Winning, a Relative Term

Zippy Chippy

Zippy Chippy, a son of Compliance, passed into eternity on April 16, 2022, just four days short of his 31st birthday at Cabin Creek, Greenfield Center, New York. Cabin Creek is  a satellite of Old Friends, (thoroughbred retirement center) located in Lexington, Kentucky.

 His record of near misses, reluctance to compete and cantankerous refusal to cooperate are legendary, and because of it,  in the end, he too, Zippy Chippy, became the stuff of legend. He shared a pedigree littered with many of racing's all time greats, for example: Buckpasser, Count Fleet, Bold Ruler, War Admiral and the famed Blue Hen, La Troienne. While he shared their pedigrees, he shared none of their inclination, dawdling along hearing the slow beat of his own drummer. So dismal were his performances that he was forbidden to run at track after track until he was retired from racing in 2004. His post race career lead to a brief stint as an outrider's pony at his home track, Finger Lakes in New York.

Zippy Chippy training in 1998 at Finger Lakes with Jorge Hiraldo up.

And who couldn't love a horse that devoured junk food, like popcorn, pizza and ice cream. Everyone has a favorite secret indulgence and Zippy's was Doritos and beer, which he is said to have shared with his trainer. Somehow it seems fitting, doesn't it?

His infamous ineptitude lead to his being named one of the year 2000's "Most Intriguing Characters" by People Magazine. His ignominy was chronicled in the William Thomas' book, The Legend of Zippy Chippy: Life Lessons from Horse Racing's Most Lovable Loser. The book was simply a cheap attempt at humor at the expense of the horse. In other words, it was self-aggrandizing.

Zippy at Cabin Creek

Joann Pepper, owner and manager of Cabin Creek, said that Zippy was "...so content, and would not do anything he wasn't in the mood for," yet he was the retirement venues star attraction and "finally found solace with a paddock mate, Red Down South, a chestnut New York-bred gelding.

Zippy and Red South Down

Old Friends founder and President Michael Blowen said, "Zippy found his greatest success as a retiree," attracting hundreds of fans each year. "He was finally a star."

Zippy Chippy was never a winner on the track, but a winner nonetheless. Rest easily old boy, those are the gates of heaven opening and not the starting gates. Your race is run. Rest in Peace.

Copyright April 16, 2022 by Loren Schumacher

Credit for all photos belong to the photographer

Another Black Eye for Racing

With the death of yet another horse at Santa Anita, making 23 in the last four months, United States Senator Diane Feinstein has asked the California Horse Racing Board to suspend racing at the track and to move its dates to another venue.  Die hard fans of horse racing are beginning to turn away from the carnage.

If the tragedy of Santa Anita weren't enough, add to it the drowning of a trotting horse at Miami Valley Gaming's harness track in Monroe, Ohio.

"The horse was already dead when he got there,"  The "he" is Mike Jameson, Turtlecreek Township Fire Chief, who donned his wet suit and entered the murky, cold water, feeling blindly for the horse, even though it was known where the horse had entered the water.  While a track worker had immediately gone into the water after the horse, it took two rotating 2-man teams an hour to find the animal that was still harnessed to its sulky.

Wrecks like this one in Australia can be deadly to horse and driver.

The race was a 1-mile event with a $12,500 purse.  Driver Kayne Kauffman, a winner of more than 3000 races and $20 million, fell into last place.  As he began to move his horse "He's A Perfect Ten" into contention, the racing was four-wide in front of him.  Another driver, seeing no way around the bottleneck, slowed, causing Kauffman to check-up, and when he did, he was hit from behind and thrown from his bike (sulky).

The track announcer warned the drivers of the driverless rig loose on the track, warning them to use caution.  But the horse "spooked" and ran into a retention pond where it sadly drowned in ten feet of water.

But it is the callousness of race officials who did not suspend racing, but allowed the card's last two races to be run, that boggles the mind.  And it is just this kind decision making, absent of the natural human emotion that attends tragedy, that gives the radical animal rights activists fodder for their cause and causes the fan to turn away from the spectacle of horse racing.

