Skip to main content

Something Special


Of all the horses I ever wrote about, John Henry was the most memorable. John was a lot more than a champion. Even people who know very little about thoroughbred horse racing know the name John Henry. Like Seabiscuit, he was a people's horse. Like Seabiscuit, he wasn't much to look at, but he achieved immortality. John was just as ornery and unpredictable a any horse can be, but he had a presence that few people, let alone horses have. When John Henry died last month, at 32, there were fewer tears than memories. He lived a full life for a gelding and still entertained his adoring public at the Kentucky Horse Park until the end. Back in 1987 while covering stakes races for The Blood-Horse magazine, I had my 15 minutes with John Henry. In the days before the Golden Gate Handicap that year, I used my press credentials to visit John in his stall. He'd been reclusive that day because people were coming by on stable tours and media photo ops all week. But when everyone left, and I quietly talked to him, John came over and let me take a few photos. I know it's presumptuous to assume he did this for me. But that's how it went down. That's how John Henry operated. Ask anyone ever connected to him from owner, trainer, exercise rider, or groom. He was that kind of personality. Of course he went on to win that race and set a course record in the process. I recall how he'd walk out on the track for his workouts before the race and just stop and take in his surroundings. He had Gatsby's Platonic concept of the self. He enjoyed everything about the racing game and if any horse dared think he could pass John in the lane, he had a struggle coming. Given the current state of affairs where many promising horses are retired after their 3 year-old season, we'll never see another John Henry.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

To a Tee

 I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt.  They are the foundational garment of my life.  My day starts with selecting a t-shirt and it ends with sleeping in one.  Once thought of as under garments, t-shirts are now original art and no doubt, a billion dollar business.   You can get a t-shirt with anybody's picture displayed.  You can commemorate an event, a birthday, a death, even a specular play in any sport.  Family reunions usually have a commemorative t-shirt.  Also, any organization that solicits your support in the form of a donation is likely to offer you a t-shirt. Where once I only had the basic white t-shirt, my drawers are filled with all manner of colorful choices.  Some recognize major events in my life, some, spectacular performances or plays I have witnessed, and some unforgettable places I have been.   I say I'm a sucker for a good t-shirt because I have taken the bait on what I perceived as a must-have only to be disappointed. ...

Mr. Greene v. Mr. Brown

I want to tell you about something. Something I've carried inside myself for a number of years now. Perhaps if I were a different kind of person I wouldn't need to talk about it. I'm not. My need to tell it is stronger than your need to hear it. Because, however, there are a number of teachers and former students of mine who may read these meanderings from time to time, I need to tell this story all the more. About 7 or 8 years ago I was asked if I would allow a university PhD. candidate to observe an English class. At first I decided against it because I was scheduled to have a student teacher placed with me the second half of the semester in question. After some urging, however, at the request of a respected colleague, I agreed. Soon I was committing to extra meetings, signing documents and explaining to the class in question who the young woman who thoughtfully pounded away on a laptop in the rear of the classroom three times a week was. I knew that the topic of ...

Body Language

I'm sitting there in a hospital gown, waiting for my doctor to complete my yearly physical.  This is when I look at everything on the walls, read the medical posters, the instructions on any equipment in the room, look in every corner and behind every chair.  I study the paper on the examination table, laugh out loud at the picture of a smiling child holding a bouquet of broccoli, and the note the placement of the computer in the room. Finally, wondering if the gown I'm wearing is on correctly, I focus on myself.  At this point in my life I'm fairly comfortable in a doctor's office.  But it always seems to take so long when waiting for the doc to enter.  So I fidget.  Then I begin a tour of myself.  Scars are tattoos.  I look at the one on my knee and see myself at 12.  Whittling a piece of wood with my Boy Scout jack knife.  The blade slips and I cut a crescent slash through my jeans and into my flesh for life.  50 years later ...