According to Brian Hernandez Jr., he is summoning the spirit of Calvin Borel as he rides the rails and squeezes Mystik Dan through the pint-sized hole to eke out a commanding victory in the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 4.
Now, two weeks later, if Hernandez needs similar inspiration at the crucial moment in the May 18 Preakness Stakes (G1), he can visit the video archives and watch Miguel’s daring dive Rivera aboard Little Current during the 1974 race. Pimlico Race Course classic. It’s a beauty.
“It was the greatest race of my life,” Rivera said this week from his Florida home, looking back on the events of Preakness Day, a half-century ago.
On May 18, 1974, the sport was still recovering from a self-inflicted injury at the 100th Kentucky Derby (G1) and its 23-horse field. The surviving riders continued to lie awake at night in cold sweats as they relived the wild scramble through the stretch for the first time, the sound of heels clipping as the field joined each other around the far turn, and the G-forces from the the frantic fanning of the front ranks as the field became home. Flip Sal, winner of the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1), was injured and pulled onto the backstretch, but of the 22 finishers, none had a more terrifying ride than Little Current and Bobby Ussery, who riding a boy. of Sea-Bird for the first time.
“There was a lot of close proximity,” Ussery said. “I was in trouble all the way.”
Previously, Rivera rode Little Current to a fourth-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1).
“It was Angel Cordero who gave me the mount,” Rivera said. “He told the trainer that I ride the way he likes to ride his horse.”
Cordero had ridden Little Current for trainer Lou Rondinello but was committed to running out of cards at Water racetrack on Green Grass Day. He recommended his friend, a Puerto Rican, as coach Lou Rondinello’s replacement. Rivera blamed himself for giving Little Current’s powerful finisher too early in the Blue Grass, but he later had to decline the Derby mount because of his commitment to Rube the Great, division winner of the Wood Memorial . Rube the Great edged the Derby field to finish 10th, while Cordero won the epic contest aboard Cannonade.
Thomas “Lou” Rondinello with small current
No one was happier than Rivera, who carried Cordero into his room that day and celebrated as if he himself had won the race. A giddy Cordero took $3,000 from his winnings as a gift to Rivera.
It was a flamboyant gesture appropriate to the times. Henry Aaron just hit home run No. 715 to surpass Babe Ruth’s record. “Blazing Saddles” and its sassy irreverence topped the movie box office. ABBA won the Eurovision song contest to begin its dark reign on the Billboard charts. And in Washington, DC, on May 9, 1974, the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives began impeachment hearings on charges that President Richard Nixon committed high crimes and misdemeanors by covering up Watergate break-in.
Nine days later, just on the way to Baltimore, seven Derby runners joined six others in the 99th Preakness. The record $209,000 purse included an additional $10,000 fee paid by Irene Udouj to Silver Florin , Arkansas Derby (G2) runner-up, and Rivera are getting a second chance with Little Current.
Hopes for a calm, clear Preakness after a brutal derby were dashed at the break when Buck’s Bid stumbled and took out Don MacBeth. The rider was fine and the colt ran away, happily falling behind with Little Current at the rear of the field throughout the first half of the race.
“I didn’t even know there was a loose horse until after the race,” Rivera said. “I was inside so I just had to stay there and see what would happen. No one was bothering me, but I had to be lucky. When we got to the extremity, I said to myself, ‘What am I doing here? here? There’s nowhere for me to go.'”
Approaching the eighth pole, Cordero and Cannonade briefly led on the outside. At the same time, Chic Anderson, who calls the race for CBS, has been keeping an eye on Rivera.
“Along the inside Little Current is finding room and is also making progress,” Anderson warned. “However, the area is tight on the railway.”
Tight or not, Rivera is still in it. The gap between Jolly Johu and the railing was no larger than the gap Hernandez found inside Follow the ghost back home at the Derby. Anderson quickly switched gears:
“But Little Current is passing, and here he comes! They’re reaching the finish line and Little Current is taking over as they get close to the wire. He’s pulling away! Little Current will be an impressive winner! He’ll win It.” leave yourself!”
The official distance was seven legs and the final time of 1:54 3/5 was the third fastest in the race’s history. In appreciation after the race, commentator Heywood Hale Broun noted that for Little Current, “As the gates were closed for him at the Derby, they have all opened for him today.”
Little Current and Rivera went on to win the Belmont Stakes (G1) by the equivalent of seven lengths, then battled through the summer losing to the finish in the Monmouth Invitational Handicap (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1). ) ahead of the ambitious gelding Holding. Sample. Little Current spotted a 10-pound winner in one and a 5-pound winner in the other. Horse and rider teamed up one last time in Lawrence Realization (G2T), in a contest designed as a test for a possible trip to France, but Little Current was beaten and emerged with a shock. career-ending ankle injury. As consolation, the 3-year-old colt was voted the 1974 Eclipse Award champion.
Rivera retired from riding in early 1993, trained for a number of years and now works as a talent scout and bloodstock agent with Florida-based trainer Victor Barboza, who operating First Dai Mo in this year’s Derby.
“I will be 81 in July,” Rivera said. “Thank God I’m healthy. I don’t take medication, I walk three miles a day and eat one meal a day. But it’s been 50 years. Can you believe it?”
Standing next to Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer that day to speak on television from the winner’s stand, as Mr. and Mrs. John Galbreath’s Darby Dan colors were painted on the Pimlico weather vane, Rivera set the standard for complete sincere expression. gratitude to thank his owners, trainers, agents and Cordero for pairing him with Rondinello.
“Now, can I say something in Spanish for my fellow Puerto Ricans?” Rivera asked.
“You can certainly say something to your people in Puerto Rico,” Schaefer replied.
And Rivera did so, sending love to his mother and describing the Preakness as a “lindissima carrera” — the most beautiful race — while also securing his place in Preakness history.
“I always regretted not staying with my people to celebrate that night, but I was young and I didn’t know how important winning the Preakness was,” Rivera said. “Cordero took me to the track and he asked me if I wanted to go with him back to New York, so I said yes. Then that night we went to see Smokey Robinson. I don’t even know who he is.”
Never mind. It had been a day full of miracles.
