Shimmy Shakes A Derby Leg

Hussain came to the U.S. from Pakistan on Feb. 27, 1967 to do his residency in plastic surgery at Maumee Valley Hospital in Toledo . He had no money then either. "My flight," he says, "was supposed to land in Toledo . But the Toledo airport was closed because of a snowstorm, so I ended up in Fort Wayne . I had only $23 in my pocket and no overcoat on my back. I was an exchange visitor to this country and a dreamer. Money had never been important to me. Work was important to me, finding a place to put my life. Eventually I got to Toledo and I had $3. But I wasn't worried. I knew that I could work things out. And I did."

But it took some doing. Hussain got his high school diploma from the University of Peshawar at 16, and then graduated from Khyber Medical College (part of the University of Peshawar) at 23. "I eventually became a plastic surgeon at the University Hospital in Syracuse , N.Y. ," he says, "but I moved out to South Dakota not only to start my own business but to find a place where there were horses and the tranquillity that they could bring. I found a marvelous man there at the First Sioux Falls Bank, named Bob Baker . He loaned me money to set up my practice. Truthfully, when I bought Tudor Twist for $900, I only had $500 with me and no credit line with the sales company that auctioned the horse. But the bank helped me out, so that I not only bought Tudor Twist but was able to have the mare bred to Marshua's Dancer for $5,000."

After Tudor Twist dropped her foal, on April 7, 1979, Hussain took the colt to a boarding stable just outside Sioux Falls . There he broke the horse, walked the horse, fed the horse, vetted the horse, galloped the horse and, at the same time, paid the feed bills by doing nose jobs. He has since acquired 12 more horses, including Epinephrine, a 2-year-old half-sister of Shimatoree, whose name, says Hussain, "describes her very well." Epinephrine is another word for adrenaline. In 1981 Hussain got married. By mail. It was an arranged marriage. "I had never met my wife, Neelofur, before," he says, "but that is the way things are often done in my country. She didn't know anything about either horses or South Dakota , but she wanted to learn to ride. At the end of her first week of riding a pony, I put her up on Shimmy. Maybe the rest will be history."

In a way, it already is. Shimatoree made his first start early last December in a six-furlong race at Aqueduct. He ran second, six lengths behind a good horse named Star Gallant, a colt who was undefeated as a 2-year-old and who recently won the Fountain of Youth at Gulf-stream. Nine days later, Shimatoree made his second start, at Laurel, and won by eight lengths. This year he made his first start as a 3-year-old in the $54,700 six-furlong Swift Stakes at Aqueduct on March 6 and beat a field of four, winning by 11 lengths in the brilliant time of 1:09[2/5].

Certainly much of the credit for Shimmy's spectacular showing must go to Dutrow, his trainer, a well-known conditioner who makes his base in Maryland and who regularly places one, two or three in the national standings.

"I found Mr. Dutrow in the Lexington airport while waiting for a plane," says Hussain. "I had never met a professional horse trainer before and I said to him, 'Someday my horse might turn out to be a good horse.' Mr. Dutrow said, 'If he does, give me a call.' I did." Dutrow was enthusiastic about Shimmy from the start, and in 1981 purchased a half interest in him.

In the winner's circle following the Bay Shore, Dutrow announced that Shimatoree's next start would be in the Gotham on April 3, when he should meet stronger opposition. "Shimmy reminds me a lot of Bold Forbes ," Cordero says. "Like Bold Forbes , he's aggressive and is very fast. He'll go farther."

Unfortunately, Cordero is committed to ride another horse at Oaklawn Park on that date and will miss the Gotham. This doesn't distress Hussain, who says, " Bill Shoemaker will ride Shimmy in the Gotham and, if he likes the horse, will take him all the way through the Kentucky Derby ."

Normally, Swift winners are quite forgettable because all the race usually proves is that a quick young horse can run six furlongs quickly. But the Bay Shore is another matter. Its seven-furlong distance sets up a 3-year-old for the one-mile Gotham and the 1?-mile Wood Memorial, perhaps the best of the prep races before the Derby.

The next few weeks will be important ones for this Kentucky-South Dakota-Pakistani wonder. While Shimmy is indeed quick, it's difficult to assess how far he can run. But if you can't catch him, you can't beat him.