday passed in much the same fashion, and on Saturday, Giacomo became known to the world as the 2005 Kentucky Derby winner. Many have noted that there's "not much to him;" Giacomo is not tall and is on the light side body-wise, but it's what's inside that counts. With fierce determination he weaved through a thick mass of tiring bodies to score the victory on the wire. Perhaps the swift pace did help, in fact, it almost surely did aid his win, but this win came from a horse who was seventeenth going into the backstretch and had to pick through a field of horses that had brought far better records into the race.

Our association with Giacomo didn't truly start until the day after the race. We met Mike Smith at the barn, and he took us to meet our Derby hero. Up close and personal, Giacomo has a hard coat that is tight over his muscles. His forelock falls over his eyes, but his muzzle, like that of most horses, is undeniably soft. He stood quietly for pictures for only just long enough, then lashed out with a quick nip, teeth bared. He likes things all his own way.

Every day but one, we visited the gray colt. On one memorable morning, we met a nine-year-old girl who had been crushed when Giacomo defeated Afleet Alex in the Derby, but had found room in her heart to accept Giacomo as an equine hero. She followed him to the track, camera in hand, walking with the seasoned reporters who were tracking the colt's every move. We stood with her and admired her excitement; every horse-crazy woman can see themselves in the eyes of young horse-crazy girls. Giacomo galloped along determinedly, as usual, and came off the track with his head up and eyes alert.

During the horse's bath, the little girl got as close as she could and said, shyly, "Hi, Giacomo! Hi, buddy!" and snapped pictures. We stood watching him walk afterwards, until exercise rider Frankie Herrarte, a twenty-two-year-old aspiring jockey, led the colt out for us to pet. The girl, wide-eyed, handed me her camera. I took several pictures of her stroking his nose while Herrarte kept a watchful eye on his mouth. With a sad, wistful voice, the girl barely managed a, "Bye, Giacomo," as the colt continued to walk.

Another morning, Giacomo was led out for grazing instead of his regular walk. He circled and nosed the ground, "looking for California Bermuda," according to trainer John Shirreffs. That day, news crews were there with cameras rolling. Giacomo would occasionally pick his head up just high enough to see us - about chest height - and then continue to hunt for good grass. He would itch his chest, stretch his back, and shake luxuriously in the sunshine. It was almost like being home again.

Two days ago, Herrarte was walking alongside Giacomo when he asked us to lunch. We're not stupid, and not ones to pass up such an opportunity. We took him out and listened to his tales of glory: what it was like to win the Kentucky Derby, what it was like to be around such horses as Manistique, and how he knows that his bond with Giacomo is stronger than any other person's. Later we went back to the barn to visit with the steel gray colt again, and Giacomo's hindquarters faced the stall door. I patted him, trying to get him to turn around, and all I got in response was pinned ears and a flash of bared teeth. Oops.

Herrarte slipped under the stall webbing and took Giacomo's nose in his hands. The colt sighed and rested his head on Herrarte's chest, then turned around and visited with us. Herrarte continued to speak quietly to him, kissing him and stroking him, while explaining to us that Giacomo knows something is up, and is conserving all of his energy.

Yesterday, Giacomo worked four furlongs. The time wasn't spectacular, but it was customary of Giacomo's spring workouts. The colt did gallop out blowing, but assistant trainer and fill-in groom Fransisco Leal was pleased. "That's how he worked before the Derby, too," he said, smiling. "I don't care what those (reporters) say, I know my horse."

As Giacomo walked the barn, sun streaming through the shedrow, Herrarte stopped him for us to say goodbye. The colt's coat was still steaming, but he was no longer blowing. Herrarte smiled at us, and wrapped his arms around Giacomo's neck. "We'll see you at Pimlico."

Giacomo Doing Well After Kentucky Derby Victory
by Emily Hufford

The world stopped when Giacomo won the Kentucky Derby (gr I) last weekend, and for jockey Mike Smith and trainer John Shirreffs the ride is just beginning. In a rare quiet moment on the backside of Churchill Downs, watching the gray colt jog on the track, Mike Smith smiled and said, "I call him Little Bull."

Giacomo, a son of Holy Bull, is the pride of joy of Mike Smith's world. "You try not to fall in love with them," Smith said, shaking his head in wonder as the colt jogged by with trainer Shirreffs alongside on a pony. "You try not to, but they make you. Some of them, you just can't help it." It was obvious that Smith was talking about his love for the little Big Horse, and he's not the only one still in awe of the colt's triumph last weekend.

Back at the barn, Shirreffs holds the horse for his bath, and quietly answers some reporters questions or well wishes, but mostly just murmurs sweet nothings to the colt. Occassionally, Shirreffs rests his hand upon the colt's forehead and looks him in the eye, and they share a quick moment before another reporter asks another question. Later, the trainer took his star out to graze, and Giacomo nibbled at the grass briefly before throwing his head up and gazing at the small crowd gathered on the road.

"He's looking for the California Bermuda," Shirreffs laughed, and everyone laughed with him. It was Giacomo's second day back to the track. Yesterday he returned to jog in the chute, but was feeling so good and playing so much that he did end up galloping on the track. This morning, Giacomo took another round and Mike Smith said he would ship a few days before the race, with Smith himself due in Thursday night or Friday morning. Shirreffs is due back in California this afternoon.