ARCADIA – Almost all of America’s top thoroughbred trainers spend the winter and spring trying to get their best 3-year-olds into the Kentucky Derby, planning the way in like cat burglars casing the Louvre.
Michael McCarthy, this year, is different. He’s trying to keep his best young horse out of the Kentucky Derby.
The horse is Endlessly, one of two California colts who have qualified for the May 4 race, the other western hope being Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold.
Endlessly’s breeders and owners, retired Mattel Toys CEO John Amerman and his wife Jerry, are eager to enter the $5 million, Grade I Kentucky Derby for the first time in the couple’s nearly four decades in the sport.
But their trainer, McCarthy, would rather enter Endlessly in the $500,000, Grade II American Turf Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race on the grass for 3-year-olds to be run on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs.
The owners and the trainer hope to reach an amicable decision Saturday, sometime after a morning workout serving as a final test of Endlessly’s affinity for the Churchill main track, sometime before Kentucky Derby entries close later that day.
“It’s a good problem to have,” McCarthy said of the unusual situation in an interview at his barn at Santa Anita on Monday.
McCarthy, 53, doesn’t deny the Kentucky Derby’s importance. Though he hasn’t had a horse in the nation’s most famous race since becoming a head trainer 10 years ago, he was around the Derby as an assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. He was there for the thrill of Pletcher winning his first Derby with Super Saver in 2010, and there for the disappointment of early favorites Eskendereya (injured) in 2010 and Uncle Mo (ill) in 2011 having to miss the Derby.
“I just take with me how hard it is to get a horse to the Kentucky Derby, how fortunate we are to be in this position,” said McCarthy, whose biggest wins came in the 2021 Preakness with Rombauer, the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile with City of Light and the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with Ce Ce.
But the Derby might mean more to John Amerman, especially now that he’s 92. As owners, the Amermans’ biggest victories have come in Breeders’ Cup races, the 2003 Distaff with Adoration (trained by David Hofmans) and the 2016 Juvenile Turf with Oscar Performance (Brian Lynch).
Amerman declined an interview request but sent a brief statement through Amerman Racing LLC’s executive assistant.
“There really is not much to say at this point,” Amerman said. “We are still waiting to see how Endlessly works on Saturday before making our final decision.”
McCarthy’s qualms are well-founded.
Endlessly is the leading offspring of Oscar Performance, whose four Grade I wins all came in turf races. Endlessly’s seven wins in eight starts at age 2 and 3 have come in turf races, including Grade III stakes at Del Mar and Santa Anita, and in races on synthetic main tracks, in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields in February and the Grade III Jeff Ruby stakes at Turfway Park in Kentucky in March. Endlessly’s experience on dirt main tracks has come entirely in morning workouts, where he has never been clocked faster than 1:00 3/5 for 5 furlongs and 47 4/5 for 4 furlongs, according to Equibase.com.
“He’s had 30 works on the dirt. All of them have been solid without being eye-catching,” said McCarthy, who will fly to Louisville to supervise Saturday’s workout. “Is that because he’s just not a very good work horse? Or is that because he’s averse to the dirt? I don’t know. There’s only one way to find out, obviously.”
The Jeff Ruby victory with jockey Umberto Rispoli gave Endlessly the points he needed to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. But if he runs, he’ll go in as a mystery horse at best, making his dirt debut in the toughest race around.
The Derby has been uncommonly safe over the years. But racing 1 1/4 miles in an up-to-20-horse race in front of 150,000 fans can be a strain, not a springboard to future success. (FanDuel TV racing commentator Kurt Hoover showed me some research he did: Since last year’s Derby, the 18 runners have combined for only seven wins in 57 starts.)
Right after the Ruby, McCarthy told reporters Endlessly would be pointed for the American Turf. Then John Amerman asked the trainer not to rule out trying the Derby.
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“It’s hard for me to say no in a situation like that,” McCarthy said. “He (Amerman) has put millions of dollars into the game. He’s a breeder, owns a farm (Peacefield Farm in Temecula), is great for California racing. He’s been wonderful in letting us manage the horse to date.
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“He asked me to be open-minded about the Kentucky Derby, and that’s the least we can do.”
McCarthy’s respect for the owner is clear. So is his dedication to doing right by the horse.
In the end, the decision might not be made by the owner who wants to go to the Derby or the trainer who’d rather not. It might be made by Endlessly, signaling his taste for the Churchill dirt with the quality of his final workout before May 4.
“We’ll work Saturday,” McCarthy said, “and see where we’re at.”
Follow Kevin Modesti on X (formerly Twitter) @KevinModesti.