When all goes well.

Of course this incident was a freak accident, but consequences have very little regard for the facts.




Copyright by Loren R. Schumacher April 3, 2019

Photos: Credit belongs to the photographers

Money is Always the Answer

There has always been the stench of impropriety surrounding horse racing.  In the early 20th Century the practice of using drug cocktails containing such things as heroin or cocaine to enhance performance was common.  The standard seems to have been, "Just don't get caught."  While testing today is more sophisticated, there are those willing to buck the system.  Drugs can be used to enhance performance or to mask injuries allowing unfit horses to run without regard to consequences for the animal.  Rick Dutrow, who trained Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown, was suspended several years ago for flagrant and ongoing violations, including improper drug use.  His attempts to overturn his suspension in the court system have failed.  Dutrow's circumstance is the exception rather than the rule however.

Harness racing has not been immune to controversy either.  In the United States, harness racing once rivaled baseball in popularity. The sport is thought to have originated with Assyrian kings more than 3500 years ago and ripened among the Greeks and Romans. By the fourth century, Rome's Circus Maximus, where harness racing took place, seated 200,000 citizens.

Roman harness racing was corporately sponsored, had professional officials; widespread betting; riots among fans and DOPING!

Corruption, immorality and inhumanity can be jarring things when we are exposed to them.  The following is a Facebook conversation that I was involved in recently, which graphically shows the lengths that some will go to in order to win.

First, a disclaimer.  I do not know the person who makes the claims here.  He, and it is a "he", would not allow me to interview him, refusing saying, "No, I am not interested in that at all."  And finally, he claims in writing to be a trainer/racer, but a check of his Facebook profile showed that he is a groom.  To protect him I have deleted his name.  I might add that his typing and spelling is iffy.

The track that I make reference to in the conversation is the old Lebanon Raceway, where my uncle, who is deceased, worked and was part owner of an unruly trotter named Speedy Trip, a gelding foaled in 1961.

Deweycheatumnhow 2007 Photo by Dean Hoffman

" I don't care which trainer is which. Etc. The fact of the matter is we are dopping in this sport. I train and race standardbreds. It is hard to compete and make money when people dope for speed. I see it way to much
I enter a horse in a 5k race
Because of the dope I get 2nd or 3rd. It's ok money but I or the owners can't live off it. What do you do? We have to do something ! I'm no expert. I'm just a half ass trainer trying to figure 
The best our for everyone"

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  Loren Schumacher Brendan, we had a harness track near me that was notorious for various improprieties, among them race fixing etc, I know that is true, because my uncle was an owner/trainer there.. I can't speak to any doping issues at that venue, but I do know that racing in all its forms is killing itself for the lack of uniform and enforceable rules relating to drug use etc. The public perception of racing is that it is: first, corrupt and second, inhumane. The half-assed approach that the Stronachs have taken at Santa Anita has done nothing to improve that image. Sadly, drug use has existed for a long, long time. The best book I have read on MOW speaks of rampant use of cocktails comprised of such things as heroine and cocaine and who knows what else. If you have substantive proof of drugging, you and other owner/trainers should turn the offenders over to the authorities. It would make your life uncomfortable, but in the end all of racing and the horses would be better for it. You and people like you are in a tough spot, trying to make a living in an expensive sport and doing what you love. I think that race fans would stand behind those who try to clean up the sport. While i sympathize with owner/trainers, like Joe Vargas, my concern is for the horse. Without them, there is no racing. None.

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  " it has gotten so bad that race secretaries, judges and the racing commison just say we are building a case which means they just turn there head. We had a case a few years ago where a standardbred w named killean cut kid I think. Was found in a kill pen and rescued. The horse had blisters thay festerd from inside out at his lower joints above the p1. A investigation happened they found that the previous owner had used snake venom in the joints which is a extreme form of a nerve blocker in the joints to reduce pain in a lame horse. The horse recoversd and is at a rescue he's only 6 or 7 years old. The trainers received a slap on the wrist. You can't do anything when know one will do anytjing and just look the other day."

