Hangin' With Haskin

My Farewell Column

2020-07-27T12:50:00Z

After writing the Hangin' With Haskin column for 12 years and the Derby Dozen, numerous features and columns, and providing lead coverage of all the major stakes for 22 years, I no longer will be writing for the Blood Horse and Bloodhorse.com due to my contract coming to an end. So this is my final column.

As most of you know, I resigned from my regular job at BloodHorse in 2015 and have been working freelance for the past five years, maintaining the title on the masthead of Senior Correspondent. It has been a fun and, in my mind, fruitful five years, and I hope it provided readers with a good deal of information, history, entertainment, and behind the scenes back stories, as well as a place to express your thoughts and opinions, as the column has done since 2008.

I want to thank the Blood-Horse and The Jockey Club for offering me the lucrative deal they did five years ago following my resignation and for hiring me as lead writer in 1998.

It has been a long and rewarding road, writing about racing for 45 years, going back to the Thoroughbred Record, Thoroughbred Times, and Daily Racing Form as National Correspondent and lead writer.

I have not ruled out writing freelance in the future, but there are few websites available for what I do. There are possible plans in the works for a website/blog, which I will announce on Facebook if that comes to fruition. For now I will continue posting occasional racing related thoughts and racing photos on Facebook.

This final column is just to thank all of you for your support, kind words, and contributions over the years. Many have been members of this community for a long time, and I wish to express my gratitude to all of you in particular.

I leave you with some of my most special moments of the thousands of horses, races, and back stories I have covered.

Of course, I have written numerous columns of those beloved horses of my past that helped me fall in love with this great sport; horses such as Damascus, Dr. Fager, Arts and Letters, Gallant Bloom, Buckpasser, His Majesty, Graustark, and the Golden Age of the '70s from Canonero II, Riva Ridge, Secretariat, and Forego to Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Alydar and Spectacular Bid. And two of my all-time favorites, the indestructible Jim French and the shocking emergence of Prove Out as the conqueror of champions thanks to the genius of Allen Jerkens.

I have also written a number of personal columns about my wife, my daughter, and my father, and how I got started in racing, exposing a great deal about myself. I did this for cathartic reasons and to impress upon aspiring writers that you don't need a college degree as much as a love and passion for the sport and the ability to tell a story in a cohesive manner and how to construct it the proper way. And most important, make the reader feel as if he or she is there and experiencing everything with you. Once you grasp that, the grammar and sentence structure will come with experience.

Of all the races I covered, none affected me more emotionally than the remarkable parallel tales of Mucho Macho Man and Kathy Ritvo, who both virtually rose from the dead and teamed up to win America's richest race. That is the one story I wish had been made into a book or better still a movie. With the additional stories behind the private sale of the horse to Dean and Patti Reeves and of assistant Finn Green, it was a story that just flowed from my mind to my laptop with such ease I barely remember actually writing it. This is the kind of story of which a writer dreams.

There actually was another story about which I felt the same way. I was never closer to a horse and his fairy tale story than I was to Smarty Jones, who provided me with some of the greatest back stories I have ever been privileged to write. His was truly the quintessential Cinderella story that had every element you could have asked for in a full-length film - a Cinderella feel-good story that began tragically and had everything, including the love affair of an entire city.

No incident jolted me more than Afleet Alex's heart stopping recovery from near disaster in the Preakness as he demonstrated one of the most amazing feats of athleticism I have ever witnessed. And the story behind the horse was equally captivating with plenty of human interest angles.

Ironically, the only time I wept openly was not at the racetrack, but at Madison Square Garden when Cigar bid farewell in front of the crowd at the National Horse Show. And when the lights went out and a single spotlight shone down on Cigar to the strains of Auld Lang Syne, I have to admit that I lost it. I was embarrassed to find myself bawling when the lights went on until I noticed everyone else in the Garden was crying as well. I was able to report on the event for DRF.

Of course there was the sheer exultation and pandemonium that broke out at Belmont Park when American Pharoah ended a 37-year Triple Crown drought. It was even more special having spent the entire morning in Ahmed Zayat's RV with his family. What a way to go out for the last race I would ever cover.

No horse I can recall provided more material than Maximum Security, whose wild and wacky career has been like a Shakespearean play, with all the melodrama, controversy, and scandal. I can't remember having more fun writing about a horse's career, as he continues to defy all his detractors and wipe away the nefarious incidents that have plagued him. He had me on the edge of the couch cheering him on with his recent gutsy, heart-stopping finish, as he yet again proved to the world he is nothing more than an exceptionally gifted and talented horse...on his own.

I can't ignore the great fillies I have covered over the years, but there was nothing like the rivalry that never was between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, and I was fortunate enough to cover Zenyatta's emotion-packed victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic and write about the many people whose lives she affected in such a profound way. I also had the privilege of covering Rachel Alexandra's victories over the boys in the Preakness and Haskell Invitational, and her gut-wrenching win over older horses the Woodward Stakes the day she rocked the Saratoga grandstand.

Then there was Invasor, who enabled me to make new friends abroad and paved the way for me to travel to Uruguay with my family as guests of the Uruguayan Jockey Club, where I was treated like royalty. And there were two trips to the Dubai World Cup, one covering the inaugural running won by Cigar for DRF and the other at the invitation of Godolphin that included my wife and daughter the year Meydan Racecourse opened. I covered the race for BloodHorse, and my daughter wrote about the experience for DubaiRaceNight.com.

Also for DRF, I had the privilege of traveling on the plane with Thunder Gulch, Timber Country, and Serena's Song from Louisville to New York, and also with Silver Charm two years later as he attempted to sweep the Triple Crown.

I truly enjoyed covering California Chrome's Triple Crown and getting to know Art and Alan Sherman. What a classy father and son team. And how could you not love the story behind Chrome and his rise from Cal-bred races to the threshold of a Triple Crown sweep?

And finally there were the dramatic back-to-back Breeders; Cup victories of Tiznow and how he came to exemplify the fighting spirit of a country and a city in the aftermath of 9/11. That is one horse who will always remain close to my heart.

I have only scratched the surface of the great moments I have experienced and the great horses and races I have covered. The BloodHorse articles are all archived at Bloodhorse.com.

That is pretty much it. If anyone wishes to contact me for whatever reason, feel free on my Facebook page or Facebook private message if you're not a "friend" or email me at Sehaskin@aol.com.

Enjoy the final month of this year's oddly paved Derby trail, stay safe, and I hope to see you down the road sooner than later when we can begin it all again.

The Latest Kentucky Derby Picture

2020-07-20T18:12:00Z

Let’s look at this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) realistically. After the top three it is a study in futility trying to rank the rest of the horses. There simply isn’t enough to go by, as these horses keep beating each other and the vast majority of performances have been fairly ordinary.

You have solid horses like Ny Traffic and Enforceable, who always run well enough in big races, but can’t find the winner’s circle. Ny Traffic is always there at the finish and always runs hard, so you have to respect him. You have horses with only two lifetime starts, such as Uncle Chuck and Cezanne, who have run against lesser competition and small fields. You have horses like Dr Post, Pneumatic, Rushie, Storm the Court, and Attachment Rate, who have run well, but just can’t get over the hump. Of these, I still feel Pneumatic and Mystic Guide are better than they have shown, and Dr Post never seemed to get going in the Haskell. Remember, his first three generations are inundated with speed. Pneumatic, who was so impressive visually breaking maiden, had a sharp workout at Saratoga and could go in the Travers.

You have a brilliant and talented horse in King Guillermo, who likely is going to try to win the Derby off an unheard of four-month layoff. And you have Haskell winner Authentic, who doesn’t look as if he wants any part of a mile and a quarter right now. He appears to need to have everything his own way, and still looks unfocused. His final three-eighths in :38 4/5 in the Haskell certainly was nothing to get excited about. Even Bob Baffert admitted he trained him for the Haskell as if it was the Kentucky Derby, and he nearly gave a sure victory away. He has talent and is late to mature, but his running style and pedigree suggest a mile to a mile and an eighth is his limit, at least for now.

Dean Martini barely held on to win the Ohio Derby (G3), and has only won one of his 10 lifetime starts. Thousand Words ran a decent second in a subpar four-horse Los Alamitos Derby (G3), but still hasn’t regained the form he showed in his first three starts, although he didn’t exactly knock anyone out in those three races. Max Player finished a fairly solid third, beaten 5 1/4 lengths, in the Belmont Stakes (G1) off a 4 1/2-month layoff, but no one really did much running behind him. He at least showed enough to suggest he will move forward in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) and could still prove to be a serious contender.

These horses all look hard to separate and even harder to handicap. Here is a look at some of the horses left who bear watching.

THE THREE STANDOUTS

TIZ THE LAW – Can solidify his status as the clear Derby favorite with a victory in the Travers, where he could face a fairly small field. He is attempting to become the first horse to win the Derby having already won at a mile and a quarter since Canonero II in 1971, who won going 10 furlongs in Venezuela. This will be the most revealing Derby preview ever, as it will show how he handles the distance and what the strategy is, and then he will have to duplicate it four weeks later. He is rock solid and appears to have no weaknesses, but this will certainly be a different prep for the Derby. “The Machine” showed his sharpness by turning in a bullet five-furlong work in :59 3/5, fastest of 20 works at the distance. He just does nothing wrong. Next it’s time to make Baffert cry uncle with his latest hotshot.

HONOR A. P. – This ranking is based mainly on spec, as his path to the Derby looks equally as unusual as Tiz the Law’s for totally opposite reasons. By remaining in California to run in the Shared Belief Stakes he will have on one 1 1/16-mile race in 11 weeks leading up to the Derby, running in small fields, and it will take all of John Shirreffs’ skills to ship cross country and knock off 19 opponents while stretching out another three-sixteenths of a mile off that one race. Shirreffs has shown he can get them fit off works and this powerhouse of a colt no doubt has a tremendous amount of ability and has shown steady improvement both physically and in his races. He pretty much has the same running style as Tiz the Law, which will make it all the more interesting.

ART COLLECTOR – He catapulted right up with the top two with his stunning victory in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2). Not only did he win going away by 3 1/2 lengths in a competitive 13-horse field, the second-place finisher, Swiss Skydiver, finished nearly five lengths against of the third horse, Rushie, who had finished third to Honor A. P. in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), beaten only four lengths. Art Collector’s “1 1/2" Thoro-Graph number puts him right behind the top two, and he has now finished first in his last four starts, so he definitely is on an upward trajectory and there is no telling just how good he may be. If he doesn’t come back in the Ellis Park Derby (G3) on Aug. 9 he would have to go into the Derby off an eight-week layoff, and only two horses – Animal Kingdom in 2011 and Needles in 1956 – have won the Derby off as much as a six-week layoff in the past century. Another big effort at Ellis Park and he will be awfully tough on the first Saturday in September.

THREE TO WATCH AT A PRICE

SOLE VOLANTE – He has gotten no respect from those who choose the Derby Future Wager field. Although they forgave the dismal performances of several others in the last two pools, they twice now have left him out of the field off one bad effort in the Belmont Stakes, ignoring his impressive score in the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3), fast-closing second in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2), and an allowance victory over stakes-caliber horses. Add to that, he came out of the Belmont with a sore back and never ran a lick, and trainer Patrick Biancone admitted he misread his energy level and shouldn’t have run him back in nine days after his allowance score. But he is doing fine now and will either head to the Ellis Park Derby, where even a good second to Art Collector would set him up beautifully for the mile and a quarter of the Derby, or train up to the Derby off an 11-week layoff. That would also be unconventional, but Biancone pointed out that his career best sheets figure was when he won the allowance race off a three-month layoff. He has always been ranked high on Derby Dozen, and I’m not going to give up on him off that one race. I still believe this is a very talented horse with a big turn of foot and strong closing punch.

CARACARO – This is a stretch for such a lightly raced horse, but I have to admit I have sort of a personal attachment to him. In January, a prominent owner asked me to keep an eye out for any potential Derby horses that he could purchase outright. The first horse I gave him was Caracaro off his impressive maiden victory at Gulfstream. I just liked everything I saw, especially his fluid action and professionalism. Unfortunately he was then sidelined for six months before showing up in the Peter Pan Stakes (G2), an ambitious spot for a lightly raced horse coming off that long a layoff. All I was looking for was a solid effort and he surpassed that. Tracking the pace on the far outside after a rough start and fanning five-wide at the top of the stretch, he stuck his head in front at the eighth pole. He may have gotten a bit tired off the layoff and drifted in toward Country Grammer, who had saved ground the whole way and slipped through along the rail. When the two got close, Irad Ortiz on Country Grammer brought his horse out and shoved, more than bumped, Caracaro, who lost just enough momentum that it might have meant the difference in the neck margin. Regardless of whether it did or not, that was a huge effort considering the six-month layoff, the :12 3/5 final eighth, and the 3 1/4-length margin back to the favorite Mystic Guide in third. Credit trainer Gustavo Delgado for an excellent training job. Even a second or third in the Travers would set him up nicely for his second try at 1 1/4 miles.

SOUTH BEND – This is a real sleeper. His trainer Stanley Hough is one of the most talented horsemen in the country, but for some reason he put this colt on the grass for five straight races, despite finishing a decent fourth in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes and winning the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs at 2. He did well enough in three in-the-money performances before finishing out of the money in his next two starts. Hough finally put him back on the dirt, where he finished a fast-closing second in the Ohio Derby, in which his Thoro-Graph figure skyrocketed from a “9” to a “2 1/4.” From a pedigree standpoint, he has seven classic winners in his first four generations, and in his first five generations he has six horses that won at least two legs of the Triple Crown – Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Spectacular Bid, Majestic Prince, Pleasant Colony, and Nashua. His second dam is by Irish Derby and King Georg VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner and English Derby runner-up St. Jovite. He traces to major classic and stamina influence Ribot three times through Belmont winner Avatar, a son of Graustark, Derby and Preakness winner Pleasant Colony, a son of His Majesty, and Hoist the Flag, a son of Tom Rolfe. And he is inbred close up (3x3) to A.P. Indy. If he is flying again at the end of the Ellis Park Derby, watch out when he stretches out to 1 1/4 miles.

TWO OTHERS FROM THE PETER PAN

Another horse to watch is COUNTRY GRAMMER, winner of the Peter Pan Stakes, who is improving with every start, and even though he had a dream trip, saving ground every step of the way, I did like his high cruising speed and the way he fought back in the final furlong. He was able to break his maiden last year at 1 1/8 miles, and coming off a slowly run nine furlongs, he wasn’t ready to compete with a classy speedball like Ete Indien in the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2). He returned off a 3 1/2-month layoff to finish a good third, rallying five-wide, against Tap it to Win in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race run in a blazing 1:39 3/5. That race gave him just enough sharpness and fitness to come again to barely defeat Caracaro, who was coming off that long layoff. He is by Belmont Stakes winner and two-time Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) winner Tonalist and is inbred 3x4 to Pleasant Colony. He is another on an upward trajectory who could be peaking come September. He, like Caracaro, will make the Travers more interesting.

And I’m not quite ready to give up on MYSTIC GUIDE, who doesn’t want to be 11 lengths off the lead, as he was in the Peter Pan. This is a horse who wants to be between two to five lengths off the lead. He is certainly bred to go a mile and a quarter, and he deserves another shot, perhaps in the Travers.

LAST CHANCE ELLIS PARK DERBY

Two horses looking to move forward in the Ellis Park Derby (G3) are an old favorite of mine, MAJOR FED, and his conqueror in the Indiana Derby (G3) SHARED SENSE, who is just now finding himself. Both of these horses are crying out for more distance and if they can get past this next race, they should relish the mile and a quarter. Major Fed has been ranked in top 12 of Derby dozen several times and is another horse I have loved since he broke his maiden. He hasn’t had the best trips lately, partially due to poor starts, and has been taken out of his best running style. He showed me a lot finishing fourth in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2), rallying from 14th after a slow start, and he closed well to be second in the Indiana Derby, coming from ninth. He just needs a good start and be closer to the pace, as he was in his maiden score and his second in the Risen Star Stakes presented by Lamarque Ford (G2). If you throw out his debacle in the Matt Winn Stakes (G3) when he lost a ton of ground, his Brisnet Speed Figures have increased with every start – 77, 87, 91, 92, 99.

SURPRISING FACT

Honor A. P. and Tiz the Law have the two fastest last-out Thoro-Graph figures at zero and “3/4,” respectively. Bet you can’t guess who has the third fastest with a “1.” The answer shockingly is the champ himself, Storm the Court, with his third in the Ohio Derby. I still can’t figure that one out. I did love that he was the only Derby hopeful to start the year off in sprint, but hasn’t shown that much progression since. Is there more lurking inside him that we don’t know about?

Street Sense Scores Royal Kentucky Derby Victory

2020-07-18T17:52:00Z

With horses sired by the first three finishers of the 2007 Kentucky Derby (G1)—Street Sense, Hard Spun, and Curlin—all still on the Derby trail and with another Derby hopeful having won the Street Sense Stakes, this is a good time to go back and reprint my recap of the 2007 Derby, which has never been reprinted.

The 133rd Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) was about a king, a queen, and a bunch of country boys. It was about a near-record crowd that erupted in celebration for its transplanted hometown heroes—Street Sense, Carl Nafzger, and Calvin Borel. And it was about the end of a 23-year-old jinx. But most importantly, it was about class.

Queen Elizabeth II couldn’t have picked a better year to attend her first Kentucky Derby, as she witnessed a scintillating performance by a champion, who finally proved after more than two decades that a Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner can win the coveted Run for the Roses.

Not only did the Kentucky-bred son of Street Cry, out of the Dixieland Band mare Bedazzle, win America’s greatest race, he charged past 18 horses with yet another electrifying run and rail-skimming ride from Calvin Borel, the jockey they call “Bo-rail,” to win by 2 1/4 lengths over a courageous Hard Spun. The path horse and rider have been paving race after race can now officially be named Easy Street, or as the Queen might say, Fleet Street.

The deafening roar that erupted from the stands as the victors returned could be felt as much as heard. Unlike the rousing ovations for past Derby winners, this one was for the horse, the trainer, and the jockey, all of whom are heroes in the state of Kentucky.

Less than two weeks earlier, as Derby horses paraded to Keeneland in nearby Lexington to train over its Polytrack surface, only Nafzger and Street Sense remained at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., to train for the Derby in the traditional manner. As a result, Churchill, normally a hotbed of activity in the weeks leading up to the race, was eerily silent and devoid of activity or Derby buzz. Only a handful of reporters and TV camera crews gathered at Barn 26 to seek out Nafzger’s ever-flowing words of wisdom.

Those who were there, however, for Street Sense’s sensational five-furlong breeze 11 days before the May 5 Derby couldn’t help but think that the one-horse show at Churchill Downs was the only one that mattered.

One by one, Derby horses began trickling into Churchill in the days to come, while mega-trainers Todd Pletcher, with five Derby horses, and Doug O’Neill, with three (one of whom would be withdrawn), insisted on remaining at Keeneland.

As it turned out, the first five finishers in the Derby—Street Sense, Hard Spun, Curlin, Imawildandcrazyguy, and Sedgefield—all had at least one work over the Churchill surface, with the first two finishers, who distanced themselves from the field, among the few that had two works. As for the Keeneland holdouts, they finished sixth, eighth, 12th, 13th, 17th, and 20th.

But those are mere sidelights to the 2007 Kentucky Derby, which proved to be a great deal more profound than mere statistics. This was a Derby in which emotion prevailed over all else, beginning with the enthusiastic salute from the 156,635 in attendance, the third-largest crowd in Derby history.

Nafzger has been known to evoke emotion before, and will always be remembered for his passionate and inspiring call of the 1990 Kentucky Derby on national TV, in which he described the running of the race in detail to Unbridled’s owner, 92-year-old Frances Genter, and his touching “Oh, Mrs. Genter, I love you,” immediately following the race.

He didn’t have to resort to that for Street Sense’s owner/breeder, 83-year-old James Tafel, but emotions were nearly as strong, as the two embraced in celebration of their longtime relationship, which brought them victories in the Travers Stakes (G1) with Unshaded, the Florida Derby (G1) with Vicar, and the grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks, Alabama, Spinster, Apple Blossom, and Go for Wand with Banshee Breeze.

Then there was a proud Cecil Borel reflecting on his younger brother’s life and crowning achievement, as well as his penchant for riding the rail. Cecil currently trains a string at Churchill Downs, and Calvin will occasionally show up at the barn at 5 a.m. to help out.

“He’s worked real hard, and he’s got a lot of heart,” Cecil said in his thick Cajun accent. “At 16, he rode a horse for me and he went about five or six wide. When he came back to the barn, I let him walk the horse instead of the hot walker. When he made about three rounds, I took a big old barrel and put it in the corner, and he had to go around the barrel three times. Then the fourth time around, he hollered at me, ‘Why you got the barrel there?’ I told him it’s a little farther than walking on the inside. The next time around I took the barrel out and he went on the inside, and that’s how it got started.”

When Borel dismounted, his agent, Jerry Hissam, gave him a bear hug and lifted him high off the ground. “It’s a dream to be here,” said Hissam, who has been handling Borel’s book for 17 years. “I’ve been in this game for 40 years, starting out at Waterford Park, and here I am with Calvin, who started out at Evangeline Downs and Delta Downs, standing together in the winner’s circle of the Kentucky Derby. Calvin deserves this. He’s such a hard worker. He’s here six days a week and gets on six or seven horses every morning and then rides six or seven in the afternoon.”

For Nafzger, who has handed over the majority of his stable to longtime assistant Ian Wilkes and is in semi-retirement, there was still plenty of glory left for him at age 65. “I got about 10 minutes before the adrenaline goes down and that’ll be it,” he said walking through the tunnel following the race.

As he made his way through the paddock, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, winner of four Kentucky Derbys, came over and put his arms around Nafzger’s shoulders. “I told them before they started it’s a game of experience, and the guy that’s got the most experience is going to saddle the winner,” Lukas said. “That’s just wonderful. Great job. Soak it up now; you know, you’ve been there.”

Nafzger couldn’t wait to call his friend and mentor, John Nerud, who turned 93 earlier this year. “Nerud, you should be here,” he said. “I just had to give you a quick call. It’s been a great relationship just knowing you, and all the things you taught me about a horse and about breeding. I want to tell you something. Thank you, and I mean that. Thank you for everything. Now, I’m gonna go in the Derby Museum and tell everybody how smart I am.”

The story of the 2007 Kentucky Derby began last October when Street Sense demolished a talented field by 10 lengths in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at Churchill Downs, clinching the 2-year-old championship and establishing himself as a solid favorite for the Derby. The four horses immediately behind him—Circular Quay, Great Hunter, Scat Daddy, and Stormello—all would return looking for revenge on the first Saturday in May.

As to be expected, lucrative offers to buy the colt came pouring in after the Juvenile. “I know we could have taken some big money off the table, but Mr. Tafel insisted the horse was not for sale,” Nafzger said over the winter, while preparing Street Sense at Florida’s Palm Meadows. “In the past, he’s had to retire horses who have gotten beat in order not to devalue them. But this time, he said, ‘I think I’m just going to enjoy this one.’”

They thought back to when the colt was at Drew Nardiello’s Chesapeake Farm near Lexington. Said Nafzger, “The first time Mr. Tafel and I went to see the babies at Chesapeake Farm, Drew said, ‘There’s only one thing wrong with this colt.’ Mr. Tafel asked, ‘What’s that?’ and Drew said, ‘He’s perfect. He’s got only one way to go—down.’ We put him in training at Ocala Stud and he did everything right.”

At Mike O’Farrell’s Ocala Stud at the same time, there was another colt named Nobiz Like Shobiz, a grand-looking son of Albert the Great who was the star of the group. “He was a standout,” said Ocala Stud farm manager Bob Noble. “All the owners and trainers who came to look at their horses would look at him and ask, ‘Who’s that?’ Street Sense was a nice colt, but he wasn’t the type who turned heads. He was just one of the group.”

That perception would not last very long, as he would soon have heads spinning. Early in the colt’s 3-year-old campaign, Nafzger mapped out a plan where Street Sense would have two preps before the Kentucky Derby, despite the fact that the last horse to win the Derby off only two preps was Sunny’s Halo in 1983, and the previous horse to accomplish it was Jet Pilot in 1947.

But Nafzger remained adamant that two races was all the colt needed. In his first start, he got the gut-wrencher he needed when he outgamed Any Given Saturday by a nose in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3). In his next start, the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, he was beaten a nose by Dominican in a freakishly run race, in which they crawled six furlongs in 1:16.65 before flying home in the final eighth. Street Sense likely cost himself the race when he lost focus turning for home and started gawking at the crowd.

Nafzger was undeterred, and felt the race was another step forward in getting the colt to peak on Derby day. As the Derby neared, Nafzger attempted to keep Borel, who had finished eighth, 12th, 12th, and 17th in his previous four Derby attempts, focused on the race and remove any pressure he might be feeling. He told Borel to “keep everything in perspective and have fun. How many times have I been to the Derby in 17 years? Three, so if you don’t enjoy it, why the hell are you here? You love ridin’ races, so ride to have fun, because if you go to worrying about it, you’ll screw up for sure.”

Nafzger continued to be philosophical in the weeks leading up to the Derby, his comments sounding like passages from his book Traits of a Winner. “When I’m watching a race, I’m not watching to see if I’m gonna win,” he said 10 days before the race. “I’m watching the horse. I’m watching the jockey. I’m watching me. If the horse makes a mistake, is it the horse, is it the jockey, or did I screw up? I’m thinking, what can I do to correct any mistakes. You can get into ifs and buts your whole life, but it don’t mean a thing.”

To Nafzger, who provides over 4% of the purses to the help, it’s all about the horse, regardless of the level of competition. “If you can’t enjoy watching a $5,000 claimer give you 110% you shouldn’t be in this business,” he said. As for Street Sense, he’s the one who calls the shots, not the trainer. “He wants to do what he’s doing; he set the program,” Nafzger said four days before the Derby. “He brought us here, and now we’re going to go with him all the way. If he gets us there he gets us there. If he doesn’t he doesn’t. That’s horse racing.”

With Street Sense turning in two of the best Derby works anyone has ever seen at Churchill Downs (five furlongs in :59 April 24 and the same distance in 1:01 May 1), activity continued to swell at Keeneland. Hard Spun, winner of five of his six career starts, including the Lane’s End Stakes (G2), shipped to Churchill Downs from his barn at Keeneland and worked a bullet five furlongs in 1:00 1/5 April 12, convincing trainer Larry Jones and owner Rick Porter that he liked the Churchill surface. A subsequent mile work back at Keeneland wasn’t as pretty as he went in 1:42 2/5 and returned blowing hard, which was what Jones wanted, considering the son of Danzig was coming off a six-week layoff.

Jones became an instant favorite with the media, with his good old boy wit and charm and quick one-liners. Like Nafzger, who grew up in Olton, Texas and rode bulls because “it beat picking cotton,” Jones was raised in Herndon, Ky., which basically was a post office and a four-way stop sign, with a population 150 “if you count the dogs.”

Just as Nafzger attempted to get inside Borel’s head, Jones, knowing that Street Sense was the horse to beat, and aware of how he had won his previous races, did his best to make sure jockey Mario Pino did not let Borel get through on his inside if the situation arose. “If you’re on the inside turning for home and you let Street Sense through on the rail, I’ll have you shot by the sixteenth pole,” he told Pino, with a half-serious, half-kidding twinkle in his eye.

When Jones brought Hard Spun to Churchill for good a week before the Derby and gave the colt his final work at five furlongs on April 30, he got more than he expected, as Hard Spun blew away his stablemate, grade 1 winner Wildcat Bettie B, and stopped the clock in a blistering :57 3/5. That sent up huge flares in the media. But Hard Spun did it all on his own and bounced out of the work on the muscle and looking for more action.

When asked how he thought the fans and handicappers will react to the work, Jones said with a big grin on his face, “The cowboy blew it. The cowboy absolutely had Derby pressure and he went out and worked him way too fast.”

