Remembering … Ferdinand

By the time the 1986 Kentucky Derby rolled around, master horseman Charlie Whittingham had his big horse ready to peak. Ferdinand was a strapping chestnut colt owned and bred by Howard and Elizabeth Keck, and was a bit of a slow developer. He ran five times as a juvenile with but one win. He had developed into a stakes performer over the Winter, and scored his first added money triumph in the Santa Catalina Stakes. But still, after being well beaten by division leader Snow Chief in the Santa Anita Derby, the son of superior sire Nijinsky shipped to Louisville with only two wins in nine races. At post time, Ferdinand, with regular rider Willie Shoemaker on his back, would be sent off as a 17-1 outsider, but his Hall of Fame trainer was full of belief that the colt was ready. He was right. Breaking from the one-hole, Ferdinand was squeezed a bit early on, and quickly dropped to last in the 16-horse field. The pace was strong and Ferdinand was allowed to relax early. When Shoemaker asked him for run, it was clear that the Bald Eagle’s trainee was ready to respond, but traffic would be a major issue. Ferdinand weaved his way through horses and looked ready to pounce spinning out of the Churchill Downs turn. Passing horses on the outside, Ferdinand was now near the leaders, but as the field straightened out, he was completely blocked by a wall of horses all vying for the Kentucky Derby lead. In an instant, Ferdinand and the Shoe darted through a hole and towards the inside. It was a bold and decisive move. Now on the inside of his competition, Ferdinand was clear to run, and he proved too strong for the rest. He spurted clear and hit the wire 2 ¼ lengths a winner. It was a special win. Whittingham at 73 was long respected, and Shoemaker was never more loved after becoming the oldest rider ever to win the Derby at 54. Ferdinand and his connections were the toast of the nation. After his big score in the Run for the Roses, Ferdinand returned to run two solid races to complete the Triple Crown series. In the Preakness, he came from far back to finish 2nd , while in the Belmont, Ferdinand caught a sloppy track and could never get to the speedy Danzig Connection. He was 3rd that day, beaten only 1 ½ lengths, and it would be the only day I would see the West Coast star in action. After the rigors of the Triple Crown, Ferdinand was given a long break before returning to run one of his most impressive races. The day after Christmas, 1986, Ferdinand was entered in a strong field of 12 in the Malibu Stakes. Proving his class, Ferdinand, a true distance horse, rallied by his talented nemesis, Snow Chief, to win by 1 ¼ lengths in the seven furlong affair. After this win, Ferdinand would run his final 16 races at 1 1/8 miles or longer, but in the Malibu he proved that he could beat the best at any distance. The Malibu set up Ferdinand well for his four-year-old season. A season that would culminate with a Horse of the Year award. As a four-year-old, Ferdinand was at his best, but wins would not come easy. He ran well each and every time out, but despite his effort, a six race losing streak started the season. Two nail-biting losses highlighted the first half of the year. In the Strub Stakes, he lost by a nose to Snow Chief. A month later he returned to defeat his rival in the Santa Anita Handicap, only to lose out to Broad Brush again by a nose. The losing streak would finally end, and the big colt looked outstanding in winning the Hollywood Gold Cup, Cabrillo, and Goodwood. The winning streak seemed like fair retribution for the horse who had been so good all year. Ferdinand still had one last test to pass, and it was administered to him in spades in his final race of the season. He went on to meet Alysheba in the Breeder's Cup Classic, and it there the world would see a classic battle between two proud Kentucky Derby winners. Ferdinand was game and strong, and he defeated the onrushing Alysheba in dramatic style, winning by a nose after a head-to-head battle down to the wire. It was the final crowning achievement for Ferdinand on the racetrack, and he was rewarded by being named America’s best of 1987. Unfortunately, Ferdinand returned from his BC Classic victory to go 0 for 6 as a five-year-old, but would give the champion Alysheba everything he wanted in memorable battles in the San Bernardino and Santa Anita Handicaps that Spring. He was retired after an uncharacteristic poor performance when 5th in the Goodwood Handicap that Fall. All in all, Ferdinand would win 8 out of 29 lifetime starts, with 23 in-the-money finishes. A record that at first glance might not seem sterling, but when you consider that 17 of those races were in grade 1 stakes, and that he was able to win nearly $4 million dollars more than twenty years ago, and you begin to realize what a strong horse he was. Ferdinand was able to win on the two biggest stages in American racing and was always a threat to win major races in all four seasons he ran. Ferdinand was retired to Claiborne Farm in 1989 with high hopes for success at stud, after all he was a well bred and durable classic winner. It did not happen. He was quickly defined as a disappointment as a stallion. Much like many fine horses, Ferdinand was not able to pass on his quality as a runner to his offspring. You can only stand on your racing laurels for so long in the big money business of thoroughbred breeding. At eleven years old, and only eight years removed from being draped in roses, Ferdinand’s value as a stallion was drastically lower than a few years before. He was sold to Japanese breeding interests and shipped across the globe to stand stud. After several years of breeding in Japan, it became apparent that the once proud runner was now a financial liability to his owners. In many nations, thoroughbreds, whose financial usefulness runs dry, have their lives ended at the hands of humans who once showered these horses with admiration. And in 2002, so it was for Ferdinand. Details are a little fuzzy, but the end was horribly clear. Ferdinand’s life was extinguished in a Japanese slaughterhouse. It was an unspeakable fate for a marvelous horse. Not the only top American racehorse to die in a foreign slaughterhouse, Ferdinand joined Exceller, the only horse to beat two Triple Crown winners in a race, as the most famous of these heartbreaking deaths. Some good has come from their tragic ends. American owners now commonly have clauses written into stallion sales, where they can buy back their horses after breeding careers end. Anti-slaughter supporters are at an all-time high, and people like Alex Brown work tirelessly to protect the horses we love. One of the best organizations in championing the overall welfare of horses is named after Ferdinand. Please visit Friends of Ferdinand to see how you can support the cause. Ferdinand was a very good horse and deserved so much better. Not that all beautiful thoroughbred horses do not deserve better, but this was Ferdinand, a Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner. He was a champion, with the heart of a champion. When I try to imagine what Ferdinand may have gone through those final moments, I still lose it.  I remember you Ferdinand.

