Muriel Lennox's Blog, page 4

Northern Dancer: the revolution and the turning point – continued

Since heeding jockey Gary Stevens ‘revolution’ call, I have been pondering how the heck North American horse racing arrived at this juncture.  No doubt there were signposts all along the way, but it appears they were ignored.  Back when I was covering horseracing we were blessed with super-stars like Nijinsky and Secretariat and Cigar and Seattle Slew and our articles filled the sports pages.  And there were so many amazing writers covering the sport.  In Canada we had Jim Coleman, Trent Frayne, Milt Dunnell, Peter Gzowski, Jim Hunt, and on and on.  And I wonder what they would be thinking of this situation.

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Northern Dancer: legend and legacy: Muriel Lennox

But what I do know, is at this ‘Northern Dancer turning point’, when people went from seeing horses as an expensive hobby, to looking to make vast fortunes from these animals, the landscape changed.  ‘Horse racing’ became the ‘horse industry,’ and before long, except for the big glamourous races, disappeared from the sports pages.

Meanwhile back at the piece from Northern Dancer: the legend and his legacy that I wrote over 25 years ago

“… The run on the limited number of Northern Dancer offspring became so outrageous that Northern Dancer’s worth as a stallion eventually far surpassed any possible dollar value.

It was as if humanity’s age-old love affair with the horse had taken a quantum leap into the bizarre.  As the passion escalated, Thoroughbred racing shifted from sport to big business.  Outcomes of the yearling sales were analyzed and reported in the Wall Street Journal.  It must have been confusing for market analysts accustomed to more commonplace commodities: spending millions on Thoroughbred babies made no sense, since the horses could not win back anywhere near their owner’s investment.  There was no guarantee that these expensive horses would get to the racetrack, much less win a race.

It didn’t matter.  Not only did Northern Dancer sire exceptional racehorses, he passed on his genetic supremacy.  Many of his offspring proved to be sires and dams of yet another generation of great champions.  Owners may have paid millions for Northern Dancer yearlings, but a number of the colts were syndicated for up to 10 times the original investment.  And in the process, the structure and destiny of Thoroughbred racing changed drastically.”  …. to be continued

Northern Dancer, the ‘revolution,’ and the turning point

Where to begin?  How about something I wrote 25 years ago in Northern Dancer: the legend and his legacy:

“Northern Dancer’s return to the National Stud Farm not only symbolized fulfillment of the dream to raise a Kentucky Derby winner on the farm’s abundant pastures, it proved to be a turning point in the history of the Thoroughbred.

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Northern Dancer: legend and legacy: Muriel Lennox

Northern Dancer stood at the vertex between the past and the future of racing and breeding.  He was born of the past – a young man’s passion for Thoroughbreds and  an old man’s wish that his beloved farm not be destroyed by real-estate developers.

He emerged from an age in which owning Thoroughbreds was an expensive hobby and great fortunes were spent maintaining the horses and stables.  Yet Northern Dancer played the pivotal role in changing the Thoroughbred game to one in which horses were a commodity more valuable than gold, and in which the new breed of owner set out to make vast fortunes from these animals.

It was during the mid-1970 that the focus shifted from spending fortunes on horses to making fortunes on horses.  Money was in ample supply, and the players in this new game were looking for a return on investment.  They put their money on Northern Dancer.  By some mystery of nature, he was inordinately prepotent.  At the time there were 7,000 Thoroughbred stallions at stud in the US alone, yet none rivalled Northern Dancer as a sire of winners and champions…”

(an old man’s wish refers to Col Sam MacLaughlin who practically gave his beloved Parkwoods Stable to Eddie Taylor with the promise it would continue as a horse farm.  As Taylor already had built a farm, the magnificent Windfields, to house his own horses, he would turn MacLaughlin’s farm into the National Stud.  The farm would prove a font of spectacular horses.  Colonel Sam would have been so pleased.  Today, however, the once lush green paddocks and meadows are covered in row upon row of housing development.  I suspect Colonel Sam would not be pleased.)

….to be continued

 

Northern Dancer and the “revolution”

This past week jockey Gary Stevens asserted that this is “time for a revolution to save our sport.”  He was, of course, referring to horseracing across North America and innumerable challenges facing the sport, the most significant of which is the mounting death toll of innocent horses.

