A disgruntled bettor, perturbed at the Hungarian-born rider's loss aboard a horse he had backed, spewed forth a rash of invectives, none of which Kallai did not receive with an open mind.
To the bettor's well-being, security guards wrested the muscular Kallai from his lofty task. Kallai was a professional fighter in his native land. He also boxed twice on undercards at Philadelphia's Spectrum. He was not one to turn the other cheek.
That was not, of course, the only time a jockey has been provoked by a disappointed supporter whose horse did not wind up in the winners' circle. Men with horses have been accused of nefarious acts since the days of Ben Hur.
But at Hollywood Park last Wednesday, in a race that otherwise was just another $32,000 maiden claimer, a heart-warming moment unfolded. It was right out of "National Velvet." Paul Revere would have been proud.
Courtableu, a 2-year-old gelding making his first start, broke four lengths behind the field of 10 in the six-furlong race. After a quarter-mile on a sloppy track, Courtableu was ninth, 14 lengths behind and seemingly hopelessly beaten.
But jockey Gary Stevens never had any intention of wrapping up on the horse, who was the 5-2 morning line favorite but was once as high as 17-1 before going off at 5-1.
Stevens, enjoying his greatest year as a jockey, kept the Louisiana-bred clear of horses on the outside, angled to the inside leaving the three-eighths pole as he began to pick up his field, then was four-wide through the stretch, but suddenly, only three horses were in front of him.
Courtableu responded to several left-handed taps from Stevens' whip and got up to win by a half-length under a hand ride. To Stevens' credit, he rode this lowly claiming race with the same honor and virtue he did in the Kentucky Derby, which he won with 24-1 shot Thunder Gulch.
Stevens, who expresses himself in as coherent a verbal form as any jockey ever, gave a stride-by-stride account of the unlikely victory.
"He just didn't know anything about the starting gate," Stevens said of the Darrell Vienna-trained bay. "You can usually tell how alert a first-time starter is when you're walking into the gate. You can tell if they're going to break or not, and I knew he wasn't going to break, just from his attitude, so I kind of had to change my game plan right there. But you ride not only to win the race, but to try and teach him something for the future, also.
"We knew that he could run a little bit, that he had some talent. But he just absolutely walked away from the gate. He didn't get squeezed or anything else. So you just try and get him gathered up, get some composure and confidence and not try to rush right back up to the field. Hopefully, they've got enough talent, like this horse did, that they can collect themselves, gain their composure back and get the job done like he did . . . I just tried to ease him into it . . . see how he reacted, and he reacted fairly well . . . I guess from the top of the turn, at the 3 1/2-furlong pole, my confidence gained tremendously. I thought that I had a real good chance of winning it then, if he could sustain his run. He didn't overdo it catching up to the field. He just kind of galloped up to the field, rather than rushing up to 'em."
Quit was never on Stevens' mind.
"Absolutely not," the 32-year-old jockey said. "And even if he wouldn't have got there, the first thing that comes into your mind is to come into the stretch with some horse underneath you, so (at least) you're passing horses. You don't want him to struggle home the last 16th of a mile, because horses always remember their first out. You always want them running at the end of their first race, regardless of the circumstances.
"My foremost thought at that point was to keep riding and make sure I still had some horse the last eighth of a mile. I think I only hit him five or six times left-handed, but not hard, more for some mild encouragement, to let him know the race wasn't over with."
Despite the cynical attitude of some racegoers, Stevens felt any rider on the prestigious Southern California circuit would have done as much as he did,
"I think that's one thing the fans here kind of might take for granted," said Stevens, who underwent arthroscopic surgery for torn cartilage on his left knee Monday and is expected to be out some three weeks, until early January. "But they're being treated to some of the best riders in the world, and some of the most competitive athletes in the world here, day-in and day-out. I would like to think the majority of riders in here
would have done the same thing I just did on that horse."
Even though it wasn't the Kentucky Derby, the unique victory was special to Stevens.
"Oh, yeah. And it's funny. I haven't ridden a whole lot of horses for David Milch, the owner of Courtableu. But the ones that I have ridden for him, most of them have been memorable, namely Gilded Time (1993 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and champion 2-year-old colt). I broke his maiden. He broke worse than this horse in his first out and still ran 1:09 flat that day, and I was further back than (I was on) this horse.
"So that was the first thing that came into my mind. The first jump out of the gate, I just told myself, 'Boy, I hope this is another Gilded Time.' Obviously, we were running against maiden claimers, but he did it in the same style that Gilded Time did that day."
Even if Gary Stevens misses out on an Eclipse Award this year, for at least one ride in December, he merits a trophy for integrity.
Burt Bacharach's Afternoon Deelites, who suffered a tendon injury while finishing eighth in the Kentucky Derby, is working towards a comeback.
"Everything's going great, looking better all the time," trainer Richard Mandella said of Afternoon Deelites. "Right now, we've got the Malibu penciled in as a good possibility, and it looks like he'd make it. But if it looks like we didn't have enough time, or if everything didn't come up just right, we'd pass and do something different. So far, I'm very happy to say, he's doing fantastic."
Afternoon Deelites worked six furlongs between the third and fourth races on Hollywood Park's "good" main track on Dec. 14. With jockey Kent Desormeaux aboard, the West Virginia-bred colt was clocked in 1:13, getting the fractions in :24 2/5 and :48, while galloping out the last eighth in :12 2/5. He went out seven furlongs in 1:25 2/5 despite jumping the tracks 75 yards from the finish line.
Afternoon Deelites is a horse of exceptional talent. He only has to stay sound to show it.
Add Mandella:
On Best Pal, the all-time California-bred money winner and third all-time with earnings of $5,668,245: "He's doing great, runs in the Native Diver (Dec. 24)."
On multiple Grade I stakes winner Sandpit, who finished a disappointing eighth in the recent Japan Cup: "He came home like he never left. He looks great. We'll give him a little break and run him next year.
"I think the course there bothered him, not so much the trip or the distance. The course there's got a pretty steep hill that they run the last quarter-mile in. And he has a little breathing problem. I think the action going up hill contributes to the breathing problem he has and makes it worse.
"I was suspicious of it last year, and after doing it again a second year, I'm convinced."
HORSES TO WATCH:
ATTLEBORO -- Recent $40,000 claim by Texas invader Dallas Keen went to his nose in first start on raise, for $50,000, still made a race of it to finish second at 18-1, beaten two lengths. Should make his presence felt at similar level and is at home from six furlongs to 1 1/16 miles.
ENCOREMOI -- Mare is not big on winning but ran a winning race in defeat on Dec. 10, just getting nailed on the money in 1 3/16-mile turf test. Now in the hands of unheralded Jean-Pierre Dupuis after a tour with Noble Threewitt, the daughter of Assert should benefit from her first start in seven months and find the winners' circle vs. allowance types.
RAW GOLD -- Rapid daughter of Rahy won impressively in first start in two months, drawing off by 3 1/2 despite breaking from No. 1 post in six furlong race. Already a stakes winner at two, David Hofmans-trained filly should gain more added-money laurels in her sophomore season.
KINDRED SPIRIT -- Showed plenty of zip and spirit in sprint debut for $32,000 claimers, leading inside the 16th pole at 24-1 before fading late to finish third. Cal-bred son of Falstaff should get the job done next time for top trainer Sandy Shulman.
MR PETER P. -- Fired fresh after eight-month layoff and won with lots in reserve for $40,000, indicating repeat victory is in grasp for Monster Man Mike Mitchell.
The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com/alauck)