Also on the grounds after being based at Keeneland was the undefeated Curlin, who many insisted was racing’s next superstar after winning all three of his starts, including the Arkansas Derby (G2) and Rebel Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park, by an average margin of 9 1/2 lengths. Trainer Steve Asmussen, who took over Curlin’s training after majority interest in the son of Smart Strike was sold following his maiden victory, was confident in the colt’s chances despite his trying to become the first horse since Apollo in 1882 to win the Derby without having raced at 2, and the first since Regret in 1915 to win off only three career starts.

On the Monday before the race, Giacomo’s half-brother, Tiago, winner of the Santa Anita Derby (G1), and grade 1 winner Stormello arrived from California. The following day Pletcher’s Keeneland four—Circular Quay, Any Given Saturday, Scat Daddy, and Cowtown Cat—joined Churchill-based stablemate Sam P. The final horse to arrive was none other than Street Sense’s old farm mate Nobiz Like Shobiz, who was coming off a victory in the Wood Memorial (G1) at Aqueduct.

The predicted rain for Derby day never materialized, as the area’s thunderstorms passed to the south. Nafzger was relaxed and in great spirits Derby morning, clowning around with Nobiz Like Shobiz’ trainer Barclay Tagg, and promising to bring Starbucks coffee and donuts to the barn for visitors the morning after the race if Street Sense won. With the track in bad shape after two days of rain, Nafzger decided to have Street Sense walk the shed instead of gallop.

“For six months, this colt has taken us on a perfect trip,” Nafzger said. “Why should I make a decision that could screw him up on the last day? It’s sticky out there. What if he pulls a shoe off and takes off a hunk of his quarter?”

The fans made Street Sense the slight 9-2 favorite over Curlin at 5-1. The only other horse in single-digit odds was Florida Derby (G1) winner Scat Daddy at 7-1.

The start was a good one, as Hard Spun went for the lead, followed closely by Teuflesberg, Cowtown Cat, and Stormello. Street Sense broke well from post 7, and Borel immediately had his mind on getting to the rail. He waited for Zanjero to clear him on the inside, and then steered Street Sense sharply to the rail, slipping between Zanjero and Imawildandcrazyguy. Here he was once again on his favorite part of his favorite track. But this time, the other jockeys would be looking out for him. Or so one would have thought.

Hard Spun continued to lead through swift early fractions of :22.96 and :46.26, while edging clear by a length. Street Sense, meanwhile, had only one horse beat in the 20-horse field, but Borel was where he wanted to be. “I knew the pace was quick, so I backed him up a little bit and let two horses go by me,” he said.

Down the backstretch, there wasn’t much change in position, as Hard Spun was able to slow the pace down a bit, getting the six furlongs in 1:11.13. Pino took advantage of Hard Spun’s superior cruising speed and let him open up by two lengths, with Street Sense still back in 17th. The stalkers were under pressure trying to keep up and were already in retreat, as Sedgefield, Nobiz Like Shobiz, and Any Given Saturday began a mild move. Around the turn, Borel finally kicked into gear on Street Sense, while still hugging the rail, and the colt rapidly began picking off horses one by one. It was amazing that with Borel’s and Street Sense’s reputation for riding the rail to victory, there was no one blocking their path.
No one except Liquidity, who also was down on the rail, posing a major obstacle for the pair around the far turn. But, just as Street Sense came rolling up behind him, David Flores, on Liquidity, came off the rail, allowing Street Sense through.

Now it was just a matter of finding a seam to ease out. Pino and Hard Spun had opened a three-length lead at the quarter pole, all but cooking everyone near them. It became obvious that Street Sense, who had made up 16 lengths in a half-mile, was the only horse who had a chance to catch the game and fleet Hard Spun.

Nearing the head of the stretch, Hard Spun came three wide, but Pino, heeding Jones’ words, quickly steered him back to the rail. Street Sense’s good luck continued when Borel found a perfect seam and was able to ease Street Sense outside Sedgefield and inside Nobiz Like Shobiz and Any Given Saturday. Now, here he was charging up outside Hard Spun, as the pair drew off from the others.

Curlin, who had been sucked back into the body of the field, found room late, but the top two were long gone. Despite Hard Spun’s tenacity, Street Sense was simply too much for him. He collared Hard Spun at the three-sixteenths pole and immediately ducked to the rail after drawing clear. With his final two quarters in :24 2/5 and :24 1/5, Street Sense crossed the wire 2 1/4 lengths in front, covering the 1 1/4 miles in 2:02.17 on a fast track that earlier in the day was listed as muddy.

Hard Spun finished 5 3/4 lengths ahead of Curlin, who was a half-length ahead of Imawildandcrazyguy, who had to take the overland route, some nine or 10 wide. Sedgefield held gamely to finish fifth, a neck in front of Circular Quay.

As Nafzger headed to the party at the Kentucky Derby Museum, he stopped, bent down, and picked up a five-dollar bill. “How you gonna top that?” he said, putting a new twist on Richard Dreyfuss’ understated words in the movie Let It Ride: “I’m having a very good day.”

Over at Jones’ barn, everyone was proud of the colt’s effort, but realized the Derby victory could have been theirs had Street Sense not had the perfect trip. When Pino came by, Jones gave him words of encouragement.

“Don’t feel bad about this, Mario, you did a wonderful job,” Jones said. “We got beat by a very good horse. I watched Street Sense work and he scared the living bejeebers out of me. If anyone other than you had made Calvin come around them, we’re home free. You damn near pulled it off. Yep, the rookies damn near got it.”

So, in the end, tradition won out. It was the horses who trained at Churchill Downs that prevailed, with the first two finishers having bullet works over the track. While Jones did give Hard Spun an important work at Keeneland, he sandwiched it with sharp works at Churchill, and was the only trainer aggressive and confident enough to work his horse a mile, knowing he needed a stiff lung-opener coming off a six-week layoff. It is that kind of thinking that often wins Derbys, and Jones would be hailed a genius today had Street Sense not had one of the most blessed trips in Derby history.

The following morning, Nafzger, as promised, arrived with two pourable boxes of Starbucks coffee and several boxes of donuts. He commented how his book has doubled in sales. “We sold one book yesterday and two today,” he joked.

Street Sense’s herbalist, Cathy McGlory, fed the colt carrots and commented that he only lost 10 pounds in the race. Nafzger brought Street Sense out for a jog, and the colt looked amazing, pausing, as he usually does, with his head and ears up. “Look how bright-eyed that s.o.b. is,” Nafzger commented. “He’s a monster.”

This was a time for Nafzger to give thanks, to Tafel, Borel, and Wilkes, who trains 45 of their 55 horses. “The first time I ever saw Ian was when he came from Australia,” Nafzger recalled. “When he galloped by me at Keeneland one morning, I told my assistant at the time, Sharon Peters, ‘Don’t let that boy out of my sight.’ We’ve grown up 16 years together, and we think alike and see horses alike. He could have trained this horse just as well as I have in a minute.”

As Wilkes said, “I want to keep the old fella around. I don’t want him to retire. I enjoy being around him.”

But Nafzger admitted he no longer has the energy to train more than the 10 horses he has. “I love horse racing and I love what we’re doing, but one day I’m just gonna disappear.”

Nafzger may eventually disappear, but the emotional and memorable moments he has provided will remain for all time. As he leaned against the rail watching Street Sense jog the morning after the Derby, Lukas came by on his pony. “It’s a perfect world this morning, isn’t it?” Lukas said to Nafzger, who replied, “Perfect world, my friend.”

On this weekend, it was not only a perfect world for Nafzger, but for all of Thoroughbred racing.

New Faces Still on Derby Horizon

2020-07-14T19:32:00Z

Here we are heading to Saratoga with its two important Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) preps and only days away from the Haskell Invitational (G1). And we still have the Ellis Park Derby, which is likely to attract several Derby hopefuls based in Kentucky.

After the top three ranked 3-year-olds - Tiz the Law, Honor A. P., and Art Collector - there appears, at least for now, to be a gap to the rest of Derby hopefuls, which could be narrowed if proven stakes horses Authentic, Dr Post or Ny Traffic should run a huge race in the Haskell and give the impression of being a Derby horse.

But there are still openings for new faces to emerge on the scene. Here are several horses who have shown promise to keep an eye on, even though they have yet to make a major impact on the Derby trail.

1. MYSTIC GUIDE - Back in April I ranked the new faces on Derby Dozen and this son of Ghostzapper was ranked No. 2 behind Pneumatic. I am still just as high on him and stated back then: "I believe he will be a major Derby contender by late spring or summer and will be ranked right up with the best once he beats winners." Well, he still hasn't beaten winners, but in his only start since then he ran an excellent second in a 1 1/16-mile Belmont allowance race to Tap it to Win, who turned in one of the most electrifying performances of the meet on an uncontested lead the whole way. This colt has a beautiful stride and a look of class about him. and we will finally get a chance to see where he stands when he faces a field of other promising new faces in the Peter Pan Stakes (G2) July 16.

2. CARACARO - With only two career starts and not having run since Jan. 11, he has a lot to prove and a lot of catching up to do, but he was so impressive breaking his maiden at a mile at Gulfstream Park I pointed him as a potential Derby horse to an owner who was looking to purchase a promising unproven colt. Unfortunately, he got hurt shortly after and we haven't seen him since. The Peter Pan is an ambitious spot for his return after being sidelined for over six months, but even a solid in-the-money performance could propel him into a starting berth in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1). He had been training at Gulfstream West (formerly Calder Race Course), and after a bullet half-mile work in :47 3/5 he turned in a pair of solid six-furlong works, including a sharp move in 1:11 3/5. Now at Saratoga, he blew out three furlongs in :38 in the slop for the Peter Pan. We will see how far he has progressed in all this time.

3. SONNEMAN - I had him ranked No. 3 behind Mystic Guide back in April. Yes, he did run in the listed Easy Goer Stakes and his past performance line is going to look odd and unusual, finishing second, beaten 19 3/4 lengths. Ignore that completely. After a bunch of scratches, this stone closer found himself in a match race with a speed horse and had no chance to win, if you know anything about match races. He tried to stay close and make an early move, but once it was turned back the race was over and jockey Jose Ortiz eased him through the stretch. The reason a margin was listed was because in a match race you have to give the winner a margin of victory, as they did with Chris Evert when she beat Miss Musket by 50 lengths in their match race and Man o' War when he won a match race in the Lawrence Realization by 100 lengths. The truth is, Sonneman, a son of Curlin, has a powerful closing kick and he will be trying two turns for the first time in the Haskell, a very ambitious spot over a speed-favoring track against far more accomplished horses. If he is just closing at the end against this field, even finishing fourth, it could set him up beautifully if they want to bring him back in the Travers, or they can train him up to the Derby, which would seem the more likely of the two. I just like the overall appearance he makes, the look of class about him, and feel as if he is crying out for more distance.

4. COUNTRY GRAMMER - This son of Tonalist broke his maiden going 1 1/8 miles in only his second career start and first on dirt. Off that slowly run race he was not ready to keep up with horses like Ete Indien in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, in which Ete Indien wired his field by 8 1/2 lengths. Although fifth, he was beaten only a half-length for second. After a layoff of over three months, he returned and ran a strong third in Tap it to Win's allowance romp, 1 1/2 lengths behind Mystic Guide, in a race run in a blazing 1:39 3/5 for the 1 1/16 miles. That should set him up for a big performance in the Peter Pan for trainer Chad Brown. It is interesting to note that Javier Castellano, who rode him in his last two races, will be aboard Caracaro in the Peter Pan, while he gets Irad Ortiz Jr. Not only is he by a Belmont Stakes winner, he is inbred 3x4 to Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Pleasant Colony and his dam traces to Filly Triple Crown winner Chris Evert.

5. CANDY TYCOON - Another entered in the Peter Pan. I don't know how far he wants to go, but he is coming off a strong second in an allowance race at Oaklawn back in May to Rushie, who came back to finish third in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2). Before that he finished second to Ete Indien in the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), and although he finished far up the track in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1), he had a horrible trip. He hasn't run in two and a half months, but I like the fact he's been working over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga and has four works over that track, the last two at five furlongs.

6. MO HAWK - Once trained by Bob Baffert, this son of Uncle Mo, who sold for $925,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, was turned over to Rodolphe Brisset after finishing fourth in the Sunny Slope Stakes at odds of 1-2 and second in an allowance race. Brisset put him in a one-mile allowance race on the grass at Indiana Grand, which he won by 1 1/2 lengths after pressing the pace. If you like the grass back to dirt angle and like his half-mile breeze in :47 4/5 at Keeneland and the switch to Joel Rosario in the Peter Pan Stakes then you might have enough reasons to give him a longshot chance.

7. CHESTERTOWN - Talk about huge sales prices, this New York-bred son of Tapit sold for a whopping $2 million at the OBS 2-year-old sale. He has shown promise, breaking his maiden in state-bred company going a mile in his second start, but was beaten in his first two open-company races as a big favorite in each one, but they were both solid efforts. He didn't have the best of trips when well-beaten in the Louisiana Derby (G2) and didn't run again for nearly three months when he returned to finish second in a state-bred allowance race at Belmont, pressing a fast pace in the mud, again as a big favorite at 6-5. Trainer Steve Asmussen will try blinkers for the Peter Pan and go with his number one rider, Ricardo Santana. So this is another handicapping angle, and we'll see if he can start running to his enormous sales price.

8. JESUS' TEAM - I have no idea what to make of this horse after he jumped up from back-to-back impressive victories for $32,000 and $25,000 claiming tags, respectively, to finish second to Sole Volante, beaten only three-quarters of a length in a classy one-mile allowance race at Gulfstream, finishing ahead of stakes winners Shivaree and Ete Indien, while earning a big 106 Equibase speed figure. He earned a 97 speed figure in his previous race, so perhaps we are looking at much-improved horse, just like Maximum Security last year when he jumped up from a $16,000 claiming tag. Now he moves way up in the Haskell Invitational, where you would think he'll be way overmatched. But nowadays you just never know.

9. ANCIENT WARRIOR - The son of Constitution made an auspicious debut last November at Del Mar when he scored by 4 1/4 lengths in 1:09 3/5. He had to move to Oaklawn Park when his trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was forced to move his stable, and although he didn't win in his three allowance starts there and one start at Churchill Downs, all in sprints, he is listed as a probable in the Haskell Invitational. On the surface he doesn't appear to belong in that race, but Hollendorfer is no dummy when it comes to spotting his horses and there has to be a reason why he will to stretch him out in grade 1 company in a race loaded with top-class speed horses. Whether it is Hollendorfer's decision or not we will see what happens.

Also in the Peter Pan is CELTIC STRIKER, who was the recipient of that match race debacle. He does have stakes experience, but was well beaten in the grade 3 Gotham and Matt Winn Stakes following an allowance victory at Parx. I have no idea what to make of this horse. If you go by stakes accomplishments then you have to give MODERNIST a big chance in the Peter Pan after failing to run a lick in the Belmont Stakes (G1), in which several top horses ran poorly and apparently didn't handle the track. But based on his victory in a division of the Risen Star Stakes (G2) and his third in the Louisiana Derby, despite a wide trip, you would think he will be the likely favorite in the Peter Pan.

Looking ahead to the Haskell, Authentic, Dr Post, and Ny Traffic look to be the standouts..The Ellis Park Derby could provide a classy matchup between Blue Grass winner Art Collector and Sole Volante, who exited the Belmont Stakes (G1) with a sore back, but is doing fine now. If he needs the points to get in the Derby he will run in either the Ellis Park Derby or the Travers. If he doesn't need the points there is a chance he could run in the Saratoga Derby (G1), returning to the grass, which would set him up for an intriguing grass to dirt angle in the Kentucky Derby. But either way, he needs another race. Art Collector will be nominated to the Ellis Park Derby and a decision will be made whether to run one more time or train up to the Derby, which would mean an eight-week layoff. He does have a good foundation under him and has finished first in his last four starts, and he's probably the most versatile of all the Derby hopefuls, having won on the lead, just off the lead, and from seven to eight lengths off the pace.

Who Are These Horses?

2020-07-10T20:02:00Z

With the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) being run on Sept 5 this year you would think we would have a firm grasp on who the leading contenders are, but for various reasons-one, of course, being the pandemic-we really don't know who these 3-year-olds are?

Tiz the Law and Honor A. P. clearly are the two best 3-year-olds in the country and both have superstar potential. But the truth is, Tiz the Law, who for some reason seems like a hardened veteran, will go into the Derby having only four starts in the last nine months. Honor A. P., who we know mainly from watching his works all year on XBTV, will go into the Derby having only three starts in eight months, the last one to be run at 1 1/16 miles. Not exactly your typical final Derby prep.

Yet, when you look past these two horses, there is, for lack of a better phrase, a mish mash of horses who have proven little in major stakes and shown little consistency or winning ways. For example, the July 18 Haskell Invitational (G1) looks like it's going to be an interesting and competitive race, but of the nine probable starters and two or three possible starters, not one is coming off a victory.

In my last rankings of the 3-year-olds, I was so desperate I ranked a Japanese horse No. 3 and, of course, he made me look foolish in his next start, stretching out in distance and showing nothing.

I have been ranking Derby horses for Daily Racing Form and Blood-Horse since 1992 and have to admit I don't have a clue what I'm doing this year, as there is so little separation among the contenders after the top two and such a wide gap between No. 2 and No. 3. At least I think there is.

I say I think, because as I mentioned earlier, I still have not seen the top two face a deep field and what would be considered stiff competition, for the simple reason that there is no stiff competition. But I do believe both these horses have superstar potential if they go on to race next year.

I admit I am looking at all this through a rear view mirror, as I remember when horses went into the Derby having run five or six times in four months at a time when the Derby Trial was run four days before the Derby, the Blue Grass nine days before the Derby, and the Wood Memorial and Arkansas Derby two weeks before the Derby. In 1967 the Gotham and Wood Memorial were run one week apart. Hialeah's 3-year-old program consisted of the six-furlong Hibiscus Stakes, seven-furlong Bahamas, 1 1/8-mile Everglades, and 1 1/8-mile Flamingo. And when Hialeah closed you had the seven-furlong Hutcheson Stakes, 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth, and 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. That is seven preps in Florida alone, not counting the two-turn Miami Beach Handicap and Dade Metropolitan at Tropical Park before Hialeah opened. Santa Anita also had a 3-year-old program increasing in distance with each race-the six-furlong Los Feliz Stakes, seven-furlong San Vicente, one mile San Jacinto, 1 1/16-mile San Felipe and the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby. And there was also the 1 1/8-mile Hollywood Derby.

Back then almost every 3-year-old started off the year in a sprint. One week before the Derby, Churchill Downs ran the seven-furlong Stepping Stone Purse, which attracted horses such as the undefeated Majestic Prince following his romp in the Santa Anita Derby, Swaps, Sword Dancer, Tom Rolfe, Sir Gaylord, Never Bend, and Derby winner Cannonade. When the Derby Trial was in fashion, Calumet's Triple Crown winners Citation and Whirlaway ran in it on Tuesday, worked a half-mile on Thursday, and won the Derby on Saturday.

Yes, I know times have changed, I'm living in the past, and horses run far fewer times, but it is still good once in a while to look back at the way it was for history's sake and what horses were capable of. And, oh, yes, the vast majority of those horses went on to long careers, racing at 4 and 5, and weren't retired after their 3-year-old campaigns or after the Belmont Stakes (G1).

To run in the Derby off a five-week layoff was virtually unheard of. Carry Back won the Derby having run 21 times as a 2-year-old and then seven times as a 3-year-old before the Derby. That didn't stop him from winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown and going on to have a long and lucrative career, making 61 starts, in spite of his roguish owner and trainer Jack Price, who even took him to France to run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1).

Another rogue, John Campo, ran the plucky little Jim French in 10 stakes at five different tracks in a little over four months going into the Derby. After running in two stakes at Tropical Park, Jim French ran in the Hibiscus, Bahamas, Everglades, and Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah, flew up to New York for the Bay Shore Stakes, then back down to Florida one week later for the Florida Derby, then to California a week later for the Santa Anita Derby, which he won, then back to New York for the Wood Memorial. Despite this insane schedule, Jim French finished a fast-closing second to Canonero II in the Derby, third in Canonero's record-breaking Preakness Stakes (G1), and a fast-closing second in the Belmont Stakes, beaten only three-quarters of a length.

By early July after winning the Dwyer Handicap, Jim French had run in 16 stakes at 10 different racetracks from six furlongs to 1 1/2 miles in a period of less than seven months, while making two trips to California, and was never worse than fourth other than when he was disqualified from second to fifth in the Everglades Stakes.

There are many other stories of iron horses that you rarely see anymore, at least not at the highest level of competition. Today, Price and Campo would have been vilified and accused of cruelty to animals, but back then it was more a part of the game, and those trainers got away with it because their horses stood up to it and remarkably maintained their form throughout. I got into racing in 1967, and the first horse I saw break down was Ruffian eight years later. That's what made it such a shock.

I sort of deviated from the original path of this column, but I wanted to infuse a little history as a comparison to the sport today and how we really never get to know who these horses are, which makes it more difficult to embrace them, at least over a period of time.

It would have been understandable retiring Zenyatta after her emotion-packed victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), but her connections kept her in training at age 6, where her popularity soared to new heights to the point where hundreds of fans waited in the cold and snow at Keeneland at night just to get a quick glimpse of her and hopefully touch her as she paraded around sales walking ring before heading to Lane's End Farm. They had gotten to know her and had grown to worship her, as fans had done with Seabiscuit, Kelso, John Henry, and Forego, among other warriors throughout history who raced for a number of years. We all embraced Secretariat and worshiped him for his larger than life persona, and his amazing feats. But did we really get to know him? What would have been in store for us had he raced at 4? We can only imagine and dream.

For now, all we can do is enjoy horses like Tiz the Law and Honor A. P. for as long as we can and then move on to the next ones, all the time hoping one will come along who we really get to know and can embrace over a period of time.

Big Red, Riva, and the Unbeatable Horse

2020-07-09T13:51:00Z

A reprint from Sept. 12, 2011

We've all heard or used the expression, "No one would have beaten him today." Throughout history, there have been numerous horses who, for one or two races, turned in performances so extraordinary, you can't imagine anyone beating them. Often, these horses were meant for great things, but were hampered by a variety of problems, such as unsoundness, breathing problems, mental issues etc. When everything came together perfectly, however, that potential greatness surfaced, and pity anyone who happened to cross paths with them on that day.

One of those horses is Prove Out. The perfect storm that developed on Sept. 29, 1973 was made up of two elements that came together at the exact same time. One of those elements was Prove Out's greatness that surfaced on that day, thanks to the remarkable training of Allen Jerkens, who had already brought down the mighty Secretariat with Onion, a hard-knocking, fast horse who did not come close to possessing the raw talent and brilliance of Prove Out. The second element was the poor decision by trainer Lucien Laurin and owner Penny Tweedy to run Secretariat in the Woodward, a race in which he was not intended to run and for which he was totally unprepared.

First, let's look at Secretariat. Big Red had developed a very high fever a week before he was defeated by Onion in the Whitney, but with Saratoga bracing for one of its biggest crowds ever and the opening of the infield to the public, the pressure was on to run. The feeling in the Secretariat camp was that Big Red could still win even if not at 100 percent. But the colt was still still feeling the effects of his illness, and the stress of competition brought it to a head. Secretariat was so sick after the race he was forced to miss the Travers and it put his scheduled appearance in the inuagural Marlboro Cup in jeopardy. It was not only the one-length defeat to Onion, but finishing only a diminishing half-length ahead of Rule by Reason that convinced everyone Secretariat was nowhere near his best. His appetite declined after the race and he acted sluggish for several days, and there was no choice but to skip the Travers. You have to remember, this was a horse who worked a mile for the Whitney in the mud in 1:34 4/5 after splits of :57 2/5, 1:09 1/5, and 1:21 3/5. His mile time was a track record at Saratoga, as was his 1 1/8-mile gallop-out in 1:47 4/5. The gallop-out time was a full second and two-fifths faster than the final time of the Whitney.

Prior to the Whitney, the Philip Morris Corporation proposed a $250,000 match race between Secretariat and his stablemate Riva Ridge, winner of the previous year's Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes who had set a world record for 1 3/16 miles in the Brooklyn Handicap on July 4. The race, which was the brainchild of Philip Morris marketing director Jack Landry, would be called the Marlboro Cup and was scheduled for Sept. 15.

But some took exception to the race, which would be nothing more than major payday for Meadow Stable. Most people, however, were thrilled at the prospect of seeing the two Kentucky Derby winners meet. This would be Riva Ridge's chance to knock off the horse in whose shadow he had existed for almost a year. But when Riva Ridge was upset by a 56-1 shot named Wichita Oil in an allowance race on the grass on Aug. 1, it took a good deal of interest out of the match race. No one could understand why he had been put on the grass at that point. Then, when Secretariat was defeated in the Whitney three days later, the race pretty much lost its luster. Philip Morris had to change plans and decided to make the race an open invitation.

Riva Ridge rebounded from his defeat to win an allowance race on Aug. 21, just barely holding on to defeat Halo by a half-length. But the entire Marlboro Cup hinged on whether Secretariat could make it back in time. And no one knew how sharp he'd be coming off an illness and a six-week layoff. Secretariat worked well, but needed a stiff drill three days before the race to indicate he was ready to tackle the likes of Riva Ridge, 3-year-old champion Key to the Mint, Cougar II, Canadian champion Kennedy Road, Travers winner Annihilate 'Em, and his Whitney nemesis Onion.

Cougar II, known in California as "The Big Cat," added a great deal of luster to the race. The Chilean-bred, who had won almost every major race in California, was best remembered by Easterners for his dominant victory in the 1971 Woodward Stakes, only to be taken down in what was considered one of the worst disqualifications in memory. That may very well have been the beginning of the "East Coast Bias" that still is prevalent in California.

Big Red was a horse who carried so much muscle he needed to work fast before a race to get sharp, both mentally and physically. Even as a youngster, he was a big, fat baby who had a tendency to get lazy. When Secretariat worked five furlongs in :57 flat for the Marlboro Cup, out six furlongs in 1:08 4/5, Laurin knew he was ready.

History shows that Secretariat defeated Riva Ridge by 3 1/2 lengths with his typical overpowering move, and his time of 1:45 2/5 established a new world record. He now looked invincible again.

Meanwhile, far beyond all the hoopla, Allen Jerkens was quietly working on his new acquisition, Prove Out, a regally bred colt whom he had purchased privately from King Ranch for Jack Dreyfus' Hobeau Farm. Prove Out was born for greatness, being by the classic sire Graustark, a son of the legendary Ribot. His dam, Equal Venture, is a half-sister to Triple Crown winner Assault. Equal Venture's broodmare sire is Equipoise, and Prove Out's fourth dam, Masda, is a full-sister to Man o'War.

But Prove Out had bad ankles and other problems, and his trainer William J. "Buddy" Hirsch could do little with him. By August of his 4-year-old year, he had won only four races (a maiden and three allowance races) in 27 career starts. Of those 27 starts, 25 were in allowance or maiden races, and in his only two ventures into stakes company, he finished well up the track. The longest distance he'd ever won at was 1 1/16 miles, and that came in his maiden victory.

Jerkens, however, had his eye on Prove Out for a while, recalling the promise he had shown at Santa Anita at the end of his 3-year-old campaign. Jerkens and Hirsch were good friends, and one day Hirsch approached Jerkens and said, "I don't want you to think I'm hustling you or anything, but that horse I saw you looking at is coming up for sale. He's a little raunchy and Mr. Kleberg (King Ranch owner Robert Kleberg) is mad at him and wants to sell him."

Hirsch, son of the great Max Hirsch, was a proven horseman when he took over the King Ranch horses following his father's death in 1969. One of those who came into his care was the "Mighty Mite" Gallant Bloom, who was coming off a championship season at 2. Gallant Bloom was already riding an impressive winning streak from 2 to 3. When it finally came to an end against the boys in 1970, she had won 12 consecutive races over a three-year period, while knocking off future Hall of Famer Shuvee four times and demolishing another future Hall of Famer, the older Gamely, by seven lengths in the Matchmaker Stakes. Gallant Bloom also was destined for the Hall of Fame.

Jerkens knew Prove Out came from families that were trained hard and felt he might respond to hard training, much like Beau Purple, who began Jerkens' legendary role as "The Giant Killer" by upsetting five-time Horse of the Year Kelso on three occasions.

