Today John Henry was euthanized at the Kentucky Horse Park, at the venerable age of 32. He was an amazing gelding who was only 15.1 hands, but a whole lot of champion. I have seen this gentleman at the Hall of Champions a few times, and was grateful for the experience.
He was foaled on March 9, 1975 at Golden Chance Farms, and was a "small, ugly, and bad-tempered" foal who was sold at Keeneland for $1,100. He was so naughty and destructive of his stall property that he was gelded and sold for $2,200. But then finally, he was purchased by his family, the Rubins, for $25,000 and sent to train with Ron McAnally who trained him with "carrots, apples and love!"
John Henry raced for 8 years, between 1977-1984, earning more than $6.5 million, and earning the Eclipse Horse of the Year Award twice!
His final record was 83: 39-15-9. He earned 7 Eclipse Awards and voted Champion Older Horse. He was the oldest horse to win Horse of the Year at age 9, and oldest horse to win a Grade 1 race at the age of 9. He was the Champion Turf Horse in 1980, 1981, 1982, and 1984. He won 30 stakes races. And is the only horse to win the Arlington Million (G1) twice and the only horse to win the Santa Anita Handicap twice!! He has won more graded stakes than any other thoroughbred in history. Not surprisingly, he was voted Race Horse of the Decade for the 1980s. And is still the richest gelding of any breed in history! He was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1990, and was voted #23 of the Top 100 race horses of the 20th century! When he retired in 1985, he was the highest money-earning American thoroughbred in history! He was retired to the Kentucky Horse Park, along with his famous buddy, Cigar and has received his adoring public for 22 years! His family and close friends visited him often, with his trainer Ron McAnally and his exercise rider of 6 years visiting him just this past September. He was failing in health over the past few weeks, and took a bad turn over the weekend. He lost considerable weight and was in kidney failure. The KHP executive director, John Nicholson, said, "John Henry was a testament to the fact that a horse's value is far greater than the sum of his pedigree, conformation, sales price, and race record."
John Henry's dad has passed away, so a son said today that his mother and stepfather, Rubin, "loved sharing John's victories with his adoring fans and we appreciate their devotion even to this sad day. We are sure that if Sam Rubin were here today, he and my mother, Dorothy, would agree that their wish would be for John Henry to be rememberd as the mighty cantankerous champion we all loved."
My girls' share many relations with this champion, and I am sure that you can see that he and Hailee share their looks! Some of their shared family members are Princequillo, Bull Lea, Whisk Broom, Mahmoud, Blenheim, Mah Mahal, Blue Larkspur, Bubbling Over, Man 'O War, and Black Toney.
Here are photos of John with Bill Shoemaker up! Rest in peace, you honored creature!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_(horse)
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=93