Remembering ... Snow Chief

Snow Chief was a Classic winner and an American champion. The California bred, near black colt was a consistent and dominant star in 1985 through 1987. He was the all-time leading California bred earner until surpassed by Best Pal, and still is fourth behind only Tiznow, Best Pal and Lava Man. Snow Chief was bred by Carl Grinstead in the name of his Blue Diamond Ranch, and owned in partnership with retired vaudevillian, Ben Rochelle. Together the two gentleman in their seventies, were known as the Sunshine Boys, and they enjoyed every second of Snow Chief’s rise to prominence. Snow Chief was trained throughout his career by Mel Stute who had already been at the training game for forty years, and also was a beloved personality on the Southern Californian racing circuit. Despite his modest breeding, it was clear that Snow Chief was destined to become a star early in his career. Most notably winning the Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes by three lengths and the Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity by more than six lengths as a juvenile. Left in his Hollywood Futurity wake that day, was next Spring‘s Kentucky Derby winner, Ferdinand. It was the beginning of a great rivalry and one that Snow Chief would get the better of more often than not. In the three-year, nine-race rivalry he defeated the champion Ferdinand six times in nine meetings. All told Snow Chief won five of nine starts at two, including four stakes wins. Snow Chief began his three-year-old campaign much the same as he finished 1985, winning four straight stakes. He traveled from Southern California to Northern California, to Florida, and back again to Southern California in racking up stylish wins in the California Breeders' Champion, the El Camino Real Derby, the Florida Derby and finally a six length thrashing of his Santa Anita Derby foes. It was no wonder that Snow Chief was the hot 2-1 favorite in that year's Kentucky Derby. The Derby would not be his day, however. Snow Chief chased the sprinter fractions set by speedball Groovy and had nothing left for the demanding Derby stretch. He faded to finish in 11th place in the field of 16, while his previous whipping boy, Ferdinand, rallied strongly on the inside under Bill Shoemaker to snare the roses. It was a big disappointment to his connections, but they resisted the urge to take their colt back to their home base in California. The gamble would pay off as two weeks later in Baltimore, Snow Chief exacted his revenge on his old rival with dominating performance in the Preakness. Under more reasonable fractions, Snow Chief took command and easily romped home by four lengths over the Derby winner. It was the first Classic win for any of his connections including his regular rider, Alex Solis. Snow Chief would get no rest after his biggest career win. He came back only nine days later to take the $1 million Jersey Derby at Garden State Park. It would be the only day I got to see him in person. Snow Chief led throughout that day to easily defeat the horse who had beat him out for the juvenile championship, Tasso. I remember thinking after seeing him up close, that he was sure to be that year's champion. After this taxing schedule over the first half of 1986, Snow Chief would only run two more times that year in which he was beaten by the speedy filly Melair in the Silver Screen and by rival Ferdinand in the Malibu. But, with his six stakes triumphs through Memorial Day, there was little doubt that Snow Chief would be a champion, and he was awarded the Eclipse Award as the best three-year-old colt of 1986. Snow Chief had a shortened season at four which was ended in mid-season due to injury. Following a third place finish in the San Fernando Stakes, he won his biggest race as an older horse, when he outdueled Ferdinand to the wire and won the Charles H. Strub Stakes by a nose. His other major win in 1987 came in the Oaklawn Handicap, where Snow Chief ran the fastest 1 1/8 miles ever run at the Arkansas oval in 1:46 and 3/5. His final career start was a third place finish in the Californian Stakes at Hollywood Park. Despite defeating Ferdinand in three of their four match-ups as older horses, it was Ferdinand who would go on to be named Horse of the Year largely due to his exciting Breeders‘ Cup Classic win over Alysheba. Snow Chief retired with the impressive record of 24-13-3-5. He was a major stakes winner in each of his three seasons and amassed $3,383,210 in earnings. At stud, he sired a handful of stakes winners, but none that ever came close to the kind of superior racehorse that Snow Chief was. Snow Chief died of an apparent heart attack on Preakness Saturday, which happened to be on the 24th anniversary of his ultra impressive win in the 1986 Preakness. The 27-year-old, black stallion stood at Eagle Oak Ranch near Paso Robles, California. He lived a long successful life. I remember you Snow Chief.