Jerkens had just sold Dreyfus' Widener Handicap winner Vertee for a nice profit, and decided to take a chance on Prove Out, buying him for Dreyfus for $65,000. He began by concentrating on the colt's ankles, tubbing them and poulticing them. He used a eucalyptus vaporizer to clear up his sinuses and applied linament to his shoulders. In short, he did everything he could to build him back up and alleviate any aches and pains that may have been bothering him.

Prove Out also had a bad habit of lugging in, so Jerkens put his best exercise rider, Jimmy Rhoades, on him to try to teach him to keep a straight course. Two weeks after getting him, Jerkens ran him in a seven-furlong allowance race at Saratoga on Aug. 24. To prevent him from lugging in, he equipped the colt with a burr and put an inside cup on his blinker. Prove Out responded by defeating the quick-footed Cutlass and the 3-5 favorite Forego by 6 1/2 lengths in a track-record 1:21 flat.

But when Jerkens dropped Prove Out back to six furlongs in another allowance race on Sept. 1 at Belmont, he was taken too far off the pace and just missed catching Dr. Fager's full brother Highbinder by a head in 1:09 4/5. Jerkens ran him right back nine days later in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race and Prove Out equaled the track record of 1:40 2/5, beating the top-class Halo by 5 1/2 lengths.

The nine-furlong Chesapeake Handicap at Bowie on Sept. 22 looked like an easy spot for the colt's first stakes victory. He was in with only 111 pounds and was sent off as the 9-5 favorite. But all of Jerkens' work seemed for naught when Prove Out lugged in again and hit the rail before retreating to a seventh-place finish.

Back in the Secretariat camp, Laurin and Tweedy had decided to point Secretariat to the mile and a half Man o' War Stakes (then the premier fall stakes in the U.S.) on Oct. 8 and run Riva Ridge in the mile and a half Woodward Stakes. Secretariat had his first work on the turf, breezing a half-mile in :48 around the dogs and then turned in a slow, easy mile in 1:38. Those were not the kind of works Big Red needed to get sharp for a race. In his mile work (Riva Ridge also worked that morning), Secretariat went around the turf course as if he were in a common gallop.

The Woodward was only two weeks after the Marlboro Cup, and after being drilled hard to make the latter and then setting a new world record, the Woodward was hardly the place for Secretariat to come right back and stretch out from 1 1/8 miles to 1 1/2 miles. If the term "bounce" existed back then, Secretariat was a prime candidate to bounce. Both he and Riva should have passed the Woodward, but Laurin and Tweedy were determined to be represented.

When the weather forecast called for rain on Woodward day, Laurin and Tweedy decided to enter both Riva Ridge and Secretariat. If the track was fast, Riva Ridge would run, but if it came up sloppy, a surface Riva Ridge detested, they would substitute Secretariat. The track did come up sloppy and Riva Ridge was scratched the morning of the race, leaving an unprepared Secretariat to go 1 1/2 miles on an off track only two weeks after breaking a world record and having to go into the race off two slow works on the grass. It was a recipe for disaster.

Jerkens, meanwhile, was angry and frustrated over Prove Out's performance at Bowie. When one of his good horses ran that poorly, Jerkens took it personally and would often take drastic measures. In the morning, he equipped the colt with a severe run-out bit and turned it the opposite way. The bit had prongs that hit the side of the jaw, and Jerkens used it in the hope that during the race the burr would remind the horse of that bit hitting the side of his mouth and he would respond to it.

Jerkens decided to take a shot and run Prove Out in the weight-for-age Woodward, even though he'd have to pick up 15 pounds off the Chesapeake run the week before, concede seven pounds to Secretariat, and stretch out from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/2 miles. Prove Out had never run farther than 1 1/16 miles. It also would mark Prove Out's fifth start in five weeks since coming to Jerkens, who felt if the track came up fast and Secretariat should scratch then someone had a shot to get lucky or at least pick up a piece of the purse.

But it didn't come up fast and Secretariat didn't scratch. The day of the race, Jerkens and Dreyfus were hanging out in the picnic area behind the grandstand when they showed a replay of Secretariat's Marlboro Cup on the closed circuit TV monitors. After watching Big Red draw off from the field, Jerkens turned to Dreyfus and said, "What the hell are we doing in this race?"

Jerkens had given Prove Out several three-mile gallops to build up his stamina and removed the blinkers for the race, feeling he didn't need them going a mile and a half.

Because of space I won't go into the running of the race other than to say the 1-5 Secretariat took over the lead from the 16-1 Prove Out shortly after heading into the backstretch and was able to slow the pace down. Around the far turn, with Big Red winging out there by two lengths, the crowd waited for the explosion that was sure to come. Secretariat had picked up the pace with a :24 flat quarter, with Prove Out and Cougar II lapped on each other. After another testing quarter in :24 2/5, Cougar II was done, but Prove Out wouldn't go away. To the amazement of everyone, he came charging back along the inside and just blew right on by Secretariat, as the crowd went silent.

Despite never even coming close to running this far, Prove Out came home his final quarter in a spectacular :24 flat, drawing off to a 4 1/2-length victory. Over a sloppy track that was not playing fast at all, Prove Out stopped the teletimer in 2:25 4/5, which still to this day is the second-fastest mile and a half ever run at Belmont. Only Secretariat's out-of-this world Belmont performance was faster. Another unbelievable aspect of Prove Out's performance was his running each of his last three quarters in :24 flat, a feat unheard of at that distance. To further demonstrate what a remarkable performance this was, it was projected that Prove Out would have earned a spectacular 131 Beyer speed figure.

Regardless of what cynics may say, Secretariat did not lose the Woodward. Prove Out won the Woodward, and I can't think of any horse who would have beaten him that day. Although everything was against Secretariat, he still ran the mile and a half in 2:26 3/5, which would have equaled Gallant Man's previous track record before Big Red shattered it in the Belmont Stakes. And he did finish 11 lengths ahead of Cougar II in third. If Prove Out had been trained by anyone else he would not even have been in the race and Secretariat would have won by 11 lengths, running the second-fastest 1 1/2 miles in Belmont history.

Remarkably, Secretariat would come back only nine days later and set a new course record of 2:24 4/5 in winning the Man o'War Stakes by five lengths in his grass debut, defeating the top-class Tentam and Big Spruce. So, Secretariat had broken a world record at 1 1/8 miles, finished second in a fast-run race going 1 1/2 miles, and broken a turf course record at 1 1/2 miles - all in the span of 23 days.

Prove Out wasn't done with his assault on Meadow Stable superstars. For the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup, Jerkens breezed Prove Out a pair of slow miles, then breezed him three furlongs in :39 the Sunday before the race. The following morning, Prove Out worked a mile and a half in 2:39 3/5 with a final half in :49 1/5. Three days later, on the Thursday before the race, he galloped a mile and a half, after which he broke off into a dead run for a half-mile, which was timed in :47 2/5. He then galloped out an additional furlong in :12 3/5. There certainly was never anything conventional about Allen Jerkens.

With all this bottom and sharpness in him, Prove Out went head and head with Riva Ridge in the Gold Cup through a seemingly suicidal half in :47 2/5. After six furlongs, Riva Ridge was spent, but Prove Out kept right on going. He covered the mile in a brutal 1:37 1/5 with half of the race still to be run. By comparison, Damascus ran his mile in the 1967 Gold Cup in 1:40 1/5. Arts and Letters went his mile in 1:40 4/5 in 1969. When Kelso set his track and American record in the 1964 Gold Cup, he went his mile in 1:38 2/5.

So brutal was the pace that Riva Ridge would be beaten more than 33 lengths. When the distance-loving Loud, winner of the 1970 Travers and second and third behind the great Shuvee in the 1970 and '71 Jockey Club Gold Cup, respectively, came charging up to challenge nearing the quarter pole, Prove Out looked like he was cooked, especially when he veered in and bounced off the rail. But, again, to the shock of everyone, he shifted to another gear and spurted away from Loud. Somehow he managed to close his final quarter in an incredible :24 4/5, winning by 4 3/4 lengths. His time was 3:20 flat, and to this day only Kelso has run a faster two miles in this country (3:19 1/5 and 3:19 4/5).

In two races, Prove Out had demonstrated every aspect of greatness - speed, stamina, courage, fast-closing fractions, and class, defeating three future Hall of Famers - Secretariat, Riva Ridge, and Cougar II. By destroying Forego earlier, it means he defeated four Hall of Famers in three different races at three different distances in the span of two months.

Although it is sacrilegious to say this, and all due respect to Lucien Laurin, Riva Ridge, in addition to racing in Secretariat's shadow, was one of the worst handled horses in memory. Yes, he won the Futurity at 2 on a sloppy track, but that was a blazing-fast surface and not a true sloppy track. He eventually would demonstrate his utter disdain for the slop. Yet Laurin ran him four times over very sloppy tracks and once over a quagmire on the grass going 1 1/2 miles in the Washington D.C. International following an arduous 11-race 3-year-old campaign - all major stakes. And he was already tailing off at that point. Twice he ran him in the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup, a distance well beyond his scope, especially with his front-running style. The second time he ran him in the Gold Cup, he was coming off a track-record-breaking performance going 1 1/8 miles only 12 days earlier.

And in the worst move of all, after running in all three Triple Crown races, he was sent to California (not a common occurrence back then) three weeks later for the 1 1/4-mile Hollywood Derby, carrying a burdensome 129 pounds against tough horses such as Bicker, Finalista, and Quack. The last named would go on to defeat older horses that same meet in the Hollywood Gold Cup, running the fastest 1 1/4 miles on dirt in U.S. history (1:58 1/5). Riva absolutely gutted himself in the Hollywood Derby, leading every step of the way while under constant pressure and setting swift fractions. He was tenacious down the stretch, digging in gamely to win by a neck over Finalista, to whom he was conceding 15 pounds.

Riva ran a month later in the Monmouth Invitational Handicap and finished fourth at 1-5. It was discovered the following morning that he had been "gotten to" when his blood tests came up positive for the tranquilizer phenothiazine. Tweedy was "outraged" and "astonished." Around that time, an admitted race fixer told a House committee in Washington that he would cash tickets by drugging the heavy favorite.

So, it is safe to say that Riva Ridge was never given a chance to receive the recognition he deserved. Four defeats in the slop and two on the turf; two defeats at two miles; one defeat giving the older Canonero II 13 actual pounds as a 3-year-old and getting beat in American-record time; one race in which he was drugged; and four straight defeats to end his 3-year-old campaign (two at 1 1/2 miles and one at two miles) after being gutted in the Hollywood Derby. Twice he finished second behind world and American record performances, yet still managed to break two track records and equal another. In the Brooklyn Handicap, he broke the American record for 1 3/16 miles under 127 pounds, defeating True Knight, Tentam, and Key to the Mint in 1:52 2/5. Three months later, he broke the track record in the Stuyvesant Handicap, blazing the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47 flat under 130 pounds. That should have been his final race, but he was thrown into the two-mile JC Gold Cup only 12 days later in another sure "bounce," effort.

Getting back to Prove Out, he showed his brilliance again the following spring, winning the 1 1/4-mile Grey Lag Handicap by six lengths in a swift 2:00 1/5. But physical problems again caught up with him and he was retired to Gainesway Farm after three straight defeats. To demonstrate just how fast a horse Prove Out was, at all distances, he would have earned a 127 Beyer in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and a 129 in the Grey Lag to go along with his projected 131 in the Woodward, and who knows what he would have earned in his track-record allowance romp over Forego.

Prove Out will not be remembered as a great horse, and in fact is only remembered at all because of his upset of Secretariat and possibly as the broodmare sire of the great Miesque. But he should serve as a reminder that greatness can emerge anytime, anywhere, and from anyone. Make no mistake about it; Secretariat was beaten in the Woodward by an extraordinary horse, who, on that day and on Gold Cup day may very well have been unbeatable.

A Look Back at the Immortal Ruffian

2020-07-07T14:15:00Z

This reprint from six years ago is to commemorate the 45th anniversary of one of racing's darkest days, the death of the legendary Ruffian. But it is not just about the Ruffian—Foolish Pleasure match race. It is about Ruffian's life and career, partly through personal experience, highlighted by her gut-wrenching battle with Hot 'n Nasty in the Sorority Stakes, the only race in which she was tested. There will be many who didn't read it the first time, and for those who did, a second reading will rekindle the memories of one of the sport's true giants.

If you ask someone to pick out one memorable victory by Ruffian they would have a hard time singling one out. That is because Ruffian’s career was not made up of one or two standout performances. Each one was equally as brilliant and that is why her career, as brief as it was, is remembered as an accumulation of spectacular processions.

To those who saw her run, and even those who have marveled at her through videos of her races, she was “The Black Stallion” disguised as a female who seemed out of place competing against Lilliputian rivals, all of whom were dwarfed and intimidated by her.

A total of 59 brazen fillies dared to challenge her, but she treated them all with disdain – all but one, which we will get into shortly.

Although it’s been almost 40 years since she last ran, Ruffian’s legend continues to grow and she remains the standard by which all great fillies are measured. Her name still evokes images of a larger than life Thoroughbred who has become more of a state of mind.

I will never forget being at Belmont Park on May 22, 1974. In the third race, a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special event for 2-year-old fillies, I was intrigued by a first-time starter by Reviewer, trained by the great Frank Whiteley (who trained my beloved Damascus). Named Ruffian, she was breaking from post 9 in a field of 10, which was not ideal, with such a short run into the far turn. I thought she was an overlay at 4-1 and was prepared to bet her when my friend and Daily Racing Form colleague Jack Zaraya talked me into taking a shot with a 30-1 shot owned by C.V. Whitney. A sucker for a price horse, I changed my mind and bet the Whitney filly.

Ruffian exploded out of the gate and quickly was three in front, then five in front. As I bemoaned by stupid decision, Jack uttered the words that I have thrown back at him numerous times over the years. “A half in :45!” he bellowed. “Don’t worry, she’s got to stop.”

She stopped all right…to the tune of 15 lengths, equaling the track record. You don’t see 2-year-old fillies equaling track records at Belmont Park in their career debut.

But as we were to learn, this was no ordinary filly. She would go on to compete in eight stakes during her career, at seven different distances from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/2 miles, and amazingly set or equaled a stakes record in all of them. In her 10 career victories, including a sweep of the NYRA Filly Triple Crown, her average margin of victory was an astounding 8 1/2 lengths.

Let’s turn the clocks back even further. Whiteley, in 1973, stabled his horses at the Camden Training Center in Camden, S.C. over the winter. When I visited there in June, 2000, the training center had been deserted for almost two months. Whiteley by then had a 176-acre farm about seven miles outside Camden. The stillness and quiet of the Camden barn area was interrupted by the occasional song of a wood thrush. Whiteley drove up a narrow dirt road and pointed out a barn just ahead and slightly off to the left. In front of it, across the road, was an empty patch of grass where another of his barns once stood before burning down in the late 1970s, killing 10 of his horses.

As Whiteley drove past his old barn that still remained, he pointed his finger toward it and said, “Ruffian stood right there in stall 4. That was her stall when she came to me as a yearling in November until we brought her to the track the following April. And it was her stall when she came back here the following winter after her 2-year-old campaign.

“It’s just an empty stall now, but there are memories, that’s for sure.” That was as nostalgic as Whiteley would get, and even that short comment contradicted his usual crustiness. When I went into his house and saw a VHS tape that was labeled, “Ruffian’s Races” sitting atop his television, I asked Whiteley about it and he said he hasn’t been able to watch her races for years.

“Is it too tough to watch?” I asked.

“Hell no,” he shot back. “I don’t know how to work the goddamn VCR.”

As we continued to drive through the training center, Whiteley did think back to the morning when he worked Ruffian three furlongs from the gate with another promising, fast filly named Lady Portia. Another of Whiteley’s fillies, named Yankeee Law, had just concluded her morning exercise. But instead of leaving through the gap, her rider decided to stand by the outside rail and watch the two brilliant young fillies work.

As they came charging down the stretch together, Yankee Law began backing up toward the inside rail, right in the path of the oncoming pair. Lady Portia collided with Yankee Law, sending both their riders crashing to the ground. Miraculously, no one was seriously hurt, with Lady Portia the only casualty, suffering a concussion and a bloody nose.

Ruffian, meanwhile, never batted an eye through the entire incident and continued the final eighth of the work on her own. Despite all the turmoil and losing her workmate, she still worked her three furlongs in a blazing :33 flat. Demonstrating that kind of incredible speed and professionalism at such a young age was the first indication that Whiteley had something very special on his hands. She had come within inches of disaster, but instead bounded away unscathed and into history.

Whiteley actually had fallen in love with the Reviewer filly the first time he saw her as a yearling at Claiborne Farm, shortly before she was sent to him at Camden. Whiteley knew he was about to unleash a running machine, and he would wait until 9:30 or 10 o’clock before taking Ruffian out to the track for training. He wanted to make sure no one was around except his help. This was one horse he was intent on keeping under wraps until it was time to send her up to New York.

“You knew damn well the word would get out on her,” he said.

After bringing her to New York, Whitelely made sure she did not work a half any faster than :50. And he did little talking about her. He didn’t even put a pair of shoes on her until the morning of her first race. She had breezed with nothing on her feet her whole life.

As Whiteley said, “Hell, she came into the world bare-footed. Even though they pick up five or six lengths with shoes on, they stay sound longer without them.”

After Ruffian blew her opposition away in her career debut, she went into the grade III Fashion Stakes against Cragwood Stable’s one-eyed speedster Copernica, who had won both her starts by a total of 19 3/4 lengths. Copernica ran her heart out, but was no match for the speed and power of Ruffian, who won under a hand ride by almost seven lengths, equaling her own track record for 5 1/2 furlongs.

Then came the grade III Astoria Stakes and another seemingly formidable challenger in the brilliantly fast Laughing Bridge. But it was the same story, as Ruffian crushed her rival by nine lengths, this time breaking her track record by a fifth of a second (in 1:02 4/5).

Ruffian’s next start, the six-furlong, grade I Sorority Stakes at Monmouth Park, seemed like a mere formality. But three days after her victory in the Astoria, a new phenom emerged on the scene in the Hollywood Lassie Stakes.

Hot n Nasty, a miniscule daughter of Reflected Glory, out of Lady Maggie, by Poona II, had broken her maiden at Monmouth by 13 lengths, and like Ruffian, her time of 1:03 3/5 equaled the track record. In her next start, the Schuylkill Stakes at Liberty Bell Racetrack, she galloped home by 12 lengths in a near track record 1:04 3/5 over a dead racetrack.

In a bold move, trainer Gordon Potter shipped her out West for the Hollwood Lassie Stakes, where she would face the fastest filly in California, Miss Tokyo, who had won her three lifetime starts by a total of 21 1/2 lengths. But Hot n Nasty ran her opponents into the ground with a :44 4/5 half, while opening a six-length lead at the eighth pole. She went into cruise control the rest of the way, winning eased up by three lengths in a blistering 1:09 flat.

Now, it was time for this Mighty Mite to take on the Black Terror in the Sorority Stakes. Something had to give. Hot n Nasty had the advantage of having already run and won at six furlongs. But Whiteley continued to give Ruffian short, fast works. It was quite a sight seeing Ruffian work half-miles in :45 flat and :46 flat without even raising a sweat. Hot n Nasty, on the other hand, drilled a sharp five furlongs in :59 3/5 at Monmouth.

Back then it was common practice to blow a horse out three furlongs the day before a race, and Ruffian zipped her three panels in :34 4/5, while Hot n Nasty went in :35 3/5.

A crowd of 26,133 showed up at the Jersey Shore to witness this epic showdown. Only two others, Wee bit of Irish and Stream Across dared to show up. At the start, Ruffian broke a step slowly, as Darrell McHargue gunned Hot n Nasty to the lead on the outside. Ruffian gathered herself and quickly was at Hot n Nasty’s throat. It wasn’t until Ruffian opened a one-length lead that the crowd realized what a physical mismatch this was.

Instead of two big powerful fillies battling each other for supremacy in their division, it looked more like a yearling trying to keep up with a hulking stallion. But little Hot n Nasty was keeping up with Ruffian through a torrid quarter in :21 3/5. Around the far turn, Jacinto Vasquez, on Ruffian, could see that this pesky little filly wasn’t going away, and that one of Ruffian’s biggest weapons – intimidation – wasn’t working

He urged Ruffian on with quick pumps of his wrists, but Hot n Nasty moved up alongside. When she did it was as if she had vanished into thin air, hidden behind Ruffian’s massive frame. You could not tell she was even there.

As they turned for home, the star-spotted head of Hot n Nasty emerged, and for a second, seemed to inch ahead of Ruffian, who was beginning to bear out slightly. The half was run in a brutal :44 1/5. Something had to give.

Vasquez then did something he had never done nor would he ever do again to Ruffian. He gave her a short crack of the whip over her right shoulder. Ruffian’s head was back in front. Another crack and it was a neck in front, but the little filly kept battling back. Ruffian, who went through virtually her entire career without having to change leads, switched to her right lead, but still couldn’t pull away. Three more whacks of the whip, and finally, inside the sixteenth pole, Ruffian began to shake loose. In a few strides, she was clear and home free.

Despite the struggle, Ruffian kept her head high and ears pricked the entire stretch run. She gave one final spurt late to cross the wire 2 1/2 lengths in front in a stakes-record 1:09 flat. The other two fillies were mere specks in the distance. Officially, Stream Across was 22 lengths back in third.

One can look at the Sorority as Ruffian’s least impressive performance, while others can look at it as one her best performances, because she showed her courage under fire for the only time in her career. To boost her performance, the following morning Ruffian was “coughing like hell,” as Whiteley put it, and was running a fever. Whitelely recalled that the night before the race, Ruffian was pawing at the ground all night and “tore her stall up." Her cough was so bad and so persistent it looked as if she was not going to make the grade I Spinaway Stakes. Vasquez recalled that he believed Ruffian also popped a splint in the race.

But not only did she make the six-furlong Spinaway, she destroyed Laughing Bridge, who had already romped in two stakes at Saratoga, winning by 12 3/4 lengths in a scorching 1:08 3/5. But she was injured preparing for the Frizette Stakes and was out the remainder of the year.

History shows that Ruffian returned even better at 3, winning an allowance race, the Comely, Acorn, Mother Goose, and 1 1/2-mile Coaching Club American Oaks.

While Ruffian would go to blaze a path into racing folklore, little Hot n Nasty, without whom Ruffian’s courage under fire would never have been witnessed, would never be the same again. Although she did win a couple of stakes, including a division of the Test Stakes at 3, she had ankle problems and eventually slipped quietly into obscurity, winning two of her final 13 starts, all in allowance company. After producing two foals at owner Dan Lasater’s farm in Ocala, she died of cancer of the lymph glands at the age of 9. She will always be remembered by those who were there as the only filly to put a scare in the great Ruffian.

Following Ruffian’s victory in the CCA Oaks, NYRA was forced to cancel its proposed $300,000 “Race of Champions,” between Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure, Preakness winner Master Derby, and Belmont winner Avatar when Avatar’s connections decided not to travel east from California. Monmouth Park, meanwhile, had proposed a $400,000 match race between Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure. But when NYRA offered to change its original concept to a match race between the same two horses, Ruffian’s owner Stuart Janney accepted, much to the dismay of Whiteley.

Janney actually was not overly thrilled with the idea either, but he called Whiteley and said, “Frank, we’re going to have to do something one of these days and I’d rather do it in New York.” Whiteley balked at it, but Janney told him he felt obligated because the media and the public wanted to see it.

Whiteley felt there wasn’t a horse in the country who could beat Ruffian, and he was thinking ahead more to the fall when he’d get the chance to “whip ‘ol Forego’s (butt).”

There was a strange feeling in the air that afternoon of July 6, whether it was something foreboding I can’t really say. The media was having a field day with the match race and you could feel the excitement and tension all afternoon.

I went to the backstretch and followed Ruffian through the tunnel to the paddock. As she walked down the ramp leading to the tunnel, Whiteley was in front of her and I was behind her. I took a photo, which has gotten lost over the years, of Whiteley turning his head back and looking down at Ruffian’s legs. That photo became too disturbing and I stopped looking at it after a while.

In all my years following racing, I had never seen or heard of a top horse breaking down, and the thought of a horse suffering a fatal injury and having to be euthanized never crossed my mind.

So, when Ruffian was pulled up down the backstretch, it seemed at first surreal, and for a split second I thought Vasquez had simply eased her back off Foolish Pleasure and let him go, because the pace was so brutal. Foolish Pleasure wound going the half in :44 3/5 and three-quarters in 1:08 3/5, unheard of in a 1 1/4-mile race.

Whiteley watched the race with Janney and knew right away it was bad. He said he was too numb to think about anything except getting down to her. When he got to the track the guards wouldn’t let him on because Foolish Pleasure still hadn’t crossed the finish line. Veterinarian Jim Prendergast was at the gap and drove Whiteley to his stricken filly on the backstretch. Whiteley could see right away the fracture was compound, and when he saw all the dirt ground in there, he told Janney later, “We haven’t got a shot.”

No one in the stands knew how serious the injury was and I went to sleep that night not knowing Ruffian’s fate. It wasn’t until the following morning that I heard on the radio that the great filly had been euthanized. It was so hard to accept. For me, the age of innocence in racing was over.

Ruffian had come out of the anesthesia flailing her legs in all directions. Two men had to sit on her head trying to hold her down. But she threw the cast off, and all that was left to do was operate again or put her out of her misery. Dr. Alex Harthill called Janney, who was staying with the Phippses, and Janney told him, “Don’t let her suffer anymore.”

Dr. Edward Keefer, a cardiovascular surgeon at New York Hospital, was an innovator in his field, setting up the first transplant bank for human blood vessels, and was profiled in the New York Times Magazine, and even though he was not a veterinarian he helped save the life of Hoist the Flag and devised the first artificial leg for a horse, the top-class sprinter Spanish Riddle. Keefer was at Ruffian’s surgery and designed and built her cast. Keefer used to fox hunt with Cynthia Phipps, who knew about his miraculous work with Spanish Riddle. Phipps introduced him to her uncle, Stuart Janney, who said he would appreciate any help he could get with Ruffian’s surgery.

Keefer made the cast and put in on her leg following the surgery, but she kicked it right off after coming out of anesthesia. She had been given tranquilizers, but they couldn’t control her for very long.

“It was unfortunate we were in a learning period at the time,” Keefer said prior to his death in 2000 at age 84. “Vets are really doing a hell of a job now and have improved tremendously in their knowledge and how to handle these catastrophic occurrences. As for Ruffian breaking the cast, the vets didn’t have the equipment and the drugs they have now. They have much better tranquilizers, and the anesthesia is more sophisticated.”

Later that night, Ruffian was buried in the infield at Belmont Park. There were only four or five people there – Whiteley, assistant Mike Bell, Vasquez and Bill Rudy of the New York Post.

“They covered her up and Mike went down into the grave and put two blankets on her,” Whiteley recalled. “I was afraid the damn grave was going to cave in on him. The next day was tough, but what the hell, I had to go on. I never thought it would have the impact it has for so many years, but she was in a lot of people’s hearts.”

That was 39 years ago today and Ruffian is still in a lot of people’s hearts, and there she will remain, forever equaling and breaking records; a gust of wind that blew through the Sport of Kings all too briefly.

Walter Farley in describing The Black Stallion, could easily have been describing Ruffian – “You've never in your life seen a horse run so fast! He's all power-all beauty.”

Forego May be Most Remarkable Horse Ever

2020-07-01T15:13:00Z

The word 'remarkable' is defined as: "notably or conspicuously unusual; extraordinary." The first horse that comes to mind that fits that description is Forego.

As you will read, his races, his combination of speed and weight-carrying ability over a prolonged period of time, and his statistics are truly remarkable. On July 4, the one-time great handicap, the Suburban, which was run as the second leg of the Handicap Triple Crown, will be run as a grade 2 stakes race on the Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1) undercard; a shell of what the Suburban once was. This column is to commemorate the glory days when The Mighty Forego ran in the Suburban four times, carrying 131, 134, 134, and 138 pounds. So sit back and read about the life and times of a horse who may have been the most remarkable horse ever.

