Hingsthistorier

Den prisbelönta författaren Margaret Ransom fortsätter sin serie Stallion Stories, som emellanåt fokuserar på valacker. Tidigare ämnen i serien inkluderar Seattle Slew, Silver Charm, Grindstone, Storm Cat, Go For Gin och valacken John Henry.

J.O. Tobin

Storm Cat

cigarr

Go For Gin

Wild Again and Slew o' Guld

Jump Start

Av Margaret Ransom

Lexington, Kentucky, Wes Lanter, har tillbringat större delen av sitt liv omgiven av några av de bästa fullbloden från den senaste generationen.

Veteranryttaren tjänstgjorde som både hingstskötare och/eller hingstförvaltare på några av de mest framgångsrika och välkända avelsfarmarna i Bluegrass, inklusive Spendthrift Farm, Three Chimneys och Overbrook Odla. Han har också arbetat på Kentucky Horse Park. Under sin mer än 30 år långa karriär har 54-åringen arbetat med tre Triple Crown-vinnare, både fullblod och standardblod, ytterligare fem Kentucky Derby-vinnare och flera mästare och Hall of Famers.

En vandringsuppslagsbok om det mesta fullblodsracing, Lanter delar med sig av sina favorithistorier om hästarna vars liv han anser sig vara privilegierad att ha. Sedan han lämnade som Equine Section Supervisor vid Kentucky Horse Park's Hall of Champions 2015, har Lanter sammanställt berättelser om "hans hästar" och bestämt var hans nästa kapitel i livet kommer ifrån.

Hästen

Stamtavla: A.P. Indy—Steady Cat, av Storm Cat
Färg: vik
Född: 18 januari 1999–19 maj 2019
Ägare/uppfödare: Overbrook Farm (W.T. Young)
Tränare: D. Wayne Lukas
Karriärrekord: 5-2-1-0
Karriärintäkter: 221 265 USD
Anmärkningsvärda segrar: 2001 Saratoga Special (G2)

Sammanfoga en hingst igen

hingstberättelser :Jump Start – Foto med tillstånd av Wes Lanter

Lanter hade inte varit på Overbrook Farm länge när Jump Start kom till hans värld som en av gårdens mest lovande unga hemuppfödare. Sonen till A.P. Indy blev inte en av de mer kända i sitt liv, men han skulle bli en av de mer betydelsefulla av flera anledningar.

Som tävlingshäst visste alla 2001 vem Jump Start var, förstås. Den stiliga bukten D. Wayne Lukas-praktikanten vann Saratoga Special (G2) och gick in till en mycket djup och talangfull 2001 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) som var ganska högt ansedd när det ofattbara hände.

Jump Start drabbades av en kondylfraktur på sitt vänstra främre kanonben och genomgick därefter en omfattande operation för att reparera skadan.

Jag minns att Pat Day plötsligt drog upp honom på baksidan, minns Lanter om den lite dystra dagen strax efter terrorattackerna mot Amerika den 11 september. "Men han var tillbaka på gården bokstavligen ett par dagar efter. Jag hade en liten tre-hästars lada uppe som han var i ett tag för att återhämta sig. Hans ben var svår att se och vi var försiktiga, vi födde inte upp honom direkt så att han kunde vänja sig, men det dröjde inte länge förrän han var i huvudhingstladan och började sin avelskarriär bra.

Hans röntgenbilder (efter operationen) var otroliga, jag har aldrig sett något liknande förr eller senare. De smälte ihop hans fotled och han hade ungefär 20 skruvar eller mer där. Men han gjorde det riktigt bra på den och klarade sig bra, han födde också upp sina ston utan problem alls."

Oftare än inte tar det lite tid för någon häst att gå från kapplöpningshäst till avelshingst, men det var inte fallet för Jump Start. Lanter säger att hingsten alltid var lätt och passade in direkt.

Jump Start hade alltid så mycket klass”, mindes Lanter. "Jag menar från början när han knappt var utanför banan gjorde han aldrig riktigt saker som hästar knappt utanför banan normalt gjorde. Han var aldrig dum eller dum.

"Han hade alltid en professionell attityd. En gång kom Seth Hancock (från Claiborne Farm) ut för att träffa honom och han berättade att han en morgon vid Churchill Downs gav Pat Day en skjuts över till fronten från stallområdet och Pat Day sa:'Lukas har en AP Indy hingst som kan vara vilken sort som helst,' med hänvisning till Jump Start. Och när du kom från en ryttare som Pat Day, visste du att det var sant. Jump Start var verkligen ett fall av outnyttjad potential.”

Ett barns bästa vän

Under hela hans tid på Overbrook Farm låg Jump Starts hage närmast Lanters hus, som låg närmast hingstkomplexet på fastigheten. Mest varje morgon som

Lanter gick till jobbet, Jump Start var där och väntade på att hans brudgum skulle ta in honom på frukost eller på lite uppmärksamhet från de som kom och gick genom gårdens bakport. Och på grund av närheten till hans hem bildade Lanters unga son Noah och hingsten ett avundsvärt band.

"I grund och botten hade jag Jump Start som sprang runt på min gårdsplan," förklarade Lanter. ”När Noah var liten klappade han alltid och lekte med Jump Start. Och Noa gick ända fram till staketet för att se honom och han sprang längs staketet och de lekte. Noah älskade honom verkligen och jag var aldrig orolig. Han visste att respektera hästarna, men jag kunde inte föreställa mig att Jump Start någonsin skulle göra något.

"Vi använder inte söta smeknamn för hästarna, men Noah kallade honom "Jumpy" och jag lät honom. När Noah flyttade till (högskolan i) Wisconsin berättade han om honom för alla sina vänner och det var som att berätta om en av sina närmaste vänner hemma. Han var en sådan lycklig unge som växte upp med sådana som Seattle Slew och Storm Cat och dessa typer, men Jump Start var hans favorit.”

En användbar hingst, om inte ibland en motvillig

Det är lätt att föreställa sig att det skulle vara svårt för någon hingst att lysa i skuggan av den legendariska Storm Cat, men Jump Start hade verkligen sin del av framgångarna som far. Lanter är fortfarande stolt över vad han åstadkommit.

"Han förvandlades verkligen till en användbar hingst," sa Lanter. "Jag menar, precis utanför mitt huvud födde han (miljonärer) Prayer For Relief och Rail Trip, och även Icabad Crane. Han åkte till Sydamerika och gjorde en sommar där och födde ett par champions där också. Jag var alltid nöjd med hans prestationer.”

Det enda problemet som Lanter säger att han någonsin haft med Jump Start är att hästen verkade föredra att hänga i sin hage eller besöka människor snarare än att vara en riktig hingst.

"Jag menar, han skulle avla men det var som om han inte riktigt brydde sig om det", minns Lanter. "Ibland satte vi honom i teaserbåset för att få honom att reta stona och försöka få honom på humör.

“Totalt sett var han bättre än de flesta hingstar. Alltför många människor köper in sig på det hela, "hingstar är onda och de kan döda dig", sak och även om det verkligen gällde för vissa – och jag har säkert haft ett par – är de flesta inte onda och Jump Start var det som var längst bort. från det. Han hade en fantastisk attityd och var en fröjd att vara runt. Han fick inte många besökare som bara kom för att träffa honom, men när folk ville komma närmare en hingst kände jag mig alltid trygg när jag lät dem vara nära honom.

Och han var snygg, speciellt för en så stor häst. Ibland är stora hästar inte lika raffinerade och ser mer kursmässigt ut, men Jump Start var en väldigt vacker häst.”

"När det kommer till hingstar så går vi alltid in med realistiska förväntningar så när de hade framgång som far var det alltid trevligt när de överträffade dem och Jump Start gjorde det verkligen , minns Lanter. "Jag tyckte om att titta på och läsa om hans löpare och deras framgångar.

"När jag läste att han gick igenom var jag ledsen, vi var kompisar, han var min sons kompis," mindes Lanter.

Stallion Stories:Raise A Native

Av Margaret Ransom

Wes Lanter från Lexington i Kentucky har tillbringat större delen av sitt liv omgiven av några av de bästa fullbloden från den senaste generationen.

Veteranryttaren tjänstgjorde som både hingstskötare och/eller hingstförvaltare på några av de mest framgångsrika och välkända avelsfarmarna i Bluegrass, inklusive Spendthrift Farm, Three Chimneys och Overbrook Odla. Han har också arbetat på Kentucky Horse Park. Under sin mer än 30 år långa karriär har 54-åringen arbetat med tre Triple Crown-vinnare, fullblods- och standardblodsvinnare, ytterligare fem Kentucky Derby-vinnare och flera mästare och Hall of Famers.

Hästen

Stamtavla: Native Dancer—Raise You, av Case Ace
Färg: Kastanj
Född: 18 april 1961—28 juli 1988
Uppfödare: Happy Hill Farm
Ägare: Louis Wolfson (Harbour View Farm)
Tränare: Burley Parke
Karriärrekord: 4-4-0-0
Karriärintäkter: 45 955 USD

Anmärkningsvärda segrar

Great American Stakes, Juvenile Stakes

Prestationer

Amerikansk mästare 2-åring (1963)

Spendthrifts egna "Big Red"

Hans namn dyker också upp i fadersraden för nästan två dussin Kentucky Derby-vinnare – Country House, Justify, American Pharoah, Always Dreaming, I'll Have Another, Super Saver, Street Sense, Smarty Jones, Funny Cide, War Emblem, Monarchos, Fusaichi Pegasus, Real Quiet, Grindstone, Thunder Gulch, Strike the Gold, Unbridled, Alysheba, Genuine Risk, Affirmed and Majestic Prince.