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• Donato Hanover 2007 Photo by Dean Hoffman
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As depraved as those who dope horses are, it is the stomach-turning cowardice of racing's governing bodies in dealing with the issues, which has severely damaged racing's image in the public view. Doping is just one of racing's many concerns.  Consider the increasing number of race and training related deaths, as well as the number of horses being found in kill pens and you easily see why attendance, handles, foal births and ownership are in decline.  

I don't want to close without acknowledging the strides made in equine aftercare.

Trainers and horse lovers are working together to provide new homes and new careers for horses whose racing days are over. There are numerous organizations, such as Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky, that provide forever homes for pensioned horses, whether they raced to glory at Churchill Downs, or labored in anonymity.  All are welcome.

Copyright March 25, 2019 by Loren Schumacher
All photos by Dean Hoffman i

The Girls

It has been quite a while since I've mentioned either of my horses, known collectively as The Girls.  They are getting older and it is hard to believe that fifteen years have passed so quickly.

One of them, Callie, my dark bay paint will be seventeen late this year and most likely had a bout of colic last weekend.  While she didn't evidence some of the classic signs: rolling on the ground or nipping at her sides, she was listless and her quiet eyes were dull and hooded.  There was an 11 p.m. call to our vet who prescribed 10cc of Banamine.  She was some better the next morning, but often stood motionless for long periods, her eyes nearly closed or she napped on what little grass there is in a February pasture.

We put her on half-rations which she largely picked at, so with growing concern, a flurry of text messages passed between my vet and me.  On the second night more Banamine was needed, but I had used all I had the night before.  Thankfully the next option was Previcoxx, an anti-inflammatory, that we keep on hand because of Callie's past Navicular problem.  By late the second day she seemed to come around, hassling her sister Stormy and nuzzling me, looking for comfort.

Stormy (Stormy Monday), soon to turn nineteen, a black and white paint horse, has had her issues in the recent past.  Grossly obese at nearly 1100 pounds and standing just 14.3, she began to limp.  Sensitivity and blood tests showed that she is metabolic, unable to absorb glucose and showing the first signs of laminitis.

Life-style changes were made quickly.  Her activity levels were raised significantly (which she hated).  She was started on  a course of Previcoxx and Isoxsuprine, a combination that relieved the pain in her front feet after just a few days.  And her sweet feed became a memory as we transitioned both horses to a Purina Welsolve LS (low starch) feed, which they loved and devoured, always looking for more.

The last box to be checked was getting Stormy fitted for a grazing muzzle.  I'll save the story of how I got her to accept the muzzle for another day.

Today Stormy is a trim 868 pounds and she looks better than at any time since I've owned her.

So now it's time to introduce, or reintroduce them to you as the case may be, but in a most unusual way.

A friend of my wife's, Cris Fee, is an artist, a fiber artist who creates art quilts that are stunning works and have been exhibited in juried shows throughout the country. Some of her work can be viewed on her website: https://crisfee.com/.  This is her latest:

"The Girls" - Stormy on the left and Callie.

Just a few more words about The Girls.  They are friends first and foremost, their likes and dislikes as familiar as my own.  They seek comfort from me when the are scared or uncertain and warn me when things in their world are perceived as a threat.  Sometimes they are lazy and uncooperative and other times playful brats. They give and take on a whim.  Callie, the performance horse, a powerful sweet child, can be guided with just a thought and Stormy, who has tested my leadership for fourteen years and will for another fourteen, I hope.  Her feet barely touch the ground in flight, her tail raised in fluttering salute to her joy in being a horse.

I wouldn't have them any other way.