It was May 18, 1974, the day of the Carter Handicap at Belmont Park. As I looked at the tote board, I couldn't believe the odds. Favored at 7-5 was Forego, who obviously was running in the Carter strictly as a prep for the Metropolitan Handicap, having come off back-to-back victories at 1 1/4 miles in the Widener and Gulfstream Park Handicaps.

Forego was riding a five-race winning streak, but those two handicaps were his breakout races, and at the time he did not have anywhere near the reputation he would later command. As a bettor, it was illogical to think trainer Sherrill Ward and owner Martha Gerry had great expectations of victory, with Forego dropping back to seven furlongs off five consecutive two-turn races, the last two at 1 1/4 miles, in which he was all out to defeat Darby Dan's plucky little stretch runner True Knight.

To make his task even more difficult, his Carter foes included arguably the fastest horse in the country, Mr. Prospector, who had already set a track record of 1:07 4/5 at Gulfstream in 1973, a track record of 1:08 3/5 at Garden State Park in '74, and had won two other races in '74 in 1:08 1/5 at Gulfstream and 1:09 flat at Aqueduct. And he won each time by big margins.

Also in the field was Tartan Stable's Lonetree, who had defeated Mr. Prospector that year in the seven-furlong Poinciana Handicap at Hialeah in a blazing 1:21 flat, breaking the track record by almost three-fifths of a second. Add to those two speedballs, Timeless Moment, who had equaled the six-furlong track record of 1:08 3/5 at Aqueduct the year before, just missed the 6 1/2-furlong track record at Belmont by two-fifths of a second, and had won a pair of seven-furlong allowance races at Aqueduct that spring in 1:22 1/5 and 1:22 2/5. Still another in the field was William Haggin Perry's Forage, who was coming off a second-place finish (disqualified to third) in the seven-furlong San Simeon Handicap at Santa Anita in 1:21 1/5. He would go on to break the track record for a mile at Aqueduct two months later, winning an allowance race in 1:33 1/5 before capturing the Du Pont and Atlantic City Handicaps.

So, why should the stretch-running Forego beat so many brilliant horses in his first sprint in six months, carrying topweight of 129 pounds? Well, as I was about to find out, because he's Forego.

Mr. Prospector, as expected, shot to the lead and led by 1 1/2 lengths over Lonetree through fractions of :22 1/5 and :45 flat. Forego was back in last, nine lengths off the pace, and looked to have an impossible task. A sucker bet if I ever saw one. Then he began making up ground steadily under Heliodoro Gustines, circling his field and closing in on the leaders. At this moment, I first came to the realization that we were looking at something special.

Mr. Prospector was being pushed along by Walter Blum, as was Lonetree. But here was Forego in an out-and-out gallop, with his ears up and Gustines sitting motionless in the saddle, his hands tucked up near his chest. Without the slightest bit of encouragement, Forego blew by Mr. Prospector with more than a quarter of a mile still to run. He opened up by 1 1/2 lengths at the eighth pole and was still under wraps as he coasted to the wire 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Mr. Prospector in 1:22 1/5.

This to me was the beginning of the Forego dynasty, when we first realized this was no ordinary horse. Normally, statistics do not play a major role in these blogs, but Forego's stats over the course of his career were so remarkable they must be mentioned before anything else. And they must be prefaced by saying that Forego was one of the most unsound horses you're likely to see, with sesamoid problems that plagued him throughout his career, as well as calcium deposits. When Frank Whiteley took over his training in 1976, he told owner Martha Gerry that Forego had the worst legs he'd ever seen on a horse. It was said about Forego that he had one good leg. Whiteley would sit outside his barn every day hosing down Forego's legs for several hours. The resulting puddle was so large it was known as Lake Whiteley.

As Whiteley said two years ago, "Everybody laughed at me when I took him, even Doc (Alex) Harthill, who X-rayed him and told me, 'Frank, you haven't got a chance with this horse.' It was the constant hosing of his legs that helped get him to the races. I got a picture of in my bedroom of me and two other guys runnin' three hoses on him at the same time. We'd hose him twice a day for two to three hours each time. We also did a lot of massaging. His ankles were horrible to look at from so much wear and tear. He was an amazing horse to do the things he did."

Forego's performance in the Carter was indicative of how versatile he was. But we found out for sure later that year. Just imagine, in a span of only six weeks, a horse winning the 1 1/2-mile Woodward Stakes, then the seven-furlong Vosburgh Handicap (in 1:21 3/5 under 131 pounds), and finally the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup. At the end of the year, he became the only horse in history to win the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup and be voted champion sprinter the same year.

To further demonstrate his versatility, he won four of his five starts, with one second, at distances of 1 1/2 miles or longer, and won eight of his 12 starts, with two seconds and two thirds, at seven furlongs.

In his first start as an 8-year-old, a seven-furlong allowance dash, he defeated that year's co-champion sprinter Dr. Patches in 1:21 3/5.

Then we come to consistency, likely Forego's most amazing attribute, considering how unsound he was.

From May 30, 1973 until Aug. 6, 1977, Forego went an incredible 45 consecutive races without finishing worse than fourth. In fact, he finished third or better in 43 of those races. During this streak, Forego ran in 31 handicaps, was highweighted in all but one, winning 19 of them.

Which brings us to weight-carrying ability. Forego finished in the money in 21 of the 24 races in which he carried 130 pounds or more, including 13 wins, five seconds, and three thirds. In these 24 starts, the average weight he carried was just under 134 pounds. In the 14 races in which he carried 134 or more, he finished in the money in 12 of them, with six wins, four seconds, and two thirds. He was fourth in another, and the only time he was off the board was over a very sloppy track in the Whitney, a race that will be discussed later.

Forego's most memorable victory was the 1976 Marlboro Cup, in which he turned in a spectacular stretch run from way out in the middle of the track to nip Travers winner Honest Pleasure at the wire under a staggering 137 pounds in the slop, missing the track record by a fifth of a second.

In his previous start, he defeated Dance Spell and Honest Pleasure by 1 1/4 lengths in the Woodward Handicap with another furious stretch run. In one of the great exhibitions of speed and weight-carrying ability, he ran the 1 1/8 miles in a near-track-record 1:45 4/5, carrying 135 pounds.

After winning five straight races (four of them carrying 135 pounds, 137 pounds, 133 pounds, and 136 pounds), he finally was stopped by the weight at age 7, missing by a neck in the Suburban Handicap under 138 pounds.

After finishing second by 11 lengths in the 1 1/2-mile Brooklyn under 137 and being virtually eased in the Whitney Handicap over a slippery track he could never get hold of under 136 pounds, it looked as if the Mighty Forego finally was nearing the end of the line. Mrs. Gerry and Whiteley wanted to scratch him in the Whitney, but because so many people had shown up to see Forego, Mrs. Gerry didn't want to disappoint them and decided to let him run. Whiteley told Bill Shoemaker before the race if he saw Forego wasn't handling the track after the first few strides to just sit on him and let him run around there and bring him back safe.

Forego returned to Belmont to point for the Woodward. This would be the big test to see whether he had any more to give. Unfortunately, the track came up sloppy again, leaving Whiteley and Mrs. Gerry with another tough decision. Unlike the slick conditions in the Whitney, this was more of a drying out slop. Forego would have to run over the wet surface carrying 133 pounds, giving 18 pounds to Great Contractor, the horse who beat him by 11 lengths in the Brooklyn; 12 pounds to J.O. Tobin, who was making his first start since annihilating Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew in the Swaps Stakes in a blazing 1:58 3/5 for the 1 1/4 miles; and 19 pounds to Silver Series, winner of the Ohio, American, and Hawthorne Derbys and third in the Travers.

Whiteley, Mrs. Gerry, Shoemaker, and Frank's son David, a successful trainer in his own right, met in the tunnel several hours before the race to discuss the situation. David said he didn't want any part of it and left. Mrs. Gerry, having learned from the Saratoga experience, this time wanted to scratch and wait for the Marlboro Cup two weeks later. Shoemaker had ridden in one of the early races and said he thought the track was too bad to take a chance. Whiteley, who wanted to scratch in the Whitney, said the horse was at the top of his game and ready to run. He knew he had Forego in the best shape he could possibly get him and felt he couldn't keep him that good for another two weeks. Whiteley was convinced Forego was ready for a big effort when the horse bit two people in the barn that morning. So, all day, fans waited for the inevitable announcement that Forego had been scratched. It never came.

As a huge fan of Forego's, I was extremely apprehensive like everyone else and hung out by Whiteley's barn, waiting to walk with him and Forego to the paddock. Forego emerged from the barn looking fantastic and it was apparent he was in the zone. The only question was the track, which still was listed as sloppy.

The fans had their doubts as well, making Forego the 9-5 favorite, his highest odds in more than two years. J.O. Tobin, who was bet down to 5-2, set most of the early pace along with Proud Birdie. They cut out swift fractions, with Forego in eighth, about 10 lengths back.

As they hit the far turn, all eyes were on Forego. Would he make his patented sweeping run or were we watching the end of an era? No one had any idea how he was handling the track, so we waited and hoped. Then it happened. In a flash, Forego kicked in and began picking off horses one by one with that big sweeping move, just as he had done so many times before. Track announcer Chic Anderson bellowed to the crowd, "He's gonna run today, folks."

And run he did; just like the Forego of old. He was still fourth at the eighth pole, but only a half-length off the new battling leaders Cinteelo, Silver Series, and Great Contractor. Forego, as usual, was well out in the middle of track, and it was obvious he had the others measured. He charged to the front and drew off to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:48 flat. I found myself screaming with everyone else. As he crossed the finish line, the goose bumps emerged in full force. Forego was back. The 1977 Woodward to this day remains one of the most emotional and satisfying races I've ever experienced.

But, as it turned out, Forego was back only for this one brief moment. His ankles caught up to him after the race and he was put away for the year. He came back the following June to defeat Dr. Patches, and then beat only one horse, finishing fifth, in the Suburban Handicap. His ankles had finally betrayed him. It was time to call it quits.

Looking back at Forego's career, it is amazing how consistently fast he came home in his races, despite his unsoundness and the massive weights he had to carry. In the Met Mile, Marlboro Cup, and Gulfstream Park Handicap, he closed his final quarter in :23 and change. In five other grade I stakes he came home in :24 and change. In the Vosburgh and Woodward, he closed his final eighth in :11 and change, and :12 flat in the Carter and :12 2/5 in the aforementioned '77 Woodward.

In all, he defeated eight champions or classic winners - Foolish Pleasure (Kentucky Derby winner and champion 2-year-old male), Honest Pleasure (champion 2-year-old male and winner of the Travers), Avatar (Belmont Stakes winner), Wajima (champion 3-year-old male and winner of the Travers), Dr. Patches (co-champion sprinter), J.O. Tobin (co-champion sprinter and champion 2-year-old in England), Master Derby (Preakness winner), and Summer Guest (Coaching Club American Oaks winner).

I visited Forego with my wife shortly after his retirement when he was residing at John Ward's farm overlooking Keeneland Racetrack. John told us he still loved the cheers and would start running around his paddock whenever he'd hear the roar of the crowd.

Forego was standing in the middle of his paddock grazing, paying little attention to us. In a feeble and seemingly moronic attempt to see if he did indeed react to the applause and to get a good photo of him, we decided: 'What the heck, let's start clapping.' Well, it wasn't exactly the sound of the Keeneland crowd during the races, but sure enough, ol' Forego picked his head up and began running around his paddock, ultimately stopping by the fence where we were able to get great head shots and a few pats on the forehead.

Several other visits followed over the years at the Kentucky Horse Park, this time with our daughter.

Forego always had a larger-than-life presence and knew what he liked and didn't like. I can remember mornings at the barn when former trainer Eddie Hayward, who took care of Sherrill Ward's barn when the trainer was ill, would come to visit carrying a brown paper bag filled with apples. One morning, he arrived when Forego was out grazing. The big horse took one look at Hayward, saw the bag, and dragged his hotwalker over to him. He knew Hayward meant apples. It was quite a sight seeing him polish off one apple after another while Hayward conversed with Mrs. Gerry, who visited the barn often.

It was after Forego was turned over to Whiteley in early 1976 that I became good friends with Frank, having only previously spoken to him on occasion. During my first visit to Frank's barn, we were sitting on a tack box in the shed row when a huge dark bay horse walked by, just as we were talking about Forego.

"There's 'ol Forego there," Whiteley said. Well, I not only knew that wasn't Forego, I knew it was Ruffian's brother Buckfinder, who was almost the same size and color as Forego, but not quite as big and massive. I didn't have a clue how to respond. Why would Whiteley make such a comment? I had to say something, so I replied, "That kinda looks like Buckfinder to me." Whiteley shot back, "It is." He was testing me, and from then on we became good friends until the day he died.

It seems as if people don't quite know where to rank Forego on the list of great horses, just as they are uncertain about other great geldings such as Kelso and John Henry.

I will say this: for all he had to overcome, for all the incredible feats he accomplished, and for all the heart-pounding thrills he provided, he was as unique a Thoroughbred as ever set foot on a racetrack. That uniqueness, combined with his extraordinary talent, made him in my opinion one of the truly great horses of all time.

Forego loved his apples from Eddie Heyward

Forego hams it up in front of his fans

A study in greatness

TV or Not TV

2020-06-28T19:03:00Z

One thing you have to say for racing today, there is plenty of TV coverage, from TVG and MSG to several of the major networks. And the on-air talent comes not only from the broadcasting industry, but from all walks of the sport.

We saw the roots of racing’s TV coverage when trainer Frank Wright and former exercise rider Charlsie Cantey became analysts for local TV in New York and then moved up to national coverage of the Triple Crown, both providing a new and informative way of presenting racing to the public. In the mid-to-late ‘70s, ABC signed the legendary Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro to provide color to the Triple Crown coverage along with the iconic Howard Cosell.

Today, the coverage of racing is dominated in many ways by women, following in the footsteps of Cantey, most with a racing background, having grown up around horses and racing. We also have former jockeys covering the sport based on their experiences in the saddle. We even have a trainer like Tom Amoss providing commentary, including races in which he is participating. And of course there are the handicappers who break down the races from a bettor’s perspective.

Naturally there are people who are critical of some of the coverage, some of whom criticize the on-air talent. I, like everyone, have my favorites and non-favorites.

But take it from me; doing TV can be a frightening experience in the beginning. Of course, for some it comes easy and they are a natural in front of a camera.

Over the years I have done my share of TV, but just being interviewed, not as an actual part of the telecast. I have seen the inner workings of putting on a racing show, as an in-studio advisor on the telecasts of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Washington D.C. International for ABC, the latter back in 1989 when Tony Allevato, now executive producer of television for the New York Racing Association and president of NYRA Bets, was basically a gofer on his way to becoming assistant producer. And I have been fortunate enough to have been interviewed by Charlie Rose, the Jim Lehrer Report, the Today Show, National Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, ESPN, and many other national and local shows.

Although I became more comfortable in front of the camera the more I did it, the beginning of my TV experience was a nightmare. And that was on tape. If it had been live coverage I would have hidden under a rock and never showed my face again.

It was 1992. I had just begun writing full-time for the Daily Racing Form after years of freelancing for other publications. I had come up with the idea of doing a weekly feature called Derby Watch, in which copy editor Steve Feldman and I would rank the top 30 3-year-olds in a chart format, with the horse’s last race, next race, and brief quotes from each trainer on how their horse was doing and all the latest developments pertaining to that horse.

It was a unique feature that proved to be extremely popular, so much so that ESPN contacted our editor and offered to fly me to New Orleans for the Louisiana Derby to do a segment, explaining the concept of Derby Watch and discussing the 3-year-old picture.

I was a bit apprehensive, having never been in front of a camera and having no desire to put my mug on TV. But, because of the publicity DRF and Derby Watch would get, I was encouraged to go. So, off I went to New Orleans for the first time.

Everything was going smoothly until I had to attend a rehearsal meeting to go over the show and my segment. I was given a lead-in and was supposed to say exactly what I was going to say on the show. But all I kept doing was going over what I was going to say. “No, say it exactly as you will on the show,” I was told. But I couldn’t do it, because I knew if I got it right I would never be able to get it right again. No matter how much I tried I couldn’t do it that way. So, I started off as a disaster in rehearsal.

The morning of the race, I was walking from the backstretch to the track, starting to feel the effects of a cold coming on. With a chilly wind blowing in my face and knowing we were doing the show from on the roof of the grandstand, I became panicky. I would not be able to do it. My mind was blank and my nose was running. All day long I kept going over in my mind what I was going to say, memorizing every word, and getting it all completed in the designated amount of time, never realizing that when they said I had 45 seconds or 90 seconds, or whatever it was, they meant right on the button and not five seconds or 10 seconds longer or shorter. So I kept timing myself all day, while alleviating my fears with a bowl of Cajun beans and rice, which was spicy enough at least to get up into my sinuses.

I kept saying to myself, “Thank God this is going to be taped before the actual show,” which is something I demanded. Even so, I became more of a wreck as the day wore on. Finally, it was time and I made my way up to the roof where I was to be interviewed by Dave Johnson on a wooden platform.

He introduced me and briefly mentioned Derby Watch and threw it to me. I went through my routine perfectly. I couldn’t believe it was over and I had pulled it off even with all the butterflies fluttering in my stomach. But then I heard those dreaded words from the director, “OK, let’s do it again.” What? Why? I had nailed it. My relief had turned into panic once again. No way I could duplicate that.

“First off,” the director informed me, “this was supposed to be (let’s say for memory’s sake) 90 seconds and you took three minutes. Second, look where you are.” I then realized that while I was speaking I was drifting the entire time and ended up on the other end of the platform. Well, somehow I managed to shorten it on the second try and made sure my feet were planted in one spot. I was expecting rave reviews from friends and acquaintances, but all people kept asking me was, “Did you have a cold? You were sniffling all the time.”

Oh, brother, that was it. I vowed never to subject myself to such torture again. Thank God that debacle was over. But lo and behold, Derby Watch had become so popular, ESPN for some bizarre reason, asked me to come down to New Orleans again the following year. And again I was persuaded to go. But at least this year it would be easier. I at least had experience and I insisted on doing the interview indoors this time, where I wouldn’t be subjected to the elements.

So, off I went once again. This time I brought a little pad with me where I wrote out my entire script and timed it right on the button. This time I was being interviewed by Bob Neumeier. I asked Bob to let me know when they were cutting to a video so I could just read from my notepad.

I didn’t feel as nervous this time, but my body reminded me that wasn’t the case when a simple swiss cheese sandwich sent me into the bathroom for a prolonged period of time.

We went into one of the large rooms to do the taping. I figured I just needed to memorize the first few words to get me going, and then I would be on a roll. I would start by saying, “This year’s crop has been very wide open … blah, blah, blah.”

OK, cameras ready. I was ready. But Bob’s introduction to me was so long that when he finally asked me, “So, Steve, what do you think of this year’s crop?” I had forgotten everything I was going to say. Not only did my mind go blank, so did my vocal chords. My mouth opened as if to speak and nothing came out. Not a peep. I just stood there like a moron with my mouth remaining open.

Bob was very nice about it and brought me a glass of water. OK, this time would be different. This time I would not start by talking about the crop. This time I would start with the simple words, “Well, Bob.” I just needed that little simple lead-in to get something to come out of my mouth and then I would be fine.

So, as Bob was going through his long-winded intro, I kept repeating to myself, “Well, Bob … Well, Bob … Well, Bob.”

“So, Steve, what do you think of this year’s crop?”

“Well, Bob ………,” Nothing. Dead silence. I had said “Well, Bob” so many times in my head I couldn’t remember what came after that and once again froze.

This time, Bob not only gave me another glass of water, he started massaging the back of my neck. As it turned out, they must have felt so sorry for the pathetic person I had become they used video through the majority of the interview so I was able to read the words off my notepad. Somehow, I had actually regressed from the disaster of the previous year.

Oh, my God, what if that were live? I would have single-handedly destroyed the reputation of ESPN. I vowed never to do TV live and, in fact, would never do TV again.

Well, over the next 27 years I have done plenty of TV interviews, many of them live, but never as part of a time-restricted segment in which I had to do all the talking. Ask me whatever you want in a normal interview, live or taped, but no way would I ever go through that nightmare again.

So, whenever I watch these segments on TV and the person on air is talking for 45 seconds or 90 seconds by memory and doing it so naturally, I think back to how difficult that really is to talk for that long with a precise time restriction hanging over your head, at least for a wandering mind like mine with a short attention span.

I remember being on an ESPN panel with Randy Moss, back when he was a newspaper writer with hair, and marveled at how good he was and came to the realization how bad I was. You can say he went in one direction and I went in another … as far away from television as I could get.

I am reliving all these horrific moments to say that when you watch racing on TV and listen to how smooth and natural people are when delivering their monologues, don’t take it for granted. It’s a lot harder than you think.

Derby Sweet Sixteen: A Two-Horse Race Right Now

2020-06-26T19:41:00Z

1. Tiz the Law: Although the competition in the Belmont Stakes (G1) was suspect and several of the leading contenders just didn't show up, he again put on a stunning visual performance, and many trainers have to be figuring out a way how to beat this machine of a horse. So far this colt has exhibited no flaws and always seems to be in the right place, regardless of the pace. And it all seems so easy for him. With this race out of the way, it's time for the real show in the Travers Stakes (G1) and then the Kentucky Derby (G1). Like the cicadas, Barclay Tagg and Sackatoga come out every 17 years and this invasion could be bigger than the last one.

2. Honor A. P.: Whether it be in the Travers and/or Kentucky Derby, we could be treated to a classic East vs. West showdown, and what makes it even more appealing is that Honor A. P. and Tiz the Law both have the same running style. They both like to lay just off the pace and then pounce on the leaders nearing the top of the stretch. What makes Honor A. P. so dangerous is that he continues to improve and mature, both in his races and workouts. He is the only 3-year-old to run triple-digit early, middle, and late pace figures on Brisnet in the same race. What a treat it would be to see both these horses moving together and then battling it out in the stretch.

3. Cafe Pharoah: After the top two you can put all the other names in a hat and just pick one, that's how big a gap there is, at least until someone steps up and shows they have the ability to threaten Tiz the Law and Honor A. P. Yes, this is a huge reach, but few horses have impressed me more than this son of American Pharoah, who demonstrated good early speed and then a brilliant turn of foot to crush a large field in his previous start. Before that, he turned in an Arrogate-like performance, overcoming a poor start and circling another large field, then drawing clear with powerful strides. If a Japanese horse is to take the roses back to Japan, this could be the one and this could be the year to do it.

4. Art Collector: Another reach, going with a horse who has never run in a stakes, but his past three performances have been extremely impressive, and he has shown his versatility, winning from off the pace and on the lead. In his previous start, he set a slow pace and then powered home in a sensational :23 flat and :05 4/5 for the final sixteenth without being touched with the whip. His Brisnet late pace figure of 114 is the highest this year by far of all the Derby hopefuls. To demonstrate his versatility, in his previous win, the son of Bernardini came from sixth, 7 3/4 lengths back at the head of the stretch, to win going away. He is very professional, runs straight, and keeps his legs under him perfectly. The Blue Grass likely will tell us just how he fits in the Derby picture.

5. Sole Volante: Yes, I am extremely stubborn and am not ready to give up on this colt, even though the selectors of the Derby Future Wager field have. I can't ignore his previous races, all of which were impressive. I never felt like he belonged in the Belmont going one-turn on that speed-favoring track. In addition, his jockey Luca Panici said he knew five strides out of the gate he wasn't handling the track. That was backed up by him going from three "2 1/4" Thoro-Graph figures this year to a dismal "9 3/4." He just seemed lost out there and never fired. This is a quick-footed horse with a big turn of foot and he wasn't suited to that big sweeping turn anyway, and he was ridden by a jockey who was inexperienced at Belmont. There were other top horses who floundered on that track in the Belmont, so I am just crossing this race out and will wait for him to get back on a tighter track.

6. Dr Post: Although I didn't consider the Belmont field one with classic caliber horses, you can't knock this colt's performance. He has shown a different quality each time he's run and he has proven himself to be a hard-knocking throwback type of horse reminiscent of his sire Quality Road, who was more of a mile-and-an-eighth horse, but with a great combination of speed and class. I'm not sure he will relish the mile-and-a-quarter, but that's not to say he won’t. One thing we do know, he doesn't mind playing it rough and seems to be improving with every start.

7. Authentic: There is a question mark how far he wants to go, and Bob Baffert is pointing him to the Haskell Invitational (G1), which often favors speed. His second to Honor A. P. in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) actually was a pretty good effort considering his bad start, in which he ducked out sharply from the outside post and then had to be rushed into contention. Unlike his two stakes victories, he wasn't able to get a clear lead and had to press the pace in third early and couldn't resist the challenge of Honor A.P. He looks like a horse who likes to take control of the race up front, but this race at least will give him some experience in overcoming adversity and not getting his own way.

8. Max Player: He showed a lot coming off an almost five-month layoff and rallying well to finish third in the Belmont Stakes. Like Honor A. P., he is a son of Honor Code and credit trainer Linda Rice for training him old school with an extended series of long, quick works. Eight of his past nine works were either six furlongs or seven furlongs, with the other a bullet five-furlong work. His last work, six furlongs in a powerful 1:12 1/5, set him up for his strong performance in the Belmont in only his fourth career start. Watch for him to keep improving.

9. Enforceable: I don't know if I'm getting suckered into this, because I don't know how fast the track is at Mark Casse's training center. But his past two five-furlong works there in :58 4/5 and :59 flat from the gate were a far cry from his works at Fair Grounds earlier this year. With nine starts under his belt, the last five in graded stakes, he seems to have relished the time off enjoying the tranquility of Ocala and should return a bear in the Blue Grass Stakes, which would seem the likely spot for him. He has been consistent and possesses a dynamite stretch run, and should be razor-sharp off those works. He just needs a good pace and a clean trip.

10. Rushie: His third-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby, beaten four lengths, was a lot better than one might think. Although he seemed to be making little impact on the race sitting behind the pace, I really liked the way he found his best stride in the final furlong, and although not reflected in the chart, he was striding out beautifully at the end. His Thoro-Graph numbers keep improving, and although he still has to improve more, you can't ignore his jump from a 92 Brisnet figure to a strong 103, which ranks him among the top five 3-year-olds.

11. King Guillermo: I have no idea where to rank this horse. Based on his past two races, he is one of the most talented and fastest 3-year-olds around. But he is currently tucked away in bubble wrap and there has been talk of him training up to the Derby, which, of course, I want no part of. If he starts working again and we learn that there is a particular race he is pointing toward before the Derby, then he would catapult near the top of the list. Until then, we'll wait and see what's going on with him.

12. Pneumatic: He is another I want to see back on a tighter track. I still believe he is a top-class horse, but he is still a work in progress and probably would have been much better suited to the Blue Grass Stakes. Remember, he was beaten only 1 3/4 lengths by Maxfield in the Matt Winn Stakes (G3) in a race in which he was forced to set the pace from the rail, something he really wants no part of. Coming off the 1 1/8-mile Belmont and that big sweeping turn, I am looking for a much improved effort next time out.

13. Mr. Big News: We'll see if his 46-1 shocker in the Oaklawn Stakes was for real when he runs in the Blue Grass Stakes. He definitely is sharp right now, coming off five-furlong works in :59 2/5 and :59 3/5 at Churchill Downs. We know he has the closing kick from a visual standpoint, as he showed at Oaklawn, but his Late Pace Figure on Brisnet was only an 82, which makes that race all the more puzzling. One thing about this group of 3-year-olds, you better be willing to overlook negatives, because there are plenty of them.

14. Man in the Can: This Arkansas-bred has won his past three starts, two of them Arkansas-bred stakes, but his breakout race came in a recent 11/8-mile allowance race at Churchill Downs, in which he beat a solid field and came home his final eighth in a sharp :12 2/5. By winning at nine furlongs he has already outrun his speed-oriented pedigree, so we will have to see if he can stretch out another furlong.

