Lawrence the Roman
By Bill Heller

LAWRENCE THE ROMAN winning the Damon Runyon Stakes last December

Is there anything in Thoroughbred racing more exciting than having an undefeated, untested two-year-old stakes-winning colt turn three on January 1? The anticipation alone is intoxicating, as you wonder if somehow, someway, the next winner of the Kentucky Derby could be your horse. It's a dream not only for Larry Roman, the owner and co-breeder of the undefeated Lawrence the Roman, whose 11-length romp in the Dec. 10th Damon Runyon Stakes for two-year-old New York-breds at Aqueduct made him three-for-three, but also for the woman who raised him, Annette Orlando, the farm manager on Vivien and Harry Malloy's Edition Farm in Hyde Park. "I don't care who owns them, they're all my babies," Orlando said. "He was a good boy."

What's startling is that Roman, a highly successful, third generation plumbing contractor in New York City, has had so few Thoroughbreds before Lawrence the Roman and that he actually sold Lawrence the Roman. He was fortunate to be able to purchase him back before he began his career. Roman isn't about to let go of Lawrence the Roman's two younger sisters or their dam, Carly Lee. He also owns 15 Standard reds, including last year's outstanding two-year-old filly pacer Paula's Best, but does not have another Thoroughbred currently racing. "I dabbled in them, never more than one or two at a time," Roman said.

And never one as good as Lawrence the Roman, who has won his three starts by a combined 25 _ lengths under the care of top New York trainer Rick Dutrow. "Every start, he's never been asked," Roman said. "I don't know how good he is. I'll find out when I put him against graded horses. Right now the plan is to keep him at Aqueduct. We're looking at the Gotham and Wood Memorial. If he's successful, we're going to bring him to the Kentucky Derby. Rick said, `We're going to the Derby.' I've been in it too long. It's up to the racing gods."

There did not seem to be divine intervention when Larry the Roman's older brother, Dastard Lee, was born. Roman bred his Broad Brush mare Carly Lee, a multiple allowance winner who bankrolled $117,650, to 2001 Horse of the Year Point Given, who was standing for $125,000 at Three Chimneys in Kentucky after retiring with nine victories and three seconds in 13 career starts. "Point Given was the greatest horse outside the Triple Crown winners," Roman said. "Carly Lee was average size and by Broad Brush. Point Given was huge. I wanted a horse for the (mile-and-a-half) Belmont Stakes."

Instead, Carly Lee foaled Dastard Lee, who won three races in 2006 while quickly finding his proper level in claiming races, at Edition Farm, a 150-acre spread the Malloys purchased in 1986, 15 years after they began the farm as "a little tractor shed" in Purchase, N.Y., in 1971. "They were surprised he got to the races," Roman said. "He was back on his knees and had poor conformation."

Orlando said, "He was crooked. He never really got correct." That's why Dastard Lee only fetched $18,000 at the 2004 Saratoga Preferred New York-Bred Yearling Sale.

Then Three Chimney dropped the stud fee for Point Given. It was $50,000 in 2006 and is $30,000 this year, though it could go up dramatically as he finished 2006 as the second leading second-crop sire in North America. "They offered to let me breed back for free," Roman said. So he did.

Carly Lee foaled Lawrence the Roman on Jan. 22nd, 2004. "He was much better looking," Orlando said. "He was much more correct as a foal, unlike his brother. He was just much nicer all the way around. His brother had an attitude and could be nasty to be around. This horse was easy with everything, whatever the blacksmith or the vet had to do. He was very sweet." And, very fast.

But Roman and his co-breeders, Edward English and Jeff Levine, let him go, placing him in the 2005 Saratoga Preferred New York-Bred Yearling Sale, where he was sold for $22,000 to Becky Thomas, owner of Sequel Stallions New York in Hudson. Roman told reporter Rab Hagin that the reason for selling him was a partnership dispute. Roman said that he was delighted to see Lawrence the Roman - then named Any Given Moment - subsequently entered in the March 2006 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Two-Year-Olds-in-Training Sale. "I was willing to pay $200,000 for him, but I got him back for $35,000," Roman told Hagin.

Roman renamed his colt. He had already moved Carly Lee, and her new foal, a filly by Gilded Time, to Blue Chip Farm in Walkill, New York, one of the country's outstanding Standardbred breeding farms. Roman then bred Carly Lee to Honour and Glory, and she delivered another filly who just turned into a yearling.

Harness racing, not Thoroughbred, has been a part of Roman's life for decades. The native of Queens, who pegs his age as somewhere around 50, fell in love with Yonkers Raceway, and at Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island he competed in a college driving championship, finishing third with Adora's Christie. He has since become an accomplished amateur driver. "I think harness racing is a better investment because they race more often, but there's nothing like owning a Thoroughbred," Roman said. "It's a different level.

With Lawrence the Roman, it could be a very different level. His first race was last Sept. 27th at Belmont Park. "We didn't know what we were going to find," Roman said. "I was optimistic because the guy who broke him said he's as good as Silver Train (Dutrow's 2006 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner).

Despite breaking last, Lawrence the Roman won his six-furlong maiden debut by 4 _ lengths, then took a one-mile allowance race by 10 lengths. In the mile-and-a-sixteenth Damon Runyon Stakes, he was never challenged on the lead and rated kindly under Mike Smith. "He wasn't blowing hard at the end," Smith said afterwards. "He's a big, good-looking horse and I think he's got a lot of room for improvement. He's bred to run all day. I think he's going to be a real nice horse."

He already is. "I saw his last race; he was so powerful, oh, my gosh," Vivien Malloy said.

Orlando, of course, is rooting for her baby. "It's very exciting for me," she said. "When he broke his maiden, I was excited." There may be more excitement ahead. If you don't dare dream about it, then you probably shouldn't be in the game.