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Fountain of Youth winner Cool Coal Man has emerged from the Zito pack to take a leading role, but he still has to take a backseat to his stablemate, champion War Pass. It took Cool Coal Man three tries to break his maiden, but he is undefeated in his first two starts in 2008 at a mile and an eighth. Like his sire, Mineshaft, Cool Coal Man should continue to improve with age and distance. Owner Robert LaPenta expected good things as the colt in the Blue Grass (gr. I), but got a surprise when his other entry, longshot Stevil, came home fourth, while Cool Coal Man faded badly in the stretch to finish ninth.

Auction History

Racing History

By Steve Haskin

How does the expression go? When one door closes another one opens? Well, not only did one door close for Robert LaPenta and Nick Zito, it hit them right in the face. That door was their pride and joy War Pass becoming unhinged in the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. III).

Whether that door will open again before the first Saturday in May no one knows, but, fortunately for them, there's always door No. 2, and who's to say the big prize isn't behind that one?

Door No. 2 is Cool Coal Man, who is not exactly a second-rate substitute coming in off the bench. Cool Coal Man has won four of his last five starts, including a victory in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II). So, as distraught as LaPenta and Zito are over the shocking developments regarding War Pass, they have to remember most owners and trainers would kill to have a horse like Cool Coal Man on the Derby trail. They even have a couple behind door No. 3 in Stevil and Da'Tara, who could make some noise.

So, all is far from lost. The Derby gods work in strange ways, and perhaps they have a grand plan for LaPenta and Zito, but are testing them first, just as they tested Bob Baffert with Cavonnier's heartbreaking nose defeat the year before granting him his Kentucky Derby (gr. I) with Silver Charm.

Cool Coal Man has demonstrated many of the traits you look for in a Derby horse, especially the quick-fire acceleration he showed approaching the quarter pole in the Fountain of Youth. He does have to work out a few kinks, like losing focus at the end of the race, but the talent no doubt is there. He's already won at Churchill Downs, and his speed figures are right up there, so perhaps that door is already beginning to open.

By Avalyn Hunter

Thanks to an apparent problem with the track's teletimer, there has been no shortage of controversy regarding the internal fractions and final time of the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) at Gulfstream Park Feb. 24. But there has been no controversy at all regarding the winner, Cool Coal Man, who has always been looked on as a horse with high potential.

Cool Coal Man is from the first crop of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, who stands at William Farish's Lane's End Farm. Co-bred by Farish (in partnership with W. Temple Webber Jr. and James Elkins), Mineshaft bears the stamp of Farish's breeding program on both sides of his pedigree. His sire, 1992 Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, was bred by Farish and William S. Kilroy (as was his dam, 1992 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Weekend Surprise) and was leading sire in 2003 and 2006.

Mineshaft's female family has served Farish well since his acquisition of The Garden Club, a 1966 filly by Herbager out of Fashion Verdict, and so, a direct female descendant of the fabulous La Troienne. Mineshaft descends from The Garden Club through her daughter Up the Flagpole (by Hoist the Flag) and granddaughter Prospectors Delite (by Mr. Prospector), both graded stakes winners and excellent producers for Farish and his partners.

Coral Sea, the dam of Cool Coal Man, was also bred in partnership by Farish (the other partners were Kilroy and E.J. Hudson). A daughter of 1992 champion sprinter Rubiano, Coral Sea is out of South Sea Dancer, a stakes-placed full sister to champions Storm Bird and Northernette, and is inbred 4x2 to Northern Dancer.

A.P. Indy has done well when crossed to mares carrying Northern Dancer, and since Mineshaft is free of Northern Dancer blood, it was only reasonable that the same strategy should be tried with him. Cool Coal Man, who is inbred 3x4 to Mr. Prospector, is bred to go classic distances, and if he continues to mature well, may be a genuine contender on the first Saturday in May.

By Claire Novak

William S. Farish III first appeared on the national racing scene in 1972 when his Bee Bee Bee won the Preakness Stakes. Farish founded Lane's End Farm seven years later, and since then more than 150 stakes winners have appeared in the venerable horseman's colors. Countless others, bred and co-bred by Farish, have gone through sales to race for owners across the nation. One of those runners is Cool Coal Man, now racing under the care of Nick Zito and the silks of Robert LaPenta. Farish is keeping a keen eye on the Mineshaft colt, who is expected to put in a bid for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) this year.