15. Money Moves: Although he has only two lifetime starts, you have to like what you've seen so far. He's been sidelined for three months, during which he didn't work for two months. But he is back working at Saratoga and is coming off a bullet half-mile breeze. He still has time to get a couple more starts in, but it's time to step up. With him training in New York, one would think the Peter Pan (G2) on opening day at Saratoga would be a good spot for him and set him up for his big leap in the Travers if he is that good. Distance should not be a problem, so we'll just see how he progresses in the next few weeks.

16. Mystic Guide: He still needs to be tested for class coming off a second to Tap It to Win in a rapidly run mile-and-a-sixteenth allowance race at Belmont. I have been very high on him and still am, as he had no shot of catching Tapit It to Win on that track. Godolphin's Jimmy Bell said all options are open, he's doing well, and they look forward to his next start, which again could be the Peter Pan, as he is training at Fair Hill. What is important is that he has a sensational pedigree and his maiden victory at Fair Grounds was extremely impressive. I feel there is a lot more to him and we will see that wherever he shows up next.

Lurking in the wings is Thousand Words, who will be looking to bounce back big-time off a pair of dismal performances, but the word is that he has found a new lease on life and is ready to regain his old form in the Los Alamitos Derby (G3), which would put Bob Baffert right back where he started earlier in the year when he felt strongly this was his next Derby horse and star. I just want to see if he does bounce back before elevating him back up near the top. Baffert also has a promising colt in Uncle Chuck, who came late to the show but looked awfully impressive in his career debut, winning by seven lengths going a mile. But he has a lot to prove and not much time to do it. I am putting Ny Traffic, another horse I've liked, on hold until he works again. He hasn't been on the work tab since June 14.

I was hoping to see Ete Indien, a horse who has been on the Derby Dozen most of the year, use a recent allowance race to learn how to rate, but with blinkers added he wound up going head and head with the speedy Florida Derby runnerup Shivaree and tired in the final furlong to finish fourth, while Shivaree hung tough to finish third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths by Sole Volante, and finishing 4 1/4 lengths ahead of Ete Indien. Shivaree has proven he is not a horse you want to tangle with early.

We'll see how the champ, Storm the Court, does in Saturday's Ohio Derby (G3) against a fairly mediocre field before figuring out where he belongs. And we'll see if Anneau d'Or can bounce back in the Los Alamitos Derby. Another horse looking to improve is Arkansas Derby (G1) runnerup Basin, who still has to prove he wants a mile-and-a-quarter. He'll likely get a chance in the Blue Grass Stakes.

I am also giving a mulligan to Farmington Road and Modernist, who never showed up in the Belmont Stakes and saw their Thoro-Graph numbers pretty much self destruct, indicating that they too didn’t handle that track. Two of my old favorites, Major Fed and Attachment Rate, have been working and we'll see where they wind up. And finally, do not hold that Easy Goer Stakes fiasco against Sonneman, who is a stone closer and was forced to indulge in a match race when the field whittled down to two. The horse that beat him. Celtic Striker, has excellent early speed, which gave him a huge advantage in a match race, and Sonneman just had no shot. You can catch him at a price next time out. This is still a good horse with a bright future.

Remembering the Summer of '69

2020-06-23T14:51:00Z

Over the next month I will be waxing nostalgic on occasion, whether racing-oriented or personal. This one is both. Portions of this column I am rehashing from old columns, but most of it new and it is an opportunity to link all the pieces together. Let’s just say it is being done for cathartic reasons at an appropriate time. I likely will be having a new Derby rankings column shortly, but for now this is something I felt compelled to write.

We are about to begin what promises to be the most eerie and surreal Saratoga meet in the track’s long history. That means it’s time to get personal and reminisce about the magical place that has been a state of feeling for more than half a century, a place around which my entire life has revolved. And now it is time yet again for my annual pilgrimage to this Mecca of Thoroughbred racing. But it will be unlike anything experienced before.

So, with Saratoga about to open to empty grandstands, and with Father’s Day just behind us and my daughter’s birthday a month away, bear with me one last time as I embark on another cathartic journey and think back to when it all began.

It was a glorious summer, the summer of 1969. My life was at a crossroads as I neared eight months of unemployment. My Wall Street career was over by design, in good part to a total disdain of anything that had to do with stocks, bonds, selling, buying, and cursing out people on the other end of the phone; a practice drilled into you by your superiors.

So, there I sat each day in Battery Park in lower Manhattan, feeding the pigeons and reading Sam Toperoff’s addictive book “Crazy Over Horses,” which became my bible, and trying to imagine what sort of career awaited a Wall Street reject with no skills who only graduated high school because they couldn’t wait to get rid of me. I pretty much was a loner and the prospects of one day living in a cardboard box on 10th Avenue seemed all too real.

But it was summer, and that meant a trip to my newly discovered wonderland, better known as Saratoga, which had become the most special place on Earth since my first visit a year earlier when I got my first close-up look at the great Dr. Fager. My favorite horse, Arts and Letters, was the overwhelming choice for the Jim Dandy and Travers, and my favorite filly, Gallant Bloom, was racking up victory after victory.

Job or no job, I had Arts and Letters and Gallant Bloom, and Shuvee and Gamely and Dr. Fager’s kid sister Ta Wee, and, yes, Saratoga and the old Victoria Hotel on Broadway, and walks up Lincoln Avenue every morning to indulge on a steady diet of workouts and scrambled eggs and bacon on the track apron. I had the Pink Sheets and daily films and replays at the National Museum of Racing, and fried chicken and potato salad from Chicken Sadie, whose small stand was located just off the jocks room. Not even the flies all over the potato salad bothered me. Why should it? It was the summer of ’69, I was in Saratoga, and my future could wait. What better place to put your life on hold than glorious Saratoga, where the rest of the world seemed so distant and removed?

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was much smaller and intimate back then, and it didn’t matter that I would spend every morning there looking at the same paintings and trophies over and over. It was a portal to the past; a place of comfort, a sanctuary of sorts. What I remember most were the free color post cards at the front desk of Damascus, Dr. Fager, and Buckpasser. Each day I would take a couple only because they were there and I could.

My friend Fred and I took the Trailways bus up to Saratoga for the second weekend of the four-week meet. That meant the Jim Dandy Stakes on Friday and the Alabama on Saturday. Arts and Letters, following his two narrow defeats at the hands of Majestic Prince in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and runaway victories in the Met Mile against older horses and the Belmont Stakes, getting his revenge on Majestic Prince, was now America’s equine hero.

To me, he was a welcome successor to my beloved Damascus, the horse who started me off on this journey of adventure into a new and wondrous world. I loved Arts and Letters mainly because he was by Ribot, the sire of Graustark, both of whom stood at my second home, Darby Dan Farm, as did Sword Dancer, the sire of Damascus.

Fred and I couldn’t wait to see Arts and Letters return in the Jim Dandy, which amazingly was run only eight days before the Travers. Watching the fans line up four and five deep around Arts and Letters’ saddling tree in the backyard made me realize just how popular the colt had become. The crowd let out a roar as Arts and Letters drew off in the stretch to win by 10 lengths. There was no doubt now that a star was born.

The next morning I woke up on my little single bed with the air conditioner blowing right on my head and feet. I took one swallow and realized I was in big trouble. My sore throat eventually turned into something bigger and I barely made it through the morning’s activities before coming to the realization that I needed to take the next bus back to New York City, which meant missing seeing Shuvee in the Alabama. My father picked me up at the Port Authority bus terminal and drove me home and right to bed.

Although I hated not seeing Shuvee win the Alabama, which Gallant Bloom skipped, I was too sick to fret over it and was still on an Arts and Letters high.

One week later, it was Travers day, where Arts and Letters, coming back in a little over a week, would be the overwhelming favorite over Claiborne Farm’s stretch-running Dike. He would continue his dominance, beating Dike by 6 1/2 lengths, equaling the track record. Unfortunately, I was still recovering from my illness and wasn’t able to return to the Spa, even if I wanted to.

That August was a wild month in America. The country had been shocked by the brutal Manson murders that claimed the life of actress Sharon Tate. And on Travers weekend on Max Yasgur’s 600-acre dairy farm a couple of hours from Saratoga, there was a little four-day party going on that was known simply as Woodstock. The country and its culture was about to change forever.

But my myopic mind was on the Travers and Arts and Letters, and the tiny town under the elms. The closest I got to Woodstock was seeing the exit sign from the bus on the New York Thruway heading up to Saratoga, although strangely, the town of Woodstock wasn’t anywhere near the rock festival, which was farther downstate So on that weekend in New York State, there were two totally different events going on in two totally different worlds.

Little could I have known that those two worlds would one day be linked and that the wheels soon would be in motion, guiding me to a future I could never have envisioned, even in my wildest dreams.

At “Woodstock” that weekend with her boyfriend was a beautiful, long-haired blonde from New London, Conn., who fit right in with the flower children that took over Yasgur’s farm in droves; the type of girl who was well beyond my scope and no doubt would make me tongue-tied in her presence.

Two months after the Travers and Woodstock I was hired as a copy boy at the Morning Telegraph, which was the Eastern and main edition of the Daily Racing Form, with the promise of going into the library to become assistant librarian, a position I never would have known about had I not asked the editor if it was possible to get a copy of Graustark’s past performances. Yes, copy boy was quite a comedown, especially salary-wise, from Wall Street, but it was a steppingstone to the library, where I was the proverbial kid in a candy store, surrounded by horse books and horse photos, and I had a job. My one-time likely path to a destitute existence had taken an unexpected turn.

Nine years later, having begun to do freelance writing for several European publications, I met that beautiful, long-haired blonde from Woodstock, who was working for the public relations firm that handled the New York Racing Association. After months of talking on the phone, we had lunch in Manhattan, where I, yes, became tongue-tied and could only muster a few frivolous sentences.

Somehow, I survived that first meeting and a year later I proposed to her in—of all places—Saratoga, where she was now working as public relations coordinator for NYRA. That night we broke the news to her family at the Wishing Well restaurant. The following year we were married in New London. All because I had taken a lowly job as a copy boy.

Four years later, we had the most wonderful daughter any couple could ever hope for. Mandy would celebrate her first birthday as guests of the Migliore family at the Wishing Well, continuing the Saratoga legacy. A few days earlier, she sat on her first horse thanks to Richie Migliore’s fiancé Carmela, who was an assistant to trainer Steve DiMauro. Family trips to the Spa followed almost every year, and as a teenager, Mandy took a two-week intensive with the Briansky Ballet in Saratoga.

I still often ask myself how all this happened. Losers like me don’t get the gorgeous girl and have a beautiful, talented daughter and precious grandson and wind up in that same Hall of Fame I had visited so many times nearly half a century earlier. My name still looks so out of place next to the names of the greatest racing writers of all time, many of whom I revered.

Thinking back to that summer of ’69, I still wonder to this day how I got from Battery Park to here. I have no answer, but somehow I did. Perhaps the stars were aligning during that summer, preparing to take me to places that were so far beyond my wildest imagination.

I realize as I conclude this “column” or whatever you wish to call it, that the culprit behind these self-absorbed words of reflection is Saratoga and the spell it still casts over me after 52 years. The days of Arts and Letters and Gallant Bloom and Shuvee are long gone, as is the introvert I once was. My wife and daughter and the confidence they instilled in me took care of that. But each year around this time I feel compelled to journey back to the summer of ’69 when I came to the proverbial fork in the road and somehow chose the right one. It was that fork that eventually led me to that hot June afternoon in 1978 when I met that beautiful blonde from Woodstock. To me, it will always be the day I was born.

I can’t help but think of the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”

Because I have always been bad at making decisions, I have to think that every one was made by my father, who died in 1971, two years after advising me to follow my heart and pursue a career in horse racing, despite my lack of skills. Several months before he died I was made head librarian at the Telegraph, and since then it is my father who has been guiding me every step of the way. It is he who is the universe who conspired to make everything happen. He never met his daughter-in-law or his granddaughter or his great-grandson, and he never did make it to Saratoga to see his son’s name inscribed there. But it is reassuring to know they are all part of him, just as he has been a part of me.

I am about to come to another fork in the road, but it matters little which one I take, because at the end of each road is my wife, my daughter, and my grandson, and the memory of my father. They have all led me here, and here is far enough.

Tiz Nobler in the Mind…

2020-06-21T18:27:00Z

There is no doubt people are going take different views of this year’s makeshift Belmont Stakes (G1) when assessing just how impressive Tiz the Law was dominating his field to capture the mile and an eighth event by nearly four lengths.

First off, let us look at how the skeptics will view the race. It would be difficult to argue the fact that this was not a classic caliber field, with Tiz the Law not only being the lone grade 1 winner, but the field consisting of only three other horses to have even run in a grade 1 race, none of them finishing in the money, beaten 43 lengths, 31 lengths, 14 lengths, and seven lengths.

In addition, the second-place finisher had only won a listed race, the third-place finisher had only won a grade 3 race and hadn’t run in nearly five months, and the fourth- and fifth-place finishers had only won a maiden race and an allowance race, respectively.

Tiz the Law’s Beyer Speed Figure of 100 was nothing to rave about for a classic race, mainly due to the blazing-fast track and the 3-year-old filly Gamine turning in an absolutely freakish performance in near world-record time, winning by 18 ¾ lengths in the Acorn Stakes. We also had the seven-furlong Woody Stephens Stakes (G2) and a maiden race run in 1:21 2/5.

And finally, one can cite Tiz the Law’s final eighth in :12 flat, which is fast even on a souped-up track. But the fact is, both the second and third-place finishers, with average at best speed figures, came home their final eighth in under :12, attributing that to the quickness of the track.

OK, so it seems the naysayers have some kind of case in feeling this race was not as sensational as many are making it out to be.

So, why, with all that, do I feel that Tiz the Law has the making of a very special horse and is starting to take on the qualities of the great Spectacular Bid in that he appears to be the quintessential racing machine that makes rival trainers perplexed how you go about beating him.

Style-wise, strategy-wise, and from a pure visual standpoint, Tiz the Law is taking on the persona of the perfect racehorse, running the same race regardless of the pace.

Both Tiz the Law and Spectacular Bid were ridden by jockeys with little or no experience in classic races. Both won their career debuts by almost identical margins, both won the Champagne Stakes (G1) by almost identical margins in time only three-fifths of a second apart, both won the Florida Derby (G1) by margins only a neck apart, both had to take up in one of their Derby preps, but still won going away, and when it came to competition, for those who feel Tiz the Law hasn’t beaten anyone of top quality, Spectacular Bid beat a horse named Lot ‘o Gold in the Hutcheson, Fountain of Youth, Florida Derby, and Blue Grass Stakes. But it was how he did it.

Obviously, no comparison can be made of the Belmont Stakes, but you can substitute Tiz the Law’s Belmont score with Bid’s victories in either the Flamingo or Blue Grass Stakes, both mile and an eighth Derby preps.

And finally, if the Kentucky Derby picture remains the same as it is now, with Tiz the Law and Honor A.P. dominating the Derby rankings, we could have an East vs. West showdown in the Run for the Roses comparable to Bid and Flying Paster. But that is still a ways off.

Now, no one is comparing Tiz the Law, with only six career starts, to the great Spectacular Bid, the greatest horse I ever saw at 2, 3, and 4. But at this stage of their careers, there are enough similarities to evoke visions of Bid and what the future might hold for Tiz the Law if he has an extended career.

Again, it is not only their comparable records on the track so far, but the feeling that one gets watching them run and how they are always right where they are supposed to be, as if they know how to place themselves in perfect position and when to make their move. Although Tiz the Law has not shown the versatility of Bid in that he has yet to win on the lead, is there anyone who has watched him run who doubts he could go to the front if the situation warranted it?

No one is expecting Tiz the Law to emulate Spectacular Bid in any way, as far as overall record and accomplishments over an extended period of time. But it sure is fun and exciting having a horse like this who is becoming more and more dependable with every race.

I have attempted to be as objective as possible, pointing out the number of ways one can view Tiz the Law’s performance in the Belmont Stakes.

If Tiz the Law goes on to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, should he be considered a Triple Crown winner and be placed alongside the previous winners? While it is debatable which is more difficult, winning the three races in a five-week span or winning them over a 2 1/2-month period, it is a case of the proverbial apples and oranges--timing-wise, order-wise, and eliminating the arduous task of winning at a mile and a half three weeks after the Derby and Preakness, a task that has thwarted the Triple Crown bids of many horses who came up short in the Test of the Champion.

Some may feel that the Triple Crown is easier to win now because many Derby starters pass the Preakness, but the truth is, in the past 30 years the Preakness has been won by 15 horses who were defeated in the Derby. So, it is still not an easy task to defeat horses at Pimlico that you defeated on the first Saturday in May. And with so many horses passing the Preakness and pointing for the Belmont, that makes the third leg of the Triple Crown more difficult to win now than in the past when you had so many Belmont horses knocked out from the first two races.

Even if you consider it more difficult to win the three races over extended period of time, the main difficulty is not overcoming unique obstacles on the track, but remaining sound and healthy during that time. Therefore, because of the extreme differences of the two, it is difficult to include this year’s winner of the three classic races with those of the past--not because of degree of difficulty but because they are totally different entities--timing, order, and the obstacles one has to overcome.

This is not meant to lessen the accomplishment of winning the three races this year, but golf for years had a Grand Slam consisting of The Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA. If one year they extended the four tournaments several months, ran the PGA first and The Masters third, and shortened the PGA to nine holes instead of 18 and shortened the holes from approximately 300 yards to 150 yards, would that year’s winner of all four tournaments be considered a true Grand Slam winner? It would still be a great accomplishment to win all four, but the accomplishment required a different set of skills and staying healthy for a longer period of time, and bore little resemblance to the traditional Grand Slam.

Maybe that is a bit of a reach, but you understand the point I’m getting at. If you were to include Tiz the Law with the other Triple Crown winners (if he pulls it off), it would require an asterisk with a pretty detailed explanation.

But let’s forget that for now, as it may not even be relevant. What is important right now is that racing became the first sport this year to stage a major event that received three hours of national coverage on NBC and extensive post-race coverage on ESPN’s Sportscenter the following day. And it has found a bona fide star and potential superstar who has become something pure and dependable at a time when both qualities are so dearly needed.

Keys to the Belmont Stakes

2020-06-18T20:44:00Z

The field has been drawn for this year's version of the Belmont Stakes (G1), and whether you feel it belongs in the classification of classic race or just another mile and an eighth prep for the Kentucky Derby (G1), there is a great deal intrigue to the race, highlighted by the presence of the top-ranked 3-year-old in the country Tiz the Law.

There are several factors regarding the post position draw that need mentioning, even though post positions in a mile and an eighth race at Belmont with that long run down the backstretch should not affect the outcome in any way but could affect the strategy.

The most notable draw was the speedy Tap It to Win breaking from the rail, which should reassure his followers that he will be on the lead, as if they needed reassurance after his dazzling front-running victory last time out. Fore Left, the UAE 2,000 Guineas winner who has excellent speed himself, should get an easy stalking position breaking from post 6, as should Modernist from post 4. If Belmont is favoring speed on this day, which it normally does, then that gives Tap It to Win a huge advantage because speed horses at Belmont, especially talented ones like Tap It to Win, have a tendency to just keep going. In that case, watch for Tiz the Law, Modernist, and Fore Left to be tracking right behind him. But it must be noted that Fore Left has sprinter's speed and shouldn't let Tapit It to Win get too comfortable, and he did win the Tremont Stakes last year in his only start at Belmont. But most important, he is from a dangerous barn who can strike with anyone and he is coming off two sensational works at Belmont, including a bullet five furlongs in :59 flat. Very sneaky in here.

Tiz the Law, breaking from post 8, will have to be used a little if he's going to take up a stalking position himself, but Manny Franco has to make sure he's no more than three-wide heading into the turn. If Tiz the Law lays right off Tap It to Win's flank he does hold a big class advantage.

The post position that intrigues me the most is Sole Volante from post 2. You would think that with his late running style it doesn't matter where he breaks from. But not at Belmont. This is a tough track for a jockey who has little or no experience over it and is on a come-from- behind horse. Many an inexperienced rider has gone into Belmont's infamous turn of no return racing on the outside. Although they may look strong, that turn seemingly goes on forever, and by the time horses come out of it they have used a great deal of energy, losing a lot of ground, and are unable to sustain their run.

But for horses saving ground the whole way it is a totally different story. When a closer gets a rail trip and the rail opens up, it is not uncommon to see them burst through and even open daylight. And horses on the pace at Belmont do have a tendency to drift out a bit turning for home. If a rider doesn't feel like the rail will open up, then he can ease out and it doesn't matter how wide they go. They have already saved a lot of ground. The key is staying on the rail and either remaining there or looking for a seam nearing the quarter pole. Just do not go wide into the turn.

If Sole Volante can get a good inside trip, he has the turn of foot to come charging through and catch the others a bit flat-footed. Now, that will still be quite a task if Tiz the Law runs his "A" race, but that is still the only shot you have to beat him. Sole Volante would be have been better suited had this been a mile and a quarter, but if he runs the same race he did in the Sam F. Davis when he used his acceleration to get into contention by the 5/16 pole he has a legitimate shot to pull off the upset. This is no plodder. He has a quick stride that can put him into the fray whenever the rider wants.

If you want to see what to do with a closer who who draws inside at Belmont, have Sole Volante's jockey Luca Panici watch the 2013 Jockey Club Gold Cup on You Tube and see how 21-1 shot Ron the Greek, who had no early speed, stays closer up on the rail and shoots through like a bullet and goes on to win by almost seven lengths in 1:59 3/5 for the mile and a quarter.

The other interesting horse is Pneumatic. In his last race, the two-turn Matt Winn Stakes, he drew the rail, and although he had come from fifth to break his maiden the race before, he had no choice but to go to the front, which took him completely out of his running style. That's not the way he wants to run. Despite that, he hung tough in the stretch and finished a close third behind Maxfield in only his third career start. Now he breaks from post 10 in the Belmont and should have no trouble taking back and settling behind the speed and stalkers. But again, his best hope is that the field gets strung out a little so he doesn't lose too much ground going into the turn. He should get a trip that suits him this time and could be one to watch at a decent price. His maiden win to me stamped him as a horse with a great deal of talent.

Breaking directly inside Pneumatic is the other fascinating horse, Dr Post, who could be problematic for Pneumatic if he keeps him hung wide, as he needs a similar trip. He showed in his last race he is a bruiser who doesn't mind playing rough. He just shrugs it off, as he did in his last start, overcoming heavy traffic and bumping, and still powered his way to victory. He does face much tougher horses this time, but he is another who is improving rapidly and has a bright future..

Although Modernist has been entered, we'll see if Bill Mott runs him. He should like Belmont Park, and he does have good tactical speed. So far he appears to be more of a one-paced type of horse, but those horses generally are suited to Belmont. His best races will be a bit farther down the road, but he definitely fits in here.

Max Player and Farmington Road will need some sort of pace collapse to be able to use their late kick. Max Player has been out of action for more than 4 1/2 months, but he has had a number of strong six- and seven-furlong works, so he should be fit enough.

I have been a huge fan of Sole Volante all year and have ranked him anywhere from No. 2 to No. 5 on Derby Dozen most every week because he does everything right and seems to have no flaws and is a joy to watch in action. Although I don't think this is the best spot for him, it wouldn't surprise me to see him run another huge race if he gets the right trip. If he runs a strong race and finishes in the top three over a speed-favoring track, then expect him to be a very serious horse in the Travers Stakes (G1) and the Kentucky Derby. But if Tiz the Law is going to be beaten, I will still go with the horse who has continued to impress me all year.

I was also excited by Pneumatic's maiden victory and felt he could be any kind, as he ran like polished veteran, and, again, did everything the right way. We'll see what he can do with a better trip.

With that said, this is Tiz the Law's race to win or lose, as he holds a big class advantage and is the only horse proven in grade 1 company and proven at Belmont Park in a grade 1. We'll just have to see if Sole Volante can get a dream trip and have a shot at him or if Tap It to Win gets loose on the lead and doesn't come back or if there are any stars in the making, like Pneumatic and Dr Post who are ready to burst on the scene and challenge him.

The Curtain Rises on the 'Triple Crown'

2020-06-16T19:49:00Z

If you think watching racing from Belmont Park and Churchill Downs and other tracks in front of empty grandstands is kind of eerie try watching the races from Royal Ascot where the event normally is highlighted by a sea of top hats and ornate women's hats, with champagne pouring and a proper buzz in the air. And of course the revered presence of The Queen and the Royal Procession …

Now we come to the Belmont Stakes (G1). You remember those wild humanity packed afternoons when the pride of Philadelphia, Smarty Jones, drew a massive crowd of 120,000 that will never be topped; when throngs of Venezuelans and Spanish-speaking Americans converged on the track to set an attendance record back in 1971 to see the rags-to-riches Canonero II try for an unlikely Triple Crown sweep; when a frenzy of emotion swept the track as American Pharoah ended a 37-year-old Triple Crown drought; and of course when Secretariat left the crowd in a state of awe with his other worldly performance that put an end to a 25-year-old Triple Crown drought.

This year there will be no crowd (literally), no horse trying for the Triple Crown, and in fact, no Kentucky Derby (G1) or Preakness (G1) winner and no horses who even ran in those races. The starting gate, instead of being positioned in front of the grandstand, will be a mere speck in the distance as the first leg of the "Triple Crown" will be contested at the greatly reduced distance of a mile-and-an-eighth.

So, where exactly does that leave this year's Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown? Is there a "Test of the Champion" this year? Is there a Triple Crown this year? I would tend to doubt that many people will put the name of this year's Triple Crown winner, should there be one, alongside the names of Secretariat, Citation, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, American Pharoah and the others, as the accomplishments are so totally different, like the proverbial apples and oranges. They just seem like two separate entities.

But then again, who knows how people will perceive it and how large an asterisk they see following the three races, especially the Belmont Stakes. Let's see how it plays out.

What do we make of this year's classic season in general? Here we’re nearing the end of June and the two top ranked 3-year-olds on the NTRA poll have each run two times. That's two starts in almost six months. Do we really know much about these horses? Will handicapping the Belmont be more of a guess, as Tiz the Law, Sole Volante, and Modernist (if he runs), who ran in the traditional prep races face late developers like Dr Post, Tap It to Win, and Pneumatic, who have yet to be tested for class?

So, however you look at the Belmont Stakes, whether a true classic or merely another 1 1/8-mile prep for the Kentucky Derby, there is a great deal of intrigue to the race, even with the loss of Nadal, then Maxfield, then Charlatan. The race could be a confirmation of the talents of the early season prep horses or the beginning of a second wave that was able to take advantage of the postponement of the Kentucky Derby.

With a dangerous speed horse in Tap It to Win and with proven top-class stalkers in Tiz the Law and Modernist, it was an interesting decision to wheel the late-running Sole Volante back in 10 days rather than stay home and wait for the July 11 Blue Grass Stakes (G1). They chose the one-turn, speed-favoring track over the more logical two-turn race, over which he could use his turn of foot and late kick. How often do we see speed horses set extremely fast fractions at Belmont and just keep going as the closers get caught on that big sweeping turn and fail to make an impact? And few people are expecting Tap it To Win and especially Tiz the Law to be backing up at the end. That would also compromise the late-running Max Player and Farmington Road.

So the decision to run Sole Volante, although seemingly insignificant, has more significance than we might think. By putting their horse at more of a disadvantage than had they stayed home to run in a prestigious race like the Blue Grass Stakes, the connections of Sole Volante are telling us they do indeed perceive the Belmont Stakes as a major event, possibly even a true classic that is worth going after. At worst, it should set him up for a return to two turns in the Travers Stakes (G1). This is an important decision in that it contradicts the decision to pass the race with Maxfield before that colt was injured.

Look, the truth is, this year's version of the Belmont Stakes is not the "Test of the Champion" and does not serve as a test of stamina, as intended. Is this a classic field for the first leg of the Triple Crown? No. But technically, the victor will still be a Belmont Stakes winner, even with that big fat asterisk that will accompany it. So, look at it as you wish, and just enjoy the intrigue and the presence of Tiz the Law, who relished the track and distance when he ran off with the Champagne Stakes (G1) last fall. Can he turn back the second wave of challengers?