Remembering ... Melair

It was the Summer of 1986 and something was brewing on the West Coast. There was a California bred filly who was winning races so easily and so fast that she was turning heads of even the most hard-boiled trainer on the Southern California circuit. She was a roan, 3-year-old daughter of Debonair Roger out of the stakes producing mare Melrose Nugget and her name was Melair. During a ten week span from late April to early July, she went from a maiden to the toast of the racing nation. Just how could this unknown filly with rather obscure breeding, owned by retired school teachers, trained by a young trainer, and ridden by a young rider, ascend the American racing scene so quickly? Melair began her career late mostly because her owners did not to care to race their horses at two. Once she finally did make it to the track, she wasted no time in winning her debut by 3 ½ lengths against maidens at Hollywood Park on April 25. After that, she was a 9 length winner in allowance company, breaking the track's 6 furlong record with a clocking of 1:08 3/5. Melair’s third race was her first in a stakes, and she passed that test with flying colors with a 7 ½ length win of the 7 furlong Railbird Stakes on June 4. Melair’s meteoric rise to stardom would be given her legitimate test in her next race, the Railbird Stakes on June 21. There she would face the filly who had been the leader of the West Coast 3-year-old fillies, Hidden Light. Trained by legendary conditioner Charlie Whittingham, it was truly a match-up of the old guard against the new in more ways than one. Fans had little trouble in deciding who they would favor as they made the new sensation a heavy favorite. Melair would not disappoint. Hidden Light challenged her on the turn, but the Silver Streak proved much too much in the one mile affair. Pulling clear by 3 ½, Melair had proven herself to be a California star. It would be in her fifth and final race that she slapped the racing establishment in the face and said yes, Melair is not only a good Cal-bred, but she is a national superstar. July 5, 1986 at Hollywood Park was supposed to be the return home of the conquering hero, Snow Chief. Also a California bred, Snow Chief had been the star of California before heading East to win the Florida Derby and when he arrived in Louisville, he was a heavy Kentucky Derby favorite. He failed in the Derby, but had rebounded to win the Preakness and the rich Jersey Derby. Snow Chief was well on his way to an Eclipse Award as the 3-year-old champion. The Silver Screen Handicap, it was decided would be the race that Melair would try the colts. An ambitious test for the lightly raced 3-year-old filly, to face the top colt in the country, but it showed the confidence her trainer, John Sadler, had in her. Snow Chief did not run his best that day as he could not stay with the Silver Streak early and then was disheartened in the lane checking in 3rd, beaten 11 lengths. Frankly it would not have mattered if he had run the best race of his life on this day. Melair, ridden by Patrick Valenzueala, scorched the earth in the Silver Screen, running one of the fastest miles ever run, 1:32 3/5 in beating the nice colt Southern Halo by 6 ½ lengths. Along the way she set fractions of 22 1/5, 44 3/5, 1:08, and 1:19 4/5. That’s right I said 1:19 4/5! Everyone knew the name of Melair after that performance. We never got to see her on a racetrack again, however, as Melair was twice taken out of training because of serious bouts of colic. We are left to our imaginations to wonder how good this modestly bred daughter of Debonair Roger, owned by Bea Rous and Marriane Millard could have been. What we do know is that for ten weeks and five races at Hollywood Park, no horse could touch her. Colic finished her racing career far too early, and in the end, Melair finally succumbed to her recurring bouts with the gastrointestinal infirmity. She was put to rest on May 24, 1999, at the age of 16 because of complications from colic. It proved to be the only thing the Silver Streak could not outrun. I remember you Melair.