The Unbeatable Horse

[Ollie]

A neophyte racing fan I had become friends with, described to me having a wonderful experience at racetrack, and had become friends with the Chief, and had become a frequent visitor at the Chief\'s barn. I asked the friend whether they had ever seen, and read, Haskin\'s marvelous article on the Chief, and one of his horses. They hadn\'t. So I printed out. The friend loved it, just as I had.

http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-racing-steve-haskin/archive/2008/08/04/The-Unbeatable-Horse.aspx


The friend\'s and my curiosity got the best of us, as we looked at each other and wondered whether the Chief had ever seen and read this article. The friend was going to visit the Chief\'s barn the coming weekend and promised to bring the article and show him. True to form about not reading one\'s press written about you, let alone believing any of it, the Chief told my friend that he had never, ever seen the article. The friend would tell me though, that the Chief did tell him that he liked the article after reading it.

[richiebee]

Ollie:

Finally got around to reading this. The events which were chronicled here took
place a little before I started following the game, but to show how much the game
has changed, note that Haskin comments that Prove Out had problem ankles and was
limited to making \"only\" 27 lifetime starts by the time he was halfway through
his 4YO season.

Today a 4YO with 27 lifetime starts would have to be considered an iron horse of
sorts.

Besides all the wonderful success the Chief had over the years, many New York
horseplayers will remember his unorthodox workouts (was not uncommon to see HAJ
horses work very briskly on the morning of the race, or some of his crack
sprinters work three eighths in 32 seconds and change) and that he had no
reluctance to use obscure riders (Noel Wynter a personal favorite of mine); I
also seem to recall that the Chief gave a lot of business to Robyn Smith (aka Mrs
Fred Astaire) at a time when female riders had not yet been fully accepted.

The Chief was also known for organizing and playing in rough football games with
some of his help, and I also came to learn that he had no problem hiring
backstretch castoffs and characters, and tolerated their idiosyncrasies so long
as they were dedicated to the horses in their care.

The article also mentions King Ranch. When I first began going to Belmont, in the
mid 1970s, my friends pointed out to me a splendidly dressed older woman who did
not look like she fit among the first floor grandstand riff raff; my friends
explained that this was the \"King Ranch\" lady, the owner of the famous Texas
spread and obviously very wealthy, who apparently enjoyed pushing four or five
dollars through the windows each race.

As to Prove Out, not many horses beat both Forego and Secretariat.

[Topcat]

richiebee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ollie:
>
> Finally got around to reading this. The events
> which were chronicled here took
> place a little before I started following the
> game, but to show how much the game
> has changed, note that Haskin comments that Prove
> Out had problem ankles and was
> limited to making \"only\" 27 lifetime starts by the
> time he was halfway through
> his 4YO season.
>
> Today a 4YO with 27 lifetime starts would have to
> be considered an iron horse of
> sorts.
>
> Besides all the wonderful success the Chief had
> over the years, many New York
> horseplayers will remember his unorthodox workouts
> (was not uncommon to see HAJ
> horses work very briskly on the morning of the
> race, or some of his crack
> sprinters work three eighths in 32 seconds and
> change) and that he had no
> reluctance to use obscure riders (Noel Wynter a
> personal favorite of mine); I
> also seem to recall that the Chief gave a lot of
> business to Robyn Smith (aka Mrs
> Fred Astaire) at a time when female riders had not
> yet been fully accepted.
>
> The Chief was also known for organizing and
> playing in rough football games with
> some of his help, and I also came to learn that he
> had no problem hiring
> backstretch castoffs and characters, and tolerated
> their idiosyncrasies so long
> as they were dedicated to the horses in their
> care.
>
> The article also mentions King Ranch. When I first
> began going to Belmont, in the
> mid 1970s, my friends pointed out to me a
> splendidly dressed older woman who did
> not look like she fit among the first floor
> grandstand riff raff; my friends
> explained that this was the \"King Ranch\" lady, the
> owner of the famous Texas
> spread and obviously very wealthy, who apparently
> enjoyed pushing four or five
> dollars through the windows each race.
>
> As to Prove Out, not many horses beat both Forego
> and Secretariat.


Those interested in more in this vein from the horse\'s mouth are urged to read the Saratoga Special daily, online (www.thisishorseracing.com), to read daily historical musings from the Chief, his own self . . . a graduate degree, in six+ weeks . . .

[Ollie]

Richie, the Chief was unorthodox, successful, and always seemed to give everybody a chance no matter how much experience and education they had about horses. Your description of his workouts is true --- he could do unusual, and what some might have considered questionable training methods but, people would just shake their heads at that particular approach in dis-belief. But, over time, they would become accustomed to it, and just remark, \"He did it again!\" They, and we, just got used to his unorthodox approaches and the success he achieved by approaching things differently. I think his son, Jimmy has \"inherited\" some of that.

I think you are referring to what I happen to consider \"American Racing Royalty\" with the descendants of the King Ranch Klebergs\' who are still very much involved in the sport of thoroughbred horseracing. Helen K. Groves, a daughter of Robert Kleberg (one of the brothers, who owned and ran King Ranch for a time), and Helen\'s daughters --- one of whom is married to Trainer Michael Matz. They still continue to breed and race some very good horses, in my opinion. I try to always watch out for their horses. The try to breed some good horses.