Derby becoming old hat for local couple

Noaki Schwartz

Newport Beach residents Bob and Beverly Lewis are reining in their

confidence for this year’s Kentucky Derby despite last year’s stunning

win, which gave them a victory in two of the last three years of the

prestigious Run for the Roses.

“I don’t think you go in feeling optimistic,” said Bob Lewis, on a

telephone call from Kentucky. “You go in feeling guardedly hopeful.”

The couple will enter the race today at Churchill Downs as part of a

group of four horses they own or are associated with, including

Commendable and Impeachment. The horses will compete in a pool of 19

colts this year.

For spectators, this is good news. The four horses will be “collectively

coupled,” explained Lewis, meaning an increased chance of winning.

Money put down on one horse will automatically include the others.

“Buy one ticket on one and you actually get the benefit of four horses

running,” he said.

Still, Lewis knows there are no guarantees.

“The horses go charging down, all vying for position and that’s very

important,” Lewis said. “It’s the respective jockeys that are making the

decisions.”

The cautious attitude is in part because of the ups and downs the Lido

Island couple has been through over the years.

Three years ago their horse Silver Charm won the Kentucky Derby and the

Preakness, and just barely missed winning the Belmont Stakes, which would

have given the couple the elusive Triple Crown of horse racing.

And then in 1998, the couple watched in anguish as their prized

thoroughbred Charismatic suffered a broken leg in a key race.

Still the 3-year-old rebounded, won the Kentucky Derby last year and was

named 1999’s Horse of the Year in the annual Eclipse Awards.

The prestigious trophy was added to the half dozen other Eclipse Awards

the couple had already garnered over the years.