Although Awesome Gem has won only six of 35 starts in his career and was winless in 2008 and is winless this year, he has compiled a record that should make him one of the most endearing horses in the country....

The day after the 1987 Preakness Stakes, I stopped at a service area on I-95 in Maryland on my way back home from the Preakness and called Jack Van Berg, asking if I could do a feature on him for the Thoroughbred Times, which had only been in existence for about a year. I had never met Van Berg, who was on top of the world at the time and who looked like a sure bet to saddle racing's next Triple Crown winner following Alysheba's impressive victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness....