Blast from the Past
BLOOD-HORSE LIBRARY PHOTOS
and called Grinstead that evening to suggest “the Derby scene Art Sherman galloped Swaps as an 18-year-old for trainer was over.” Tat’s the way it looked until trainer Charlie Whit- Mesh Tenney and owner/breeder Rex Ellsworth and remembers tingham, who won the Derby with Ferdinand, said Stute should the horse this way: “He was one of a kind. Probably the fastest throw out the race and proceed forward. horse I ever sat on. He was a freak of a runner. I’ve never had Tat meant Snow Chief would go on to Pimlico Race Course a horse that worked as fast as he did, and then ran as fast as he to contest the Preakness. Sure enough, Snow Chief won the did in the afternoon. When I talked to ‘Shoe’ (riding legend Bill Preakness, and who was the victim? Ferdinand. Shoemaker), he said that he was the best horse he had ridden up And then there’s Bertrando, probably the only horse more to that point. Tat means a lot. known for how he lost two races than the many races and honors “He was strong to gallop, and when you clucked to him, you he won during the rest of his racing career. better be tied on because he really jumped. It was pure power. It He was the victim of one of the most spectacular swooping was a freaky experience for me being just 18 years old and just moves ever made, on the fnal turn, to get collared by the French horse Arazi in the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I). Even after 25 years, those who saw that move vividly remember it. Ironically, Bertrando was well clear of the rest of the feld. An eerily similar incident occurred two years later. Bertrando seemingly was on the way to victory in the 1993 Breeders’ Cup Classic before the 133-1 longshot Arcangues went fying past as the pair came to the wire. Among brighter days for Bertrando was his victory in the 1993 Pacifc Classic at Del Mar and the Eclipse Award that year as the nation’s top older male. Ultimately an earner of $3,185,610, Bertrando had a remarkable breeding career in California as well. Tough he died in 2014, his ofspring continue to make their mark, both on the track and in the breeding shed. Swaps and Native Diver might have much lower earnings compared to their younger counterparts, but they seldom brought up the rear in their racing careers, making them naturals for that pantheon of legendary Cal-bred Snow Chief, runaway victor in the 1986 Preakness Stakes on his way to a stars. After all, Swaps won the 1955 Kentucky Derby, as national championship and more than $3.8 million, ranks ffth on the earnings well 18 other races in 25 lifetime starts, and Native Diver, list the frst Cal-bred millionaire, won 37 times and fnished second seven times and third 12 times in 81 starts during the learning my ABCs. Tey would just tell me to work him easy. 1960s. But there was no working him easy.” Dan Smith, perhaps the closest thing to a racing encyclopedia, fondly remembers Native Diver both as a pretty spectacular racehorse and as one of California’s most popular horses. “He was a great horse,” said the former racetrack publicist for Santa Anita and Hollywood Park, and longtime publicist at Del Mar. “He was extremely popular—he was worth 5,000 to 10,000 fans at the gate. “He had brilliant speed and started out as a sprinter, but [trainer] Buster Millerick stretched him out successfully so that he became a great route horse, too. He would go to the lead and then take a little breather around the three-eighths pole. Once you allowed him to get the breather, it was very hard to catch him.” Te wily Whittingham realized that Native Diver tried to get that breather every race, so he would make sure his Pretense would go after him at that point. Tus, Pretense, who also had great speed, was able to beat Native Diver several times. Smith remembers that Native Diver was known by nearly all, but especially to Millerick and regular jockey Jerry Lambert, simA major player on the national racing scene and Horse of the Year in 1956, Swaps won the Kentucky Derby, above, putting the spotlight ply as “Te Black Horse.” on Cal-breds “Buster and Jerry just loved the horse,” Smith said. 46
CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED
❙ January 2017 ❙ www.ctba.com