Friday, September 26, 2008
Yo Mama, Curlin
We were hanging out at the Kentucky Horse Park, Cigar and I, when the talk turned to Curlin. The old guy, Cigar, is pretty laid back these days, taking life as it comes at the age of 18, living in the stall formerly occupied by John Henry. He goes out a lot at night, but never farther than his paddock.
I wasn’t sure how Cigar was taking all this buildup towards Curlin possibly passing him as the wealthiest Thoroughbred in North America. The milestone could take place Saturday at Belmont Park in the $750,000 Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup. Does he give a horse hoot about it all? Will it change his life in any way? Inquiring minds surely want to know. So, I asked. Here’s the tape transcribed:
Me (patting the Great One gently, starting the interview on a softball note): So tell me, Cigar. Does it shake you up in any way that Curlin is getting ready to eclipse your money-won record of $9,999,815? After all, his $9,796,800 bankroll is only $203,015 short of yours.
Cigar (whiffling through big soft nostrils, relaxed): Been there. Done that. Say, you don’t happen to have any peppermints?
Me (stepping up the pressure): No, but I do have a camera. Here, let me take a shot. (Snap). Now, admit it. Aren’t you a bit jealous of Curlin, knowing he’s getting all the attention?
Cigar (snorting; blowing through nostrils): Are you kidding? He has to get up early and train in the mornings. You pay a price for everything.
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Yo Mama, Curlin...
Written by Maryjean Wall
Visit Maryjean Wall's new site at "
Celebrating the Horse"
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sighting Secretariat
A horse by any other name couldn’t possibly be Secretariat – could it? Actually, yes, as we saw in a whimsical flight of fancy that took place Saturday in Paris, Ky., on a rolling wave of chestnut red.
Imagine 19 chestnut Thoroughbreds impersonating Secretariat. Geldings, horses, fillies, and even one yearling brought in from Pennsylvania vied for a $3,000 winner’s purse and the distinction of looking the most like Big Red.
Elvis indeed was in the house, as it turned out. The first-ever Secretariat Look-Alike Contest resulted in a Secretariat sighting: a 4-year-old colt named Trolley Boy who won partly on the merit of wearing only minimal makeup to help him look like the Triple Crown winner.
With the irony of some mystical force at work, it turned out the winner had the genes of the Great One coursing through his bloodlines. His grand-sire, Gone West, was out of a Secretariat mare named Secrettame. “The blood runs through him,” said his owner, Angela Walker of Smithfield, Ky. One perk for the winner: Walker received congratulations from Secretariat’s owner, Penny Chenery.
Chenery had watched the judging from a gazebo at the center of the competition ring at the Bourbon County Fairgrounds. “I was afraid it might by hokey but it isn’t,” she confided. “It’s very serious.”
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Written by Maryjean Wall
Visit Maryjean Wall's new site at "
Celebrating the Horse"
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Featured Farm: Pin Oak Stud
Deer slip like velvet phantoms through verdant meadows at Pin Oak Stud. Down by the training track, delicately sampling blades of grass at dusk, they linger briefly but depart in a flash of hind legs fleeing for the forest edge.
The park-like Pin Oak surely must be heaven found for deer, for barn cats from the local shelter, for a rescued Weimaraner named Sterling, and for approximately 34 foals born and raised each year here on these 1,050 acres. Sweeping meadows, neatly manicured paddocks, and grand vistas of rolling land sparkling with their stands of pin oaks pose a picture of heaven on earth. Nesting boxes for blue birds are ubiquitous throughout the farm and nearly always occupied.
Pin Oak is a well-established stud but not an historic landmark as are some Bluegrass horse farms. The owner, Josephine Abercrombie, purchased the initial parcel of land only in 1988. She oversaw a remarkable transformation of the original 750 acres from a jungle of weeds into a picturesque Thoroughbred nursery and stallion farm.
Abercrombie actually was moving her operation from across the road on U. S. 60, from property that her father, James S. Abercrombie, purchased in 1949. He had named the original farm Pin Oak. That farm began with 1,000 acres and grew to 3,000 acres. Following her father’s death in 1974, Abercrombie gave the original Pin Oak to her two sons. However, when they sold Pin Oak in the latter 1980s, Abercrombie found herself looking for a new farm to call home.
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Featured Farm: Pin Oak Stud
Written by Maryjean Wall
Visit Maryjean Wall's new site at "
Celebrating the Horse"
