My mission to solve the mystery of Nearctic began as a casual question: where was

Nearctic

Nearctic when the other horses were entering the starting gate for the 1957 Queen’s Plate?  He was, after-all, the most regally-bred horse in the country.  I knew that his owner, EP Taylor, had gone to great lengths, and expense, to acquire Nearctic’s dam, Lady Angela from England; and even greater lengths and expense to negotiate the mating that would produce Nearctic.

Other than that, and that he sired Northern Dancer, I knew little about Nearctic.  I was a youngster when Nearctic raced and not long after his son won the Kentucky Derby, Nearctic was exiled to Maryland to stand at Mrs. DuPont’s Woodstock Farm.

I was writing a lengthy piece for my series, Supreme, for leading Japanese magazine, Weekly Gallop.  I was at the part where EP Taylor and his wife,Winifred, not only each had their own racing stables, they each had a horse entered in the 1957 Queen’s Plate.  Chopadette was owned by Mrs. Taylor and he owned Lyford Cay.  The good-natured rivalry between husband and wife was often reported by Canada’s sports writers.

EP Taylor offered to buy Lyford Cay’s jockey, Avelino Gomez, a brand new Cadillac if his horse won the race.  He did.  Mrs. Taylor’s Chopadette was second.  Avelino Gomez was soon driving a black Cadillac, the size of a yacht around the backstretch.

Both Lyford Cay and Chopadette were born of Windfields crop of 1954.  As was Nearctic.  I knew he had raced at two and won stakes both in Canada and US.  It was at this juncture I asked the question: “What happened to Nearctic?”

I thought finding the answer would be simple.  I was wrong…. to be continued

The seeds that grew into Dark Horse took root when I was presented with two distinct

Val d’Argent

challenges:  a young horse, and an old mystery.  The two entered my life almost in tandem.  Initially I thought I would solve both reasonably quickly.  I was wrong.

The young horse: Val d’Argent, proved extremely difficult to handle.  He appeared to either dislike, or fear humans.  Likely with good cause, hence always ready to attack or defend himself.  In the early days, when I entered Val’s stall, I left the door slightly ajar, lest I had to make a hasty exit.

The old mystery did not unfold much more smoothly, but somewhere along the line I came to understand that the horse and the mystery were connected.

Val d’Argent’s dam, French Influence, was a Northern Dancer granddaughter; his sire, Silver Deputy, a great grandson of Northern Dancer. It had not occurred to me to go back one more generation: back to Nearctic.

Still, getting to the truth about Nearctic was almost as challenging as attempting to lay a brush on Val d’Argent’s bristly hide… to be continued

There are many, many stages in the writing and the publishing of books: the glimmer of an idea; research; more research; the first draft; second draft; third draft.  This afternoon my latest book, Secret life of horses, entered the next stage when it went out to the “readers” for their input.  Phew.

So now I will have a little time on my hands before entering the next phase: working with my editor.  Hence, since we all are still in some form of isolation, I thought it would be a good time to share the various, and sometimes rocky, paths my other books have taken.

While Northern Dancer: the legend and his legacy, with over a million readers, is the most widely read, likely the most important work is Dark Horse: unraveling the mystery of Nearctic.  It is also, in my opinion, as book that everyone with an interest in Thoroughbreds should read, because almost 100% descend from this one aristocratic stallion.

Not long into the research of Dark Horse, I was astonished to discover that very little was known of this very important horse.  Later I would discover that there were people that did not want this story told.  Indeed, there are parts to this plot that would make my friend and bestselling author, the late Dick Francis, advise me, one more time, to turn my talents to writing fiction.

Perhaps I shall, but in the meantime, and while I await the verdicts of the Secret life of horses “readers,” I will share the story behind the story of Dark Horse.

At this moment on our planet, we have to be content with memories.  And surely our horses have provided us with a slew of great moments to remember.  How about starting with Cigar, for it was on this date, 27 March 1996, this magnificent grandson of The Minstrel, won the inaugural Dubai World Cup.

Cigar

The basis for my book “Rivers of Gold” was an article I was asked to write about Canada’s contribution to the gene pool for Thoroughbred Times.  The magazine titled the series Canadian Saga, yet it was inspired by the great US Champion Cigar.

The year was 1996.  Woodbine was hosting the Breeders’ Cup.  Cigar was the headliner.  I was now writing for the Japanese magazine, Gallop, and had fairly camped out in the stable area.

Physically Cigar was perfection.  When an equine conformation expert measured and scanned Cigar’s superstructure the big bay colt was awarded an A+ placing him in the top 3% of all Thoroughbreds.  According to his jockey, Gerry Bailey, it was Cigar’s efficiency of motion that set him apart.  Ordinary horses were always expending much more energy simply to keep up…. to be continued

Following the lengthy van ride, the son of Fleur and Northern Dancer and the other Windfields youngsters had settled into their stalls in the stable area just north of the Keeneland Sales Pavilion.

