If you want to get a sense of how hard it is to win the Kentucky Derby, just ask Las Vegas businessman Ron Winchell.
The 53-year-old Winchell and his late father, Verne, founder of the Winchell’s Donuts chain, have been chasing a victory in the world’s most famous horse race for the better part of a century.
The 13 horses they have run in the 1¼-mile race — both homebreds and sales purchases — have come as close as second, but the Winchells have yet to hoist the Derby trophy.
The Winchells have won many other big races over the years, but the Derby and the other two Triple Crown races — the Preakness and Belmont Stakes — have so far eluded them.
Asked if he ever considered taking up a less frustrating avocation, Winchell said the challenge of winning big races like the Kentucky Derby is what attracted him and his dad to the sport.
“That’s one of the things I love about racing,” he said by phone from Kentucky on Thursday. “We keep trying.”
Winchell will try, try again on Saturday with Tiztastic, a 3-year-old son of Tiz the Law that he and his mother, Joan, co-own with Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith.
The colt, who is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen and will be ridden by Joel Rosario, earned his way into the Derby with a 2¼-length victory in the $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 22. He is a 20-1 shot on the morning line.
Tiztastic’s emergence as a serious Derby contender came on the heels of a big disappointment for Winchell, when Magnitude, a 9¾-length winner of the $500,000 Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds, suffered an ankle chip that took him off the Derby trail.
Winchell was resigned to not having a Derby starter for the second year in a row until Tiztastic suddenly stepped out of his stablemate’s shadow after four straight losses.
“In the Louisiana Derby, everything started to click for him,” said Winchell, who splits his time between Las Vegas and Kentucky, where he owns a 320-acre horse farm near Lexington and serves as co-managing partner of Kentucky Downs, a turf-only racetrack in Franklin.
“When I talked to Steve (Asmussen) before the race, he said, ‘You need to come down. He’s going to win.’”
Tiztastic did not appear to be a Derby horse early in his career, losing his first start last summer on dirt at Saratoga before being switched to turf and winning two straight, including a $1 million juvenile stakes at Kentucky Downs.
That prompted Winchell and Asmussen to give him another chance on dirt against stakes company. He didn’t run badly, hitting the board in three of his next four starts, but it didn’t appear he would have enough points to make the Kentucky Derby until his breakout performance in the Louisiana Derby.
Winchell declined to compare Tiztastic to Epicenter, who gave Winchell and Asmussen a huge thrill followed by a crushing disappointment in 2022 when he appeared to be headed for victory in the Derby only to be run down in the final strides by 80-1 long shot Rich Strike.
“It’s hard to compare anyone to Epicenter,” he said, noting that the colt had entered the Derby on a hot streak after winning four of his five previous starts.
Epicenter followed up his Derby runner-up effort with a second in the Preakness before winning the Jim Dandy and Travers Stakes at Saratoga that summer before suffering a career-ending injury in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He was later voted as North America’s top 3-year-old in the Eclipse Awards.
“That helped ease the sting,” Winchell said of the accolade. “Not the whole sting, but most of the sting.”
Further evidence that the one that got away still hurts surfaced when Winchell shared a list of all the Derby starters he and his dad had run. After the entry for Epicenter was a single word: “(ouch).”
Tiztastic isn’t as accomplished at this stage as Epicenter, but he is giving signs that he’s ready to put forth a top effort in Louisville, Winchell said.
“He’s generally a laid-back , very mellow horse,” he said. “That mentality should do well amid the crowd (at Churchill Downs) for the Derby. He’s had quite a few races, and the fact that now he’s won two million-dollar races gives us some level of confidence.”
Win or lose on Saturday, Winchell is already looking ahead to future challenges.
He and Asmussen are targeting a colt named Clever Again for the Preakness Stakes in two weeks, where he may be joined by Tiztastic if he puts forth a strong effort in the Derby.
As for Magnitude, he’s on the verge of resuming workouts after undergoing surgery to remove the bone chip from his ankle.
“We hope to have him back for Saratoga and the Travers,” Winchell said.
And he said he’s “really excited about next year,” referring to the talented band of 2-year-olds he has assembled who are working toward their first starts.
Winchell is hopeful that Tiztastic will be the horse to end his family’s long Derby drought. But if he doesn’t win, the quest will continue.
“I’d like to think there’s one (Derby trophy) out there with my name on it,” he said. “But hopefully No. 14 is the lucky one. It’s also our post position, so there you go.”
Mike Brunker is a retired Review-Journal editor.
Up next
What: Kentucky Derby
When: Saturday
Where: Churchill Downs, Louisville, Ky.
TV: NBC (coverage 11:30 a.m.; post time 3:57 p.m.)
Favorite: Journalism, 3-1