Det är svårt att titta på någon modern fullblodsstamtavla och inte hitta Raise A Native i den, och det är säkert att säga att även personer med ett övergående intresse för fullblodsracing och avel vet vem Raise En infödd var och hans betydelse för rasen.

"Han var redan den han var när jag kom till hingstladan", minns Lanter. "Men jag lärde mig snabbt mycket om honom. Jag menar, jag minns att jag tittade på honom och studerade hans farstatistik och tyckte att det var tragiskt att han bara sprang fyra gånger. Jag tror att han satte banrekord varje gång han sprang också.

"Charles Hatton, den stora gräsförfattaren, skrev en gång om Raise A Native som 2-åring:"Raise a Native arbetade nerför Belmont backsträckan i morse. Träden svajade.’ Och jag tänkte alltid på det när jag tänkte på Raise A Native.”

Raise A Native var långt upp i 20-årsåldern när Lanter och han först korsades, men det som slog honom med hingsten var hur ungdomlig han såg ut och hur vältränad han var.

"Han var en äldre hingst, men han var så muskulös", sa Lanter. "Han var byggd som en stridsvagn. Jag tror att vilken quarter horse person som helst skulle ha blivit imponerad av hur han såg ut. Han såg ut som symbolen för ultimat kondition även i den åldern.”

En sak som Raise A Native älskade var hans jobb som hingst, säger Lanter. De flesta hingstar älskar sina jobb, noterade han, och Raise A Native var alltid en "bra uppfödare." Men varje gång efter sin dejt med ett sto fick han lite speciell tid med henne innan han leddes iväg.

"Clem (Brooks, berömd brudgummen för den store Nashua) kallade honom "Big Red", minns Lanter. "Så vi kallade honom alla 'Big Red'. Och efter varje parning tog de Raise A Native upp till stoets huvud och Clem sa:"Kyss henne, Big Red. Kyss henne." Och det gjorde han, han skulle nussla sitt sto. Raise A Native hade en bra personlighet, det hade han verkligen.”

Raise A Native, The Teacher

Raise A Native, som pensionerades 1963 efter att ha drabbats av en böjd sena, förtjänade absolut sin rätt att bete sig precis som han ville, även om besättningen av brudgummar på Spendthrift Farm fortfarande fick honom att tänka på sitt uppförande för det mesta. Det betydde inte att hingsten inte testade sina människor, särskilt Lanter.

"Raise A Native var inte alls en dålig häst och hade en bra personlighet", minns Lanter. "Men han kände definitivt sin publik. Han hade killar som han valde och gjorde allt svårt för, och jag var verkligen en av dem för honom.

"Clem (Brooks) skulle säga åt mig att gå och hämta Raise A Native. Så jag skulle gå ner dit för att hämta honom och han skulle bara vara en röv. Jag var nära att fånga honom och bara han vände sig om och sprang iväg. Det var som att han sa, 'du fångar mig inte, grabben. Du har inte förtjänat det ännu.’ Han kunde verkligen vara en jävel, men han var Raise A Native.”

Trots hans avtryck på fullblodsrasen lockade Raise A Native inte de flesta fans för att se när Triple Crown-vinnarna Seattle Slew och Affirmed dök upp på Spendthrift Farm, minns Lanter. Men han ansågs alltid vara "piedestalhästen" och när han visades för besökare var de flesta i vördnad för hans skönhet.

"Jag menar, alla vid den tiden kom mest för att se Slew and Affirmed," sa Lanter. "Vilket var vettigt eftersom de båda precis vunnit Triple Crown, men vi visade Raise A Native mycket och jag hörde folk jämföra Raise A Native med en häst Adonis, vilket var en perfekt beskrivning av honom."

Lanter hade lämnat Spendthrift Farm för nya möjligheter när Raise A Native avlivades 1988 vid 27 års ålder på grund av ryggradsdegeneration, men känner en enorm stolthet när han minns sin tid med kastanjen, som hjälpte till att forma rasen för alltid.

"Jag minns när han gick bort", minns Lanter. "På omslaget till Blood-Horse, det sista numret av hans liv, fanns en bild av Seeking the Gold och Forty Niner som skjuter ut det till tråden i det årets Travers Stakes. Det var inte förlorat på mig att hans två barnbarn duellerade för att vinna midsommarderbyt, utan tvekan en av de största insatserna på racingkalendern. På gott och ont bytte han ras och den bilden var ett klassiskt exempel och en stor hyllning.

"Att ha arbetat med honom betyder verkligen mer för mig nu än när jag var 19. Vad ska man säga om honom? Han var en stor häst, ett stort inflytande och jag hade verkligen turen att ha varit där på Spendthrift med honom också.”

Hingstberättelser:J.O. Tobin

Av Margaret Ransom

Lexington, Kentucky, Wes Lanter, har tillbringat större delen av sitt liv omgiven av några av de bästa fullbloden från den senaste generationen.

Hästen

Stamtavla :Never Bend-Hill Shade, av Hillary
Färg :Mörkbrun/brun
Född :28 mars 1974; Död:1994
Uppfödare/ägare :George A. Pope Jr.
Tränare :Noel Murless, John H. Adams, Laz Barerra
Jockeys :Lester Piggott, Bill Shoemaker
Karriärrekord :21-12-2-2
Karriärintäkter :668 159 $

Anmärkningsvärda segrar

Laurent Perrier Champagne Stakes (G2T); Richmond Stakes (G2T); Swaps Insatser (G1); Coronado Handikapp; Californian Stakes (G1); Malibu Stakes (G2); San Bernardino Handicap (G2); Premiärhandikapp; Los Angeles Handicap (G2); Tom Fool Handicap.

Prestationer

1976 högst rankad brittisk 2-åring; 1978 Eclipse Award co-champion sprinter (med Dr. Patches); ställ in NTR Hollywood Park, 1 1/8 miles på 1:47

The Stallion and the Rookie

Vid den tiden träffade Lanter J.O. Tobin, han var en 19-årig hästskötare som nyligen gått ur skolan och hans korta period arbetade med åringar på Spendthrift i Lexington när han "kallades upp till de stora ligorna" för att arbeta med hingstarna. Detta var en stor sak för nybörjaren, som ville mer än något annat spendera sin karriär med att arbeta med dem.

"För att ta dig till hingstdivisionen blev du definitivt uppflyttad till 'A'-laget", minns Lanter om den dagen 1983 när han gick in i den gamla U- formad hingstkomplex hos Spendthrift. "Så det var jag – ungen – som gick in i den här gruppen av äldre män som hade varit där för alltid, alla de äldre herrarna, de mångåriga hingstskötarna. De kunde vara lite knapriga, men jobbet var deras liv och de var mycket stolta över det; de var alla väldigt stolta över att vara hingstskötare.”

På den tiden födde Spenthrift upp fler ston från nästan överallt och hingstkomplexet hade några av de bästa hingstarna i historien.

"Det var en stor komplimang att de litade tillräckligt på mig för att flytta upp mig till hingstdivisionen", minns Lanter. "När du gick in i ladan och svängde till höger var det Seattle Slew, J.O. Tobin, Valdez, Caro, Gallant Man, Affirmed, Wajima, Lord Avie, Raise A Native, Mehmet, State Dinner och Northern Jove, som faktiskt brukade vara en teaser i Maryland innan de kom på att han också var en god far.

"Jag var bara ett barn, men jag var ett stort tävlingsfan och jag hade läst allt om hingstarna, särskilt de äldre. Det var en ära att få gå till jobbet varje dag.”

Bredvid Seattle Slew bodde J.O. Tobin, vilket var intressant i att J.O. Tobin levererade sin tidigare obesegrade Triple Crown-vinnande granne hans första karriärsnederlag i 1977 Swaps Stakes på Hollywood Park. Den väluppfostrade sonen till Never Bend, som började sin racingkarriär i England innan han hämtades hem som 3-åring, namngavs efter en av grundarna av San Francisco Chronicle.

"J.O. Tobin, som vi bara kallade Tobin, kan mycket väl fortfarande vara den snyggaste hästen jag någonsin sett, minns Lanter. "Jag menar, han var fantastiskt snygg. Han var i grunden en oljemålning. Och, naturligtvis, jag visste att han slog Slew och jag var ett stort Slew-fan, så det fanns den respekten. Jag minns att Karen (Taylor, delägare i Seattle Slew) sa att det var en jordbävning i Los Angeles dagen innan (Swappar) och att det skakade Slew också, men jag tror att den dagen att Tobin bara var mer redo för vinna av ett antal anledningar.”

Tobin The Teacher

Hingstar, som regel, kan vara notoriskt dåliga, men få har samma negativa egenskaper. Vissa rapporteras vara elaka och/eller svåra, andra kan vara knäppa i avelshuset och andra kan bara vara oförutsägbara. Tobin, minns Lanter, var bara svår.

"Tobin var den första hingsten som någonsin kom ifrån mig", minns Lanter. "Han reste sig upp, fick benet över skaftet och gjorde det där tricket, och det var över. Alla skrek "släpp honom, släpp honom" och det gjorde jag, men det var en läxa han lärde mig. Han var alltid svår, så det var han som bara var han. Han skulle duscha och det var då han gjorde det. Jag lärde mig då hur man fixar det, att bara sträcka mig upp och ta tag i skaftet nära huvudet, men han var min första lektion och jag glömde den aldrig.’’