Rivers of Gold

Among the prospective buyers wandering up and down the aisles was a group of Irish horse traders led by Vincent O’Brien.  The troupe following behind the Irish trainer that muggy July day included O’Brien’s son-in-law, John Magnier, and British betting pools heir, Robert Sangster.

When Nijinsky was retired from racing Irish and English syndicates set out to raise money to have the horse stand at stud on their side of the Atlantic.  Nijinsky’s owner, Charles Englehard, dismissed their efforts.  He wanted Nijinsky in the US.  For the Irish, who have reigned as the world’s most eminent horse traders since God was a boy, Nijinsky was perfection.

Because Nijinsky had been purchased at the Canadian horse auction, they reasoned there had to be more horses of his scope and caliber.  Before long they had hatched a plan to mine North American auctions for colts with the potential to be the next Nijinsky.

Contrary to Eddie Taylor’s philosophy (he generally only bought fillies at auction), they had no interest in anything but colts.  Where Taylor was in the game for the long term in breeding great horses, it would appear that the Irish prospectors were more interested in immediate return on investment

With Sangster’s money and O’Brien’s shrewd eye, they would buy these ‘baby stallions’ before the horses began racing.  Should they excel, as in the case of Nijinsky, their syndicate would profit greatly.  Optimistically, Magnier began building Coolmore, the farm of his dreams, and Sangster was dispatched to raise the necessary millions to fuel their expedition….”  to be continued

from “Rivers of Gold

At the moment I am in the final stages of my latest book, Secret Life of Horses, born of my 12 year tenure as rider-in-residence at Windfields Farm estate, home of Eddie EP and Winifred Taylor.

EP Taylor and the author

(Windfields also home to Northern Dancer, and Nearctic and Nijinsky and The Minstrel, etc., etc.)

While there are countless challenges to writing a memoir, what I find most remarkable is the opportunity to revisit the past, from the perspective of the future.  For example: little did any of us know that The Minstrel would play such a pivotal role in the history of Thoroughbred horse racing.

Perhaps the only person to really see The Minstrel’s brilliance was Taylor.   But then, I would learn through writing about the man; and spending time working with him in creating the Jockey Club of Canada; and riding around the estate and environs with him; and travelling with him and his extraordinary wife; that when it came to seeing horses – from the inside out;  Eddie Taylor was like a human diving rod.

Meanwhile back at The Golden Colt from Rivers of Gold:  “..The day the colt (The Minstrel) was to leave for the Keeneland Sale Rolph de Gannes (Windfields resident vet) and his assistant set out to administer precautionary traveling medications.  At the time the belief was that the stress of long distance transport would cause shipping fever or a build-up of bad bacteria in the intestines of the horse.  Standard procedure was to line the stomach with oil which was passed into the animal’s system via a tube.

The colt fought and fought.  Eventually de Gannes and his assistant simply gave up before someone got hurt.  The colt was walked up the ramp to the waiting van.  The destiny of the Thoroughbred was about to take a turn and our Rivers of Gold would overflow their banks.  This golden colt would show the world what our Canadian hybrid horses were made of….”

…to be continued

Had it not been for The Minstrel the world of the Thoroughbred would be a very different place.  Yet, none of this might have happened because, the night before he was to be shipped to the Kentucky sales, he went rogue.

Let’s pick up the story from Rivers of Gold:

The Minstrel

“In the fall of 1974 Eddie Taylor agreed to send a small consignment of yearlings to the July sale at Keeneland.  Based on his stellar bloodlines, the son of Fleur and Northern Dancer (The Minstrel) was among the youngsters chosen to represent Windfields.

From the night he was born the colt was a handful.  Bursting with nervous energy, he was as tough as they come.  As with his sire and grandsire (Nearctic) and his great-grandsire (Nearco), he was independent and willful to an extreme.

Late one evening in the summer of 1975, just prior to the yearlings being loaded on the Windfields 12-horse van bound for the US, the night watchman sounded an emergency alert.  A lone horse had been spotted galloping wildly around the farm and was last seen darting into he woods behind one of the barns.  There were about 600 horses to consider, but a quick check revealed an open stall door in one of the yearling barns.  The former inhabitant, and now the freely about the 1500 acres, was the son of Fleur and Northern Dancer.  Most of the staff lived on the farm and before long everyone, including resident veterinarian, Doctor Rolph deGannes, was mobilized:

“We searched the entire yearling side of the farm, but to no avail.  I had been preparing to euthanize an aged, ailing mare.  Staff had dug a 12 foot deep grave about 100 yards behind her barn.  The yearling manager was driving around that particular barn when something glistened in the truck lights.”

