LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Udonis Haslem is chasing another NBA championship ring with Miami. If the Heat deliver, Haslem will be 42 years old when the confetti comes down, the oldest player in The Association.
Haslem is also about five months younger that Albert Pujols. He turned 42 in January, well before Pujols began his farewell season with the St. Louis Cardinals as the oldest player in Major League Baseball.
Tom Brady’s ability to continue to play quarterback in the NFL is as dazzling as his ability to win seven Super Bowls. Brady will turn 45 in early August at training camp with Tampa Bay.
42, 42, 45 ... those are just kids.
Then there is the athlete positioned to set the record for the oldest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.
That would be the irrepressible, full-speed-ahead Mike Smith.
Smith will be 56 years, 8 months and 23 days old Saturday when he rides Taiba, winner of the Santa Anita Derby, at Churchill Downs. That makes him more than 2 years older than the legendary Bill Shoemaker was when he scored aboard Ferdinand in 1986. (Hey, Smith was 52 when he won his second Derby on Justify four years ago.)
“Is this Derby Week?” Smith said, with a laugh. “I’m so excited that I could fly to Louisville without a plane.”
If you needed an explanation for how Smith keeps going and going and going, consider that Exhibit A. The man runs on high-octane adrenaline. Smith said he had a late-evening Tuesday flight from Southern California to Louisville so he can ride a horse Wednesday at Churchill Downs.
But the main event will be Saturday: The most experienced jockey will team with the least experienced horse: Taiba, formerly trained by Bob Baffert but now conditioned by Tim Yakteen.
Smith will extend his record to 28 Derby mounts, two more than Shoemaker, four more than John Velasquez and six more than Pat Day or Gary Stevens.
Taiba has raced twice: a 6-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita on March 5 followed by his crackling performance in the Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
Both races had handicappers checking the replay to make certain they saw what they thought they saw. Taiba won the maiden race by 7 1/2 lengths and then shocked his stable mate, Messier, with a 2 1/4-length win in the Santa Anita Derby.
Taiba, for the record, is the only horse in the 20-horse field to post Beyer speed figures of 102 or more in two races.
But skeptics abound. This is why:
The last horse to win the Derby off two prep races was Leonatus in 1883. I looked it up on several stone tablets for confirmation.
I asked Smith how he would respond to those who doubt the colt can overcome his lack of seasoning.
“How would I respond?” Smith said. “Watch and see. You can come up with questions for every horse in the Derby because it’s an incredibly hard race to win.
“What (Taiba) lacks in foundation, he certainly makes up for in ability. I’ll take the way he ran the other day (in the Santa Anita Derby) and be very happy if he gives another performance like that Saturday.”
Smith rode his first Derby in 1984. Finished sixth aboard Pine Circle, trained by Shug McGaughey. At the time, Smith was based at Ak-Sar-Ben race track. Don’t look for that track in the Daily Racing Form any more. Based in Omaha, Ak-Sar-Ben (Nebraska spelled backward) closed in 1995.
Smith said stories that he did not sleep the night before his first Derby were untrue.
“It was more like I didn’t sleep for a week,” Smith said. “I went to the bathroom so many times that I couldn’t pee any more.”
That is Smith’s first Derby memory. This is his second: Racing to the airport after the race, he shared a private car with Howard Cosell, the legendary ABC sportscaster.
“I came out of the jock’s room looking for a ride because I needed to make my flight,” Smith said. “He saw me and was nice enough to ask if I wanted to ride with him. I remember he told some great Muhammad Ali stories.”
There was a six-year gap until Smith returned to the Derby to ride Thirty Six Red for Nick Zito in 1990. He didn’t appear in the Winner’s Circle until his 12th Derby mount, when Giacomo shocked the field at 50-1 in 2005.
Since 2004, Smith has missed only one Derby (2014). His second Derby score was also remarkable, a victory that started Justify on the path to the 2018 Triple Crown.
At 56, Smith has won an impressive 20% (22 of 110) of his mounts during the current meet at Santa Anita. How does he keep going and going and going?
“Fortunately for me, I decided early in my career that I was going to take my health and conditioning seriously,” Smith said. “I’ve been on a good workout program for a long time.”
On Tuesday, Smith said he ran for an hour on the treadmill and then invested a second hour on strength and flexibility work with a personal trainer.
“I can’t wait to get to Louisville,” Smith said. “I still get geared up for the big races like the Derby and I’m so appreciative to have the opportunity to ride great horses like Taiba.”
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