A Few Desperate Moments

Geronimo had been in custody for 367 days when the second Wyoming Territorial Fair opened on September 6, 1887.  In Sundance, Wyoming, Harry Longabaugh, alias the “kid” (yes, that Sundance Kid) and his accomplice, were busy stealing Tom McCoy’s horse.  In May, Montrose, ridden by Isaac Lewis, beat Jim Gore in the Kentucky Derby.

Cheyenne’s newspapers bannered headlines that ran the gamut from the sensational:  He Will Be Hung, to the mundane: Compulsory Education.   According to one paper it was a world that still lived in fear of Indian uprisings, while it raced headlong into the modern era.

And although the Wyoming Territory had mandated Women’s Suffrage in 1869, it would not become a state until July 10, 1890.

September 6, 1887 was a very long time ago.

Attendance needed a boost after the disappointing opening day crowd in 1886.   The Cheyenne and Laramie Club Cup Race, sure to draw large crowds, would be the highlight of the fair’s opening day. The clubs were comprised primarily of rich cattlemen, those who survived the devastating, cattle-killing winter of 1886-1887 with more than the shirts on their backs.   The eligibility rules were simple: only members could participate.  The horses, themselves thoroughbreds, must all be Wyoming bred, “or (from) so close to the line of the territory as to be acceptable to the committee.”  This was particularly helpful to the owners of three of the mounts entered by Davis and Choate.  N.R. Davis was president of the Cheyenne National Bank and his partner, fellow Bostonian and jockey E.C. Choate, owned the Owl Creek Ranch located 12 miles south of Cheyenne in Weld County, Colorado.

The jockeys must also be members of the “club,” and weigh a hefty 150 pounds.  The winner’s bounty was $100, bragging rights for a year and a Tiffany trophy, itself valued at $500.   Win the race twice and the trophy was yours to keep!

By afternoon the streets of Cheyenne were all but deserted.  It was “a trifle too hot, but this did not particularly worry those who occupied the reserved seats in the grandstand.  The grandstand “is bright in the interior with sky-blue painting.”

 

The track for the 1-1/8 mile Cup race was “conceded by the horsemen to be in the best possible condition.”  Happily, “the enclosure about the track was lined with carriages and the grandstand was well crowded.  Many of the spectators were ladies who naturally added to the interest of the occasion and contributed to the excitement during critical stages of the racing.”

Three horses were entered by Davis and Choate.  Climax, a sorrel gelding, was ridden by F. M. (Francis Morgan) Ware, son of a prominent Boston Unitarian clergyman.  His silks that day were crimson and purple.  Climax was sired by Huerfaus by an unknown dam.

Resplendent in magenta and black silks, E.C. Choate rode Bashaw, a chestnut gelding. The third member of the Davis and Choate cabal, Wyoming, a bay mare, was ridden by Captain Wyndham Quinn who wore blue and white.

F.M. Ware and Climax September 6, 1887

There were four other entries: co-favorite Endebar, a grey gelding ridden by Sterling Birmingham, Trouble, a bay gelding ridden by G.A. Saportas and Dee Dee, another bay gelding ridden by F.T. Islin.

Betting was heavy on the two favorites, Endebar and the difficult to manage mare, Wyoming.  There was nearly $2000 in the betting pool.

“Cantering” to the starting line, the horses were nervous, even impatient, “evidently understanding that a great struggle for supremacy was about to ensue.”  With Dee Dee on the pole the horses were “off like the wind” as the flag dropped.

 Wyoming drove to an early lead with Dee Dee, Trouble and Climax in pursuit, followed closely by Choate’s Bashaw.  Birmingham, riding co-favorite Endebar, evidently a closer, “pulled his horse and dropped back until the 3/8 pole was reached.”

The race was “for blood.”

Early front runner, Wyoming, gave way to Dee Dee at the half mile while Climax lurked in third place with Trouble trailing the field.  The tough mare, Wyoming regained the lead at the ¾ mile mark.

 At the 3/8 pole Endebar began to close on the leaders with a burst of speed under Birmingham’s whip and spur. But Endebar’s run came to naught, he was just too far back.