Och varje dag på jobbet med Tobin var en lektion i tålamod, minns Lanter.

"Han var bara högt ansträngd", förklarade Lanter. "Han var inte tuff, verkligen eller elak. Han var bara högt ansträngd, men hanterbar. Han var svår att ta till sin hage och ta in varje dag, en utmaning. Han var bra när du gick och släppte honom, han skulle inte bryta sig loss från porten innan du var redo och dra iväg och göra det, men han var alltid redo att gå och sträcka på benen.

"Jag minns att (jockey) Eddie Delahoussaye berättade för mig en gång att varje Tobin (avkomma) han någonsin red var lite galen och för högt strängad. Förutom Magical Mile, som förmodligen var en av Tobins bästa söner. Jag vet inte om det var därför han aldrig var mycket som en hingst, men jag antar att han skickade det vidare tyvärr."

Ett besök från "Mr. maj”

Hingstar som J. O. Tobin fick inte massor av besökare till Spendthrift Farm, de flesta ville se de två Triple Crown-vinnarna, Seattle Slew och Affirmed. Men det är inte att säga att Tobin inte hade sin del av beundrare, inklusive en mycket känd basebollspelare.

Major-league slugger Dave Winfield kom till Spendthrift för ett besök i mitten av 1980-talet och gillade J. O. Tobin. Lanter, som själv är en bra bit över sex fot lång, visade hingsten för 6-fot-6, 220-pund slugger när något hände som aldrig hade hänt förut.

"Winfield tog skaftet direkt ur min hand", minns Lanter. "Han sa, 'här, låt mig hålla den där hästen'. Och Tobin vände inte ett hårstrå. Han stod där som en mästare. Jag kunde inte tro det. Där var han, den här jätten som höll fast i den här hingsten som kunde vara väldigt svår, men han var väluppfostrad och ryckte inte till. Den dagen tog vi alla (hingstbesättningen) en bild med Winfield och Tobin på alla hästar.”

Vad kunde ha varit

Både J.O. Tobin och Seattle Slew tillträdde aveltjänst på Spendthrift samma år, 1979, och båda beordrade samma sexsiffriga avgift på $150 000. När de gick i pension var avgifterna för båda rimliga.

“De gick till avel samtidigt och till samma avgift och om du hade frågat någon då vem som skulle ha varit en bättre hingst, var den populära åsikten säker Tobin,” förklarade Lanter. "Han hade stamtavlan som en son till Never Bend och var borta från den bra producenten Hill Shade. Han hade mycket positivt. Det är svårt att föreställa sig det från då med tanke på hur deras avelskarriär blev, men det är sant.”

Och ändå trots att J.O. Tobin var högt ansedd för både sin härstamning och rasrekord, och lockade några av de bästa stonna i sina första skördar – "du tar inte Becky från Back 40 till en $150 000 hingst," sa Lanter – han kunde aldrig leva upp till de ursprungliga förhoppningarna och förväntningarna som ställdes på honom när han gick i pension och lämnade Spendthrift i slutet av 1980-talet och studsade runt på olika gårdar innan han slutligen avslutade sin karriär i New Mexico, där han dog 1994 vid 20 års ålder.

"Jag kommer inte ihåg att Tobin gick bort, jag hade gått vidare till Three Chimneys då," sa Lanter. "Men jag klippte bort hans dödsruna från Thoroughbred Times.

"Jag antar att när jag tänker på honom – alla de jag har jobbat med – så är de alla bara hästar i slutet. Han gjorde inte så stort intryck på mig som vissa andra, men han var så snygg som en häst kunde vara och det minns jag. Och om du frågade någon som arbetade med honom gjorde han ett positivt intryck på dem också, även om han inte var den största stjärnan.”

Hingstberättelser:Stormkatt

Av Wes Lanter (som sagt till Margaret Ransom)

En sak med fullblodsbranschen som helhet är att det ibland känns som att det rör sig lika snabbt som hästarna. På bara det norra halvklotet börjar varje år med hopp om nya föl, följt av den fem månader långa häckningssäsongen med allas tummar, sedan strävan efter att bära Derbyrosor och Triple Crown Trail, de stora sommarmötena på varje kusten och sedan nedräkningen till Breeders' Cup, som avslutas och firar det som alltid minns som ett sensationellt år. Och i slutet ser många av oss tillbaka och tänker:"Hur gick det så fort?"

Men så fort det känns som att det går för vissa, så står tiden ibland stilla för andra. Den stora hingsten Storm Cat gick bort för 5 ½ år sedan och det är svårt att tro att det har gått tio år sedan de tre senaste fullblodsfölen – plus en Quarter Horse – från den stora hingsten kom, men hans inflytande på rasen, såväl som människorna som älskade och brydde sig om honom, finns kvar.

För Wes Lanter, som var ansvarig för Storm Cats liv på Overbrook Farm i Lexington, Kentucky, med början 2000 genom att WT Youngs berömda fullblodsoperation avslutades 2009 och även därefter , åren har runnit iväg — men de starka minnena och kärleken till Storm Cat finns kvar, ibland som om tiden står stilla.

Med 2019 års avelssäsong precis igång låt oss ta en promenad längs memory lane med Overbrook Farms tidigare hingstförvaltare och minnas en av de mest kända och produktiva hingstarna i senare tid och hans tid kl. Overbrook Farm, där den Pennsylvania-uppfödda tillbringade hela sitt liv efter tävlingen.

Ögon på stormkatt hela tiden

Kort efter att Lanter anlände till Overbrook Farm för att börja sitt uppdrag som hingstförvaltare, togs beslutet av gårdens ägare att Storm Cat alltid skulle ha ögon på honom. Ett högteknologiskt säkerhetssystem var redan på plats och flera nattvakter var ansvariga för att upprätthålla välfärden för alla hästar när dagpersonalen hade åkt hem, men med Storm Cats avelsavgift på $500 000 (ingen garanti) vilket gjorde honom till den mest värdefulla hingsten i North Amerika vid den tiden, vidtog fler försiktighetsåtgärder för att garantera hans säkerhet.

"[På den tiden] släppte de en kille", minns Lanter. ”Han bodde och arbetade på gården, men ingen var riktigt säker på hans liv och aktiviteter utanför där. Han var bokstavligen den mest osannolika anställde på Overbrook Farm, en knasig och ovårdad kille och jag vet inte hur han tog sig förbi den första verbala delen av sin intervju, men han var definitivt inte typisk.

"Mr. Young skyddade alltid sin gård av en överflöd av försiktighet, från stängslet som rullade med topografin och inte bara var fyrkantiga hagar, till hästarna. Han var en arkitekt och en konstnär med en arkitekt och konstnärs skarpa öga och de besluten togs alltid i hästarnas bästa också. Killen gjorde aldrig något hot som jag är medveten om, men han gjorde definitivt vissa människor nervösa när han gick.”

En liten vakthydda komplett med full klimatkontroll byggdes in i en av Storm Cats två hagar, den närmast hingstladan och avelsboden, eller "nere nedanför" där han skulle tillbringa större delen av häckningssäsongen, och han hade en heltidsvaktare nära sin hage bort från mitten av gården, eller "toppen av kullen" under sommar- och höstmånaderna. Ingen som inte skulle vara nära Storm Cat har någonsin varit nära Storm Cat.

Och även med ögonen på honom hela tiden, ibland gjorde Storm Cat det inte lätt för sina vårdgivare. Han var alltid frisk i stort sett, men han hade ibland en förmåga att orsaka onödig panik.

"Han kunde vara högt ansträngd, och ibland var han ett energiknippe, så vi var verkligen oroliga för att han skadade sig själv, men han var inte elak", minns Lanter. "Han hade ett rykte, antar jag, när han var yngre, men han var, vad, 17 år gammal när jag började arbeta med honom senare i hans liv, så han kanske hade åldrats från mycket av det, jag don't know.

“I remember the first time I went to put the shank on him [and] I don’t know if he was testing me or what, but he kind of acted up and I let him get over it. We always got along well after that. He always knew when it was time to come in; it was like he wore a wristwatch. He came in every day at two when he was turned out and, when we’d head up there to get him, he’d start walking — like he was reminding us it was his time to come in.

“One rainy day, he was out and he went tearing across it and he kind of did this little jump and side kick, and when he did it and landed, the wet ground kind of went out from underneath him and he did a complete somersault right in front of me. I immediately called [resident vet and general manager] Dr. Yokum and he checked him out thoroughly and he was fine, but it definitely took a couple of years off my life.”

The King Meets the Queen

Sometime in about 2002, during Storm Cat’s reign as the leading sire in North America with a $500,000 stud fee, seven-figures paid for his offspring at auction, consistent stakes winners and a steady stream of the best mares in the game visiting him daily, arrangements were made for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to visit Overbrook Farm and inspect the famed stallion. Her love of horses — especially racehorses — has never been a secret to the world, so it was not a big surprise when the farm workers were notified of her scheduled visit a couple days ahead of time.

And while the Queen was interested in seeing all the horses and touring the farm, Storm Cat was her priority.

“There was no ‘meeting’ the Queen for me,” Lanter recalls. “We were given some protocol a day or so in advance to not speak to her and things like that, but we showed her both Storm Cat and also Jump Start.

