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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Larry DeMerritt bent down and unwrapped the wrap around West Saratoga's right hind leg. He does the same thing on the left side, then ducks under the horse's belly and helps his assistant, Donte Lowry, swaddle the horse. After work, DeMerritt stood in front of the horse, next to his brother Patrick, who was tending to it, and smiled broadly.
A line of cameramen crouched next to Barn 42, video cameras surrounding Demerit, and a boom microphone extended from the handler to peer into Demerit's conversation. He doesn't care about the production at all, as if somehow this attention is typical for a man who has won two major prizes throughout his 40-year career.
Unusually positive and armed with sarcasm at every turn, Demerit is a feel-good Kentucky Derby story that, frankly, could be used for horse racing. A year ago, the sport's premier race ended in a shadow as 12 horses died in the week leading up to the Derby and five runners were injured by post time.
Well, here we have Demerit from the Bahamas. Black trainers are in a rare profession. A person who has cancer for the second time and also has a rare heart disease. Horses bought for the price of a worn-out Hyundai run in the field, including a yearling bought for $2.3 million. Forty-eight years after following his dream and moving from a steady job in the Caribbean to a barn at Churchill Downs, he entered his first Kentucky Derby.
But Mr. Demeritt, 74, is more than just a man with a great story and a willingness to tell it. He's a guy who understands that this is more than just himself. “I always say this,” Demerit begins, using his favorite segue to get his message across. “When you look at a gravestone, you can tell when you're born and when you die and the dash in between. That dash? It all depends on what you do with your life during that dash.”
A simple wrought-iron gate opens off East 7th Street in Lexington, leading to a path made more by the ruts of tire tracks worn into the grass than by a road. African Cemetery No. 2 served as a burial ground from the early 1820s and was turned over to the Colored United Benevolent Society No. 2 in 1869. There are approximately 600 signs filling the 7-acre space and plaques created to tell the story. A name engraved on a tombstone. One of his is dedicated to African Americans in the horse industry and includes his list of 24 men who worked as thoroughbred trainers.
Black trainers were common in the early days of horse racing, and many learned their trade while caring for slave owners' animals. The first Kentucky Derby in 1875 was won by Aristides, a horse trained by Ansel Williamson who had been released ten years earlier. However, due to the combination of Reconstruction and Plessy v. Ferguson, black men were forced out of the profession, and many were unable to afford good horses or rides. Most have had their careers set back and become stablemen or trainers rather than trainers or jockeys. Demeritt is the first black trainer to run in the Derby since Hank Allen in 1989, and the second since 1951.
Buoyed by his late father's knowledge of horses and his grandmother's positivity, he arrived in the United States from the Bahamas in 1976 and has made it this far. Before Thomas Demeritt broke a horse and died, he taught his son everything he knew about horses, but it was actually May Queen who led his grandson to an impossible dream.・This is a disadvantage. The family had no money. Dimeritte told a wonderful story in which he gathered cooked rice into balls, wrapped them in paper bags, put makeshift ammunition into a slingshot, killed a pigeon, and barbecued it with the skewers he had made. of the hanger. But they had each other and they had faith. May Queen said she has more than enough to look after the 13 grandchildren she raised. Her only condition was that the boys study at least two professions, and the girls receive an education and take care of each other for the rest of their lives. (They listened. Twenty members of the DeMerrit family are scheduled to come from the Bahamas for the Derby.)
For Demeritt, horses were more of a calling than a trade. His love for the sport was so strong that he gave up his job as a horse trainer in the Bahamas to work as a stableman in the United States. He was hired by Lexington-based trainer Oscar Dishman to participate in a circuit that stretched from Chicago to Florida, and eventually ended up at Churchill Downs.
Standing near his Derby horses, Demeritt gestures over his shoulder to the barn behind him, which has also served as his home for the past two years, clearly amazed at how far he's come. In 1981, Dimeritte became independent as a trainer. He was well aware that the color of his skin made him an anomaly, and he refused to see it as anything other than an opportunity. “I always say, if I can be associated with the negative aspects of my race, why wouldn't I want to associate someone with the positive aspects?” he says. “It's not about me. It's about taking all of my race with me and making them feel proud.”
he said as Lowry, a black assistant trainer, finished giving West Saratoga a bath. Lowry said he started working at Demerit in 2015. His mother passed away and, like Demerit, he yearned for bigger things in horse racing. He left Charlestown Track in West Virginia and headed to Kentucky. He began galloping for trainer John Mulvey, but when Mulvey went to Florida, Lowry chose to stay behind and put down his roots in Kentucky. He met Demeritt at the Thoroughbred Center in Lexington and the two quickly bonded over their love of horses, and Lowry found in Demeritt more than just her boss. “That's why I do what I do,” Demeritt says. “I don't want Donte or the other assistants in his stable to have to wait this long to go to the Derby as a trainer.”