 “Up the home stretch it was a race for life.”  Trouble racing from “hindmost” in a headlong charge gained the lead in the stretch.  Nearing the finish-line it was Saportas’ sorrel gelding, Trouble, head and head with Climax.  Both horses were nearly identical in appearance with Trouble being a “trifle” smaller.

In the rhythm of their hooves there were desperate moments as each horse reached its limit, their lungs burning with jagged breath, nostrils flaring and blood red with effort.  It was Climax by “half a neck” at the wire, or was it Climax by a head?  The result was reported both ways.  Many said it was a dead heat, “…there was a decided confusion of tongue.”  Climax was declared the winner and “…the great throng of people on the grandstand rose to their feet and cheered loudly.”

The game Trouble was followed home by Bashaw, Endebar, Wyoming and Dee Dee.  After the race Captain Quinn, who rode the troublesome Wyoming, made it clear to anyone who would listen that it was not his fault that Wyoming finished fifth, because “… he was not acquainted with the peculiarities of his mount.”

And the winner is...

Climax’s race passed in 2:16, a snail’s pace when compared to the North American record of 1.45 flat set in 1988 by a four-year-old, Simply Majestic, who carried just 114 pounds.

 Davis and Choate prided themselves on bringing their horses along slowly over several years, so it is no surprise to find that Climax, born in 1878, was 9 years old when he crossed the finish line in 1887.  Considering his age and the weight he carried, Climax ran a pretty good race.

The winner’s circle photo shows a thirty-year old Ware sitting comfortably astride Climax.  After the style of the day his stirrups are very long, and he appears to be wearing spurs.   The face behind his brushy florid moustache is without emotion.  He seems comfortable with success and in fact success seemed to follow him.   He is a Harvard graduate, Class of 1879, and during his lifetime he will write three books concerning the horse (still available with a Google query) and many articles for magazines such as Outing.  Interestingly, he wrote extensively about harness racing.

He also managed The Brockton Fair Horse Show for 28 years and served as manager, treasurer and auctioneer of New York City’s American Horse Exchange.  These are just two of his many successful enterprises.  F. M. Ware died of pneumonia in 1926.

 It is the brand, ND over a bar raised in scarred relief on Climax’s left shoulder that first grabs your attention.  The brand is a derivation of one registered in 1872 by N. R. Davis, once the largest cattle rancher in Weld County, Colorado.  But horses were his passion and in 1887 Davis owned more than 200 mares with foals at their sides.

Climax is alert, his ears pricked, and he stands rock steady facing the photographer. His features are refined and dominated by a broad white blaze and one white stocking.  He is muscular but not particularly tall.  After another fashion of the 1880’s, his tail is cut quite short which robs him of the length and grace his body possesses.

The voice on the phone belongs to Roda Ferraro of the Keenland Library, “We don’t run into too many dead ends, but on this one we did.”

The Cheyenne and Laramie Club Cup race is Climax’s only race of record. * **

In the horse-drawn world of 1887, horses lumbered over rutted roads carrying us to work, to school, and to war.  That horses could still bring us to our feet, could make us cheer ourselves hoarse, could give us moments of escape from the stifling boredom of humdrum lives and the prison of backbreaking labor is still a thing of wonder.  Climax was one of those horses.

*Confirmed by Allan Carter, Historian, National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

**Climax has been a common name for thoroughbreds.  From 1885 through 1889 another horse named Climax raced along the East Coast from Gravesend and Saratoga to Lexington, Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans. In five years he raced 53 times and was in the money 79% of the time.

