Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's latest Kentucky Derby contender looks mighty sweet. And like his trainer, Chocolate Candy refuses to melt under pressure.
If this colt with a coat like Ghirardelli succeeds Saturday, it will be an extra special treat after a trying spring for Hollendorfer, who has remained steadfast amid a family crisis. Janet Hollendorfer -- his wife, chief assistant and right hand -- had a brain tumor removed six weeks ago.
"We try to look at things in a positive way," he said, noting that Janet is back at work at their Golden Gate Fields barn. "We never get negative."
Winner of more than 5,000 races, Hollendorfer has started only three horses in the world's most famous race, topped by fifth-place finisher Eye of the Tiger in 2003.
Chocolate Candy, however, brings impressive credentials into Saturday's 135th Kentucky Derby, where he drew the No. 11 post Wednesday and was set at early odds of 20-1. A son of Candy Ride, the colt won the California and El Camino Real derbies at Golden Gate in Albany before finishing a fast-closing second in the Santa Anita Derby behind Pioneerof the Nile.
"He's as live a horse as I've ever brought here," Hollendorfer said from Louisville.
Around the barn, Chocolate Candy is a sweetheart. In a coincidence loved by pundits, Chocolate Candy is owned by diet guru Jenny Craig. She bred the colt with her husband, Sid, who died in July.
"I'd love to win (the Derby), not just because of the prestige of the race but because it was Sid's dream," Jenny said earlier this month.
Hollendorfer, 62, has no problems with his celebrity client. "Very nice and easy," he said of their working relationship. "The Craigs have been my clients for many years."
Shortly after Chocolate Candy's win in the El Camino Real, Janet Hollendorfer started having headaches. She had emergency surgery to remove a large brain tumor.
"We're happy the doctors were able to help her; we're very thankful for that," Jerry said, noting that Janet will stay in California this week. "She's doing really well now."
The life-threatening episode was another gut-wrenching turn on Hollendorfer's Derby trail.
In past years, his best contenders were derailed within days of the race. Then-undefeated Event of the Year broke his knee in his final workout before the 1998 Derby. In 2000, Globalize got kicked and cut up by a lead pony two days before the Derby and had to be scratched.
On Monday, Hollendorfer had another scare at Churchill Downs. In a fatal collision, a runaway horse plowed into a filly standing on the track just as Chocolate Candy and jockey Mike Smith started their final pre-Derby workout.
Smith later told reporters that Chocolate Candy caught a glimpse of the fallen horses while at a full gallop.
"We saw both the horses down," said Smith, who won the 2005 Derby with 50-1 long shot Giacomo. "Luckily, it happened over by the outer rail. He just looked that way for a second, but he turned back and kept going. We both were able to focus and complete what we had to do."
Chocolate Candy finished the five furlongs in 59.20 seconds. "It was excellent," Hollendorfer said.
The Derby will be Chocolate Candy's first start on dirt after an all-California campaign on synthetic surfaces.
"You never know how they're going to handle (the switch to dirt) until they do it," he said. "But he's shown us he can handle it just fine. ... He's doing very well and looks better every day."
(Contact Debbie Arrington at darrington@sacbee.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit Sacramento Bee
Post new comment