John Henry (horse)
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John Henry, born in 1975, is a thoroughbred race horse named after the folk hero John Henry. As a youngster, the equine John Henry had a habit of tearing steel water and feed buckets off stall walls and stomping them flat. This reminded his then-owners of the legendary John Henry, who was known as a "steel-drivin' man". He was gelded both for his ornerinessEquus Magazine once sent a psychic to "commune" with John Henry. According to the psychic, John Henry who was a fractious colt, once saw another unmanageble colt killed in a nearby stall. This taught John Henry a valuable lesson. He was supposed to have said, "We have no real choices but one path to follow—pleasing humans. The only real win we have is our own survival." as well as his lack of breeding. A Golden Chance Farm foal, John Henry was from breeding that might best be described as plebeian. His sire, Ole Bob Bowers, once sold for just $900 and was not in much demand by breeders. His dam, Once Double, was an undistinguished runner and producer, but was sired by Double Jay, a brilliantly fast stakes winner who had proven to be a useful broodmare sire.
John Henry was sold as a yearling for $1,100 at the Keeneland January Mixed sale. Besides being back at the knee (a flaw in conformation that generally makes a long racing career unlikely), undersized, and plainly bred, John Henry had bashed his head in his stall just before being led to the ring, bloodying his face. Needless to say, he was not an attractive prospect From there, he was shuffled around through a series of owners and trainers, making his mark as a workmanlike racehorse who earned money in minor stakes, allowance races, and mid-level claiming races. One such allowance race took place at Saratoga Race Course on August 8, 1978. The race is of note in that John Henry finished behind Darby Creek Road who won in a track record time of 1:20 2/5 for 7 furlongs. Also of note was the fact that unknown to all attending that day, the race card featured two future Hall of Fame horses. At that point, John Henry was a nobody, but later on the card the great Affirmed scored a heart stopping victory in the Jim Dandy Stakes over the speedy Sensitive Prince.
Going to California
In 1979, John Henry was sent to the trainer Ron McAnally in California. (McAnally learned the trade under his uncle, Reggie Cornell, the trainer of the legendary Silky Sullivan.) Whether it was the hall-of-famer McAnally's handling of him, the change of scene from the east coast to the tracks in California, or just late maturing cannot be determined; but it was at this point that the small, plain, dark bay or brown gelding started hitting his stride.
Racing through the age of 9, John Henry became a force to be reckoned with in the handicap and turf stakes races of the time. He twice won the Santa Anita Handicap (once by disqualification) and twice won the Arlington Million Stakes. His final race record stood at 83 starts, 39 wins, 15 seconds, and 9 thirds with $6,497,947 in earnings. He was twice voted the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year.
Growing Old in Style
John Henry's owner, Sam Rubin, sent the gelded horse to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington to liveNo doubt because he was an unbreedable gelding, but also because he wasn't "nice." On more than one occasion, John Henry bit his owner, or anyone else within reach. in the Hall of Champions barn with other retired champions. In the annals of racing, John Henry earned his place of greatness through toughness, tenacity and hard work rather than intrinsic brilliance.
John Henry had many quirks that endeared him to his followers, not the least of which was the habit of turning towards the tote board after a victory as if checking the time of the race, or possibly the payoff. Regular rider Chris McCarron often described him as very smart, commenting: "I'm just along for the ride."
John Henry, in the view of many followers of thoroughbred racing, was one of the best come-from-behind horses (or "closers") in recent history. The only other horse comparable was aforementioned Silky Sullivan. In The Blood-Horse ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, John Henry was ranked #23.
John Henry is one of the longest lived race horses ever, currently 31 years old (he turned 31 on March 9, 2006). Race horses commonly live 15-20 years, a few reach 25, but very few reach 30.
John Henry was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1990.
John Henry's accomplishments
- Voted 7 Eclipse Awards
- Voted Horse of the Year 1981 and 1984
- Only horse to win Horse of the Year more than once but not in consecutive years
- Voted Champion Older Horse 1981
- Oldest horse to win Horse of the Year - at age 9
- Oldest horse to win a Grade 1 race - at age 9
- Voted Champion Turf Horse - 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984
- Won 30 stakes races
- Only horse to win the Arlington Million(G1) twice - 1981 & 1984
- One of only two horses to win the Santa Anita Handicap(G1) twice - 1981 & 1982
- Won more grade stakes than any other Thoroughbred - 25
- Voted racehorse of the decade for the 1980's
- Still the richest gelding of any breed in history
- Retired as the world's richest thoroughbred - July 28, 1985
- Inducted into Racing's Hall of Fame in 1990
- Voted 23rd best racehorse of the 20th Century
Footnotes
External links
- [John Henry's page in the Hall of Fame, with photo and videos]
- [Unofficial Thoroughbred Hall of Fame]
- [John Henry's pedigree]
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