Whoever wins this race likely will find himself in the Top 5 ranked Derby horses, and if Dr Post, Pneumatic or Tap It to Win are victorious, then you could have the start of the changing of the guard and a new look Derby picture. And if Tiz the Law adds this race to his stunning victories in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) and Curlin Florida Derby (G1) then we could be looking at a potential Derby showdown between East and West, with Tiz the Law and Honor A. P. looking like standouts at this point.

Now we come to the matter of the Triple Crown. Some feel this year's three classic races do not offer the unique challenge that is the Triple Crown, while others feel it is even tougher to stretch the three races out over some two-and-a-half months and maintain a horse's form for that long.

I am old school and feel the main challenge to this year's Triple Crown is all about keeping a horse healthy and sound more than anything else, as top-class horses should have no problem maintaining their form for 75 days, and today's horses apparently need more time between races, so you shouldn't see horses tailing off come Preakness (G1) time.

And we have no idea what the Preakness will offer, as you can be sure some trainers will choose to go straight from the Kentucky Derby to the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) if there is no "Triple Crown" at stake. So will the Preakness just be hanging out there as a bridge between the Derby and the Classic or attract enough top horses to keep its classic reputation? We have no idea who will be left by then.

But for now, we have the Belmont Stakes to look forward to, and we will see how it bounces back from the losses of Nadal, Maxfield, and Charlatan and just where it leads us on the road to the Kentucky Derby.

Ron Turcotte's Mystery Mount

2020-06-11T19:22:00Z

On April 3, 1972, the front page headline in the Morning Telegraph read, "Head of the River Wins Everglades Stakes." It looked as if the colt's owner Rokeby Stable and trainer Elliott Burch had another top 3-year-old on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail to follow their champon Arts and Letters. What made this headline so significant was that it would be the final issue ever published of the Morning Telegraph, racing's bible since 1897. So Head of the River had secured a very small niche in the journalistic history of racing.

Head of the River never did live up to his promise, but that's not to say he didn't play another small part in history that most people are unaware of. That small part was his participation in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on grass at Belmont Park on June 9, 1973. It wasn't about where he finished or who he ran against or anything regarding the running of the race.

It was all about when the race was run and who rode him. You see, that insignificant allowance event was the race following Secretariat's historic victory in the Belmont Stakes (G1), in which he became racing's first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and set a record that will last forever, while winning by a staggering 31 lengths. But what made this allowance race so interesting is that Head of the River was ridden by none other than Ron Turcotte, who had just piloted Big Red to his record-setting victory that still gives people goose bumps after 47 years.

So, why in the world would Turcotte, still on cloud nine and basking in the blinding limelight of his history making victory, ride in the race following the Belmont Stakes? After all, that was to be a time of unbridled jubilation and celebration. How do you come down from the highest of highs to the reality of an insignificant allowance race in less than 30 minutes?

Imagine the reaction of the media, instead of pounding away on their typewriters to chronicle this history-making event, having to wait for the last race to be run before they could get quotes from the rider of the Triple Crown winner, especially one as high-profile as Ron Turcotte.

As it turned out, Turcotte could have backed out of the mount but his integrity superseded all else.

“When they do the draw in the morning, you entered you’re horse, but you don’t know where they’re going to place it on the program,” Turcotte recalled. “After I found out it was going to be the race after the Belmont it never entered my mind to take off the mount. Sam Kanchugar, who ran the NYRA press office, was all over me, telling me, ‘You’re all clear, you can take off the mount.’ It was all OK’d by the stewards, but I just couldn’t do it to (Elliott). I felt it was an obligation. I had given him the call, and a man is only as good as his word.”

So instead of rejoicing and soaking in all the pandemonium and being surrounded by hordes of media after his history-making ride, here was Turcotte rushing back to the jocks’ room, slipping out of the Meadow Stable silks and putting on the Rokeby Stable silks to ride in an allowance race. With Belmont still reverberating from the spectacle they had just witnessed, Turcotte calmly walked to the paddock with the other riders and admitted he didn’t pay much attention to the people gathered around the walking ring, as he was now totally focused in on Head of the River.

There was an episode of “The Honeymooners,” where Ralph wins an award as the safest bus driver. Norton offers to drive to the ceremony at City Hall to avoid something fateful happening, but Ralph insists on driving, and of course gets into an accident.

Well, life came close to imitating art when Head of the River stepped in a hole on the grass course at the half-mile pole and stumbled, going to his knees. “That was the only time I regretted taking the mount, when the horse hit that hole,” Turcotte said.

As it turned out, Head of the River tired badly after his incident, finishing a well-beaten fifth at odds of 9-2. Ironically, the horse who was outside him at the time and who would finish second at 12-1 was named Big Red L. The winner, Tree of Knowledge, an up-and-coming son of Dr. Fager, went on to win the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1).

After his close call, Turcotte was finally confronted by several media members to get their long-awaited post-race interview.

“After the races, people were waiting for me in the parking lot to sign their programs and stuff like that,” Turcotte said. “I wound up signing for an hour or more.”

It had been a long day, with the anticipation of history being made. Secretariat was feeling good all morning and it was obvious to everyone at the barn he was sitting on a monster performance. Turcotte, as was his custom, walked the track, probing it with a knife to see how deep it was and where the best part of the track was. The way Big Red ran, none of that was needed. The best part of the track was wherever he stepped. Yes, it was fast, but he made it faster. This may have been the only case ever where a horse sprinted a mile and a half.

Turcotte had gotten a good feel of the track, winning an allowance race on Spanish Riddle for Lucien Laurin in the fifth race. And he rode the infamous stablemate Angle Light against Forego in an allowance race in the seventh race.

A crowd of 67,605 showed up, and according to Turcotte, it would have been higher had the race not been so overpublicized that many people, afraid of the traffic, elected to stay home.

So ended the most memorable day of Turcotte’s life on the racetrack. Most jockeys in his position would never have ridden the race after the Belmont. But to Turcotte, there is one thing that takes precedence over everything else – his word.

A souvenir pairing that no one has -- Ron Turcotte's final two mounts on Secretariat (left) and Head of the River

Arrogate the Four-Race Phenom

2020-06-02T21:57:00Z

Despite what the history books say, there really is not a big difference between an all-time great horse and a horse who had all-time greatness in him. Human athletes like Sandy Koufax, Gale Sayers, and Bo Jackson showed how all-time greatness can be demonstrated even in an abbreviated career.

Those athletes obviously had longer careers than Arrogate, but still short by human standards. What Arrogate accomplished in a four-race span likely will never be duplicated. Now, even Arrogate's stud career and his life have been cut short.

Who knows what his other-worldly victory in the Dubai World Cup cost him when he returned home only to become a mere shell of himself. If he were human, people would have said, "We'll he finally showed he was human." Before that, he was on another plateau; one that he reached from seemingly out of nowhere on an August day in Saratoga when he burst on the scene sending shock waves across the racing world. No one could explain his sudden and dramatic rise, just as no one could explain his sudden and dramatic decline in this three final races at Del Mar.

Many of the experts and analysts and some top local horsemen said they did not like the way he was moving, specifically the way he was pushing off from behind, during the summer when he turned in a couple of subpar works in addition to his defeats. But that will never be proven.

Perhaps his trainer Bob Baffert came closest to an explanation when he said, "He lost a lot of weight after Dubai, especially over his withers. He lost his power and his hind foot had problems."

Well, Samson lost his power, but he was still only remembered for his incredible feats of strength.

And what feats of strength we witnessed from Arrogate. He won the Travers Stakes (G1) on the lead in a 13-horse field, shattering a 37-year-old track record, while romping by 13 1/2 lengths in a spectacular 1:59 1/5; he twice won stalking from just off the pace, once running down a loose on the lead two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and once breaking a track record in the rich Pegasus World Cup (G1); and he won coming from dead-last in a 14-horse field in the Dubai World Cup (G1) after a horrible break, turning in one of the most unbelievable performances anyone had ever seen, while blowing by future Horse of the Year Gun Runner to win going away.

To further summarize how remarkable his whirlwind career was, in only four races, I repeat, four races, Arrogate defeated:

-- Two Horses of the Year

-- The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishers of the Kentucky Derby (G1)

-- 2 Preakness (G1) winners

-- The 1st and 2nd place finishers of the Belmont Stakes (G1)

-- The 1st and 2nd place finishers of the Dubai World Cup

-- 2 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winners

-- A Pacific Classic (G1) winner

-- A Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) winner

-- A Travers Stakes winner

-- A Met Mile (G1) winner

-- A Whitney Stakes (G1) winner

-- A Woodward Stakes (G1) winner

-- A Stephen Foster (G1) winner

-- A Cigar Mile (G1) winner

-- A Haskell Invitational (G1) winner

-- A Queens Plate winner

-- 2 Clark Handicap (G1) winners

-- 2 UAE Derby (G2) winners

-- 2 group I winners in Japan

-- 2 group I winners in Dubai

-- A Group I winner in Argentina and Chile

-- A Group winner in England and Turkey

Once again, that is in only four races. And he defeated the majority of those horses by double-digit margins.

In those four races, at four different tracks and in two countries, he ran outrageous Beyer speed figures of 122, 120, 119, and 115, broke two track records, including a 37-year-old record at Saratoga, and earned a 141 Timeform figure, the highest Timeform figure in the 25 years since it began rating horses in North America. And, as mentioned earlier, he won those four races on the lead in a 13-horse field, coming from third and fifth, and coming from dead-last in a 14-horse field.

I had the privilege to visit Arrogate twice at Juddmonte, and there was a magnificence about him that is difficult to put into words. You didn't just see Arrogate, you felt him.

Arrogate is gone way too soon. In some ways he will remain an enigma. But most of all he will be remembered as a phenom, unlike anything we have ever seen before.

Maxfield Decision Key to "Triple Crown"

2020-05-26T16:03:00Z

The big dilemma this year is whether we have some form of a Triple Crown. Will the winner of all three classics go down as the 14th Triple Crown winner, along with Secretariat, Citation, American Pharoah, Justify and the others or will there be a Triple Crown winner with an asterisk or will there not be a Triple Crown winner at all, even if one horse wins all three races? And regardless of how it appears in the record books, will each individual go along with the official designation or make his or her own decision based strictly on how they feel about it and ignore the record books?

Right now, we have a terrific field lined up for the 11/8-mile Belmont Stakes (G1) June 20. But is it a terrific field because it is perceived as a classic or because so many good horses simply need a place to run? Will Bob Baffert run two of his major stars because it is a classic or because he doesn't want to run three horses in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and he wants to take advantage of a one-turn mile-and-an-eighth race for his two speedballs, especially with the elite tag of classic to go with it?

We should get an indication of how horsemen look at the Belmont Stakes when Godolphin and trainer Brendan Walsh announce their plans for Matt Winn (G3) winner Maxfield, who is undefeated in three lifetime starts. If they truly look at the Belmont as a classic, you would think they would want to run. After all, who passes up a classic race and being featured on a three-hour NBC telecast, especially when you have one of the favorites?

But if they don't run and decide to wait three weeks for the Blue Grass Stakes (G2) on the track that Maxfield obviously relished when he romped in the Breeders' Futurity (G1) last fall, does that mean they regard the Belmont as just another big race and not a true classic? If they regard it as a classic, then you have to run. Just to reiterate what I said, you don't pass up a classic, especially the first one, and lose a chance of being a Triple Crown winner, asterisk or no asterisk.

If they don't look at the Belmont as a classic, then the logical step for Maxfield would be to wait for the Blue Grass Stakes three weeks later. That would then give them four weeks to the Travers Stakes (G1) (assuming it is run on Aug. 8), then four weeks to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), then four weeks to the Preakness (G1) if they want to run there. They could also go straight to the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) from the Kentucky Derby with that race and the Travers under their belt. If NYRA for some reason schedules the Travers for Aug. 1 then it might be coming back too quickly off the Blue Grass, thus making the Belmont more feasible timing-wise. Got all that?

Speaking of the Travers, will NYRA keep it at its traditional distance of a mile and a quarter or shorten it to a mile and an eighth? If the thinking is that asking a horse to run back-to-back mile and a quarter races is too tough, it is not nearly as tough as a younger, less mature 3-year-old running a mile and a quarter and then coming back two weeks later and running a mile and three-sixteenths and then coming back three weeks later and running a mile and a half.

By keeping the Travers at a mile and a quarter, it keeps the long tradition of the race and makes it more attractive, because the only change would be the date. And if a horse should win the Travers and then get beat in the makeshift Derby, at least he is a "real" Travers winner, which is extremely prestigious in its own right. Why bastardize one of America's greatest races when there is no reason for it? Trainers have to get it into their heads that running in the 10-furlong Travers and coming back in the Derby in four weeks is far easier than the traditional Derby--Preakness double, where the difference is a mere sixteenth of a mile. And you are dealing with tougher, stronger, and more mature 3-year-olds in August and September than you are in early to mid-May.

Now, if NYRA polls a number of trainers and owners and asks them if they would run in the 10-furlong Travers and they say no, then that is quite a statement on today's racing and the perceived fragility of the Thoroughbred, as well as the mentality of today's trainers when it comes to the durability of their horses. Can you imagine the cachet a horse would have winning the Travers and Kentucky Derby within a month's span. It will never happen again.

Right now let's see what Godolphin and Walsh do and the historical importance they put on the Belmont Stakes in its current form. Maxfield or no Maxfield, mile and an eighth or no mile and an eighth, classic or no classic, it will be a great race. And in these trying times, that is a lot.

Kentucky Derby Sweet 16

2020-05-25T20:01:00Z

Although the Belmont Stakes (G1) is not the Belmont as we know it, far from it, by being run around one turn at a mile and an eighth with a testing pace likely down that long straightaway, this version of the Belmont may actually be more attractive to breeders than the traditional Belmont Stakes, as it should resemble the Met Mile (G1) more than it resembles your typical two-turn classic race going longer.

Because of the oddity of this year's classic series of races, with the Santa Anita Derby (G1) in two weeks and the Belmont Stakes in four weeks, I will continue to provide an occasional rankings column through the end of July just to keep things interesting and updated. This is not the Derby Dozen, and will not follow the usual Derby Dozen format. So there will be no Knocking on the Door, as each week there will be a mob pounding on the door. But that doesn't mean other horses will not be discussed and there will be no set number of horses that will be ranked. It could be 10 or it could be 20. This week we're starting off with Sweet 16.

This week's top three horses are ranked in the same order they were on March 18. Yes, the Derby has favored speed in recent years, but almost all those Derbys won by speed horses were on wet, sealed tracks and came on the first Saturday in May when young horses are more precocious and few are truly experienced, thus giving speed more of an advantage. But with the Derby now run in September, we would imagine a much truer and competitive race with battle-tested horses who are more mature and more versatile and can adapt better to traffic and any kind of pace and surface.

1. Tiz the Law—He still holds on to the top spot based on his power, speed, dominance, and pedigree. And the only way he can lose his No. 1 ranking is for someone to take it away from him. I also rank him No. 1 for the Belmont Stakes based on his monster effort over the track in Champagne Stakes (G1). But Maxfield, Nadal, and Charlatan are breathing down his neck, and the Belmont Stakes should be one of the best 3-year-old races in a long time. Barclay Tagg is keeping him sharp, working him five furlongs in :59 3/5 in company at Palm Meadows.

2. Maxfield—He couldn't have gotten more out of his first start back in the Matt Winn (G3). He looked spectacular physically and showed he can get good position early and overcome a wide trip and traffic. Yes, the pace was slow, but his closing fractions of :23 4/5 and :06 1/5 were extremely strong, especially considering his eventful stretch run when he shied from left-handed whipping and was intimidated by Ny Traffic drifting out into his path. But he straightened himself out and was striding out beautifully late, winning with his ears pricked. This race will move him way forward and I definitely see him peaking at a mile and a quarter.

3. Sole Volante—I would rank him No. 5 for the Belmont Stakes, but still No. 3 for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). The one-turn mile and an eighth at Belmont favors speed and should help the Baffert pair if both run and even be more favorable if only one runs and is able to relax up front. But he desperately needs a race, and as long as he is closing and striding out with his usual smooth quick-footed action, he will move forward and be extremely tough to beat when he goes back to two turns. And watch out when he goes a mile and a quarter. I just love everything about this horse.

4. Nadal—He would be ranked No. 2 or 3 for the Belmont Stakes, assuming he will be using the same stalking tactics he used in the Arkansas Derby (G1). He is ranked No. 4 for the Derby mainly because of the plethora of top-class speed horses that should assure a fast pace on Sept. 5. But he is undefeated, is bred to go long, and after running three straight Thoro-Graph numbers of "3 3/4" while going fast early and slow late, he reversed that in his faster division of the Arkansas Derby and jumped to "1/2" Thoro-Graph number. On pedigree, he is more likely to handle the mile and a quarter than the other two Baffert speedballs, and he physically looked like a powerhouse at Oaklawn Park.

5. Charlatan—The biggest thing he has going for him is that we have no idea how good, or great, he may be. He is immensely gifted and does everything so easily, floating over the ground with smooth, effortless strides. Sure, you would like to see him show he can rate off the pace if necessary, but right now he is just having fun out there and is enjoying crushing his opposition. A mile and a quarter is a question mark, but it wouldn't come as a surprise if he can carry his speed that far. He is one of those American Pharoah-type horses who is just a pleasure to watch run.

6. Authentic—Inactivity is the only thing that has pushed him below his two stablemates, as it seems like ages ago we saw him run. I would love to see the speedy Shooters Shoot go in the Santa Anita Derby to either test him on the lead or more importantly force him to lay off a horse. Because of the odd scheduling of the Santa Anita Derby, he likely will not get an opportunity to compete in all three classic races. Like his two mates, he would be a natural going one turn at Belmont. And like Charlatan, we have no idea how good he is. But those long gazelle-like strides should suit him well when the distances stretch out. He has displayed unsightly antics in the stretch, but showed no signs of it in his last start.

7. Honor A. P.—He is another who will not be able to compete in all three classic races because of the timing of the Santa Anita Derby. But the goal obviously is the Kentucky Derby and John Shirreffs is not quite ready to ship cross-country. Could he turn the tables on Authentic? Certainly, if he takes a step forward as expected. But another good second-place finish to a loose-on-the-lead Authentic would not dampen his reputation, as he will hold the upper hand once he goes a mile and a quarter and once the fields get larger and more competitive. A hulking, muscular horse, he still has to fine tune all the parts, but Shirreffs has him dead-fit with long strong works.

8. King Guillermo—He's been given a freshening on the farm and should return to serious training shortly. But we won't see him in the Belmont Stakes. I know he couldn't match strides with Nadal in the Arkansas Derby, but I loved the way he was moving in the stretch, and he proved his Lambhom South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) score was no fluke. I loved this colt's overall demeanor, from his finely-chiseled head to his near-flawless stride. He should be a tiger once he returns to action.

9. Ete Indien—I think the time off will help him and he will return fit and sharp for the July 18 TVG.com Haskell Invitational (G1) over a track that should suit his style of running. I still can't help but think of the huge effort he turned in against Tiz the Law in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) and his impressive romp in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2). Patrick Biancone will have him primed for another big race at Monmouth Park. Of course, he is another who would benefit from being able to lay off the pace, and you can bet Biancone will be working on that.

10. Gouverneur Morris—I have stubbornly hung on to the belief that he will be a major Derby contender, but he has not made a lot of progress, mainly because he's had less than ideal trips, stuck in heavy traffic without the gears to extricate himself. I still believe with a clear outside stalking trip he can keep grinding away and run strongly to the wire. He showed me too much in his first two starts—one against Maxfield—to give up on him. He just needs to be given the chance to show what he can do.

11. Pneumatic—He gets a slight nod over another up-and-comer Dr Post because he has a tad more stamina close up. I was not disappointed in his third-place finish in the Matt Winn Stakes, but I was very disappointed in his trip, breaking from the rail and getting involved in a speed duel with two horses, even though the fractions were slow. That's not the way he wants to run. What I loved about this horse was the way he sat back in fifth in his maiden score and the calculated way he picked off his opponents before drawing clear, and how professional and athletic he was. To be down on the inside battling for the lead with a seasoned stakes horse in Ny Traffic told me little about the horse. He never gave up and battled to the end, beaten less than two lengths, despite his rider continuously hitting him left-handed even as he was drifting out from the whip.

12. Dr Post—In the Unbridled Stakes, he showed a maturity and the ability to overcome adversity far beyond his years and experience. We know he can take a punch and still come back swinging. In short, he had every right to lose that race, but he not only managed to win, he did it the right way, with mind and muscle. He no doubt has the ability to be competitive with anybody, and we'll have to see if Todd Pletcher throws him into the deep water in the Belmont Stakes. There is not a lot of stamina in his first three generations, but sometimes talent and the right mind can take a horse farther than he's bred to go. There is a lot of royal blood in his fourth generation for whatever that is worth

13. Max Player—I don't know if his running style will be conducive to a mile and an eighth at Belmont, but with so many six- and seven-furlong works in the past 3 1/2 months he will certainly be fit enough. But it's been so long since he's run we really don't know much about him other than he has a strong closing kick and a nice flowing stride. All we can do now is wait to see how competitive he can be coming back in such a tough spot.

14. Modernist—He is one horse who really intrigues me, as I believe he has as much room for improvement as any of them. He definitely is still a work in progress. I would tend to think Bill Mott will skip the Belmont, and if he does I believe we will see a different, more complete horse when he does return. He is an attractive colt with a good way of moving, but with plenty of muscle and toughness. Throw out his last when he was wide throughout. Definitely one to watch and a good bet at 50-1 in the last Future Wager.

15. Ny Traffic—Give him credit for always being there and always running the same race. My main question with him is, how do you get him to win one of these with his grinding, high-cruising style of running? I'm, not sure if he's a mile and a quarter horse, but right now he has to figure out a way to win being so one-paced. But he's never tiring and is always running hard to the wire, so for that he must be respected. He's the kind of horse any trainer would love to have in his barn.

16. Finnick the Fierce—This hard-knocking, one-eyed horse always shows up and is still only one of two horses who have finished ahead of Tiz the Law. He does possess a strong closing punch and ran a huge race to finish third in a division of the Arkansas Derby. He is one of those horses you don't see winning the Kentucky Derby, but can definitely see rallying to pick up a piece of it. And how can you not love his name?

Non-stakes horses to keep an eye on who are one race away from bursting on to the list are Mystic Guide, who is pointing for a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on June 4; Sonneman, a real eye-catcher with great potential and a powerful closing kick; the explosive Hunt the Front, who has a spectacular turn of foot and is bred to run all day; recent winner Art Collector, a vastly improved colt who looked impressive against a strong allowance field and should relish a stretch-out to two turns; and the aforementioned Shooters Shoot, who showed in his last start he has the speed, tenacity, and determination to at least make life miserable for any horse who looks him in the eye. All these horses look to have the talent to emerge as major contenders by September.

Right behind the Top 16 is a large pool of proven stakes horses such as the front-running Wells Bayou, who needs to show he can win from off the pace; Mr. Big News; Mischevious Alex, who is brilliantly fast, but likely has distance limitations; Shivaree, who surprisingly stretched his speed out to finish second to Tiz the Law in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1); the late-running Farmington Road and Enforceable; Major Fed, who had to run seven-wide the entire mile and a sixteenth of the Matt Winn and deserves another chance; Attachment Rate, who still hasn't learned how to change leads and likely will never reach his full potential until he does; Basin, who is still trying to regain his 2-year-old form, but has made his presence felt in every start this year; and Azul Coast, who had a tremendous seven-furlong work on May 25, but has been tucked away in some corner of Bob Baffert's barn since mid-February. I would imagine Baffert will unleash him in the Santa Anita Derby to pick up the crumbs left by Authentic and possibly Honor A. P. or he will wait to take advantage of the long stretch in the Los Alamitos Derby (G3) on July 4.

Belmont Stakes Might Wind Up the Best of the Three

2020-05-22T19:49:00Z

Let us first acknowledge the fact that from strictly a historical standpoint, this year's Belmont Stakes (G1) is closer to a one-turn Wood Memorial Presented by NYRA Bets (G2) with a three-hour NBC telecast than it is to the Belmont Stakes.

Don't get me wrong, the Belmont is going to be a great race and I'm looking forward to it, but from a historical standpoint, it's the Belmont Stakes in name only and doesn't represent what the Belmont Stakes is supposed to be, which is the Test of the Champion, the final obstacle for immortality for horses winning the Derby and Preakness.

To win three races in five weeks, culminating at a mile and a half is hard. But as Tom Hanks said of baseball in "A League of their Own," "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great."

Of the three Triple Crown races, the Belmont will be the only one that had to make three major changes: the date, like the other two, but also in the order it's normally run and the distance it's normally run. When you have to make that many changes, it ceases to be what it's supposed to be.

Again, it's going to be a great race with a great field and will be befitting a 3-hour telecast. It's just the only one of the Triple Crown races that has undergone a complete facelift. The winner will be a classic winner with an asterisk, but still technically a classic winner.

But here is why it could wind up overshadowing the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in the long run as far as importance and attracting a classic field.

It is the only one of the Triple Crown races that, at this point, guarantees to attract the current best 3-year-olds, as it is run two and a half months before the Derby, and as we know, a lot can happen to horses in two and a half months.

There is such a huge disconnect between the Belmont and the Derby and Preakness it is really a disjointed Triple Crown. We know what we have now, but do we know come September and especially October that we'll have the best 3-year-olds in the country or just the survivors of the Derby trail who have lasted that long. There are a lot of big races still to be run and a lot of hopes that will be dashed. A Derby horse in May does not equate to a Derby horse in September.

The Belmont will attract the best 3-year-old in the country in many people's opinion, Tiz the Law, who is primed and ready for a big effort...now. It could also attract arguably the second and third best 3-year-olds in Nadal and Charlatan if Bob Baffert decides to run them both. Why deprive one of them the opportunity to be a classic winner when he is at the top of his game and ready for another monster effort, as we saw in the split Arkansas Derby (G1). Is it fair to either of the colts' owners to run his or her horse in let's say the Los Alamitos Derby (G3) when the Belmont Stakes is only two weeks earlier? We'll get to Authentic in a bit.

There no doubt is going to be a mad rush to the entry box, as trainers and owners of the most accomplished 3-year-olds will want to take advantage of finally getting a chance to win a classic and be showcased on NBC. Who knows where their horse will be in September?

As for Authentic and Honor A.P, targeted to run in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), the timing is challenging as it applies to the Belmont. By Santa Anita running it June 6, it means that unless Bob Baffert or John Shirreffs is brazen enough to run back in two weeks, which I doubt they will, the Santa Anita Derby winner cannot win the Triple Crown, if you want to call it the Triple Crown. At the very least it will deprive them of winning a classic when they are in peak form.

It would have been nice if the Santa Anita Derby could have been rescheduled to three weeks before the Belmont. It would have been no different than any other year, running in the Arkansas Derby and coming back in three weeks to run in the Kentucky Derby. Except this time it would be coming back in three weeks from the Santa Anita Derby to the Belmont. And here you only have to come back and run at a mile and an eighth instead of a mile and a quarter. One wonders if Santa Anita could have conferred with NYRA, and improved that timing.

So in my mind the schedule may cost the Santa Anita Derby winner an opportunity to sweep the Triple Crown, even with a big fat asterisk next to it. If Authentic should win the race, would Baffert have skipped the Belmont Stakes with him anyway, even with the extra week? Possibly. But at least he and the colt's owners would have had the option of coming back in three weeks and trying for a classic victory while their colt was in top form. And based on what John Shirreffs said, it looks as if Honor A.P. would have come back.

Many might feel that Baffert would have kept his three undefeated colts separated, but, again, all three will be ready to peak June 20, and two of the three are somewhat questionable at a mile and quarter based on their pedigree. Here is a rare opportunity for two horses with a mile to mile and an eighth pedigree to win a classic race at a mile and an eighth. That likely will never happen again. And racing is about competition. Let's find out which of the Baffert trio is the best and can he beat Tiz the Law. But that won't happen now because of the scheduling of the Santa Anita Derby unless Baffert and the others decide to run back in two weeks, which nowadays makes people cringe in horror even though the Kentucky Derby runners usually dominate the Preakness and often run better races two weeks later.