“And I know she’s a grandmother, and a great grandmother and all, and she was actually dressed like one, not like you’d think a queen would be dressed. She was wearing this little printed frock you’d probably see any grandmother wear and it was kind of nice seeing her in that context. She came with [former British Ambassador and Lane’s End Farm owner] Will Farish and she seemed to enjoy inspecting [Storm Cat]. And it’s probably the only time I’ll ever be around royalty again.

“Storm Cat always had regular visitors, but the farm was private so it wasn’t a steady stream like other farms. A few celebrities came to see him over the years and, of course, breeders and mare owners, but the Queen was his most famous when I was there.”

‘The Best Beat’ and an Unlikely Friendship

As a native Lexingtonian, Lanter was well aware of the stature of Overbrook Farm owner W.T. Young and his contributions to not only the city, but also the entire state of Kentucky itself when he started his duties as Overbrook’s stallion manager. While those of us in the racing and breeding industry remember him as a successful owner and breeder of fine thoroughbreds, the late businessman is probably better known globally for his business acumen and his philanthropic endeavors.

The University of Kentucky’s library is named the William T. Young library and he served on the board of trustees for Transylvania University. Young also revived the central Kentucky village known as Shakertown, which is now a national landmark and a popular tourist destination. He was an Army officer in World War II before founding Big Top Peanut Butter, which became the brand “Jif” after Procter and Gamble purchased the company in the 1950s, and he also built and owned just about every commercial storage facility in central Kentucky. He was personally charitable, donating a large portion of his own money to many causes both in and out of the thoroughbred industry.

To Lanter, though, he was known simply as “Mr. Young” and also as an unlikely friend.

“When I started at Overbrook in 2000 I was kind of going back between Three Chimneys [where he was previously stallion manager] and Overbrook, because they hadn’t hired anyone to replace me yet,” Lanter remembered. “The opportunity to be working with Storm Cat was too much to resist and the thought of working with him was pretty cool. He was already established as a successful sire and he was absolutely a horse to be in awe of.

“He was a good racehorse, I remember that. He won the Young America Stakes and then was beaten by a nose by Tasso in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Once, Mr. Young told me that if he had won the Breeders’ Cup that he was gone, that he’d have been standing stud somewhere else. He told me it was the ‘best beat he ever took’ and, of course, he was right. Look where Storm Cat ended up — and where’s Tasso? In Saudi Arabia or something.

“One day, during the breeding season, I got a call from Mr. Young’s ‘Man Friday’ saying that Mr. Young wanted me to go to opening day at Yankee Stadium. He had heard I was a Yankees fan and he was one too. I said something about it being in the middle of breeding season, to which his assistant simply replied, ‘Mr. Young would like you to go to opening day at Yankee Stadium.’

“So we flew up there in the jet and sat in George Steinbrenner’s box in Yankee Stadium and [businessman/publisher] Steve Forbes was there, and Yogi Berra and all the greats. And I remember telling Mr. Young thank you for the experience and he simply said to me, ‘Wes I just wanted to spend some time with you and get to know you.’ He was that nice and generous, he really was.”

The Legacy That Is Storm Cat

Storm Cat, by Storm Bird, was out of the great Secretariat race mare Terlingua, who was bought by Young after her racing career was over with hopes she would become somewhat of a foundation mare for the Overbrook Farm breeding and racing program. And a foundation mare she was — almost from the start. Her first foal, a filly by Lyphard named Lyphard’s Dancer, never raced, but her second mating to Storm Bird produced Storm Cat.

Of her 11 foals, Chapel of Dreams (by Northern Dancer) was her most successful on the racetrack as a multiple graded stakes winner, but Storm Cat was her most successful overall and the one who would pass her blood on to generations of thoroughbreds to come. Terlingua spent her entire post-racing life at Overbrook. First as a member of the broodmare band and, then, as a pensioner alongside her buddy Island Kitty (by Hawaii, also a graded stakes winner and the dam of noted sire Hennessy), where she died at the ripe old age of 32.

“We had [champion and Hall of Famer] Serena’s Song visit Storm Cat every year,” Lanter remembers. “And Banshee Breeze came and, unfortunately, died foaling and so did that foal. And also Miesque, which was pretty cool. Flanders lived there and, when Serena’s Song came in, we’d all remember their history together in the [1994] Breeders’ Cup [Juvenile Fillies]. That wasn’t just a stretch run, that was a battle from the starting gate to the wire between the two. Really, the best mares came to see Storm Cat year after year.”

With his fertility declining, Storm Cat was pensioned following the 2008 breeding season, where he managed to get three thoroughbred mares in foal while artificial insemination helped create the winning Quarter Horse Stray Cat, who stands at stud today in Oklahoma.

Storm Cat was North America’s leading sire twice (1999 and 2000) and was the leading juvenile sire seven times (1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2004), a record that stands today. He has been a leading broodmares sire and, according to The Jockey Club, has been represented by 811 winners from 1,452 named foals and 177 stakes winners overall. More than 90 of his yearlings sold for $1 million or more at auction and he also is recognized as a successful sire of sires.

“I’d have to say Giant’s Causeway was [Storm Cat’s] best foal,” Lanter said of the recently deceased stallion. “I mean, in the Breeders’ Cup when Mick Kinane dropped that rein and Giant’s Causeway dropped out of the bit, I thought for a minute I’d drive down to the Clay’s Ferry bridge and throw myself off. I am in no way knocking or blaming Kinane because he is one of the best ever, but it was terrible. Storm Cat always had the unfortunate reputation of not being able to produce classic-distance horses, even though he also had Cat Thief and Tabasco Cat, but Giant’s Causeway winning would have helped that a lot I think.

“Really it’s hard to choose just one because he had so many good ones, but Giant’s Causeway was the whole package. A world class racehorse and sire.”

The Long Goodbye

After the final three Storm Cat foals had arrived and the great stallion was pensioned, the writing was definitely on the wall. Arrangements were being made for the remaining active stallions to be relocated and the vibe around the farm was of impending doom.

“One day we all got called into the office and were told, ‘well, we’re dispersing,’ We were all kept on at least until after the dispersal [which was held at the 2009 Keeneland September yearling sale] and I stayed beyond, mainly to keep an eye on Storm Cat and Clockstopper [an old gelding the farm owned and raced] and to be a presence. I eventually got a job at the Kentucky Horse Park and moved off the farm, but I stopped by to visit Storm Cat as often as I could.

“Then, in the spring of 2014, I got the call telling me the time had come and that Storm Cat would be put down the next day, so I went to say goodbye. When I got there he had his head in his feed tub and he was eating, but when he realized I was there he came over to see me, as if to say goodbye, like he knew. And that was it. He was put down the next day.”

Storm Cat was buried whole at Overbrook in spot Lanter believes won’t be in danger of being developed if the farm is sold. When Young was alive he commissioned three statues of the great stallion, one which currently marks his final resting place.

“You’d have to know the farm to find him,” Lanter said. “It’s a safe spot. He is under one of his statues, and there’s one still standing outside the old stallion division. There were three commissioned and I don’t know where the other one is, but Mr. Young did have a lot of warehouses after all, so I suspect it’s probably in one of those.”

Looking back on his tenure as Storm Cat’s chief caregiver and protector during the majority of the final years of the stallion’s life, Lanter is aware of his good fortune having been a part of his life, but more so of the stallion’s contribution to the thoroughbred breed overall.

“He has to be a top-five stallion,” Lanter said. “The legacy he left and what he produced and his influence on the industry with more than just his genes will be felt for generations. I do feel pride, like I do with all my kids. But I spent so much time with this one. It is a little different when you live right next to them and occasionally have to get up in the middle of the night in a thunderstorm to bring them inside like I did many times for Storm Cat. Sometimes when bad weather hits, those kinds of memories sneak up on you. Overall, I just appreciate having had him in my life at all.”

Stallion Stories:The Unconquerable, Invincible, Unbeatable Cigar

By Wes Lanter (as told to Margaret Ransom)

Originally posted on December 15, 2017

A racing fan to the core, there hasn’t been an important race that well-respected Kentucky horseman and stallion manager Wes Lanter hasn’t watched, especially if it included any children or grandchildren belonging to one of his boys. But in 1994, Lanter was card-carrying bandwagoner for reigning Horse of the Year Holy Bull, who would meet up with the eventual superstar known as Cigar in the 1995 Donn Handicap (GI).

What Lanter remembers most from that 1 1/8-mile race was that it was a passing of the torch from one great racehorse to another. Cigar would earn his fourth consecutive victory on the way to an eye-popping and then-record-setting streak to tie the great Citation for the most consecutive modern day wins with 16, and Holy Bull would be shuttled off to stud at Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, suffering a career-ending injury before ever reaching the half-mile pole.

If one had to take the place of his beloved Holy Bull and carry the torch and the weight of a racing industry always looking for its next superstar, Lanter couldn’t think of a better candidate than Cigar.

Cigar

Palace Music—Solar Slew, by Seattle Slew
Sex:horse
Color:bay
Lived:April 18, 1990 – October 7, 2014

Owned by:Allen E. and Madeleine Paulson
Bred by:Allen E. Paulson (Maryland)
Trained by:Bill Mott
Ridden by:Jerry Bailey

Career Record:33-19-4-5, $9,999,815

Notable Accomplishments:U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (2002), two-time Horse of the Year (1995, 1996), two-time champion older horse (1995, 1996), 12-time grade 1 winner, inaugural Dubai World Cup winner.

