The other side of the Kentucky Derby

It’s hard to believe only eight years ago Charismatic took 31-1 odds into the gate and emerged as the Kentucky Derby champion. And two weeks later, he took 8-1 odds and won the Preakness.

Sadly, the colt broke his leg in the stretch in his next race, the Belmont Stakes, finishing a close third, and was thus denied being the first Triple Crown winner in 21 years.However, it was the actions of jockey Chris Antley that saved Charismatic’s life.

Sensing that something was wrong after he crossed the wire, Antley pulled Charismatic up. He got off of the horse and lifted up his left front hoof to prevent the horse from damaging it any more.

And it’s hard to believe that it was only six and a half years ago that Chris Antley died from severe trauma to the head, which was determined to be the result of overdosing on four drugs.

But that’s the other side of the sport, the side you won’t see NBC talking about on Saturday as part of the 133rd Kentucky Derby.

Antley was one of the best young jockeys of the late 1980s and early 1990s. He won the Wood Memorial in 1988 and the Blue Grass Stakes in 1991, two of the most important prep races for the Kentucky Derby.

His win in the Blue Grass Stakes above Strike the Gold was only a preview, as a few weeks later he would win his first Kentucky Derby.

However, a few years later, everyone thought that it would be his last.

After 1992, his productivity dropped due to drug and weight problems. While at one point he had set a world record by winning nine races on one day, he was now lucky if he could win nine in a month.

It reached the point where nobody would even consider him for a mount in a big race.

In 1997, Chris Antley was forced to retire for a first time to deal with his drug and weight problems. Most jockeys have weight problems, as they are forced to remain at around 108 pounds, much less than safe for a grown man.

“I didn’t like me,” Antley said in 1999 in retrospect of his early retirement. “I clung to my persona around the race track that I was always the bad boy. That was how I felt about myself.”

Antley got his life under control and he returned to the racetrack late in 1998. And in 1999, everything looked bright again.

Charismatic won the Lexington Stakes two weeks before the Derby. Then he won the Derby. Then he won the Preakness.

Chris Antley, after a five year slump followed by two years of recovery, was back on top.

But like Charismatic in the Belmont, it wasn’t to stay.

In March 2000, Antley walked away from the game again to deal with renovating his new house. Shortly thereafter, his wife became pregnant with the couple’s first child.

On July 26, Antley was arrested for drunk driving and was told to go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He did not.

Then, on September 28, his wife, who was in New York working for NBC, called police fearing something was wrong because she could not get in touch with her husband in Pasadena.

The police went to Antley’s house and found him and a friend with methamphetamine and marijuana. He was arrested but not prosecuted because it was deemed an inadmissible search and seizure.

Once one of the most jovial and lively jockeys, Antley was teetering with self-destruction yet again. Everyone around him realized that something was wrong as he continued to spin into a depression that required him to drink almost 24-7.

His wife scheduled a couple interventions, and even jockey Gary Stevens came out to try and help Antley out of it on November 6.

Stevens wouldn’t have recognized Antley from his actions.

“He was very quiet, very sad, and very paranoid,” he said. “For whatever reason, he was living in a 24-hour-a-day nightmare that he couldn’t wake up from.”

Nobody around him was in a position to disagree.

“When I left, Chris was crying and I was crying,” Stevens said. ”I didn’t think I’d ever see Chris again.”

And he was right.

Antley died less than a month later on December 2 in his California home. He was only 34.

Police investigated into it being a homicide, but ruled on January 11, 2001 that Antley died as a result of an overdose. His wife gave birth to Violet Grace Antley a few hours after the ruling.

At Derby time each year, it’s fun to look at the odds and the past performances and pick a horse and feel like an expert. But we forget about the people that are involved.

Eight Kentucky Derbys ago, Chris Antley was on top of the world. Six ago, he was already five months dead.

In order to make weight, these jockeys destroy themselves, keeping their weight as low as possible. And it isn’t healthy.

That needs to change.

NBC should not spend two hours focusing on how Curlin is undefeated, just like Smarty Jones was a few years ago, while telling the entire story of his life.

No, it should focus on Chris Antley and all the other jockeys who ruin their lives for the sport.

Formula1 changed its safety guidelines after two drivers died 13 years ago at one race. One of those dead was Ayrton Senna, a three-time world champion.

Nobody has died since then in a race.

The administration at every horse track should do the same.

These jockeys cannot healthily live at such low weights. It is a safety concern for human lives that needs to be addressed.

Nobody can bring back Chris Antley, but we can prevent all of the jockeys in the field from one day becoming the next example.

Antley’s spiral into depression was helped on by insanely low weight requirements that kept him from functioning as a complete human being. And that has to change.

Watch the Kentucky Derby; enjoy the Kentucky Derby. Just don’t buy into the smiles on every jockey’s face.

Likely, one of them is as traumatized as Chris Antley. Possibly, one of them will suffer the same fate.