Westport’s Robert LaPenta faces double-digit odds for his horse in today’s $2 million Kentucky Derby, the second year in a row he’s had an entry in the nation’s most famous horse race.
The 59-year-old LaPenta will be sending out longshot Andromeda’s Hero. A year ago his entry was The Cliff’s Edge who had credentials so impeccable that he was designated the morning-line favorite for the first leg of the Triple Crown.
But a torrential downpour hours before the 2004 race did the horse in. The Cliff’s Edge lost both of his front shoes on the muddy track and could do no better than finish a distant fifth.
LaPenta, who recently retired as president and CFO of L-3 Communications and now heads L-1, an investment partnership based in Stamford, told The Advocate of Stamford that last year, the pressure was enormous.
“But this year we’re going with a completely different perspective,” he said. “We’re just looking for a respectable effort and we’ll see what it gets us. It’s going to be a lot more fun for us.”
