Howard Hamilton -HORSE SENSE The horse of the moment or is it?
I AM GRATEFUL to Robert Fox, a director of the New York Horsemen's Association, for the information which forms the story behind a series of articles on "The Greatest Horses" as seen through the eyes of a fine horseman and commentator.
You will recall that he visited Jamaica recently and was the guest speaker at our annual Hall of Fame function.
It would be interesting if one of our Racing Historians could do a similar analysis of the Jamaican Racing greats - a feature that should form a permanent record of our Thoroughbred Racing History.
A few times in a decade a race horse comes along that is a deviation from the norm of the breed. The media jumps on the latest great horse as the tonic the industry has needed most. Ultimately hats and tea shirts and other products are created to honour the horse and, his jockey and trainer receive the great tribute of having a bobble head doll made in their honour.
In the twenty first century we have Smarty Jones, Azeri, and Pleasantly Perfect, horses that run up a win streak, or seldom lose, or win many big purse races. We all know that there really is no such thing as the best horse but rather there is a series of "The Great Ones." So let's look back at a few of the wonderful stars who have graced the turf and quickly review there deeds and try to figure out who really was the greatest.
RUFFIAN
We will not see another one like Ruffian. She led at every point of call in every one of her races. In those ten victories she won from 5 furlongs to a mile and a half, setting or equalling stakes or track records in 9 of her 10 starts, running well within herself in every race. She died on the lead in the famous match race with Champion and Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure, who never lost a race at a mile or under.
MAN O' WAR AND
SECRETARIAT THE BIG REDS
Man O' War won 20 of his 21 starts and was second in a questionable loss to Upset in the Sanford Stakes while carrying 130 pounds as a two year old. He won all his other 9 starts at two including 5 in which he carried 130 pounds. Man O' War won 19 stakes races and closed out his career with 14 wins in a row.
Secretariat won the Triple Crown breaking the track record in all three races although he is not officially credited with the Preakness record time. Secretariat set many records including the world record for 1 1/8 miles on the dirt. Man O' War was rated number one and Secretariat number two in a poll to determine the greatest horses to have raced in America in the 20th century.
PERSONAL ENSIGN
This great filly was unbeaten in all 13 of her starts including a victory in the Whitney over males' rivals. Her dramatic final start, the Breeders' Cup Distaff in which she beat Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colours and seven-time Grade One winner Goodbye Halo, is considered among the most exciting races ever run.
NATIVE DANCER
Native Dancer won 21 of his 22 starts at two and three. He was second in the other two races and these losses were under questionable circumstances. He won at distances from 4 furlongs to 2 miles. His three year old campaign in which he won 19 of his 20 starts may never be equalled. As a three year old he posted 4 wins in February at Hialeah including a victory against older horses in the Seminole Handicap beating the 1947 Horse of the Year, Armed.
CITATION
This horse won the Derby Trial on April 27, the Kentucky Derby on May 1, the Preakness on May 15, the Jersey Stakes on May 29 and the Belmont Stakes on June 12. Citation posted the longest modern era win streak of 16 victories in a row, which was equalled by the great Cigar and also by Hallowed Dreams who did not compete at the top level.
KELSO
Kelso was a five-time Horse of the Year and a five-time winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He was a stakes winner for 6 consecutive years. He carried 130 or more pounds to victory on 12 occasions including twice as an 8 year old. Kelso retired the leading money winning thoroughbred and posted 39 victories from 63 starts, including 31 stakes wins, while being second 12 times, 10 of which were stakes races. He carried less than 124 pounds only twice in his final 51 starts.
DR. FAGAR
Dr. Fagar was known as a great weight carrier setting the world record of 1:32:1 at a mile in a 10-length win on the dirt while carrying 134 pounds. The "Good Doctor" finished his career carrying 139 pounds to an easy victory in the Vosburgh Handicap in 1968. That year he won championships as Sprinter, Grass Horse, Handicap Horse and Horse of the Year.
Next week we will look at another feature of our truly greats - biggest earner, most wins, longest winning streak and hopefully we can encourage someone to do a similar feature on our Jamaican Horses.
Howard L. Hamilton, C.D., J.P. is a former Chairman of Caymanas Track Limited and is the current President of Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association. He can be contacted at howham@cwjamaica.com.