Standing on the rim of the open pit was the yearling son of Fleur and Northern Dancer.  Presumably he’d traveled many miles and enjoyed many adventures in the past few hours and was now prepared to return to the comfort of his stall…”

…to be continued.  and more adventures to follow

When considering horse racing and the challenges at this time, particularly in North America, I marvel at those important turning points in history.  While it may not have been considered momentous in the moment, the number of these turning points in the history of The Minstrel are uncanny.

The Minstrel
by Richard Stone Reeves

Of course, while Northern Dancer, was an  extraordinary sire, its unlikely he would have had the same global impact were it not for The Minstrel.  So to look at the next crisis involving The Minstrel we return to Rivers of Gold:

“… Fearful she (Fleur, dam of The Minstrel) would abort, (Windfields resident veterinarian) Rolph deGannes prescribed a powerful non-steroid painkiller to ease her pain.  DeGannes also treated her with warm compresses and massage therapy.  It was almost a month before Fleur was able to bear weight on the leg and could walk out into a small paddock adjacent to the barn by herself.  As it turned out the injury was to the supra-scapula nerve at the point of the shoulder.  The combination of painkillers, compresses and massage got the nerves working again.

All seemed to be going well until Fleur was about to give birth.  The drugs they used at the onset of the injury had turned the amniotic sac into an impenetrable wall.  DeGannes received an emergency phone call from the foaling barn at 2:00a.m.  A quick exam led him to understand the foal simply could not break through.  Eventually, with a little help from deGannes, the tiny chestnut colt with four white socks emerged.  Later deGannes weighed the afterbirth.  Where the average weight is about 12-15 pounds; this one weighed 39 pounds.”

… to be continued.  still more drama ahead

Page 150 Rivers of Gold: “In the theatre of the Thoroughbred The Minstrel deserves top-billing.  Where Nijinsky set the stage, The Minstrel put the show on the road.

Flaming Page and Fleur

The equine version of Midas, The Minstrel fueled the illusion their sire, Northern Dancer, was more valuable than gold.  This saga, in its entirety, is chronicled in The horse and the tiger.  Born of the converging of Canadian genetic streams, The Minstrel’s dam is a daughter of Flaming Page…

Flaming Page bore 3 foals: Nijinsky, his full-brother Minsky (Irish two year old Champion), and her 3rd and final foal, a filly named Fleur.

The filly’s sire was Victoria Park-the stellar Canadian racehorse, brimming with character and blistering speed.  Fleur won a few races and before long had joined the herds of Windfields mares. In the spring of 1973 she was bred to Northern Dancer.. yet that she actually gave birth to this foal is another miracle.

Windfields made it a practice to group pregnant mares according to similar due date.  Fleur was turned out among the herd of mares grazing leisurely in the ‘Dead Tree’ paddock, which derived its name from an ancient oak tree that had fallen against the four-board fence.  About a week after she arrived it was discovered Fleur was lame and unable to move.  Windfields resident veterinarian, Rolph deGannes, was called immediately: “We had to send a two-horse trainer into the field to bring her into the barn.  I suspected a fractured shoulder, but x-rays were negative.”

…to be continued

Over the past few weeks I have been pondering Dr. Emmeline Hill’s recent findings that 97% of Thoroughbreds descend from Canada’s Northern Dancer.  Which led me to his Canadian son, The Minstrel.  Years ago I was rider-in-residence at Windfields estate, which meant that I schooled the horses and accompanied Eddie Taylor whenever he wished to ride – which was frequently

The Minstrel

And am reminded of the day that Taylor had just returned from Saratoga where, amid the excitement of the races and the sales, he had been selling breeding rights to The Minstrel.

Taylor had been to the stables looking for me, when I rounded the corner and we almost collided.  “Ah there you are,” he said.  “I’ve been looking all over… I just wanted to tell you that I know you are going to like The Minstrel.  He’s is so much like Northern Dancer.”

He then went on to tell me about selling shares in the colt: a colt incidentally that was born on his Windfields Farm and ended up being purchased by the Irish syndicate for $200,000.  The colt would win the Guineas and The Derby and Taylor eventually paid $4.5 million for half the 36 shares in The Minstrel and on the grounds the he would return to North America to stand at stud at Taylor’s Maryland farm.

And this, I believe, not only proved to be a major turning point in in Northern Dancer’s dominance in the gene pool, but the history of the Thoroughbred.  So for the next few blogs I will be offering snippets of this, one of the most extraordinary stories in Thoroughbred history with excerpts from both Rivers of Gold, and The horse and the tiger. 

… to be continued