Sources:

United States Census 1880, Massachusetts, Suffolk, Boston

Northwestern Livestock Journal 9/9/1887, Pg.4 Col. 3 & 4, #12

Cheyenne Daily Sun 9/7/1887, Pg.6 Col 3 & 4, #173

Cheyenne Daily Leader 9/6/1887, Pg. 3 Col. 1, #173, Pg.2 Col 1, #287

Cheyenne Daily Sun 9/6/1887, Pg.6 Col. 3 #151 (#25)

Cheyenne Daily Leader 9/7/1887 Pgs.3&4 Cols. 2,3,4 #265 & #101

Alan Carter National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

Jennifer Alexander Wyoming State Museum

Linda Fabian Wyoming Historical Society, Laramie City Chapter

Sources Cont’d:

Daniek Long, Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum

Roda Ferraro, Keenland Library

Lenore.Harriman@Greelygov.com, Brand Registration

Molly Countryman, Northwest Livestock Journal 8/19/1887, Pg.4 Cols. 1,2,3,4

John J. Devine, Research Services Department, Boston Public Library.

Two Minutes to Glory: The Official History of the Kentucky Derby, by Brodowsky and Philbin, Pgs. 66 & 67

Photos:

Author’s Collection

Ranger

My friend, Steve Woodruff and his 17-year old horse, Ranger have roamed over every nook and cranny of Montana it seems, all without incident.  But as we know, a horse can find mischief or injury almost anywhere.  And in fact just a few months ago, Ranger did, and to this day Steve has no idea what actually happened to him.

If you have a queasy stomach, you may want to to take a look at a feature I've done on Steve's incredible photos in my post, "Step Off The Sidewalk."

Ranger Gashed.

Steve's vet stitching Ranger up.

Healing.

"What a fine day to be a horse-and a horseman-in Montana."

Ranger in a very recent post by Steve.

And finally:

Steve and Ranger on the prowl.

Steve is retired as a teacher from the University of Montana at Missoula.  His prose are witty and his photography captures light and emotion in incredible ways.  

I  hope you enjoyed this short pictorial essay.

Copyright October 31, 2018 by Loren R. Schmacher

All photos by Steve Woodruff.

Now He's Just Immortal

By the time this post is published I will have been to visit Justify at Winstar Farm in Versailles. Kentucky.  My wife and I will take as many pictures of the horse I've called "the living statue" as possible and add the best ones later.  We'll keep the crappy ones on our computer and no one will be the wiser.

None of the photos taken by his admiring fans have captured his imposing size, 16.3".  Nor does the poor light of Winstar's viewing area do justice to the beauty of the copper coat that stretches across his ribs, or the muscle mass gathered in knots beneath skin that threatens to rupture. 

This is Justify.

No, in most of the photographs he seems to slouch, his muscular frame a bit atrophied, his color washed out and his expression dull and lifeless.  Perhaps he is mortal and not the mountain I have seen bolting from a starting gate, dashing to the lead and carrying his speed until that speed breaks the horses in his wake.  His turn of foot reminds me a good bit of California Chrome and like Chrome, the innate ability to turn back the pressure that came to him.  To Bob Baffert the key to each of Justify's six races was the same: Justify had to get away cleanly from the starting gate.  With Baffert the strategist and the tactician, Mike Smith aboard, Justify romped, with strides thought to be longer than Secretariat's, to 9-1/2 and 6-1/2 length margins in his first two races.

Justify jumping tracks in the mud at the Preakness.

But wait a minute, his six consecutive wins were not enough for many.  One of the chief complaints, one most champions have had to reckon with, the caliber of his competition.  Yet those in the know felt the 2018 Derby field to be the strongest in many years.  He is a proven winner on dirt, whether dry or in the primordial glop of Churchill Downs, or the Preakness.  And in the Santa Anita Derby he ran with a sprung shoe (I understand that is not uncommon). Proving that he could run at the front or stalk from just off the lead as he did in the Derby, haunting Promises Fulfilled before leaving him in his wake.

A loose shoe on Justify's right front during the 2018 Santa Anita Derby.

2018 Kentucky Derby

If the lack of quality competition were not indictment enough, here are some comments about Justify's confirmation that appeared in a thoroughbred chat room that I belong to...and sometime wish I didn't.  No names though.  