In 2010, Lanter returned to the Kentucky Horse Park and would manage the care of a number of top racehorses in the Hall of Champions, including a number of other standouts in harness and thoroughbred racing, none whose light shone as bright as the great Cigar. Lanter closely monitored nearly every movement Cigar made every day for four years until Cigar’s death from complications following spinal surgery in 2014.

Instant Connection

“Honestly, I was into Holy Bull,” Lanter recalls. “I remember I went out to Keeneland to watch [the Donn Handicap] and it was very anti-climactic for me to say the least. But I did have a distant connection to Cigar, because when I flew with John Henry back to New York [for his retirement tour], Palace Music [Cigar’s sire] was on the airplane. And when I was in Australia with Chief’s Crown, Palace Music was standing just down the road.”

Just about anyone who showed even a passing interest in horse racing knew who Cigar was as he stormed through 1995, and Lanter watched along with every racing fan as the Bill Mott trainee picked up victories from coast to coast, winning stakes at Oaklawn Park, Pimlico, Sufffolk Downs, Hollywood Park and Belmont Park before making the gate for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) as that year’s prohibitive 3-5 favorite.

“That year’s Breeders’ Cup, if you remember, was a miserable, terrible sloppy day,” Lanter said. “Watching that head-on after that race was surreal. I mean it was a miserable, wet day and, when Cigar crossed that wire, what stood out to me is that you could tell what kind of a trip he had because (jockey) Jerry Bailey’s silks were pristine and white, I mean I don’t think he got a spot of mud on him.”

And like every fan, Lanter celebrated the horse’s regular highs and irregular lows.

“It was a real pleasure to watch him [rack up wins] and I remember the appreciative crowd in Chicago,” Lanter said of the Arlington-Citation Challenge written by the Chicago area track to secure the coveted 16^th consecutive win for the Allen Paulson homebred. “And I was devastated when he lost the Pacific Classic. I don’t think there were any real racing fans who could say they didn’t feel something [when he lost].”

Breeding Industry’s Loss Becomes Racing Industry’s Gain

In 1996, after a third-place finish in his second appearance in the Breeders’ Cup Classic held that year at Woodbine, Cigar was retired to Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky, to take up stallion duty as part of what was rumored to be one of the most lucrative stallion deals in thoroughbred breeding history. Early into the 1997 breeding season, however, rumors around central Kentucky started circulating about Cigar and his fertility.

“I had heard things,” Lanter remembers. “There’s a joke about how if you want to know anything about what’s going on on the farms, talk to a blacksmith or a van driver. I head he had bred 34 mares and none of them were in foal. I know at that point they hired [equine fertility specialist] Dr. Norman Umphenour, who was also the vet at Gainesway for years. Basically, he found that Cigar’s sperm had no progressive motility and would swim around in circles or their heads were largely separated from their tales.

“So the insurance company, Assicurazioni Generali, had not much choice but to pay out, but they kept trying with him before they did. And I think if he were my horse and I had to pay out on a multi-million dollar insurance policy I’d keep trying, too.

“For a while he’d go to Dr. Phil McCarthy’s place, Watercress Farm, and they’d work with him doing multiple different therapies to hopefully improve his fertility and then he’d go to the Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions for the show series. And this went on until he was 15 when they reached the end of trying and he was donated to the Commonwealth of Kentucky where he landed at the Hall of Champions permanently. It was the most interesting story and I’d never seen it before, not like that, and certainly not since.

“It’s sad that his second career ended before it ever got started, but, in the end, he did more for racing than he ever would have done as a stallion. He gave racing the most accessible and important ambassador the sport had ever seen.”

Always Everyone’s Friend

“Cigar was a very kind horse and he let a lot of people get close to him, sometimes too close if you ask me. But he never harmed anyone, he was that good,” Lanter remembers. “He’d come out of his stall and he’d stand there and pose as if to say, ‘I am the Kentucky Horse Park Ambassador.’ He loved his job and greeting people.”

Like any celebrity, the sheer volume of visitors who flocked to see him at the Kentucky Horse Park every year was staggering. He had regular yearly fans and some who lived closer who came more than once a year. With so many admirers, it was hard for Lanter to remember any who stood out, save a couple.

“One guy came from Western Kentucky pretty regularly,” Lanter recalls. “And he’d spend hours out there, sometimes three or four hours, taking pictures. I can’t imagine how many pictures he took of Cigar, had to be thousands. And one lady came on his last day ever at the Horse Park. I remember I told her I was going to groom him and I’d leave the stall door open so she could watch, and at one point I reached over and handed her a bit of tail hair and she got really emotional about it. It was nice he and I could make her happy.”

But like many celebrities, the meet-and-greets for Cigar could become exhausting. Lanter explained that the “show season” for the Hall of Champions lasts from March through Nov. 1 and while they tried to keep Cigar’s showings down to twice a day, it was sometimes hard to say no to people who came a long way to see him and had time constraints. So, the Horse Park staff compromised, sometimes much to Cigar’s chagrin.

“Sometimes, Cigar would get cranky toward the end of the season, all of the horses did,” Lanter said. “Cigar didn’t get mean or anything, he just got difficult. I don’t know if was the colder, darker days or what, but when the season was over he knew it was time.”

Signs the End Was Near

Cigar spent the better part of nine years contentedly greeting fans and visitors at the Kentucky Horse Park when, in late March of 2014, Lanter noticed that when the 24-year-old horse come in from his paddock to eat his breakfast, he was dragging his left hind leg a bit. Up until that point Cigar had only faced issues associated with most healthy horses his age, but that day was different.

“I always came in early and was the first one there to feed the horses,” Lanter remembered. “When I put his feed in he always came right up, but that day it took him longer and he was dragging his left hind leg. At first I thought he had injured it, but since I couldn’t find anything outward aside from swelling, we treated just the cellulitis.

“He had a full bandage and a sweat on that back leg and he had every treatment possible:the eStem, acupuncture, physical therapy — everything you can imagine. He seemed to improve, but by late April or early May, he was standing and kind of listing to one side so we started treatment for EPM. When that didn’t work, we took him to Haygard Davidson McGee [equine hospital] for a full x-ray, one that was better than the mobile ones he’d had up until that point.

“The x-rays unfortunately showed he had a vertebra out of alignment and it was possibly pinching his spinal cord and causing severe ataxia. So, we brought him home and did a lot of therapy, including a deep tissue massage therapy that was a five-week process. By the first week of October, though, we had shipped him to Rood and Riddle for a myelogram with the different dyes and contrasts and, right after that, the discussions started about whether or not to do the ‘Seattle Slew surgery’ and fix the vertebra.

“It all happened so fast, but [after the operation] he never could get his hind end underneath him again even with the sling. I was there with him every minute and we were all urging him to fight and once I even joked with him, ‘Come on and stand up and fight you sterile bastard.’ To which he replied by turning his head and giving me the dirtiest look. He literally gave me the stink eye and I had to laugh. But he didn’t have much fight left, unfortunately.”

Memories to Last a Lifetime

Losing Cigar at the Hall of Champions was palpable to the fans and visitors, but most especially to the people who cared for him and watched over him daily. The constant reminders of his life remain, however, right down to his final resting place.
“Every day when he was let out into his paddock he’d run down to the corner and rear straight up, as high as a horse could rear and to the point where we were afraid he’d flip over. But he never did. He just exuded greatness in everything he did and was always ready to put on a show. His attitude and demeanor was always suited to be the great racehorse he was and I’m sorry his stallion career didn’t work out, but his racehorse personality was also perfectly suited to be the great racing ambassador that he became.”

And in fitting tribute, Cigar was buried in the corner by his paddock at the spot where he was happiest — the same location he’d rear with happiness every day he was let out.

“Also there was this one spot in his paddock where he’d roll every day and it actually left an indention in the ground where he did it — the exact same spot every day. It’s Funny Cide’s paddock now, but I hope the indention is still there.”
The Kentucky Horse Park held two memorials for Cigar, one a few weeks after his death and another to unveil the Douwe “Dow” Blumberg statue just over a year later.

“The first was on a typical cold, winter day in Kentucky,” Lanter remembers. “We had to honor him closer to his death and the fans had to come pay their respects. We couldn’t get any of his connections to come on short notice, but, as cold as it was, I think at least 300 people came out to say goodbye. It was bittersweet. I gave a eulogy; it was hard, but it was something I had to do.

“Then the questions came up about his second memorial and statue and what the statute would look like. I thought of the Barbaro statue at Churchill Downs, a running statue. It was my thought that Cigar was a great racehorse and wasn’t ever known as a great stallion, so he should be memorialized not standing like a stud, like all the other statues, but as the racehorse he was. And everyone agreed.

“The artist who did it is the same one who did the statue honoring the victims of the Lexington plane crash from flight 5191 in 2006 that’s at the the Arboretum with a dove representing each of the victims. Before he started, he went to all the families and was given a personal memento in each of cavity of each dove. He’s that kind of artist, so Cigar’s statue was perfect.”

On Oct. 27, 2015 on the 20^th anniversary of Cigar’s first Breeders’ Cup Classic victory at Belmont Park, a crowd of people that included his Hall of Fame jockey (Jerry Bailey) and trainer (Bill Mott) turned out at the Kentucky Horse Park to witness the unveiling. The horse had been gone a year, but his absence was felt by everyone in attendance and each of his connections spoke about their memories of the great Hall of Famer.

Lanter said that once he had a discussion with someone about how sometimes living beings save their loved ones the memory of their last moments by dying when they’re not present. Looking back on the last day of Cigar’s life, he believes that Cigar chose this route, ending his fight while nobody who loved and cared for him was around.

