The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

From Governor’s Harbour in the Bahamas to Louisville, Kentucky, USA, here comes trainer Larry Demeritte.

Demeritte is now the first Bahamian and first Caribbean black trainer to qualify for the Kentucky Derby when the 150th edition of the 150th running of the world’s most-watched and most-attended greatest horse racing event in the United States.

It’s held annually on the first Saturday of May at the Churchill Downs in Louisville. The Derby is known as “The Run for the Roses,” as the winning horse is draped in a blanket of roses.

The race is run by three- year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles (10 furlongs; 2,012 metres), the first time horses in the field race that distance.

Demeritte and West Saratoga have qualified in the fourth spot, but the Lexington resident said he’s hoping that at the end of the field of 20 competitors, they will earn another triumphant victory for the Bahamas.

In 1976, with the help of Dr Archie Donaldson, Demeritte left the Bahamas to pursue his dream of being a horse trainer, following in the footsteps of his father, Thomas Demeritte.

But having won a series of derby events around the US, Demeritte said it was always his goal of competing in Kentucky. He mapped out a series of events in Tampa, Florida, Churchill Downs and in Kentucky on Saturday where jockey Jesus Castanon rode to a second place finish to seal their spot at the Kentucky Derby.

“We’re now in the fourth spot,” said Demeritte, who will be using Castanon once again to ride West Saratoga on May 4 at the Kentucky Derby. “I am so proud to represent our flag to show the world that there is a lot of greatness coming out of our small little nation.”

As for booking his ticket to the Kentucky Derby, Demeritte, who has been featured in a number of horse racing magazines, said it’s a tremendous accomplishment.

“A lot of people spend a lot of money trying to get there and they still ain’t there yet,” he said. “So, it’s only 20 horses who get to compete and so it’s a great accomplishment to be one of these competing.”

In preparation for the big showdown, Demeritte said his only mission is to keep West Saratoga healthy.

“I’m hoping that he will peak on that day. If he can peak on that day, then we will be very competitive,” said Demeritte, who bought the horse last September as a two-year-old.

There is only one thing Demeritte has in mind heading into Louisville.

“To win,” he stated. “I don’t just want to go for the run. If I’m in it, I want to go for it all.”

To achieve that goal, Demeritte said the trick is “having the horse as good as we can have him and hope that we can get the best from him that day. We hope that he comes through with his best. We want to be victorious. All we can do is to prepare the horse. We can’t prepare other people’s horses.

“You just have to take your horse there in the best condition and just hope for the best. That’s all you could ask for. We want him to give us his best that day. Hopefully, it is good enough to get us the victory.”

No doubt, Demeritte said it won’t be no easy run around the race track.

“You’re talking about 20 of the best horses in the world competing, so you expect everyone to bring their A-game,” Demeritte stated.

“I just hope that I am the best on the day. You have to train your horse to be good enough to win. I think he’s good enough, so we’re going to go for it. I know he loves the race track. He’s already won there, so we just hope he can come back and do it again.

“It’s the only day in the United States that you get to run that many horses at one time, so you just hope that he can adjust and be ready to compete with the best out there. We will have him trained and hopefully that will be good enough for him to bring the trophy back home.”

With only a hour of Louisville where they train in Lexington, Demeritte said it’s easy to commute to and from to Churchill Downs.

But he said while it’s a much longer journey from the Bahamas to Kentucky, he’s thrilled to know that there will be a lot of Bahamians rooting on the sidelines from their television screens, cheering for him and West Saratoga.

“I have a lot of friends in the Bahamas who have been supporting me. I hope that I can represent them very well,” he stated.

“I am here representing the Bahamas because I know people like Justin

Roberts and Margaret Turnquest, who helped me to get started out. I never forget them. So I would like to give a shout out to them because they are some of the people who made this happen.”

Demeritte is a childhood friend of Michael Armbrister, a renowned distance runner, coach and chiropractor.