Category Archives: Legends/Features

His biography for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame calls him the horse that “time forgot”, as Kentucky was not inducted into this beloved shrine until 1983. It also claims he is “arguably the greatest son of Lexington ever inducted into the Hall.” Though that is certainly a matter up for debate, especially with Lexington’s prowess in the breeding shed, it cannot be denied Kentucky is a well-deserving member of this select circle of Thoroughbred icons.

Intelligence. That is the quality that separates good horses from champions, Michael Blowen, founder and president of Old Friends, is fond of saying. Horses with a lot of intelligence are the ones to watch because they will become great champions. Two horses Blowen says had a lot of intelligence are past Old Friends’ retirees, Precisionist and Black Tie Affair. Gulch was the same said Blowen. “You could tell Gulch was an intelligent horse the moment he stepped off the van when he arrived at Old Friends. He had a spark in his eye and was completely aware of his surroundings. He held his head high in regal fashion, but he was not arrogant or mean spirited. Still, on his arrival that day, he was letting people know ‘I am here. I am a champion.’ “

On Monday (October 26) morning, a small select group of admirers, family and media gathered around a freshly constructed plaque that was to be unveiled at Thoroughbred Park in downtown Lexington. Although a decade has passed since John R. Gaines passed, his imprint on the legacy and direction of Thoroughbred racing will forever remain. On a day that would commence the countdown to the 32nd edition of the Breeders’ Cup that would be hosted by Lexington for the very first time, it seemed the perfect tribute to the man responsible for the event’s existence.

While platoons of American Pharoah’s fans are converging on Coolmore’s Ashford Stud over the coming months and rightfully so, there was a horse in 1968 that accomplished a feat no other equine ever had before or likely ever will. According to his Hall of Fame jockey Braulio Baeza and his just as illustrious conditioner John Nerud, the son of 1951 Santa Anita Derby victor Rough’n Tumble could “run a hole in the wind” and was the “fastest horse to ever live.”

Saturday May 6th 2006. It was the day I saw the Kentucky Derby won by the horse who was going to become the first Triple Crown winner in 29 years. The unbeaten, stunningly handsome, bright bay beauty Barbaro completely laughed at his Derby competition, as he trounced the field by a facile 6 1/2 lengths. It was immediately clear that this was a creature who was on a very different level to the three previous gallant Triple Crown contenders I had flown across the country from California to Belmont Park to cheer on. And Barbaro’s running style and physique told me that the mile and a half of the Belmont Stakes would be a positive, not a negative. This fella had Triple Crown Winner stamped all over him.

Nestled among the rolling hills of Woodford County in Central Kentucky are some of the most prestigious Thoroughbred farms in the world. Farms like Lane’s End, Three Chimneys, Airdrie Stud and WinStar all call Woodford County home.
There are also many smaller farms that call Woodford County home, and as you drive the beautiful fence-lined back roads of the county you will see their horses grazing in pastures that stretch as far as the eye can see. As winter melts away and spring brings warmer weather, many of those…

Her presence has been a fixture on the Jockey Club’s boardroom wall for more than a century and her blood coursed through the capillaries of none other than champions Tim Tam, Two Lea, Chris Evert, Winning Colors and Chief’s Crown. Her name was Reel and although this horse’s name may not leap to mind when discussing Thoroughbred pedigrees, this daughter of Glencoe was not only a fantastic race mare, but one of the most outstanding broodmares ever to live on American soil.

On the authority of Spirit of Times, Fashion, one of America’s first great race mares and a member of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame “is a rich, satin-coated chestnut, with a star, and a ring of white above the coronet of her left hind foot: on her right quarter she is marked with three dark spots, like Plenipo, and other “terribly high-bred cattle.” While the beginning of the unknown author’s description sounds less than flattering he or she states, “her great excellence consists in the muscular developments of her quarters, thighs and gaskins.

Established in 1967 as the Norfolk Stakes, the Flying Childers Stakes was renamed in 1973 when another race attained the aforestated moniker and it remained a British Group I until 1979 when it transitioned to Group II status. Contested over five furlongs at Doncaster on the third day of the St. Leger Festival, the event is restricted to 2-year-olds and pays homage to the horse that is…

It was 37 years ago that the great Affirmed met the great Seattle Slew at Belmont Park, New York in September 1978. On that fall day in New York the two Triple Crown champions met, an event that obviously has not occurred since. The great Forego led them out on to the racetrack for this epic event. It was a shame that either had to lose – but one did. Watch as these two greats…