“The day he passed Dr. [Steve] Reed said for all of us to go and take a break and get a sandwich or whatever. And while we were gone, he died. I was told that the nerves in an operation like that can sometime affect the diaphragm, so he just stopped breathing. He waited for all of us to leave so he could go… dignified ending to a dignified life.

“On the night Cigar died we had a typical Kentucky thunderstorm, tremendous lighting and thunder. I thought it was fitting, I thought it was the heavens welcoming home the lightning on earth we had for a little while.”

Wes Lanter has spent most of his life surrounded by some of the best thoroughbreds of the last generation. The veteran horseman served as both stallion groom and/or stallion manager at the most successful and popular breeding farms in the Bluegrass, including Spendthrift Farm, Three Chimneys and Overbrook Farm, in addition to a pair of separate stints at the Kentucky Horse Park. Over his nearly 30-plus-year career, the 52-year-old has worked with three Triple Crown winners, both thoroughbred and Standardbred, five additional Kentucky Derby winners and multiple champions and Hall of Famers.

A walking encyclopedia of most things thoroughbred racing, Lanter is sharing his favorite stories about the horses whose lives he considers himself to be privileged to have been a part of throughout his career. Since leaving his position as Equine Section Supervisor at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions in 2015, Lanter has been working on compiling stories about his horses and deciding where his next life chapter will come from. Lanter also is the proud father of 21-year-old Noah, a standout baseball pitcher and outfielder at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minnesota.

***

Stallion Stories:Go For Gin

By Wes Lanter (as told to Margaret Ransom)
Originally posted on May 2, 2018

This year marks the 24^th anniversary of Go For Gin’s triumph in the 1994 Kentucky Derby (G1), and while he’s not the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner – 1993 winner Sea Hero is reported to be a happy pensioner in Turkey – he is the oldest one on American soil, and is also very accessible to thousands of racing fans every year as a resident at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions.

Though not impeccably bred or particularly expensive, Go For Gin did boast some lofty connections in his breeder (a DuPont), owners (a board game tycoon and financier), and his Hall of Fame trainer and jockey. Everything came together perfectly for the son of Cormorant on that first Saturday in May in 1994.

Go For Gin stood several seasons at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky and was then moved to Bonita Farm in Maryland before landing in his forever home at the Kentucky Horse Park. He lived out his remaining years just about an hour up I-64 from where he earned what would be his last, yet most important career victory in the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

In 2011, Wes Lanter was serving as Equine Section Supervisor at the Hall of Champions when the decision was made by Go For Gin’s living co-owner, Joe Cornacchia, to donate the then 20-year-old stallion. For more than four years, Lanter was responsible for the day-to-day life of the big, brown stallion and he considers himself very fortunate to have spent several years showing him off to racing fans from around the world.

Go For Gin

Cormorant—Never Knock, by Stage Door Johnny
Sex:Horse Color:Dark Bay/Brown
Foaled:April 18, 1991

Owned by:William Condren and Joseph Cornacchia
Bred by:Pamela DuPont Darmstadt
Trained by:Nick Zito
Ridden by:Chris McCarron

Career Record:19-5-7-2, $1,380,866

Notable Performances:Won 1994 Kentucky Derby, won 1993 Remsen Stakes (G2), won 1994 Preview Stakes (LS), second 1994 Preakness Stakes (G1), second 1994 Belmont Stakes (G1).

Surprise Resident

Lanter remembers the Horse Park – somewhat surprisingly — being asked to care for Go For Gin and place him in the Hall of Champions. John Henry had passed away and the thoroughbred stars at that point were Cigar and Funny Cide, so Go For Gin would at that time make a nice addition, Lanter remembered. “It was a bit different in that he was an in tact, breeding stallion,” Lanter recalls when told the news.

“And when he arrived he definitely let everyone know. He had quarantined for about a month at Dan Considine’s place before coming over so we had time to get ready; and though we were ready, it took Go For Gin a bit to settle in.

“When the Hall of Champions was built, it was kind of by itself with not much around, but over the years they constructed all these show barns around it so there was a ton of activity. And he arrived in the summer, so there were shows all the time. People would tie their horses to the fences around his paddock and it got him, um, worked up. There were signs to stay off the grass and there was a little space between his paddock and the fence, but it was rough for him at first because nobody stayed off the grass.

“He settled in eventually and once he got used to the crowds and that level of attention, he became thoroughly content as a resident. Anytime a Derby winner is in residence somewhere, it always brings a little extra excitement, so that was great.”

Though Go For Gin sold at auction for $150,000 as a Fasig-Tipton New York August yearling in 1992, his final sales price was on the lower end of horses selling through auctions in the early 1990s. He didn’t have a flashy pedigree and was only a $32,000 weanling the previous fall, but when Lanter first laid eyes on Go For Gin he recognized immediately what made the stallion a stand out.

“He is absolutely magnificent looking,” Lanter said. “He is very regal and even to those who see horses every day, he stood out as a very good looking horse. It is not an understatement to say he is a very, very good-looking horse. And he was smart. Though he is pushy, kind of a bully, he isn’t mean or aggressive. He just pushes you. And he’ll drag you if he could. And that’s his way, so we all got used to it.

“One young lady worked for me and she really didn’t like him at first; he pushed all her buttons, but he grew on her and before long became her favorite and they kind of became peanut butter and jelly. I noticed the other day when it was his birthday, she was the first to wish him a happy birthday on social media. He was that kind of horse, he tested you and you fell in love with him.”

Remembering a Derby Champion

An important part of life for the residents of the Hall of Champions are the shows they do for fans, sometimes three per a day. While some employees needed a class or a cheat sheet on Go For Gin, Lanter remembered the horse’s time in the sun well, being a consummate racing fan.

“I remember the weather being a blessing for him on Derby day that year,” Lanter recalled of that May day in 1994. “I remember how he loved the mud and just kind of skipped across the surface that day. Strodes Creek definitely made a run at him, but he could not get by Go For Gin. And I know the Derby was his last career victory, though he was second in the other two (Preakness and Belmont Stakes).

“One thing I definitely remember is Chris McCarron working him one last time before the Derby. He was in town, I think, for the Derby Trial that Saturday and (trainer Nick) Zito asked him to work him the next Sunday morning. I remember Chris working him and getting off and saying to everyone, ‘Yeah he’s good. That was good.’ I remembered that when he won.”

Disappointing Stallion Career Becomes Fan Bonus

Expectations for Go For Gin as a sire, who retired in 1995 to Claiborne Farm after suffering a tendon injury, were high, but he never really took off for breeders and after some dismal crops, was transferred to Bonita Farm in Maryland for nine years. Though he was represented by Grade 1 winner Albert The Great, I don’t think anyone is shy about saying his stallion career was a disappointment overall.

“The sad thing about Go For Gin is his stallion career,” Lanter remembered. “I think he sired only, like, seven stakes winners and his success as sire was sparse. Sending him to the Kentucky Horse Park was the best thing for him, he could finally be remembered for the great racehorse he was and not the disappointment in the breeding shed.

“I remember one lady had an OTTB who was a daughter of Go For Gin. She came over to see him one day. And Chris McCarron would come out and visit. I mean, that was kind of Chris’ stall since John Henry was also in there. I remember walking back from lunch one day and Chris was out there in the middle of his paddock. I was thinking, ‘Chris, you do know that is still an in-tact stallion.’ But I knew he was ok, though I think when he did that he didn’t take his time coming out of the paddock, but he was OK.

“The thing I think people learn quickly about Go For Gin is that he’s a really, really neat horse and he gets to show that to people as a member of the Hall of Champions.”

***

Stallion Stories:Remembering the First Breeders’ Cup Winner Ever

By Wes Lanter (as told to Margaret Ransom)
Originally posted on November 1, 2017

Lexington, Kentucky, native Wes Lanter has spent most of his life surrounded by some of the best thoroughbreds of the last generation. The veteran horseman served as both stallion groom and/or stallion manager at the most successful and popular breeding farms in the Bluegrass, including Spendthrift Farm, Three Chimneys and Overbrook Farm, in addition to a pair of separate stints at the Kentucky Horse Park. Over his nearly 30-plus-year career, the 52-year-old has worked with three Triple Crown winners, both thoroughbred and Standardbred, five additional Kentucky Derby winners and multiple champions and Hall of Famers.

In April of 1994, longtime Kentucky horseman John Gaines announced his plan for the Breeders’ Cup championship racing series featuring multiple divisions and ages based on stallion nominations and foal payments. Now, 34 years later, Lanter remembers the years he spent and the global adventures he shared with the winner of the first-ever Breeders’ Cup race ever, 1994 Juvenile winner Chief’s Crown.

Chief’s Crown

Danzig – Six Crowns, by Secretariat
Sex:horse
Color:bay
Lived:April 7, 1982 – April 29, 1997

Owned by:Star Crown Stable
Bred by:Carl Rosen
Trained by:Roger Laurin

Record:21-12-3-3, $2,191,18

Notable Accomplishments:Champion 2-year-old (1984), eight-time Grade I winner.

In 1984, as a few handful of horses headed to Hollywood Park and the first-ever Breeders’ Cup, Wes Lanter was a groom at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington, KY, and readily admits his focus was mostly on Slew o’Gold and a troublesome foot that could jeopardize his chances to win the inaugural Classic. But as a racing fan, he knew Chief’s Crown, as the first big son of Danzig, would be the one to beat in the Juvenile off five straight graded stakes scores.

