Kirkpatrick & Co. Presents In Their Care: A Derby Day Walkover To Remember For West Saratoga Team

“To me, it was a little scary,” he admitted. “I said to myself, ‘If anything bad were to happen, I could always go back home.’“

Something very good happened when Lowery found his way to The Thoroughbred Center, where he soon made an extraordinary connection with Demeritte. Their passion for horses led them to form an unbreakable bond. They will go to the 150^th Kentucky Derby as sentimental favorites with West Saratoga, an $11,000 yearling purchase for owner Harry Veruchi with a penchant for keeping fast company.

The gray son of 2016 Preakness winner Exaggerator was the first horse to earn Derby points when he won the Sept. 16 Iroquois (G3) at Churchill Downs. He is still going strong with 67 qualifying points, having placed second in the March 23 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) on Turfway Park’s Tapeta surface to extend his record to 10 2-5-1 with earnings of $460,140. Hip 4146 was one of the last horses sold at Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale in yet another vivid reminder that Derby runners can come from anywhere.

“Oh, man, it’s unbelievable,” Lowery said. “I still wake up in the morning and think, ‘Is this really happening?’“

West Saratoga surely landed in the right place at the right time. He might have easily been lost in the crowd in a much bigger operation. Demeritte and Lowery, his assistant and exercise rider, have painstakingly overseen his development as one of 11 horses in their care.

While Demeritte lacks a national reputation, his keen eye for a horse is well respected by breeders and consignors. He paid only $1,000 for Lady Glamour as a yearling. She went on to be graded-stakes placed and banked $126,170. Daring Pegasus, a $3,000 yearling, returned $212,518 overall. He went to $12,000 for She’s That Cat as a yearling. Her return: $334,729.

Demeritte has never had the luxury of attending a sale with a massive budget. He prides himself in his ability to make a lot of a little.

“I buy a good horse cheap. I don’t buy cheap horses,” he is fond of saying.

Lowery, 30, has been aboard West Saratoga since he arrived at The Thoroughbred Center. He knew they might have something special the first time Demeritte gave him a leg up on a colt that was not even an afterthought for most buyers.

“He has a different mindset, a different attitude, from most horses I’ve been on,” the rider said. “The first time I got on him, he acted like he was an older horse, the way he was going. Everything I asked him, there were no problems.”

Demeritte tailors his approach to each horse. One size does not fit all in this outfit. He has been sure to keep plenty in reserve with West Saratoga, named for the street in Littleton, Colo., that Veruchi grew up on.

Demerette and Lowery compare notes daily on the horse of their dreams. Demerette wants his understudy to grasp the reason for everything he does.

“I always try to explain to him what I’m trying to accomplish so he can learn. It’s not just going out there and running around the track once or twice,” the trainer said. “The pace we use on different days, I explain to him why I am doing that. Hopefully, when he becomes a trainer, he can use that for his benefit.”

Lowery explains in detail how each morning exercise goes. On most mornings, it could not go any better.

“It’s almost push button. Whenever I’m ready for him to turn it on, he gives it right to me,” Lowery said. “He doesn’t ask any questions. He just gives it to me.”

His relationship with Demerette extends far beyond the racing world. They can – and do – discuss anything and everything. “Larry is like a second father to me. Whenever I need him, he’s there,” Lowery said. “He loves me, so I’m always going to be there for him.”

And Demerette leans heavily on Lowery. He is a cancer patient, having been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, and with amyloidosis, which causes the body to make abnormal proteins. He long ago outlived the grim prognosis his doctors gave him.

Still, he has bad days when Lowery and others at the barn are asked to compensate for his absence. Demerette speaks without hesitation about the need to pass the torch to his assistant someday.

In the meantime, their excitement grows as Derby Day nears. They plan to do the walkover with West Saratoga together, forever grateful their paths converged.