Cool Coal Man is a perfect representation of Farish's operation. The colt's pedigree traces back through seven generations of Lane's End horses on his sire's side, and stays true to Lane's End lines through his dam, Coral Sea, who was co-bred and -raced by Farish along with partners E.J. Hudson and W.S. Kilroy.

"Coral Sea is a mare that I've had a great deal of hope for ever since we retired her from racing, and of course this is Mineshaft's first crop (of 3-year-olds), so we've got all kinds of things going on there in the family," Farish said. "Mineshaft is a horse very much like his sire, A.P. Indy, where he's not particularly going to be a sire of 2-year-olds. But his runners seem to be maturing as 3-year-olds and really making a statement."

Farish himself is used to making statements in the industry. Currently vice chairman and steward of The Jockey Club and a trustee of the Keeneland Association, he received the 1992 and 1999 Eclipse Awards (the latter in partnership) as North America's outstanding breeder, and is considered one of the world's most influential horsemen. He is also a major supporter of equine research through the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center.

The grandson of oil magnate William Stamps Farish Jr., who founded Lazy F Ranch and raced horses in Texas, Farish understands the anatomy of the industry. Raised around horses, watching his family's runners-including the great Forego-he developed a love for racing that continues to this day.

"I'd grown up with horses, ridden jumpers, Quarter Horses, polo horses, and galloped at the track," he said. "I have a background in horses that goes back to when I was about 10 years old, but as much as you know about a horse-even if you know what to look for from an athletic and soundness standpoint-so much luck is involved. You've got to have good trainers and good people to break the horse."

After Farish purchased his first yearling with father- in-law Bayard Sharp for $12,500 at the 1963 Keeneland September yearling sale, things definitely went right. Singly and in partnership, he went on to breed Horses of the Year A.P. Indy (1992), Charismatic (1999), and Mineshaft (2003); leading sire Danzig; Preakness (gr. I) winner Summer Squall; and 1996 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) winner Storm Song, to name just a few.

To this day, in spite of an active business and political life, including a 2001-04 term as the United States ambassador to Great Britain, Farish remains enthusiastically involved in multiple facets of the sport.

"I think my enjoyment of the industry is manifold," he said. "I've always loved the breeding end of it; I'm fascinated by the academic side of mating, looking at how great breeders did it in the past and applying new theories to the breeding end, but obviously the most fun part of it all is to own a great racehorse. All the buildup-to see a Thoroughbred born and broken, to see it train and eventually turn out to be a racehorse-is the most exciting part."

When asked if he anticipated that excitement with Cool Coal Man, Farish was optimistic.

"The Fountain of Youth win was very important," he said. "I know Zito had been high on him as a 2-year-old, and he's really bred to be a distance horse. He's just coming into his own, and I stay very much in touch with him."

By Claire Novak

Julien Leparoux adds a bit of French flair to the American racing scene, having developed a strong career in Central Kentucky at tracks such as Keeneland and Churchill Downs after getting his start on horseback in his native country and winning his first race at Saratoga Aug. 18, 2005. He owns riding titles at both Kentucky tracks and has won graded stakes at each repeatedly, but his best score came at Monmouth Park in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf with Nownownow.

Cool Coal Man is 23-year-old Leparoux's second Derby mount; he finished fifth aboard Sedgefield last year in his first attempt.

Height: 5'5"

Weight: 108

Career wins: 735

Born: July 15, 1983 in Senlis, France

Residence: Louisville, Ky.

Family: Girlfriend Michelle; father Robert, who passed away in 2003, was a jockey and then became an assistant trainer in France.

Favorite food: “Pasta with yellow pepper sauce – it’s very Italian.”

Favorite sport: “Soccer. I played for five years when I was little.”

I can't live without: “My car.”

Most hated chore: “To make the bed, I do not like it. Or cleaning in general.”

The fastest I’ve ever driven was: "130 miles per hour, in the morning going from Lexington to Turfway.”

If I could trade careers with another professional athlete, I would: “David Beckham.”

Another rider I admire is: “Garrett Gomez, because he’s the one who can adapt for every track or every circumstance.”

One thing I wish people knew about jockeys: “I wish people were looking at jockeys like they do football players, or basketball stars, or other major athletes. We are athletes, but people don’t seem to see us like this.”

The best part about winning the Derby this year would be:“Seeing a dream come true.”