Stallion Geography

“I, of course, knew who Chief’s Crown was when I arrived at Three Chimneys in 1990,” Lanter remembers. “How can any racing fan not know the first winner of any Breeders’ Cup race ever? I mean, he was a four-time Grade 1 winner and really put Danzig on the map. So, I showed up at Three Chimneys and he was there and from then on he was always special to me.”

After five years at Three Chimneys with Chief’s Crown, the Kentucky farm made a deal with Arrowfield Stud in Australia for the southern hemisphere breeding season. At the time, Lanter saw it as an opportunity for an exciting travel experience with one of his favorite horses.

“They really wanted him down there and they wanted someone to go with him, except nobody wanted to go,” Lanter remembered. “I said, ‘Hell yes I’ll go.’ I saw it as an exciting experience, so I packed up and moved. My girlfriend at the time went with me and Chief and off we went.”

Lanter recalls his time in Australia as a learning experience.

“Australia is brilliant, but for some things they have entirely different ways of doing things,” Lanter remembers. “They do a lot of things in a group management situation. It’s definitely not as ‘hands on’ as we do things up here and they operate with less help, but it works — can’t argue with their results.”

After six months Down Under, Lanter and Chief’s Crown returned to Central Kentucky and their duties as stallion and stallion manager at Three Chimneys. It wasn’t long before Chief’s Crown became one of Lanter’s all-time favorites.

“Chief was always very easy,” Laner recalls. “He was always all-business. He knew his job and did it well. He didn’t have time for any bull.

“Once he had some visitors and, we all know the type, the ones who consider their horsemanship skills infallible. And you can’t tell them anything, so I didn’t tell him anything. So, this guy and his friend and myself went out to see Chief and I said, ‘I can bring him out if you want.’ He told me no, of course, that it wasn’t necessary and proceeded to lean up against the fence right in front of Chief.

“I told him I didn’t think it was a good idea to stand so close and to maybe give Chief some space, but he said he was fine and that he knew horses. Chief literally came charging, scaring the guy and knocking him back on the ground on his butt. His buddy couldn’t stop laughing and said to him, motioning to me, ‘He told you.’ And it wasn’t that Chief was a mean horse, he just liked things certain ways. What that guy didn’t know is that Chief was actually a very special soul and had he done things Chief’s way that wouldn’t have happened at all.”

The All-Around Horse

“Not too many horses win four Grade Is as a 2-year-old and then turn around and win four Grade Is as a 3-year-old and Chief’s Crown did that,” Lanter remembers of the Travers winner, who also beat older rivals in that year’s Marlboro Cup. “He was champion 2-year-old, but I think he should have been champion sophomore too. He didn’t win the Derby, but he just got nailed at the wire in the Preakness. He was the perfect all-around racehorse and he definitely passed that down to his offspring.

“I remember so well when Erhaab won the Epsom Derby. We were all watching at Three Chimneys and Erhaab came from so far back — like way back — and just got up in time at the wire. [Three Chimneys manager] Dan Rosenberg was so happy he brought us all out champagne to celebrate.

“He put Danzig on the map as a sire, but he was also an incredible sire himself.”

Goodbye Dear Friend

Chief’s Crown was humanely euthanized at age 15 after being found with a life-ending knee injury in his paddock. Lanter prefers to keep the details of the day to himself and instead focus on the “amazing” horse he says he was lucky to care for for so many years.

“He was my Chief,” Lanter says, voice cracking with emotion. “I don’t know how else to explain it. Yes, he won the first Breeders’ Cup race ever. And, yes, he was a champion. And he was a hell of a sire. But to me, I don’t know how else to explain it except to say that he was just ‘Chief’ to me.

“He had this air about him, a presence. Majestic, I don’t know. But of all the horses I have been lucky to have been around — and there have been many — only a couple others’ deaths hit me as hard as his . He was so much more than just a racehorse and a stallion to me. He took me around the world.”

***

Stallion Stories:Remembering the First Breeders’ Cup Classic — Wild Again and Slew o’ Gold

By Wes Lanter (as told to Margaret Ransom)
Originally posted on October 17, 2017

A walking encyclopedia of most things thoroughbred racing, Lanter is sharing his favorite stories about the horses whose lives he considers himself privileged to have been a part of throughout his career. Since leaving his position as Equine Section Supervisor at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions in 2015, Lanter has been working on compiling stories about his horses and deciding where his next life chapter will come from. Lanter also is the proud father of 21-year-old Noah, a standout baseball pitcher and outfielder at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minnesota.

A racing fan to the core, there hasn’t been an important race Lanter hasn’t watched, especially if it included any children or grandchildren belonging to one of his boys. In 1984, Lanter intently followed the road to the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Classic since, at the time, Grade 1 winner Slew o’ Gold was representing his great sire Seattle Slew, who Lanter worked with at Spendthrift Farm. Back then, when he watched the slugfest that developed in deep stretch on that October day at Hollywood Park, he had no idea how much a part of his life both Wild Again and Slew o’ Gold would become — let alone how they both would become a pair of his all-time favorites or that the two stallions would spend the better part of their stud careers in the very same barn.

Slew o’ Gold

Seattle Slew — Alluvial, by Buckpasser
Sex:horse
Color:bay
Lived:April 19, 1980 – October 14, 2007

Owned by:Equuesentitiy Stable (Karen and Mickey Taylor, Jim and Sally Hill)
Bred by:Claiborne Farm
Trained by:John Hertler

Record:24-12-5-1, $3,533,534

Notable Accomplishments:U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (2002), champion 3-year-old (1983), champion older male (1984), Woodward Stakes, Whitney Handicap, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Marlboro Cup, Wood Memorial.

Wild Again

Icecapade — Bushel-N-Peck, by Khaled
Sex:horse
Color:dark brown
Lived:May 22, 1980 – December 5, 2008

Owned by:Black Chip Stable (Bill Allen, Terry Beal, Ron Volkman
Trained by:Vincent Timphony

Record:28-8-7-4, $2,204,829

Notable Accomplishments:Won Breeders’ Cup Classic (1984), won New Orleans Handicap, won Oaklawn Handicap, won Meadowlands Cup.

Fate Cannot Be Controlled

Slew o’ Gold making the gate for the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) at Hollywood Park was no surprise to Lanter whatsoever. As the first really good son of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, Slew o’ Gold had a spectacular year in 1984, winning the Woodward, Marlboro Cup and Jockey Club Gold Cup, and was the horse to beat in that year’s Whitney Handicap facing a talented sophomore in Track Barron and one other.

“Slew o’ Gold was an amazing horse,” Lanter recalled. “If you ever watch his Whitney, where he beat Track Barron, never has a horse so emasculated another horse as Slew o’ Gold did to Track Barron that day. That’s the definition of a racehorse.”

Unfortunately by the time Slew o’ Gold was confirmed for the Breeders’ Cup, he had developed some foot issues that involved a nasty quarter crack, a patch and a bar shoe. Unconcerned, Lanter remained confident nobody would turn up that day who could beat the big black horse, despite the injury.

Slew o’ Gold had earned his way into the Breeders’ Cup by his winning performances and as dictated by the stallion/foal nominations. Wild Again was coming off an allowance win at Golden Gate Fields and wasn’t stallion/foal nomination eligible, so his connections — confidence in full force — supplemented the black horse to the inaugural Classic at a cost of $360,000. Overall, though, nobody was terribly concerned with the colt from California.

“I really didn’t know much about Wild Again going into that first Breeders’ Cup Classic,” Lanter recalled. “I knew Gate Dancer because of the Preakness, but Wild Again had taken the southern route while Slew o’ Gold stormed through New York. I was as Spendthrift and, of course, everyone was concerned about Slew o’ Gold’s quarter crack and the patch and there were discussions about not even running him, but he was such a machine — all racehorse — so, they figured even not at 100 percent he’d be tough.”

The race would go down not only in racing history, but also in Breeders’ Cup history, as one of the most bizarre and controversial. At the wire, less than a length separated eventual winner Wild Again, classic winner Gate Dancer and heavy favorite Slew o’ Gold, the latter two slugging it out in deep stretch with Wild Again possibly leaning in to create the drama between his rivals. After an eight-minute stewards’ inquiry, Gate Dancer was demoted to third and Slew o’ Gold was awarded runner-up honors while Wild Again, stewards decided, was mostly free of the fracas and maintained his position as the winner at 31-1 odds.

“I watched the race at Tom Wade’s [Seattle Slew’s groom] apartment in Lexington on Alexandria Drive,” Lanter recalled. “And I know if I would watch that race today I’d think there’d be a different outcome. It was the most ‘iffy’ call I think — maybe ever. And what they didn’t know is that Slew o’ Gold got all banged up and Wild Again came out unscathed. I have to believe if his foot wasn’t at 70 percent, the outcome would have been different. It was my opinion at that time that he was a superior racehorse in every way.”

Wild Again was originally retired to Shadowlawn Farm for three seasons and then was sent to Calumet Farm for two seasons before the farm’s high-profile bankruptcy scandal and death of super-sire Alydar scattered the remaining stallions before the 1991 season. Wild Again then landed at Three Chimneys, where Slew o’ Gold ended up upon his retirement in 1985.

But on that day in October of 1984 watching the first-ever running of what has now become racing’s most prestigious day for all divisions, nobody — especially Lanter — had any clue how intertwined the two stallions’ lives would become.