 

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Northern Dancer
Doug Saunders photo

The first logical step would be the formation of a governing body, as there is in every major horse racing jurisdiction on the planet.  Yet, if I were a betting person, I’d say the odds at this time in history are poor.

Prior to Stevens “revolution” statement our local book store asked to sell gift sets of my books.   This caused me to stop what I was doing (writing yet another book) and ponder the books in the gift set.  At this point I began to realize that while I don’t have any answers to the current situation, between my entire work of 5 books, they form a kind of panorama of the sport.

In this instance there is the expression: “to ignore history is to be condemned by it.”  Hence, over the next while, I plan to revisit the books and the history therein, looking for anything: from the smallest item, to major turning points, to help us see how things have arrived at this point.

I personally have been so privileged to have experienced the sheer joy of being in the presence of Northern Dancer and Nijinsky and Secretariat, so many great horses – and to have lived at Windfields and worked for, and with, Eddie EP and Winifred Taylor.  And I am reminded that when horseracing in Ontario was on the brink of extinction, Eddie Taylor stepped up and overhauled the entire sport.

So while the dilemma facing horseracing today seems somewhat daunting,  I not only agree with Gary Stevens, I do not wish to sit idly by and do nothing.

My first insight is found in Northern Dancer: the legend and his legacy. … to be continued

 

 

Rivers of Gold – excerpts:part 24

(Inspired in part by jockey Gary Stevens and his call for a horseracing “revolution” in North America this morning, I plan to make this piece the final Rivers of Gold blog.  At least for now.  If readers are hooked I suggest buying the electronic version – because it brings a lot of fun to this history of extraordinary horses; or buy the paper version; or the Northern Dancer trilogy gift set and get Rivers for free. (info elsewhere on this site.)

Indeed, both the trilogy and Rivers are also catalysts to this decision.  The trilogy, at some level, chronicles how horseracing arrived at this crossroads.  Rivers takes us further back in time – back to previous crises, and into a time when horseracing was the most popular sport in North America.  But first, back to anti-racing legislation..)

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Rivers of Gold

“…Then in1908 there was a poisoning attempt when the anti-racing measures came before Louisana legislature.

“The Locke Bill, as the Louisiana measure was called, looked to be a dead-heat in the morning and it was reported that someone doped the food of two senators who favoured its passage,”reported William Robertson.  “Sick as they were they showed up in the legislature the next day and survived a long harangue calculated to wear them out until 3:00 pm at which time a voted was forced; prodded by their cohorts they were barely able to raise their heads and utter a feeble “aye” as the measure went through, 21 to 19…”

The collateral damage created by the anti-horseracing legislation was far-ranging and enormous.  The number of US tracks was reduced to 25 from 314 ten years earlier.  Then there were the horses.  While racing was being waged almost daily demand for horses was almost insatiable.  Breeding operations, from palatial Kentucky horse farms to backyard operations, had sprung up to meet the requirement.  Now with no place to race the horses, the market dried up

For some owners like Ed Corrrigan, the swashbuckling tycoon, it was the end of the ride.  His horseracing conglomerate included interests in a collection of tracks from Chicago to California; a 500 acre Kentucky breeding farm; and a stable of 80 racehorses.  He sold everything in order to pay his debts to his principal creditor, “Bet-a-million” Gates.  Within a year Corrigan lost everything…”

…. we will be back this week with the new blog focus

 

 

 

 

 

Rivers of Gold – excerpts: part 23

The anti-racing legislation in the US was born of a brand of wild west lawlessness: “In the later part of the 19th century the sport had grown so rapidly,” explains William Robertson, “and in such a helter-skelter fashion that it got out of hand.  Racetracks were popping up like dandelions all over the country and many of them tried to milk a good thing beyond reason.”

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Rivers of Gold

In 1847 there were 314 tracks in the US and 43 in Canada.  Some operators were running races year round.  Horses were frequently pushed beyond their limits.  There was the fighting.  Often tracks operated in direct competition with neighbouring tracks all the while attempting to seduce bettors and horse owners.

Corruption and nefarious activities were rampant.  In the midst of the shenanigans there was “Big Ed” Corrigan, owner of Hawthorne Park in the Chicago area.  To eliminate the competition, Garfield Park, he instigated an all-out armed conflict.  It seems Corrigan managed to finagle the mayor of Chicago into the merits of cracking down on Garfield Park, which was in the city limits, and leave Corrigan’s Hawthorn alone.