Lovely shoulder.

I don't like him.  I honestly cringed when I saw it.  Post-legged behind, very upright pasterns...but his front legs seem off.  (Off what, his body?) Nice hip, but I still don't like the appearance of his hindquarters.

I like the length of his neck.  Pretty face.  He is nothing compared to American Pharoah.

Wouldn't pay a cent to breed to him.

...but a horse with confirmation like that, who had physical problems as a yearling, wasn't sound enough to race at two and retired unsound after four months at the track...  I wouldn't send a mare to him even if he was at $20,000.

...it will take an impressive mare to throw a foal that doesn't have some of his more major faults.

...looks like a typical Ghostzapper.

I will add that some of the comments are made by former race track denizens, exercise riders, grooms and several who specialize in breeding and confirmation.

When asked where they would rank Justify among the thirteen Triple Crown winners, the groups were equally unkind.  Most ranked Justify near the bottom of the list and one ranked him ahead of American Pharoah.  This person is usually unhappy if their ice-cream is cold.  One thoughtful person said, "Not bottom, but not top. Still a really great horse who could have probably gone a lot farther later in his career,"

Then I added my wordy two-cents worth: Its all subjective.  He is not number one, but after all he did win the Triple Crown  and I don't care what people say about him, (and I have heard and seen written a lot of sour grapes regarding him lately) he is a damn fine horse. I saw him in person on Thursday and I can tell you that having seen both CC and AP immediately upon their retirement, Justify looks much the worse for the experience. He is not a particularly pretty horse, especially when compared to AP. He is extraordinarily muscular and it is obvious that it will be months before he is no longer a race horse. He is anxious, restive and bores very easily. It is evident to me that there was and may still be a bit of a problem on his left rear. Could be just the hair, but it looked like he may have had a procedure of some kind. I could be dizzy with oxygen deprivation. I was very, very surprised that he was still wearing shoes! To me he looks tired and he may well be. 200 pounds and several months rest will make him a different horse. I really think we should all be glad that he survived. As far as ranking, well, he is in the top 13.

Manage

This is the only good photo (Including mine) that I have seen of Justify taken at Winstar.
I believe the photographer is Delana Harp Bryant.

These are my comments after seeing Justify:

I saw Justify today and I was not as impressed as I thought I might be. He is not as massive as he appears to be in most photographs, or when he is underway. The irony is that several others on the tour felt exactly the same. He also looks a little worse for wear to me, there is the cinch rub that you can see in this picture and you can tell something has been going on in the left hind. He is fit to the point of being almost too trim, perhaps a bit over trained, who knows? His muscularity is incredible however and his hind quarters are massive. His back legs have been criticized as "post legs" and having pasterns that are too upright. I looked and I looked again and I don't believe there is a major problem back there. He does have foot problems and Winstar are allowing him a lot of r & r. He seemed very restless, but you would expect that with his having so recently been in training. Part of what I observed may be answered by a comment made by the tour guide. When asked if he were being ridden, as half of the Winstar stallions are, she said that if he were saddled today he would mentally return to his last race, The Belmont. And then there is that biting thing. But when he puts on a couple of hundred pounds and is rested and begins to relax, he will be spectacular. By the way, his coat shimmers in the light. I saw both AP and CC shortly after they retired and just thought they came out of their careers in better physical shape. Mentally, who knows? They can't tell us what they are thinking or how they feel and that is the shame of it. All in all Justify is the Champ and I am still a fan.

As a horse racing fan, I am sure you have your own opinion regarding Justify and his place in horse racing history.

Listen to Larry Collmus' call of the last race of Justify's gloriously undefeated and all too short career. Pay attention to what he says of Justify as he crosses the finish line.

 "And now ,he's just immortal."

2018 Belmont Stakes with Larry Collmus' call.

Copyright September 17, 2018 by Loren SchumacherAll photo rights belong to the photographer.I will post my own shortly.