Time With Wild Again

After the inaugural Breeders’ Cup was complete, Lanter spent a handful more years at Spendthrift before accepting a position as stallion groom, then stallion manager, at Three Chimneys. At the time, Slew o’ Gold was off to a tremendous start in the breeding shed and was represented by four Grade 1 winners from his first crop. Wild Again was busy and popular despite the Calumet scandal, but when word got out at Three Chimneys that he was headed to the farm, he didn’t exactly get warmest of welcomes.

“When Calumet closed down, [Three Chimneys] got Wild again,” Lanter remembers. “Slew o’ Gold and Chief’s Crown were the first big stallions at Three Chimneys and were joined by Seattle Slew. And, then, when we were told Wild Again was coming, nobody wanted to be his groom because of what happened in the Breeders’ Cup — because he beat Slew o’ Gold. So, I said I’d do it, what the hell, and it wasn’t long before I fell in love with him.

“Wild Again was absolutely the sweetest horse,” Lanter said. “And soon the people who spent their days with him like me got to know him that way too. The Breeders’ Cup became a distant memory. And, to be honest, there wasn’t much to not like about Wild Again. He was professional, and kind and easy to work with. He was handsome — what’s not to love about a black and white stallion?

“Back in the day, Three Chimneys was at the forefront of new and unique advertising ideas and I was helping Margaret Layton [communications and marketing director for the farm at the time] with some of the advertising campaigns and photos and things like that for the stallions. The farm was at the forefront of the best PR campaigns then and, once, when doing one for Wild Again, he had 62 stakes winners out of 61 different broodmares. I mean, I think now someone would need to check me on that, but I’m fairly close to certain that’s accurate. That is a statistic I don’t think any stallion has repeated.”

And while Wild Again’s sons and daughters excelled on the track and the breeding shed, he wasn’t exactly the easiest keeper, constantly battling a condition not as typical to horses as it is to humans. Wild Again, Lanter explains, was prone to kidney stones. It was a condition he’d combat for most of his life and one which Three Chimneys took very seriously.

“He was sent to Rood and Riddle once and they thought it was colic when I noticed blood dripping from his sheath. So, they slipped a arthroscope up his urethra and found the kidney stone. And it wasn’t an ordinary kidney stone, it was a monster. They ended up going in there and broke that one up, but they started to become an issue for the horse. So, Three Chimneys had their vet, Dr. James Morehead — God bless him — do whatever he could. So, Dr. Morehead contacted a human urologist and started planning for future episodes. He got equipment for an obese human and whenever the issue came up, he was able to treat him early and successfully. Dr. Morehead was the first to treat a horse that way to my knowledge.”

One of Wild Again’s regular visitors at Three Chimneys was co-owner Bill Allen, who, though known to be a high roller and risk-taker, initially didn’t want to put up the money to supplement to the Breeders’ Cup, but may have made the most money betting on the horse, or so he told to all who would listen.

“Mr. Allen came for a visit once and he told me this great story about the Breeders’ Cup,” Lanter recalls. “He said that on the morning of the race he and his wife were getting ready and she was carrying one of those little purses women just put the basics in, like lipstick and things like that — a clutch, I think. And I guess Mr. Allen said to his wife, ‘What is that?’ To which she replied, ‘Well it’s a purse, of course.’ And he said he replied to her, ‘Honey, you’re going to need a much bigger purse to carry home all the money we’re going to make on Wild Again today.’

“He told me it took him over two weeks to gather all the winnings, he’d bet so much in so many places.”

Wild Again, who died in 2008 and was buried at Three Chimneys, was probably a better sire than his pedigree initially indicated, facts not in the least lost on Lanter.

“Being by Icecapade, he was a total outcross,” Lanter said. “His pedigree brought so many different things to our bloodlines. But as much as anyone would want a Wild Again offspring, especially a mare, and that is truly his legacy, what I will remember about him most is that he was inherently a kind horse. Yes, I will certainly remember him for that.”

Big Brown Gold

In the early 1980s, it was inevitable that Lanter would become one of Slew o’ Gold’s biggest fans. As a member of the staff in the massive stallion complex at Spendthrift Farm, he joined in all the celebrating with each win, commiserated with each defeat and endlessly discussed every aspect of every one of the big, brown horse’s races.

“He was Seattle Slew’s first really big, successful son,” Lanter said. “He was almost 17 hands and gorgeous, just majestic. And watching him run? He was so determined. His ears would disappear into his neck — he was so wanting to win. And as much as I ended up loving Wild Again, I was so sad for Slew o’ Gold to end his career that way in the Breeders’ Cup.”

Yet, as good a racehorse as Slew o’ Gold was, his first years at stud exceeded even the experts’ expectations. Lanter was still at Spendthrift when Slew o’ Gold produced his first crop and, as a son of Seattle Slew, watching Slew o’ Gold succeed as a sire was a treat.

“Right out of the gate he was a horse who was a statistical anomaly,” Lanter says. “From his first crop he had four Grade 1 winners. I can’t remember a sire who had four Grade 1 winners from his first crop. He had Gorgeous, Awe Inspiring, Tactile and Golden Opinion. It was a great time for Slew o’ Gold.

“And then he kind of disappeared off the stallion lists. I don’t know what happened. He had all the family behind him as a son of Seattle Slew and Alluvial, but he disappeared and I never understood it. But he was such a great racehorse and meant so much to Three Chimneys, they kept him his whole life.

“Three Chimneys owned Gorgeous and, after she won the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn, her winner’s blanket of flowers was sent to the farm. Of course, we had to put it on Slew o’ Gold for a picture. He didn’t like it much, but we did it.”

Though Lanter remembers Slew o’ Gold being fierce on the racetrack, he was much more docile and easy to work with as a stallion at Three Chimneys. Most of the grooms and staff had soft spots for Slew o’ Gold, who was never difficult or made any trouble.

“One day, the shank broke on Dynaformer,” Lanter remembers of the notoriously mean and difficult sire. “It was one of those things and it just broke and he got loose. And he ran down toward the other stallion paddocks. Thank God Seattle Slew was already in the barn, but Dynaformer got into a bit of a tiff with Capote, but I was able to toss a shank at Capote and get him away from the fence. We couldn’t catch him, so he ran into the barn and got into a bit of a face-off with Slew o’ Gold and Slew o’ Gold went totally submissive. He literally stuck his tongue out and dropped his head as if to say, ‘Don’t hurt me.’ And it could have been bad, both were really big horses. But we caught Dynaformer in there with Slew o’ Gold and it ended peacefully.”

Some of the celebrity guests to have visited Slew o’ Gold and all the stallions at Three Chimneys over the years, Lanter remembers, included five-time Academy Award nominee Albert Finney (“he brought sausage and biscuits and $100 bills for the guys”), Glenn Close, Alex Trebek, Rod Steward and Paul Tibbets (“he was the pilot of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.”)

In his later years, Slew o’ Gold suffered from health issues that he battled until the end of his life. When Lanter went to England to pick up new stallion Arazi in the mid-1990s, Slew o’ Gold had a fairly substantial cut on his heel. By the time Lanter returned to Kentucky, the stallion was battling a full-blown case of EPM. Lanter said that though the heel injury was concerning, sometimes even the smallest injury can set off a brewing case of EPM.

“When I got back he was pretty sick,” Lanter remembered. “Three Chimneys was determined to get him well and they did everything medically available. It wasn’t about him being a stallion anymore if he couldn’t be, he was a ridgling anyway, but he survived because of the love and dedication Three Chimneys had for him. I won’t ever forget that.”

When Lanter heard Slew o’ Gold had passed away in 2007 at the ripe old age of 27, his sadness was only overshadowed by his happy memories of Seattle Slew’s first great son.

“This is what I have to say about Slew o’ Gold,” Lanter said. “He was real. And he was such a special horse. I will remember him with affection. He was a tremendous champion and I don’t think anyone could or would deny that.

“I remember the 1983 Jockey Club Gold Cup the most. It was Slew o’ Gold vs. John Henry, with Forego and Kelso leading the post parade. Can you imagine? All those horses on track at the same time together? Of course Kelso colicked and died the next day, but it was a rare treat. Made only better by Slew o’ Gold’s victory.”

Remembered Together On Track, In The Breeding Shed

During their sire duties at Three Chimneys, Slew o’ Gold and Wild Again lived in the main stallion barn, catty-corner from each other and near the great Seattle Slew for a number of years until each were pensioned. Lanter often wondered if they remembered each other while reflecting on his great fortune having them both in his life.

“The thing about me is that I was a racing fan first; I was the little kid who would ride my bike pretending to be Ron Turcotte,” Lanter says. “I never thought — ever — in my wildest dreams I’d have the career I’ve had so far or be so blessed to have horses like the top two finishers in the first Breeders’ Cup Classic in my life. Those of us who were there with them are members of a very exclusive club and we’re all very proud of that.

“One time, it must have been during the Keeneland sales, Bill Allen and [Slew o’ Gold’s owner] Mickey Taylor and [Gate Dancer’s owner] Kenneth Oppenheim were all at Three Chimneys, the triumvirate of the first Breeders’ Cup Classic. It was a little uncomfortable, even that much after the fact. Opstein basically said, ‘Slew o’ Gold screwed me out of winning the first Breeders’ Cup.’ And Mickey Taylor, God bless him, didn’t say a word. It was kind of fun to watch them all awkwardly interact.”

[Hingsthistorier: https://sv.sportsfitness.win/Åskådarsporter/Hästar/1012050933.html ]

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