On 6 September 1892 an army of several hundred Chicago police converged on Garfield Park.  During the ensuing raid the officers rounded up and arrested patrons, track officials, horsemen and jockeys, some of whom were loaded into the paddy wagons still wearing colourful racing silks.

Among the indignant patrons herded into wagons was James Brown, a former Texas sheriff, who presumably did not turn in his gun along with his badge when he retired.  IN the ensuing brouhaha Brown shot and killed 2 police officers before he was gunned down.  The gates to Garfield Park were never to reopen….”   to be continued

Rivers of gold – excerpts: part 22

(Throughout my career as author, feature writer at both North America and Japanese magazines, and editor of the horseracing magazine, I occasionally came across the Jersey Act.  Yet didn’t seem to pertain directly to anything I was writing about, hence, ignored it.

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Rivers of Gold

Tracking Canada’s Rivers of Gold I decided to leave no stone unturned.  Which led me to William Robertson’s marvelous work: The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America.  Brilliantly written and researched, reading Robertson is like taking a time-machine back to the days when horseracing in North America ruled as the continent’s number one and favourite sport.   Indeed, the first edition this book was first published in 1964, the year our Northern Dancer triumphed in the Kentucky Derby.)

“… The Jersey Act effectively dismissed the vast majority of American horses as half-breds.  Lexington was among the casualties.  Despite his strong ties to horses in the original General Stud Book through Diomed (both Lexington’s sire and dam were descendants) British authorities deemed the breeding of Lexington’s dam to be suspect.  Hence Lexington would be dismissed as a half-breed as long as the Jersey Act remained in force.

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Lexington

While designed to keep the Thoroughbred blood pure, it also had economic undertones.  The outlawing of racetrack betting in the US (1900-1913) resulted in an influx of American horses being shipped to the UK to race.

In some quarters the scenario gave rise to fears Britain would be inundated by “impure” US bloodlines.  Not only would this possibly taint the British, hence pure bloodlines, it also had the probability of affecting the bottom-lines.

“The reaction of most Americans to this demeaning classification was mild to begin with,” wrote William Robertson in The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America,”… but indignation increased over the years as the Act remained in force when there no longer was any need for it.”

to be continued… lawlessness and anti-racing legislation

Rivers of Gold – excerpts: part 21

( Did you know that Rivers of gold is interactive?  Hence not only easily read on electronic devices like iphones and ipads, but stories come to life: horses and races from days long past.  The idea began with Cigar.  While words are the authors tools, there is nothing like re-witnessing the beauty and the power of these magnificent animals.  And in the case of Cigar, his absolute physical supremacy and his ease of movement.

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Rivers of Gold

So, when discussing this with our book designer, she suggested we include these great moments in horse racing.  And so we did.   It proved a tall order, which is likely why no one else has attempted it.  Still, from my perch, the horses are not only the stars of the show, but far more interesting than our human shenanigans.

Indeed, in tracking these Rivers of Gold, hence history of the Thoroughbred in North America, I marvel that the story turned out as well as it did.  Beyond the horses being conscripted to carry soldiers to war, there was the Jersey Act and Anti-racing legislation in the US.)

“… The British not only created the Thoroughbred, they set out to create a sense of order and rules of conduct.  To that end, James Weatherby, Secretary to the British Jockey Club published the inaugural General Stud Book in 1793.  The 400 mares and stallions listed therein are considered the foundation stock for Thoroughbreds world wide.  Under contract to the British Racing Authority, Weatherby’s descendants have recorded bloodlines and produced these books every 4 years since.

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general stud book

In 1913 Senior Steward, Lord Villers, proposed admission to the General Stud book be limited to progeny of horses already on record: “traced without flaw on both sire’s and dam’s side of its pedigree to horses and mares themselves already accepted in the earlier volumes of the book.”  As His Lordship was in line to be dubbed Earl of Jersey, his proposal was named the “Jersey Act.”

…. the Act caused considerable grief to North American breeders

Rivers of Gold – excerpts: part 20

(The first really significant gold strike occurred when I discovered Robert Alexander, the most important horse breeder in the US 150 years ago, sent many of his good horses to Canada during the Civil War.  The next was that the dynamic stallion, Lexington, factored in so many of these sturdy bloodlines.)