By 1996, Demeritt had amassed only 25 wins (for reference, Todd Pletcher, trainer of Derby favorite Fierceness, had 67 wins this year), but he was satisfied. Was. He was in the game, even if it was on the fringes in the claim and maiden races.
That year, doctors diagnosed him with bone cancer. The chemotherapy was excruciating and the prognosis was grim. He joked with his doctors that if they couldn't tell him exactly how many rounds of chemotherapy he would need to be cured, they would decide when enough was enough. But he also admits that the illness has dampened his optimism at times. I remember going to bed at night wondering if he would wake up the next morning because of the pain that ran through his body. “I'm very sick and my prayer is that if I don't wake up on this side, God will wake me up on his side,” DeMerritto said. He beat cancer, but it came back in 2018.
Six years later, he still undergoes chemotherapy every month, most recently the week before the Derby. He has also been diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare disease that causes protein to build up within his organs. In the case of demerits, it is affecting his mind. It helps that he lives nearby. In 2000, he purchased his 30-acre farm in Frankfort, about an hour's drive from Louisville. He goes to Churchill every day and it's a blessing to be able to rest in his own bed. His daily life is also normal. On Sunday, six days before the biggest day of his life, Demeritt went to church and then Sunday school. Although he dismisses questions about his fitness, saying, “I don't have time to sit around and worry,” those close to him know how much the disease is taking a toll.
“He's definitely been through some stuff,” West Saratoga owner Harry Bellucci said. “This horse gives me a reason to go to work.”
Mr. Velucci met Mr. Demeritt in 2000, when Mr. Demeritt selected a $3,000 horse for the Colorado-based owner. Daring Pegasus finished second in the 2-year-old race on Derby day that year, earning Veruci $212,518 and a significant return on his investment. “I've been going there ever since,” said Veruci, who retired from running a used car dealership.
Veruci grew up in Littleton, Colorado, in an area adjacent to Centennial Racetrack. Most streets are named after railway lines, such as Monmouth, Pimlico and Tanforan. Veruci grew up in West Saratoga. At age 10, he snuck into Centennial Corporation (he was supposed to be 16) and used his playfulness to try to convince someone to hire him. They chased this oil palm away, but gave his much older and taller companion the role of groom. Doug Peterson will continue to train Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew after the famous 3-year-old's run.
Verruci eventually turned his focus to horse ownership, purchasing his first horse, Merv, in 1982. Veruci, like Dimeritte, primarily stayed away from the sport's spotlight, competing in small stakes races. He and Demerit have been partners on and off since Daring Pegasus, and the owner has learned to appreciate the trainer's integrity and trust his instincts. “He's a humble guy, a religious guy and a great trainer,” Verruchi said. “He takes really good care of this horse. He's very active in the match and making sure everything is right.”
Three years ago, DeMerritt visited Keeneland's annual yearling sale. He knows what he likes about horses, but he also knows what he can't afford. “I always say, 'You can have the taste of champagne on a beer budget,' so I buy good horses cheap, but that doesn't mean I buy cheap horses,” Demerit says. “I can't afford horses that have paper, so I try to buy horses that can make paper.” He got lucky. In addition to Daring's Pegasus, Mr. Demeritt has other good investments, including Lady Glamor, which he bought for $1,000 and earned him $126,000.
But on the final day of the 2021 12-day sale, Demeritte still hadn't found the horse, and a concerned Verruci kept calling, asking if anything had caught Demeritte's attention.
Finally, with 20 horses left and the sale nearing its end, Demerit found a gray stallion. Hip 4146, as listed, is a son of 2016 Derby runner-up and Preakness winner Exagalater. The auction started and Demerit made a bid, but then he became impatient. “I kept saying, 'Stop the auction,'” Demeritt recalls with a laugh. “You've been selling this horse longer than any other horse that comes through here.'' Mr. Dimeritte bought the yearling, named after the street where Mr. Veruci grew up, for $11,000. But that was $2.289 million less than what the ownership group paid for Derby contender Sierra Leone.
West Saratoga is 50-1. The disadvantage of being an eternal optimist is ignoring the opinions of tipsters. As he always tells Velucci, there is no plan B. The only plan is to cross the wire first and accomplish the demerits master plan – to be inspired. It inspires young people to cherish their dreams, even if the road ahead is difficult. Inspiring young black men into horse racing by providing a familiar face to emulate. To encourage cancer survivors to ignore their prognosis and diagnosis and just live.
But those who love and care about the cons want to tweak their plans. Only this time they just want the story to be about Larry Demeritt. “I’m so happy to see him come this far,” Lowery said. “Just being here was a dream come true for him, and Larry always says, 'Nobody remembers who finished second in the Kentucky Derby.'” I gave him everything. I would like to have it included. I want him to win the Kentucky Derby. ”
This horse is a big hit. But then again, so was Larry Demerit.
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photo: Matt Stone/USA Today)