BY BROCK SHERIDAN
MARCH 15, 1997—Team Valor International’s Captain Bodgit and jockey Alex Solis came from far back, circled the field in far turn then went past fellow Florida-bred Frisk Me Now at the sixteenth pole to become the 12th Florida-bred winner of the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.
Trained by Gary Capuano, Captain Bodgit was eight lengths behind front-running Wrightwood coming out of the far turn in the Florida Derby as Frisk Me Now and Florida-bred Michelle’sallhands raced behind him in second and third. After six furlongs in 1:12.03, Frisk Me Now took over from Wrightwood while 2-5 favorite Pulpit started closing in from third as Captain Bodgit moved into fifth but still had five-and-a-half lengths to make up.
Frisk Me Now turned for home two lengths in front but Captain Bodgit was a joint second on the far outside with Pulpit on the rail. Captain Bodgit took over with authority in the stretch to win by two-and-a-half lengths ahead of Pulpit in second with Frisk Me Now third. The final time for the mile-and-an-eighth on the fast track was 1:50.74.
Captain Bodgit went off as the 7-2 second choice and paid $9.80 to win.
After winning five straight including the Grade 3 Laurel Futurity in November to finish his 2-year-old season, Captain Bodgit returned to his native Florida in pursuit of a spot in that year’s Kentucky Derby (G1).
He was third after a mild rally in Arthur L’s Holy Bull (G3) on Jan. 13 and third again in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth won by Pulpit on Feb. 22 before winning the Florida Derby. He then won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial in the slop at Aqueduct on April 12 and went into the Kentucky Derby as the 3-1 favorite.
Ninth going into the clubhouse turn at Churchill Downs, Captain Bodgit made a big run in the stretch but just missed catching fellow Florida-bred Silver Charm, finishing second by a head.
He went to Pimlico for the Preakness (G1) two weeks later and was the 2-1 favorite at post time, despite a racing surface that was heavily favoring speed. Very few, if any, closers in previous races that day had made up any ground in the stretch but that did not deter one of the more courageous losing efforts in Preakness history.
Gary Stevens on Silver Charm and Kent Desormeaux on Free House had recognized the strong speed bias and both kept their horses near 50-1 longshot Cryp Too, who led through the hot fractions of :22.87 and :46.86. Meanwhile, Solis was unable and unwilling to change the running style of Captain Bodgit and they were ninth of 10 runners going into the far turn. Still five lengths back in seventh turning for home, Captain Bodgit launched an unlikely rally and was flying down the middle of the track in pursuit of Free House on the lead with Silver Charm in second. Those three crossed under the wire in a blanket finish with Silver Charm a head in front of Free House in second with Captain Bodgit just another head farther back in third.
After the Preakness, it was discovered that Captain Bodgit had injured a tendon in a front leg and he was retired. He ended his career with seven wins in 12 starts with a second and four thirds while earning $1,014,849.
Team Valor sold half interest in him for $12.5 million to Margaux Stud in Midway, Ky., where he began his stallion career in 1998—standing for a fee of $10,000. In 2003 he moved to Questroyal Stud in New York then to Highfield Farm in Okotoks, Alberta, Can. He eventually moved to CR Thoroughbred Farm in North Dakota in 2010 and died in the fall of 2021. He produced 11 stakes winners with progeny earnings of nearly $11 million.
Return to the March 15 issue of Wire to Wire