RIP Forty Niner

In his 19 career starts, Forty Niner was involved in nine photos - four noses, one head, and four necks - winning five of them. The four photo defeats were to the older Alysheba in the Woodward Stakes (G1) in a track-record 1:59 2/5 for the 1 1/4 miles; to Winning Colors in the Kentucky Derby (G1), in which he moved too late and his big rally came up a neck short; to dual classic winner and 3-year-old champ Risen Star in the Lexington Stakes (G2); and Brian's Time in the Florida Derby (G1). So, three of his four defeats in photos were to champions.

He carried that grit and toughness from the racetrack to his life after the racetrack, living to the amazing age of 35. He was one of the special ones.

True Knight: Racing's Little Giant

2020-05-18T14:24:00Z

There are times when a horse deserves to have his accomplishments recognized even if no one has heard of him or even cares to read about him. So, although most people will pass right over this, I still feel compelled to write about True Knight and at least have his name in the archives.

True Knight was far from the swiftest horse, coming from the clouds in every race, and most definitely far from the most physically imposing. At a mere 950 pounds, he was always dwarfed by his opponents.

Yet in his career, racing for Darby Dan Farm, he competed against top-class opponents such as Forego, Secretariat, Riva Ridge, Key to the Mint, Tentam, Prove Out, Halo, and King's Bishop. And he either defeated or finished second to all of them, with the exception of Secretariat, who he finished 2 1/2 lengths behind in the Whitney (G2) (Secretariat was second, True Knight fourth). And True Knight accomplished this despite coming from 15 to 25 lengths off the pace every race, looking more like a yearling, with his diminutive frame and little strides, chasing a pack of older horses.

He won the Suburban Handicap (G1) carrying 127 pounds defeating Forego, coming from 23 lengths back. He won the Amory Haskell Handicap (G1) coming from 22 lengths back. He came from dead last to defeat Prove Out in the Trenton Handicap (G3) carrying top weight of 125 pounds. He won the Seminole Handicap (G2) coming from 23 lengths back, the John B. Campbell (G2) coming from 17 lengths back, the Chesapeake Stakes coming from 15 lengths back (defeating Prove Out again), the Jerome Handicap coming from 18 lengths back defeating Tentam, the Queens County Handicap (G3) giving 16 pounds to the Allen Jerkens-trained Triangular, and the Roamer Handicap coming from 10th while carrying top weight of 123 pounds.

Everyone remembers Riva Ridge setting a world record in the Brooklyn Handicap (G1), but no one remembers that he just barely held off the fast-closing True Knight, who was 11 lengths back at the quarter pole and just missed by a head, despite Angel Cordero losing his whip at the head of the stretch when he raised his arm and the whip slipped right out of his hand.

When Forego stormed on the scene in Florida in 1974, winning the Widener Handicap (G1), Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2), and Donn Handicap (G3), it was little True Knight, a full two hands shorter and close to 400 pounds lighter than the towering and massive Forego, who finished second in all three races, coming from 27 lengths back to be beaten one length, 20 lengths back to be beaten a half-length, and 18 lengths back to be beaten a nose, respectively. As mentioned earlier, True Knight finally got his revenge on Forego in the Suburban Handicap when he came home his final quarter in :23 flat to win going away by 1 1/2 lengths.

Joe Hirsch wrote in the Daily Racing Form, "They say that the good big horse will usually beat the good little horse, but True Knight didn't become the most successful Thoroughbred John Galbreath ever bred by being an easy victim."

To demonstrate the size difference between True Knight and Forego, just look at the photos below from the Gulfstream Park Handicap, and the difference between True Knight and the average-sized Prove Out in the Trenton Handicap. Hirsch wrote in the Daily Racing Form, "Forego gives the appearance of being twice the size of the hard-hitting little True Knight."

You don't need an ID to know who is on the inside and who is on the outside (photos by Jim Raftery Turfotos)

All you have to do is look at Angel Cordero's cap in relation to Heliodoro Gustines' butt.

Prove Out was an average sized horse, but looked like a giant next to True Knight

True Knight also rallied from 17 lengths back to finish second in the Suburban Handicap to Key to the Mint, who opened a six-length lead at the eighth pole and won by 1 3/4 lengths. In his other runner-up performances he rallied from 14 lengths back in the Wood Memorial, 14 lengths back in the Jim Dandy, and 16 lengths back in the Ohio Derby.

He came from 21 lengths back to finish third to Key to the Mint in the Travers Stakes, beaten 1 1/2 lengths. He came from 20 lengths back to finish third to Tentam in the Governor Stakes, and also finished fourth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Whitney, and Massachusetts Handicap.

What makes True Knight's story so remarkable is that after finishing 10th in his second, third, and fourth career starts, beaten a total of 39 lengths, all at six furlongs, a frustrated trainer Lou Rondinello did the unthinkable for a Darby Dan horse; he dropped him in a $20,000 maiden claiming race, again at six furlongs, in which he went off at odds of 35-1. The handicapper's comments in the Morning Telegraph read simply, "Does not figure."

Before the race, Rondinello overheard two men talking, saying what a bum this horse must be to be running for a claiming tag after four horrendous performances. After all, he was a Darby Dan homebred by their Kentucky Derby winner Chateaugay. An irate Rondinello snapped back, "Wait until you see what kind of bum he is."

True Knight rallied from eighth in the 13-horse field, was still three lengths back at the eighth pole, and blew by the leader to win by three lengths. "Yeah, that was some bum," Rondinello said before heading to the winner's circle.

After a series of allowance races, the little colt kept improving. Darby Dan wintered at Santa Anita and True Knight hated that hard track, losing all four of his starts. His only finish in the money was a second when heavy rains turned the track heavy. But when he returned to New York he won a seven-furlong allowance race in a sharp 1:22 before rallying from 13th, 14 lengths back at the quarter pole, to finish fourth in the Gotham Stakes, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, and then was second in the Wood Memorial. That was the beginning of the new True Knight.

The former $20,000 claimer went on to finish on the board in 26 stakes, despite always having to come from far back in every one of his starts, while competing against five champions and three future Hall of Famers.

Angel Cordero called True Knight, who competed in 23 consecutive stakes races, "The soundest horse I have ever ridden."

He never raced with blinkers or bandages. Rondinello added. "He was remarkable. "We aimed him for the toughest races in the country and he always gave a good account of himself. He never required any special handling and toted any weight assignment. No matter what the task, he could always be counted upon to do his best. He's such a game little horse. That's why I'm so fond of him."

Despite coming from so far back and thrilling fans with his powerful stretch runs, and often carrying top weights, True Knight managed to finish on the board at Belmont, Aqueduct, Saratoga, Santa Anita, Monmouth Park, Garden State Park, Hialeah, Gulfstream Park, Bowie, Thistledown, Suffolk Downs, and Liberty Bell.

Bill Nack writing for the Thoroughbred Record, described the scene at Aqueduct for the Suburban Handicap when True Knight finally defeated Forego:

"There he was again, cantering along as if hopelessly beaten. There he was moving along, with his quick short stride, his head stuck out, his forelegs chopping at the ground, his ears angled back in an attitude of concentration on the arduous business of simply keeping up. And there was jockey Angel Cordero, sitting tucked up on him, and wondering how he could make up all that ground and thinking he had no chance to pull it off.

"Across the racetrack there were the thousands in the crowd of 34,832 draped over the fences up and down the homestretch waiting for the move, the big move, that had become his emblem. And there was True Knight, the diminutive, but gritty little bay colt running perfectly to form. By now, it had all become so familiar."

As for his come from the clouds running style, Cordero said, "True Knight has a mind of his own, and the trick is to leave him alone when he falls out of it early. We just get along good. I just let him do what he thinks is best.

"In the Suburban I didn't think we had any shot at any part of the race early. He was in a slow gallop. He has the shortest stride of any horse I ever rode. But he has got a harder punch, too."

One of the reasons True Knight's feats have gone unnoticed was, in 1974 when he was winning the Suburban, Haskell, Trenton Handicap, and John B. Campbell and finishing a close second three times to Forego, he was overshadowed in his own barn by Darby Dan's runaway Preakness (G1) and Belmont (G1) stakes winner Little Current. Even Rondinello commented, "Everybody's been calling and asking about Little Current and I'm afraid True Knight has become the forgotten horse in the barn. Ever since Little Current won the Preakness and Belmont, he's been getting all the attention and everybody walks right past True Knight's stall. I'm sure he feels neglected."

In some of the descriptions of True Knight's victories, Tom Atwell wrote in the Daily Racing Form he "virtually exploded outside horses" to win the Amory Haskell; Bill Phillips wrote in DRF he "devastated his opponents" in the Chesapeake Handicap. Bill Nack wrote he, "closed furiously," to win the Suburban. After the Suburban, Heliodoro Gustines on Forego said, "The horse who won it is a hell of a horse. You can't take anything away from that little horse. He's tough."

The only things True Knight didn't like were hard tracks and hot weather, so Rondinelllo tried to avoid both, but sometimes it couldn't be avoided. When he got his track and a bit cooler weather he was something to behold, trailing his field from so far back he seemingly had no shot to even finish in the money. But when he was ready to go, he always thrilled the crowd with his spectacular stretch runs. And he did manage to break a track record at Bowie, and came within a head and a dropped whip of setting a world record.

True Knight also had the distinction of defeating four Met Mile winners, a Preakness winner, two Travers winners, three Woodward winners, two United Nations winners, two Monmouth Invitational winners, two Gulfstream Park Handicap winners, and the winners of the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Flamingo, Jersey Derby. Ohio Derby, Haskell Handicap, and Charles H. Strub Stakes, as well as two horses who defeated Secretariat.

So that is the story of True Knight, a star who somehow has gotten lost in the history books, but was very much a part of racing's golden era. Sure, we remember champions like Forego, Secretariat, Riva Ridge, and Key to the Mint, but no chronicle of those memorable years of the early 1970s would be complete without recognizing the gritty little True Knight and the sight of him making those explosive moves that became his trademark. So, this column is for one of my favorite horses and all the thrills he provided race after race. Yes, he was little, but he was every inch a giant.

Behind the Scenes With American Pharoah

2020-05-15T13:28:00Z

With NBC continuing its trip down memory lane by showing American Pharoah's 2015 Preakness Stakes (G1) May 16, I thought we'd also take a trip down memory lane by going behind the scenes of all three Triple Crown races and showcasing some of the more memorable moments.

American Pharoah's journey to possible superstardom began in earnest one morning at the McKathan Brothers Farm in Florida, where he was given his early training. The McKathans - J.B. and Kevin - were putting on a breeze show for the Zayats, showcasing their 2-year-olds. In attendance were representatives from WinStar Farm and several trainers, including Dale Romans and Tony Dutrow.

"We knew American Pharoah was special as soon as we let him do something on the track," said Chris Alexander, who has been with the McKathans for eight years and deals directly with the Zayats. "At the breeze show, everybody was there, and J.B. asked me, ‘When are you bringing up Pharoah?' I said I needed to breeze a couple of sets first, because he needs to be last and be on the racetrack by himself."

Alexander and the McKathans were well aware of the show American Pharoah was about to put on. "Everyone was standing there talking and he came galloping by the viewing stand and we told them this was the best one Mr. Zayat's got," Alexander said. "Then when he broke off at the pole everyone went quiet."

American Pharoah came flying down the stretch with those smooth, magnificent strides and everyone at once knew they were looking at something out of the ordinary. As he passed the wire, all you could hear was Ahmed Zayat utter an expletive phrase beginning with the word "Holy." As the colt was pulling up, J.B. wasted no time in telling Zayat, "Figure out who you're gonna send him to and get him out of here."

"J.B. turned to me and said, "Chris, get this sucker off the farm right now," Alexander said. "He's too much horse for us to have here. Tammy Fox (Dale Romans' wife) was watching the breeze at the other end of the viewing stand and leaned over and said, ‘Dale, I want that one.' But everyone wanted him. You could gallop him with two fingers, but once you took the rings off and he knew he was working, then he'd be tough. But he'd walk back to the barn and cool out in 10 minutes. Thirty minutes later you'd go to his stall and he was laid out fast asleep. This was after just going out there and working like you couldn't even imagine a horse could work."

Kevin McKathan added, "I've had my hands on a lot of talented horses (including many of Baffert's top horses), but I've never had my hands on a horse this special and this fast."

Although Baffert did not attend the breeze show, he was sent a video of the colt working and immediately contacted Ahmed Zayat and said, "Just remember, the Breeders' Cup is at Santa Anita this year." Before he knew it, American Pharoah was in his barn and life was about to change for the Baffert and Zayat families.

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Most of the Preakness horses were saddled in the indoor paddock, and as they headed out to the track, the rain began, getting harder and harder. The track had been sealed before the race, and when they harrowed it just before post time, one would have thought the rain was going to hold off. But before long, sheets of heavy rain pelted the track.

Baffert, his wife Jill, and son Bode took their usual place in front of a TV screen near the entrance to the paddock. The wind began to pick up, with an occasional gust blowing the rain into the paddock. Soon it was a deluge outside.

Jill began getting nervous, especially with the thunder and lightning and with American Pharoah breaking from the inside post and the TV revealing deep standing water right along the rail.

"It's a river on the rail; that's not right," she said. "If he can overcome this and still win, he really is something special."

Baffert added, "That wind is really sharp. This changes the whole picture. But it's too late now, we can't change it." Baffert even starting thinking about the ear plugs he puts in American Pharoah's ears getting waterlogged.

Although Baffert and Jill were concerned with the turn of events, it was up to 10-year-old Bode to instill the confidence everyone had just a few minutes earlier. Bode's concern with the heavy rain was much more simple. "How are we going to get to the winner's circle?" he asked. Jill stayed as far away from that question as possible, not wanting to go there.

Conditions got so bad and so dangerous the fans in the infield had to be evacuated. The scene that just a few minutes earlier was filled with electricity and anticipation had now turned to mayhem. People caught outside resorted to holding folding chairs over their head.

As the field loaded in the gate, Jill, visibly upset, cradled her hands against her face, as if dreading the possibilities that could ensue.

American Pharoah broke well and Baffert was happy to see him and Dortmund running so well. Around the far turn, Divining Rod came charging up along the inside and began closing the gap on American Pharoah, with Dortmund trying to make a run on the outside and taking over second briefly. But he could never sustain the run and dropped out of contention. But Divining Rod was still running strongly and closing in.

"Come on, boy," Baffert urged American Pharoah. "Who is that, the seven?" he asked, referring to Divining Rod. "The seven is right there, too. Uh, oh, come on Pharoah. Come on Pharoah."

As if on cue, American Pharoah, as is his custom, threw his ears up as if letting his followers know he had everything well under control. Espinoza, unlike the Derby, never had to go to the whip, merely waving it a couple of times, as American Pharoah bounded away to a four-length lead at the eighth pole, with Baffert now breaking out in a big smile, knowing Pharoah had it wrapped up. He continued to pour it on, winning as he pleased by seven lengths, while running straight as the proverbial arrow the entire length of the stretch.

"What a horse," an elated and noticeably choked up Baffert said as soon as American Pharoah crossed the finish line. Jill was in tears. Baffert turned to his son and asked, "Bode, you mind getting wet?" At that point, rain or no rain, none of them had any trouble getting to the winner's circle.

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So, let the comparisons with Seattle Slew continue. It is still too early from a historical standpoint to actually make that comparison, but there is one person who has the credentials to do so -- Paula Turner, former wife of Slew's trainer Billy Turner. Paula rode Slew and gave him his early training on the farm and then came to New York with him to introduce "Huey" (Slew's nickname) to the track, giving him his first race gallop.

"I came back from that gallop and told Billy, "He's the one. This is the one you've been waiting for," Paula said. "American Pharoah is the only horse who's reminded me of Huey's authoratative command of a race; just daring anyone to come near. His 'try and run with me if you can' show took me right back to Huey. Watching the (Preakness), I commented, 'Now, that's authority; so reminiscent of Slew. American Pharoah looked like he wanted to run off after the finish, which Slew also did when horses tried passing him afterward."

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Belmont day began with an unwelcomed surprise, as a steady, and at times heavy, rain fell on Belmont Park. The inside portion of the track was sealed early, with cones being placed about five paths out from the rail. When trainer Kiaran McLaughlin received a report on the track condition, he opted to send Frosted to the training track for his race day training.

Behind Barn 8 were four large RV vehicles, providing a compound-like atmosphere for American Pharoah's owner Ahmed Zayat and his family. Confident all week, Zayat admitted he was concerned for the first time because of the weather and the track condition.

At around 10 a.m., Zayat, who is deeply religious and cannot drive on Saturday because of the Jewish Sabbath, stood at the front end of the RV reciting the Sabbath prayer. In his own way he no doubt was also praying for a safe and clean trip for all the horses.

Soon it was time for family and friends to visit and indulge in helpings of whitefish, lox, bagels, cream cheese, and assorted danish and pastries.

What Zayat feared was a drying out track, which, unlike slop, could make for a testing and demanding surface.

"At this juncture, I'm freaking out," he said. "I'm very anxious, but it's something I can't control."

What Zayat didn't realize, or wouldn't let himself realize, was that the racing gods had already reserved a place for American Pharoah in the history books, and that they would soon bring a pleasant breeze and bright sunshine to help dry out the track. Everything was now in place for a historic afternoon.

Zayat felt somewhat relieved when he was told that Espinoza would be riding the Baffert-trained Sky Kingdom in the mile and a half Brooklyn Invitational to get a feel for the distance and see how the track was playing.

"I didn't know that," Zayat said. "I love it. Now I'm feeling a little better."

Zayat on this morning was once again confronted with an unflattering story in the New York Times (this time on the front page) titled, "Ahmed Zayat's Journey: Bankruptcy and Big Bets," as well as a TMZ-like front page story in the New York Post on Victor Espinoza's personal affairs. Well-timed media ambushes such as these had become commonplace for Zayat since the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

But on this day Zayat had more important things on his mind and he was trying to think only positive thoughts. He had recently found out a lawsuit against him that had triggered so much unfavorable publicity had been dismissed by a federal judge, and he had just donated $100,000 to the Belmont Child Care Association. So the negative energy that had invaded the euphoria of this once-in-a-lifetime journey had dissipated and he and his family could now focus on the fairy tale ending about to unfold.

"We're on the doorstep of making history," Zayat said, as he finally was able to grab a little whitefish salad. "With us being in this game since only 2006, it is amazing for my family to be having this humbling experience."

Like the previous 11 Triple Crown winners, it is ultimately all about the horse.

"Thank God this horse has not had a single hiccup," he said. "We couldn't afford to have even one. And what's scary is, this horse is getting better. He is more intelligent, and he loves what he does. He's the definition of a Thoroughbred. It's how majestically they move."

As if on cue, there was American Pharoah shown galloping on TVG. "Look at him, we're talking about him right now," Zayat said. "Look at his ears, pricked and happy. His coat, his sheer energy...it sounds like I'm making love to somebody. If he wins the Triple Crown, in 10 years everybody will remember American Pharoah; they won't care about the owner."

Affirmed's owner Louis Wolfson had spent nine months in a federal prison for conspiracy and illegal stock sales, and his daughter Marsha reached out to Zayat's wife, Joanne.

"She called me and said, ‘Listen, people tortured my father all through the entire Triple Crown campaign,'" Joanne said. ‘They wrote horrible things about him. I just want you to make sure you enjoy the moment. Don't let the bad guys get involved and ruin it for you.'"

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This time, there was nothing that could stop the irresistible force known as American Pharoah and his date with destiny.

We salute all those who tried and failed since 1978. But, finally, we hail a conquering hero, who has broken through those hallowed gates and ascended into immortality.

Nearly four decades of pent up disappointment and frustration came spilling out onto the Belmont Park track June 6, where American Pharoah and jockey Victor Espinoza took a well deserved victory lap after winning the Belmont Stakes Presented by DraftKings (G1) by 5 1/2 glorious lengths. They were greeted by a wave of cheers that rose to a deafening crescendo, as people in the packed grandstand hugged, kissed, and cried.

Joyce Patci, who does volunteer work at Old Friends retirement facility, was in the grandstand and described the scene best: "When American Pharoah crossed the wire, flowers came cascading down from the upper balcony. It was like we were in a movie...or dream. I was shaking, the stands were shaking. I hugged two ladies behind us and literally beat up a poor man to my right; a perfect stranger."

The waiting was over, as new generations of racing fans and even those with only a casual interest in the sport finally were able to experience the emotions that come with witnessing a Triple Crown winner.

In the clubhouse, Penny Chenery, owner of Secretariat, and Patrice Wolfson, owner of the last Triple Crown winner Affirmed, sat in adjoining boxes and welcomed a new member to racing's most exclusive fraternity, even though both seemed protective of their own horses, while cognizant of the fact that another had infiltrated that sacred triumvirate of the ‘1970s after so many years.

Both used the exact same short-but-sweet words to describe their feelings: "I'm happy for racing."

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At the barn, American Pharoah never left the front of all stall, as Baffert and his family, Espinoza, and dozens of visitors took turns posing for pictures and petting him, while photographing him with the Triple Crown trophy. When Jill walked up to his stall, she hugged him tightly and leaned her head against his neck, remaining in that position for about 30 seconds. No words were needed.

Through it all, the horse never once seemed bothered, and accepted all the petting and hugging and attention as if actually enjoying it. He remained virtually motionless as Baffert, Jill, and all of Baffert's children posed with him for a family portrait. Earlier, in the winner's circle photo, he never turned a hair despite being engulfed by a mass of humanity that could have proved dangerous with another horse.

This brought to an end one of the most magical and exhilarating days of racing ever and certainly one of the most emotional.

After the race, TV analyst and longtime jockey Richard Migliore, said, "How come I feel like I want to cry?"

The answer is simple according to Edgar Allen Poe, who wrote, "Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears."

And the beauty that was witnessed at Belmont Park as American Pharoah glided down the stretch in isolated splendor will stir the emotions of every "sensitive soul" who can now say they saw a Triple Crown winner.

Chrome: A Horse to Soothe the Soul

2020-05-11T18:13:00Z

In continuing with my Triple Crown memories, I am reprinting one of my favorite columns written after California Chrome's Kentucky Derby, as I feel it sums up the Cinderella story behind the horse as well as the dreams of all those who own horses.

The 2014 Kentucky Derby was about dreams and fate, an improbable hero from humble parentage, memories of Derbys long ago, and a favorite owned and trained by underdogs. In short, it was about life and its quirky twists and turns that lead us to places envisioned only in dreams and guided only by fate.

Thoroughbred racing was once dubbed The Sport of Kings. Well, there are no more kings and we are trying desperately to convince the world we are still a sport. There are only mere fragments left of past dynasties, as we witnessed in last year's Derby. For the most part, the nobility that was once racing has morphed into a sport dominated by "dumb ass partners." Working stiffs Steve Coburn and Perry Martin are the first to admit it by branding themselves as such.

The California breeding industry has for years been considered by the elitists as the other side of the tracks, where obscurely bred horses grow up, race, and die in relative anonymity. A colt by a $2,500 stallion, out of an $8,000 claiming mare, owned by a couple of burly guys from Topaz Lake, Nevada, and Yuba City, Calif., who actually get up at the crack of dawn and go to work, fits right into the landscape that is California breeding.

So, what happens when these two good ‘ol boys with their humble 3-year-old are offered $6 million for majority interest in their colt? They say "No?" Are you kidding? Then they are offered close to double that several weeks later and this time they say, "Hell, no?"

That escalates the pursuit of a dream to a new "dumb ass" level.

But there are those rare occasions in life when money becomes secondary, as insane as it may seem to others and even to ourselves as we make decisions that defy all rationality. We who love this sport and the beautiful creatures that inhabit it realize that horses are embedded in our soul from childhood, whether through equine heroes such as The Black Stallion, Black Beauty, Misty of Chincoteague, and even TV stars Trigger, Silver, and Mister Ed.

We as kids hop aboard our rocking horse and continue to build up speed until we feel as if we are airborne. We no longer are sitting atop a piece of wood, but atop Secretariat or Seattle Slew. Imagine at that point if someone approached you and asked what you would pay to have that rocking horse come alive and be transformed into Big Red or Slew. And you owned him.

Coburn and Martin started off with a cheap rocking horse and saw it come to life, just as Coburn had envisioned in his dream, describing the unborn foal to his wife right down to his color, white blaze, and four white ankles. When they went to see the newborn foal, Coburn's wife walked over to the stall, took a look inside, and told her husband to come take a look. "There's your dream," she said.

It hadn't been an easy birth for his dam Love the Chase. The mare had lacerated the wall of her uterus and could not be re-bred that year. She was bright and active and outwardly unaffected by the ordeal, but she and her foal had to remain confined to the stall for an extended period of time while the mare was treated and recovering. As a result, the foal wasn't able to be out with the others to socialize and run around, so he became more focused on people than he was on horses and developed an amiable personality. He never lost that and was always a pleasure to be around and work with.

Martin and Coburn's golden steed, who they named California Chrome, began to get faster and faster, and Coburn and Martin found themselves back on that rocking horse, feeling that speed and that rush of adrenaline. It built to such a frantic pace they could no longer see dollar signs, only the Twin Spires beckoning in the distance, and even that elusive Triple Crown trophy that has become tarnished by years of sitting in storage. Coburn felt California Chrome was invincible, truly believing his deceased sister was the colt's guardian angel, guiding him every step of his journey.

With each race, their rocking horse kept building up speed. Even those who have never had a rocking horse surely have ridden a flashy, blazed face horse on a carousel, its eyes with that wild look to them and mouth wide open. With all the horses to choose from, when you hopped aboard yours, didn't you feel as if it were your horse, chosen just for you?

Coburn must have felt that at some point in his childhood, and he was able to relate to it now, as he talked about how special it was to see that brass ring on the merry-go-round turn to gold and Art Sherman reaching out and grabbing it.

He concluded by saying with the utmost gratitude, "God bless you, Art, for doing what you've done with this horse."

Sometimes, even dreams need a little outside help, and Sherman was living his own dream, returning to Churchill Downs nearly 60 years after accompanying the great Swaps by train to capture the roses. Whether feeling that rush as an 18-year-old exercise rider or as the oldest trainer at age 77 to win the Derby, you never lose that child in you when it comes to horses. You always reach out for that brass ring, because at the other end could be a Swaps or a California Chrome. And that is why Sherman, after arriving in Kentucky, went to visit the grave of his beloved Swaps located behind the Kentucky Derby Museum and said a little prayer. What he prayed for was that California Chrome could become another Swaps. A few days later on the first Saturday in May, Sherman found his Swaps.

And what is more important than sharing dreams with those you love. Perry Martin stood by the rail following the Kentucky Derby waiting for his 83-year-old mother, Catherine, and then helped her into a wheel chair. He walked behind her as she was wheeled across the track to the winner's circle, trying hard to fight back the tears that were welling up. His brother had driven her to Kentucky from Michigan. He tried to speak but nothing would come out. All he could do was shake his head and say with a quavering voice, "I have to go after my mom."

Many frowned upon California Chrome's humble lineage. But Coburn, especially, could see that it was not about names and race records. The blood of the Thoroughbred is infused with speed and stamina and courage, and a wild spirit not seen in any other breed. That blood goes back a number of generations, and on rare occasions, as is the case with California Chrome, it all flows into one special place, like tributaries into a mighty river. A closer look actually shows the blood of classic champions in America and Europe coursing through his veins.

A lot has been made of California Chrome's slow time and closing fractions. Time is perhaps the most relative aspect of racing, because it is based on so many variables, such as the headwind in this year's Derby. Time also has a way of fading into some deep corridor of our mind as a horse goes on to further accomplishments. Alysheba and his crop were considered slow and inferior after a 2:03 2/5 clocking in the Derby (only a fifth faster than California Chrome) and a final half in :51 2/5 (same as California Chrome). That is now considered one of the great 3-year-old crops of all time and you can learn more about Alysheba on his plaque in the Hall of Fame. Also up on that wall is Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, who came home his last half in the Derby in :51 3/5. Spectacular Bid, who holds the world record for 1 1/4 miles, ran his Derby in 2:02 4/5, with a final half in :50. Canonero II ran his Derby in 2:03 1/5 and everyone was convinced he was nothing more than a slow plodder. Two weeks later he ran the fastest Preakness in history.

