Craig Lewis has learned to ride horse racing’s highs

Craig Lewis has been training horses on the Southern California circuit for 39 years. He’s won many big races, including his 1,000th career victory Saturday at Santa Anita when Warren’s Showtime won the Grade III Autumn Miss Stakes.

Lewis, a 73-year-old Long Beach native, has seen it all. He’s been as high as Mt. Everest and as low as Death Valley. He won the 1988 Hollywood Gold Cup, upsetting Kentucky Derby winners Ferdinand and Alysheba in the process, and saddled Larry the Legend to win the 1995 Santa Anita Derby.

He’s also suffered through his share of lows, and it pains him to read and hear the people who bash the sport he loves. He invites them to come out to the track some day and see the way the horses are treated and loved.

“The care that the horses get, every person wishes they got that kind of care,” Lewis said.  “How would you like to get fed the best possible thing every day, have somebody give you a nice bath every day, have somebody massage you every day, have somebody help you exercise every day?

“It’s incredible the money, time, the effort and the love that people that do this have for these horses.”

Lewis has been training since 1981, when he took out his license after working for Hirsch Jacobs. He got interested in the sport while attending the races with his father at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, Del Mar and Caliente.

It didn’t take him long to win his first race – Parkinthedark – and the rest is history. It’s no surprise when Lewis is asked to name his biggest victories that the names Cutlass Reality and Larry the Legend surface.

The 1988 Gold Cup was a pretty special day at Hollywood Park. The 1986 Derby winner, Ferdinand, was matched against the ’87 winner, Alysheba, and the iconic track billed it as “The Match Race of the Century.”

Lewis and Cutlass Reality had other ideas. Gary Stevens guided the 9-2 shot to the lead along the rail approaching the far turn and he drew off in the stretch to win comfortably. Ferdinand and Alysheba never threatened the winner.

“It was pretty much over with at the three-eighths pole,” Stevens said afterward.

It was a sweet day for Lewis, whose horse was overlooked even after winning the Californian Stakes a few weeks earlier.

“That one’s tough to top,” Lewis said. “That was fun. We kind of spoiled the party.”

If anything could top it, though, Larry the Legend turned the trick seven years later when he won the Santa Anita Derby. He injured himself in the race and couldn’t run in the Kentucky Derby. Stevens was going to ride him in the Run for the Roses, but then got the call on Thunder Gulch, who won the race, with Larry the Legend sidelined.

“I don’t know if anything could ever surpass Larry the Legend’s Santa Anita Derby victory,” Lewis said. “That was fun, too. There have been a lot of ’em. I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of nice horses and a lot of nice people.

“I’m a lucky SOB, and I don’t mean sweet ol’ boy.”

Saturday was sweet as well. Lewis’ 1,000th victory came with a horse sired by one of the best he’s trained, Clubhouse Ride. Lewis also trained Warren’s Showtime’s dam, Warren’s Veneda. She won the 2015 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita.

Asked if Warren’s Showtime exhibits any of the traits her father had, Lewis didn’t hesitate.

“A good race horse,” he said. “That’s the main one.”

The milestone victory also was made sweeter by the fact Warren’s Showtime’s owners, Benjamin and Sally Warren, were in town from their home in Las Vegas to attend the races.

“She’s a cross between her father and her mother,” Lewis said. “They both were outstanding race horses. We were lucky to get this (1,000th victory) and very appreciative that it came that way.”

Lewis looks back at his career, which is still going strong, and appreciates all the good owners and horses he’s been blessed with.

“There have been a lot of bumps in the road, too,” he said. “A lot of ups and downs in this game. It’s probably like nothing else in life because the lows are just devastating, but the highs are like exhilarating.”

Oh, and one last thing.

Lewis got started on his second thousand Sunday when he won the third race at Santa Anita with Lucia’s Design.

“I can’t help it if I’m lucky,” he quipped.

Follow Art Wilson on Twitter at @Sham73