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Battle of the bulge '99 Derby winner Antley reduced to watching this year
Posted: Wednesday May 03, 2000 06:53 PM
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A year ago this time, the forgotten jockey went to Louisville to ride the horse no one wanted in the Kentucky Derby. For all the thoroughbred racing world noticed, they could have been there only to hear the touching rendition of "My Old Kentucky Home." Chris Antley and Charismatic changed that laid-back attitude, bursting into the sports world's consciousness in spectacular fashion and capturing the nation's heart in a wonderful way. This week, Chris Antley returns to Louisville for Saturday's Derby, and again he will be far from the spotlight. Thoroughbred aficionados will be fawning over trainers named Lukas and Baffert, horses named Fusaichi Pegasus and Captain Steve, and perhaps a jockey named Jorge Chavez. No, Antley has not forgotten the riding skills that took him from South Carolina to the top of his profession. Rather, he battles again that curse of jockey's weight. Almost everyone can identify and sympathize. Who has not struggled with an expanding waistline and wrestled to shed those few extra pounds that come naturally? Jockeys face a more difficult challenge than most in that department. How can they lose weight with almost no fat on their already small frames? If this means Chris Antley will never ride in the big-time again, he will leave racing with some glittering memories -- his and ours. Chris Antley, a jockey who learned his trade in Elloree, and Charismatic, a thoroughbred that his owner and trainer offered to anyone for a song, made beautiful music together this time a year ago. For five glorious weeks, they basked in adulation. Antley, who set all sorts of riding records in his younger days, had fought the weight problem to get there. He went through a torturous regimen to get back into the 115-pound range. Stories of his trudging through the streets near his father and stepmother's East Columbia home in his heavy sweat suit made the rounds, and he won that ounce-by-ounce battle. Meanwhile, Charismatic did not deliver to expectations and ran in claiming races, available to anyone who would meet the $62,500 price, pocket change for the horse-racing fraternity. No one did. Even after trainer Wayne Lukas changed the work pattern and Charismatic showed promise, his jockey chose another ride in the Derby. Finally, Lukas turned to Antley, a jockey known for getting strong stretch runs from his mount. The combination clicked, a necessity to succeed at the highest level. Antley brought the 31-1 shot from far off the lead to the Churchill Downs finish line ahead of the pack. The duo did the same in the Preakness, at 8-1 odds, and now owners Bob and Beverly Lewis' green and yellow silks filled the sports pages. They went off favored to win the Belmont Stakes and horse racing's Triple Crown. Instead, Charismatic suffered a broken bone in the home stretch, and only Antley's quick work saved the horse. The cheers turned to tears. Antley's dad, Les, calls Chris semiretired in Pasadena, Calif. "He works horses in the morning [in training] and he works out himself in the gym," Les Antley says. "But he is 34, and I don't know if going through what he did before -- not eating, dieting, the exercising and all that -- would be worth it." Chris Antley weighs 127-130 pounds and shedding 15 pounds sounds easy enough, but, his dad said, "He almost killed himself" in his last weight battle. Antley rode in four Breeders' Cup races in November, then took time off from the track and the weight problems resurfaced. "He does not talk about [the run for the Triple Crown] much," Les Antley said, "but he loved that horse. He told me he probably got more publicity for [his quick action to save Charismatic] than he would have if they had won the race." The Antley-Charismatic relationship reminded Les Antley of another time in the sun. "It's like when he won the 1991 Kentucky Derby with Strike the Gold," he said. "Chris slept in the barn with the horse. The jockey and horse have to connect in a special way." Shed no tears for Chris Antley, whose achievements include winning at least one race for 64 consecutive days in 1989. He managed his money well. "He's happy," Les Antley said. "If he makes up his mind to ride again, he probably could make the weight. He would have another good year or two at the top." More likely, he will focus on a new phase in his life. Two weeks ago, he married. He met his bride-to-be Natalie, an ABC producer, during the Triple Crown chase a year ago. For Antley, that chapter will be a beautiful memory, too.
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