The time of one race is not a true indicator of a horse's ability. A horse is often measured by what is inside him. We have the ability to scan a horse's heart to get an idea how it might assist performance in a physiological way and we can attempt to discover qualities about a horse such as lung capacity. But when dealing with an animal that has taken on mythical qualities over the centuries and has bonded with humans in an almost spiritual manner, one can easily resist scientific explanation and just believe that once in great while a horse like California Chrome can come along from seemingly humble beginnings to become the ragamuffin who would be king.

No one has placed any crowns on California Chrome's head just yet, and it is still too early to know whether he will be sitting atop the throne. But for now, he has entered a place where few before him have ventured-into our imagination. The storybook is already being written. No one knows what the upcoming chapters will bring, but even now it has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Romantics and poets have a way of creating their own endings and making people feel and envision the beauty they are trying to portray with their words.

And is there any poetry more soothing to the soul than the image of a Thoroughbred in action, whether it be made of flesh and bone or a piece of wood? Coburn and Martin may look like two hulking cowboys who rolled the dice on a dream, but in reality they are just like us, or at least who we used to be-kids on a rocking horse going faster and faster and enjoying the ride of their lives.

Travels With Charm

2020-05-09T22:15:00Z

Looking back at my Triple Crown memories, one of the special ones was in 1997 when  I flew to Louisville from New York about a week before the Belmont Stakes (G1) after making arrangements to fly back to New York with Silver Charm on his quest to become the first Triple Crown winner in 19 years.

The plan was to fly there to watch Silver Charm’s final work at Churchill Downs, where he was stabled and then join him on his flight, in which he would be the only equine passenger, at great cost to owners Bob and Beverly Lewis.

Arriving in Louisville I couldn’t help but think back to Kentucky Derby (G1) morning when I met trainer Bob Baffert for breakfast, along with his brother Bill and bloodstock agents J.B. and Kevin McKathan, who found Silver Charm at an Ocala 2-year-old sale. Even after a year, Baffert was still hurting from the nose defeat by Cavonnier in the previous year’s Derby. At the time, he thought he would never get that chance again and couldn’t believe he was back a year later, and with one of the favorites.

At 7 a.m., a bleary-eyed Baffert sauntered into the coffee shop of the Executive Inn West Hotel, where he was staying, for a quick eye-opener before heading to the track to check on Silver Charm.

“I need some coffee, please, before I kill you,” Baffert said jokingly to the waitress. He flipped through the Courier-Journal and discussed a variety of subjects while avoiding Derby talk. When it was time to head off, Baffert left the hotel mouthing the music from “Rocky” and throwing a flurry of punches into the air.

Now here we were four weeks later and Silver Charm and Baffert were household names on the verge of immortality.

Silver Charm was scheduled to have his final work before departing the following morning. The day before, Baffert took it upon himself to invite the public to come out and watch the work, much to the dismay of Churchill Downs. Like everything with Baffert, it was said half in jest, but little did he realize the floodgates he was opening. Local television and radio stations announced the invitation, and at 7:30 a.m. the Tuesday before the Belmont Stakes, a steady stream of cars began filing into Churchill Downs.

“Look at that,” Baffert said from the trainer’s stand. “Is that awesome or what?” Taking a line from the movie “Field of Dreams,” Baffert added, “If you work the Charm they will come.”

And boy did they come. By 7:45, about a hundred people had gathered outside Barn 33, many with still and video cameras, waiting for Silver Charm to emerge. Out on the frontside, the apron was packed 15 to 20 deep from the finish line to the bleachers on the clubhouse turn. The matrix board in the infield was lit up with the words, “Good Luck in the Belmont Silver Charm.”

But now, reality hit, and Baffert acknowledged that this was “the most important work of my life.” Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to have all these people out there. Churchill Downs had given Baffert permission to work Silver Charm before the others came out to the track, but Baffert refused, saying the colt likes to have other horses on the track to get his competitive juices flowing.

When Baffert saw the crowd and heard them cheer wildly as Silver Charm jogged by the wrong way, he said, “This is going to be a disaster. There’s going to be some horse that gets loose. This might not have been such a good idea.”

As Silver Charm turned around at the eighth pole and headed back down the stretch, Baffert told jockey Joe Steiner on the two-way radio, “Don’t let him duck out when he sees that crowd.”

Seconds later, a horse named Firecreek bolted halfway across the track, with exercise rider Filamon Garcia pulling back so hard he was almost on the horse’s rump. Steiner steered Silver Charm out of harm’s way, but the incident was enough to bring a chorus of gasps from the crowd.

“Sonofabitch,” Baffert said. “They got to tell the crowd to knock that off.”

Silver Charm finally began his work, rattling off the eighths in :12 1/5.

“Beautiful, just like that,” Baffert told Steiner. “OK, let him pick it up; you can tap him on the shoulder the last eighth.” After Silver Charm hit the wire, “Baffert said to Steiner, “1:00 4/5, beautiful…don’t fall off.”

“That was a good deal,” Baffert said. “He’s ready.”

Baffert admitted afterward that he was to blame for inviting everyone out. He immediately called Bob Lewis, who was preparing to fly 110 people to New York.

“Big Bob, he did great – a minute and four,” Baffert told him. “He’s right on schedule. You should have seen the crowd out here today; it was unbelievable. They had over 2,000 people screaming and yelling down there. The crowd scared some other horse, and he jumped out in front of us. It could have been disastrous, but we dodged a bullet. He’s off the track and everything is great. Go ahead and fuel up the plane.”

The following morning, it was time to leave. After 10 days of being treated like a king by an adoring community ,who flocked to him for autographs and photos wherever he went, Baffert now found himself face to face with reality as he approached the Boeing 727 that would take him and Silver Charm to their final battle in their quest for racing’s Triple Crown.

Earlier that morning, as Baffert drove through the gates of the Churchill Downs stable area for the last time, he said, “I wish I could look into the future through a crystal ball. I’d like it to be two weeks from now, and I want to drive by Esposito’s (tavern across the street from the Belmont stable gate) and see what colors they’ve got hanging up there.”

Just before 6 a.m., Baffert, accompanied by client and longtime friend Mike Pegram, arrived at Barn 33, where he had nine horses stabled with trainer April Mayberry. After unloading his luggage from the trunk of his Lincoln Town Car, Baffert said, “I feel like I’m going to camp.”

It was tough saying goodbye to the people of Louisville, who embraced him like a native son and their hero.

“I feel like he’s a Kentucky horse, and the weight of Kentucky is on my shoulders, especially after the turnout we got for the work and all the people who showed up at the Derby museum to see the new slide show and get autographs,” the trainer said. “That’s why I feel like I’m carrying the torch for Kentucky. I’m looking forward to getting up to New York and getting this thing done and coming back to Kentucky, hopefully wearing the Triple Crown on my head.”

After arriving at the airport, Baffert said one final goodbye to April Mayberry, who had been taking care of his horses while he was in California.

“Well, April, this is the end of the road,” he said.

Once on the Tex Sutton-chartered plane, it became apparent who the real star of the Triple Crown was. There, in the middle of dozens of red empty stalls was the familiar gray and white face of Silver Charm digging into his hay rack.

Mel Prince, who had worked for Tex Sutton for 34 years said it was extremely rare to fly one horse by itself.

“Chartering an entire plane is very expensive,” Prince said. “I think the last time they did it that I can remember was when we flew Genuine Risk from New York to the Kentucky Derby in 1980.”

From the time Silver Charm boarded the plane to the time he arrived in New York, he did not stop munching hay. By the end of the trip, he had dug a hole in the rack and was still pulling out hay with great vigor. All the while, groom Rudy Silva sat on a chair next to him, holding the shank and carefully watching the colt, making sure he was happy and comfortable.

“Look at Rudy,” Baffert said. “He hasn’t left that horse’s side for two months.”

Although it looked as if Silver Charm’s head was precariously close to the ceiling before takeoff, Prince said that once the plane takes off, the pressurization becomes a natural tranquilizer to a horse and makes them lower their head.

Because of his allergies, Baffert spent most of the flight up front, sitting on a cooler, reading a newspaper, and talking with Pegram or Prince. Baffert had to pop an allergy pill before the flight, and whenever he became exposed to the timothy hay, he went into a sneezing fit.

One thing Baffert said he wasn’t feeling was nervous.

“I’m just playing the waiting game,” he said. “The horse worked well and everything is going good. The thing about him is that he’s such a push-button horse. You ask him to go and he picks it up. He doesn’t waste any energy at the barn and doesn’t get hot.”

One other person who had been around Silver Charm every day was hotwalker Eddie Thomas, who ironically worked around the last Triple Crown winner Affirmed when he was a teenager.

“It’s scary how this horse has gotten stronger and kept his flesh,” Thomas said. “Before the Derby, he wasn’t even eating up that much, but after we got to Pimlico he was tearing up his feed tub. It was like he needed the Derby. Usually, they back up, but he drank three buckets of water coming out of the Derby and only a half or three-quarters coming out of the Preakness.”

As the plane made its descent, all Baffert wanted to do was “bed the horse down, go to the hotel, turn off the phone and go to bed.”

The plane touched down at JFK at 8:50 a.m. after the hour and 45-minute flight. Silver Charm was led onto the van, and with a police escort, headed through the streets of Queens to Belmont Park.

Unlike the plane ride, Silver Charm got a bit wound up, pawing a path through the straw on the floor. Silva kept stroking the colt on the neck while exercise rider Larry Damore offered a few reassuring words.

“This is the only time he gets upset,” Damore said. “Around the barn and when we gallop him he likes to look at things. The more action the better. But there’s something about the van ride.”

The van continued to meander through the streets with people staring quizzically at the sight of a horse van with a police escort.

Silver Charm arrived at Barn 9 just before 9:45 to perhaps the largest throng of reporters, photographers, and cameramen ever gathered to greet the arrival of a horse.

For Baffert, who was now engulfed by the media, Kentucky was a memory. There was a Triple Crown to be won. Little could he have known it would take him another 18 years to achieve that feat, as Silver Charm was narrowly beaten by Touch Gold in the Belmont. Silver Charm had put his arch rival Free House away in mid-stretch and never saw Touch Gold on the far outside.

Now almost pure white in color, Silver Charm, at age 26, is back in Kentucky at Old Friends, still attracting a multitude of visitors daily and still every bit the star he was during the Triple Crown.

Blame: Time to Forgive But Not Forget

2020-05-07T17:53:00Z

I would like to prepare all Zenyatta fans for the possibility that a son of Blame could win the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) this year. Not only that, he (Nadal) could defeat a horse trained by John Shirreffs (Honor A.P.).

My request to all impassioned Zenyatta fans is this: Go to YouTube and watch the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) in its entirety. I know you have sworn never to watch that race again, that it makes you ill and causes severe depression. But after 10 years it is time to be strong and test your willpower. Fight your urge to erase that race from the annals of history and from the deepest recesses of your mind. I admit it is tough to see this great mare run arguably the best race of her life and get beat in a heartbreaking photo. But after an entire decade it is time to give Blame his due.

I will tell you why. It was not Blame that beat Zenyatta under darkening skies on that fateful November night. Remember the closing line from King Kong: “It was beauty killed the beast.” Well, just think of the 2010 Classic this way: “It was history defeated Zenyatta.” Blame was merely the instrument, just as those funny-looking little planes were when they caused poor Kong to fall to his death.

Once again, I bring this up because it is a son of Blame that has scaled the latest NTRA 3-year-old poll and displaced Tiz the Law as the No. 1 sophomore in the country. Sorry, Zenyatta fans, but you are going to have to live with the thought of a son of Blame winning this year’s Run for the Roses. It could happen, so I just want you to be prepared for the opening of old wounds when Nadal parades into the Churchill Downs winner’s circle. And God forbid if he should defeat Honor A.P., trained by John Shirreffs.

So, as a public service I am going to relive Blame’s thrilling victory and Zenyatta’s heartbreaking defeat and show what forces stood between victory and an undefeated career for America’s Amazonian sweetheart. I know it is tough, but try to read on with an open mind.

In arguably Zenyatta’s greatest performance, the great mare’s gallant quest for a 20-for-20 record fell a head short, as she was defeated not only by a magnificent horse in Blame but in many ways by the ghosts of Arthur B. Hancock and his son Arthur B. “Bull” Hancock Jr. on the 100th anniversary of their once-dominant breeding empire, Claiborne Farm, which for many years epitomized the rich and colorful tradition of Kentucky’s Bluegrass.

It was Claiborne Farm that imported two European horses named Nasrullah and Princequillo, who would change the face of American breeding and serve as the foundation for many of its future stars. They also imported Sir Gallahad from France, who went on to sire three Kentucky Derby winners, including Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox, and lead all broodmare sires a record 12 times.

It was Claiborne Farm who stood the great stallion Bold Ruler, who was the leading sire in the country eight times between 1963 and 1973 and who sired the legendary Secretariat and was the great-grandsire of the undefeated Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.

Of course it was Claiborne Farm who stood Secretariat, and it was at Claiborne Farm that Ruffian was born and raised. The other names associated with Claiborne Farm over the years read like a Who’s Who of great racehorses and sires.

Claiborne has continued to represent the history of racing and breeding in the United States through the generations from A.B. Hancock to his son A.B. Jr., to his son Seth to his son Walker.

That is why on the farm’s 100th anniversary, Claiborne president Seth Hancock stood on the racetrack motionless and speechless following the victory of the farm’s homebred Blame over Zenyatta, oblivious to the almost-eerie hush that had engulfed Churchill Downs and the ensuing rousing ovation for Zenyatta upon her return.

Hancock could only come up with one word to express his emotions: “Indescribable. Indescribable.” Even then, the quaver in his voice made that one word difficult to get out, as he stared off in the distance, as if transfixed by the storied chapter he and his racing partner Adele Dilschneider, trainer Al Stall Jr., and, of course, Blame had just added to the Claiborne legacy.

“Just like the Derby gods, it’s almost like it was meant to be,” said Hancock, a man of few words.

As for Zenyatta, Henry Ward Beecher wrote, “It is defeat that turns bone to flint; it is defeat that turns gristle to muscle; it is defeat that makes men invincible.”

And apparently women. For Zenyatta, her defeat in the Breeders’ Cup Classic will be remembered as an affirmation of her greatness, a performance not dimmed in the slightest. As mentioned earlier, this was in one person’s opinion her finest, most courageous performance. In victory after victory she captured the heart. In her lone defeat she captured the soul.

Although she will not retire undefeated, Zenyatta proved in the end that perfection is not always measured in numbers.

But this is about Blame and the forces that guided him to a gutsy victory over a female battering ram idolized throughout the country

The script for the 2010 Classic had begun back on Aug. 7 when Blame ran down his biggest competitor in the older horse division, Quality Road, to win the Whitney Handicap (gr. I) at Saratoga the same day Zenyatta captured her third straight Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (gr. I) at Del Mar. It was apparent then that both horses were on a collision course to determine Horse of the Year in the Classic.

For 10 days leading up to the Breeders’ Cup, Zenyatta’s arrival in Louisville was a major topic of conversation. But until then, the big horse at Churchill Downs was Blame, who was on the track at 6 a.m. every morning like clockwork. If ever there was a horse with a home court advantage it was the son of Arch, out of Liable, by Seeking the Gold, who had won three of his four starts at Churchill, including the Stephen Foster (gr. I) and Clark (gr. II) handicaps.

If the racing gods that Hancock alluded to had an agenda other than a Zenyatta victory, it would be to celebrate the anniversary of Claiborne at Kentucky’s most historic equine site in the year of the movie “Secretariat,” who stood at stud at Claiborne until his premature death in 1989. And there was no more appropriate horse to serve as the catalyst for that celebration than Blame, who had five generations of Claiborne blood coursing through his veins.

In an era when some stallions are bred up to 200 to 300 times a year, some shuttling back and forth between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, Seth Hancock refused to bend that far, feeling it would compromise the integrity of Claiborne Farm, which has been operating the old-fashioned way under three generations of the Hancock family. As a result, the farm that once housed the greatest stallions in the world no longer was the force it was, with the big-name stallion prospects going elsewhere.

But Hancock knew Blame could be the future stallion to help Claiborne return to prominence, enticing breeders who prefer quality over quantity and the long-term welfare of the horse.

When Zenyatta arrived at Churchill Downs four days before the Breeders’ Cup, Blame had already been stabled there for more than a week, having moved over from his home base at nearby Keeneland.

On Nov. 1, the day before Zenyatta was scheduled to arrive from California, Blame had his final work for the Classic, breezing a half-mile with jockey Garrett Gomez aboard.

Attending the 6 a.m. work was Adele Dilschneider, who has played such a major role in keeping quality blood at Claiborne.

Her most significant contribution was elbowing Hancock in the ribs at the 1996 Keeneland July yearling sale in an attempt to get him to up his bid to $710,000 for a yearling by Kris S., out of the Danzig mare Aurora, later to be named Arch. Dilschneider’s grandfather was the prominent Thoroughbred owner John M. Olin, who won the 100th Kentucky Derby with Cannonade.

“It was Adele who stepped in and perpetuated all this, partnering with Seth,” said Al Stall. “She said this is Blame’s final work and she wants to be here for it.”

“Who can sleep?” Dilschneider said. “I’m still pinching myself. I’ve been involved with the Hancock family for years, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Seth. How many family-owned and -operated farms are there left? That’s the beauty of this. You can’t let it slip away. And they won’t. With Claiborne, the horse always comes first.”

As for her elbow into Hancock’s ribs, she said, “It worked. That was our first big one together, and it has led to this moment.”

Standing nearby was Seth’s sister Dell, who added, “A win would be so huge in our 100th year and Adele’s 20th year with us. To have a horse of this caliber at any time is huge, but what an exclamation to a milestone, especially from a family that has been in the Claiborne broodmare band for so many generations.”

What made the entire experience even more special was having a horse like Blame, who has endeared himself to everyone who has ever worked with him.

“He was always such a lovely horse to be around,” said Jane Dunne, who broke the colt. “You wish they were all like him. When I was at the yearling sale this year with Adele, I took her to see Blame, and here is this little lady standing right next to this big stud horse, hugging him and feeding him carrots and peppermints.

“Claiborne is so deserving to have a horse like this. They’ve never been swayed by money. It’s all about the horse. They’ve been willing to take some chances with stallions to try to get some outcrosses and help improve the breed. Some of them have bombed, but it takes a lot of guts to do that.”

That’s what made this race so important, and what prompted Hancock to say to Stall several days before the Classic, “I’ve won the Kentucky Derby, but this is the biggest race of my life.”

It was also the biggest race of Stall’s career. He had been recommended for the training job by his friend and longtime Claiborne trainer Frank Brothers. Getting pumped for the race was assistant trainer and exercise rider Randi Melton. As Blame returned to the barn following his half-mile work, Melton said, “He shines even in the dark.”

I recall visiting Blame earlier that year in Saratoga and how attached my daughter Mandy became to him as he stood there with ears pricked and let her pet him for as long as she wanted. His finely chiseled head and bright soulful eyes made for a stunning portrait of an endearing horse you loved to be around. I also recall Blame leaning his head over the webbing to allow Stall’s little daughter to reach up and pet him.

The only thing Blame’s connections had to come to terms with was the colt’s uninspired second-place finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I), which ended his five-race winning streak. Following the race, Stall stood outside the test barn and said, “Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. The winner (Haynesfield) is a Belmont freak. We’re fine; he’s not going to run any negative (Sheets) number, so we’ll be good and fresh. We’ll get him back home and gear him up for the big one.”

Gomez said the colt wasn’t himself that day after having his flight delayed and arriving the day before the race. He was confident the real Blame would show up in the Classic.

“Zenyatta is a super horse,” he said. “What she’s done has been phenomenal. She’s great for the sport, but I’d like to send her to her first loss on Saturday. I’ll have the ’ol war horse down in there somewhere, and he can wear them all down with his :12-second eighths. One thing about him, he just keeps coming and coming.”

As Stall said, “He’s a quiet killer.”

Shortly after his workout, Blame was led in the dark to the Equine Hydrotherapy Spa several yards from Stall's barn, where he stood for about 15 minutes, as a bubbling mixture of 32-degree water, dissolved salts, and oxygen massaged the ankles, shins, and knees that would soon have to propel him in his quest to take down the mighty Zenyatta.

The 2010 Classic attracted a deep, talented field that consisted of seven grade 1 winners and three grade 2 winners.

Two days before the Classic, Gomez was involved in a nasty spill and was in a great deal of pain on race day, having to keep his shoulder in ice for two hours.

The morning of the race Blame stood in his stall, his head over the webbing and his eyes half-closed.

“He knows what’s going on,” Melton said. “He’s so intelligent; he knows he’s running today. When he was coming off the track this morning, he was all coiled up. Walking home, he’s usually loose and languid behind, but today he was hitting the ground like one of those Transformers. It was unreal; he had a totally different step to him. Al’s training to get him here has been a masterpiece. It’s a Picasso the way he trained this horse.”

Zenyatta was sent off as the even-money favorite, with Lookin At Lucky second choice at 9-2 and Blame at 5-1.

The cheers actually started well before the Classic, as Zenyatta performed her patented dance step in front of the emotion-packed grandstand on her way to the paddock. The cheers grew louder when she stepped foot on the track for the post parade.

But a hush came over the crowd when Zenyatta was squeezed back at the start and quickly dropped far off the pace. The track had been termed loose and cuppy in places by trainers and jockeys, and this was Zenyatta' first time over that kind of surface. There was no way she could spot 11 of the best males in the country that much ground. Despite the presence of several stone closers who normally come from far back, Zenyatta still was some six or seven lengths behind the next-to-last horse going by the finish line the first time.

Zenyatta looked to be in big trouble, as she still trailed by 15 lengths in last going into the far turn. Lookin At Lucky made a big move to reach contention at the quarter pole, as Blame began to close in. Zenyatta began picking off horses along the inside but had to steady slightly to avoid a backing-up Quality Road.

Smith angled her out into the clear, hitting her several times left-handed, which caused her to drift out. He switched to a right-handed whip and she began to gobble up ground with that enormous stride. Blame had stormed past Lookin At Lucky on the inside, about four off the rail, and the battle was on. Zenyatta was relentless, coming home her final quarter over the deep, loose surface in :23 4/5. It looked as if she was about to pull off another heart-stopping victory in the final strides, but Blame dug in gamely and just held her off.

Returning to the winner’s circle, Gomez tried to encourage the crowd to pay tribute to the winner, but his pleas for the most part fell silent, as most everyone was pretty much deflated by then.

Shirreffs seemed deflated as well, as he watched the replay of the finish on the infield screen. “Oh, man” was all he could say at first, shaking his head in disbelief. “I am just so proud of her. She ran her heart out. Congratulations to Blame.”

Mike Smith took it a lot worse and was in tears after the race. “If I have to blame anybody, it would be me,” he said. “I feel like I let her down by giving her too much to do. This hurts more than I can explain, because it was my fault. She should have won, and it hurts. She broke sluggishly and got squeezed back, and wasn’t used to the dirt kicking her in the face. I believe she ranks up there with the greatest of all time. To come up a nose short is just…it’s too hard. It’s hard.”

For Blame’s connections a whole year of planning for this one moment came to fruition.

“It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” Hancock said. “We made a game plan a year ago to point for this, and usually when you make plans like that in the horse business, they never work out. You don’t even make the race. But the closer we got to the race, we realized we were going to make it and knew who we were going to be running against. We were filled with anticipation of what might be. And then to see it come true, it’s a feeling I can’t describe.

“I’m proud to win the race, but I take no pride in beating Zenyatta. She is awesome, and she’s been great for racing. Her connections are wonderful people, and I feel bad for them. But we owe it to ourselves and to the racing public to send our horse out there and try to give him the best chance we can. I’m sorry that we had to beat her because she is something special. But we had to give it all we had.”

A short distance away Adele Dilschneider was draped in the victory blanket. “I love my new shawl,” she said. “I’m still having trouble believing it. It’s going to take a while for it to sink in.”

Dell Hancock put Zenyatta’s defeat in perspective. “I think sometimes horses are more valiant in defeat than when they win,” she said. “She lost nothing in defeat. The Mosses and John Shirreffs have been great for the game. She ran her guts out.”

As for Blame, she said, “He’s going in his granddaddy Seeking the Gold’s stall.”

Seth Hancock then hugged Dilschneider goodbye and said, “See you at the farm. We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

The following morning over at Stall’s barn, Blame had cleaned out his feed tub and as usual had his head over the webbing watching all the activity. Stall and his wife, Nicole, were getting ready to leave in a few hours for New Orleans for the winter. Melton was preparing to leave for Florida to take care of her grandmother, while continuing to exercise horses. And Blame was just days away from heading to his new life at Claiborne Farm.

Now, on the 10th anniversary of his biggest triumph, he has one of the favorites for the Kentucky Derby. After a decade, the name Blame should no longer send chills up the spines of Zenyatta fans or cause their blood pressure to rise.

He had 100 years of history riding on his back that night and it guided him to a victory that should be embraced, for it demonstrated the courage of the horse and brought to the present cloudless images of a bygone era. And, yes, it solidified the true greatness of a very special mare.

A Big Day for Big Red

2020-05-04T19:34:00Z

The scroll on ESPN's Sportscenter on the morning of May 3 had its priorities straight. The No. 1 horse racing story read: "Secretariat wins Virtual Kentucky Derby." Oh, yes, that was followed by story No. 2, which read: "Charlatan, Nadal Win Split Arkansas Derby."

The fake Kentucky Derby run on the First Saturday in May with animated horses was more important, according to ESPN, than the substitute Kentucky Derby with real-life horses that was won by two undefeated potential superstars trained by America's most popular and successful trainer Bob Baffert.

On Monday morning, Nick Wright of Fox Sports' morning show First Things First, who is an admitted big bettor, did not waste any time bragging about getting Secretariat at odds of 7-2 and touting him Friday as a huge overlay.

Before the race, NBC's Randy Moss said, "If Secretariat doesn't win this simulated race, we're going to have an objection on the first Saturday in May for the second consecutive year. And this one is going to come from me."

The day after the race, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post ranked his Top 10 faces in New York sports from each decade, beginning with the 1950s right through the 2010s. The only horse to make any of the Top 10 lists was Secretariat in the 1970s. Vaccaro wrote:

"The Yankees ruled baseball and back pages throughout the decade. Football in New York lay in state for the entirety of the '70s, which is how Secretariat-born in Virginia, raised in Florida but confirmed a superstar in New York City-cracks the list. And may deserve to be higher."

For the younger generation of racing fans who have only seen American Pharoah and Justify, this virtual race was a disaster, as the algorithm that programmed the running and result somehow had the speedy Justify getting left at the gate and dropping back to last and American Pharoah getting bumped soundly while going wide into the stretch. Going into the race, a Churchill spokesperson acknowledged that pace would not be factored.

Well, to all their fans, don't get too upset. Secretariat's main influence on the breed was through two of his daughters, Terlingua and Weekend Surprise, and both American Pharoah and Justify come from those mares. American Pharoah's maternal granddaddy is by Terlingua's son Storm Cat, while Justify's maternal grandma is by Pulpit, who is by Weekend Surprise's son A.P. Indy.

To show how versatile Secretariat really was, he was able to defeat the other 12 Triple Crown winners without wearing the blinkers he wore in all his starts as a real racehorse. If only trainer Lucien Laurin would have known.

So, 50 years after his birth, Secretariat still commands headlines and his name still is magical, as it has lived on through half a century as the standard by which all great horses are measured.

Blinkers or no blinkers, the sight of those familiar Meadow Stable blue and white silks, real or not real, splitting horses in the stretch and charging to the lead to defeat Citation and Seattle Slew was like seeing an old friend you hadn't seen since your days of youth when the sports world and the American public embraced this true sports hero who came along when the country needed a hero. To them, he was the second coming of Pegasus and people of all ages trembled at the sight of this equine Adonis.

Yes, for one day, for one brief shining moment, Secretariat was back to thrill five generations of racing fans. And not even an algorithm could stop him.