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Rivers of Gold

“… Alexander moved Lexington to his Woodburn Farm, about 10 miles wet of the town of Lexington, Kentucky.  While Woodburn would go down in history as the cradle of Kentucky’s Thoroughbred breeding business, it also was the birthplace of the Standardbred horse.  But through it all the farm was best know as home to Lexington, who became known as ‘The Blind Hero of Woodburn.”

Lexington was 15 at the outset of the American Civil War.  Despite Kentucky officially declaring neutrality at the outset of the conflict, and Alexander being British by birth, Woodburn found itself under siege any number of times.  Alexander’s horses were extremely well-bred and no doubt generals on both sides were looking to conscript these animals.

Alexander would have none of it and shipped many of his best horses to Canada, but he was not inclined to take the risk with Lexington.  Instead he chose to hide him away, safe from those who would attempt to commandeer or harm his aging and blind stallion.

Named leading sire 16 times in his lifetime, the vast majority of US horses were related to Lexington.  Needless-to-say, countless genetic traces of Lexington will have been embedded throughout all the Rivers of Gold.  Indeed, a search deep into the distant ancestors of Northern Dancer will find sightings of Lexington.

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Lexington

Curiously, the British did not consider Lexington to be a bona fide Thoroughbred.

…to be continued

Rivers of Gold – excerpts: part 19

(I still find it extraordinary that British horse breeders turned their backs on Diomed.  But then, no one wanted to buy Northern Dancer.  Perhaps when it comes to seeing the soul of a horse we humans are not always as clever as we think. Still in the case of Diomed things certainly worked out well for North Americans. )

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Lexington

“… Born in Kentucky in the spring of 1850, Lexington (Doimed’s great-great grandson)started his racing days under the name Darley.  He won his first two races easily for his owner/breeders, Dr. Elisha Warfield and his partner “Burbridges Harry,” a well-known horse trainer and former slave.  Because Burbridges was black he was not allowed to race horses in his own name, so the colt ran in the name and colours of Dr. Warfield.

Before long the horse caught the attention of a group of Kentuckians who offered $2500 for the colt.  The deal was apparently struck during the running of the race, or between heats of the race, so the syndicate attempted to claim the winners purse.  When that didn’t fly they tried to deduct the purse from their purchase price.  That didn’t work either.  Eventually they were forced to pay full fare.

The syndicate changed the colt’s name to Lexington and shipped him to Mississippi.  The colt only raced 7 times but most of these events were grueling 4-mile marathons.  Considered the best racehorse of his generation, Lexington won 6 and was second in the other.  His racing days, however, were cut short due to impending blindness, likely caused by a massive facial infection.

Lexington was retired from racing in 1855 and stood for a time at Nantura Stock Farm.  Three years later, Robert Alexander purchase him for $15,000, considered an outrageous amount at the time – especially for a blind horse….

… to be continued

Rivers of Gold – excerpts: part 18

“… Since British horses breeders refused to send their mares to Diomed, Bunbury put the aging stallion up for sale.  Diomed was 21 years old when Colonel Hoomes purchased him for $250.  In horse years 21 is old.  Nonetheless Diomed was loaded on a ship bound for America.

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Diomed

At the time stallions were walked or ridden from farm to farm.  Diomed, no doubt pleased with his new career, trotted proudly up and down the dirt road of Virginia visiting farm upon farm, servicing countless mares.  Diomed diligently continued his stallion duties until he died at 31.  Along the way he sired some of the most significant American Thoroughbreds, including Sir Archy who’s descendants included Lexington, leading US sire.

Extremely popular among Virginia’s horse owners, at Diomed’s death it was reported, “…there was as much mourning over his demise and there was at the death of George Washington.”

Diomed’s bloodlines were stellar.  His ancestors were among the horses in the first edition of the General Stud Bok.  In other words, the crème de la crème.  Both his sire and dam were direct descendants of the Godolphin Arabian, one of the foundation stallions.  Diomed’s dam also traces to the Darley Arabian, another of the 3 original stallions.  Both Diomed’s parents descend from Flying Childers, considered to be the first great racehorse.

No doubt the genes of Diomed were part of the makeup of countless horses providing the river beds of our Canadian genetic streams.  The principal connection was through the stallion Lexington, Diomed’s great-great-grandson…

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Rivers of Gold

… to be continued