This Side Up: Third Coast Supplies Extra Dimension

The world we share with these amazing animals may be an ever-changing one, but its mysteries abide. We consider ourselves ever more knowledgeable, ever more certain, riding the slipstream of science. Yet how much do we truly know, when Afternoon Deelites holds out for all those years and then waits just six days before following his owner to whatever shore may (or may not) lie beyond the horizon of life?

The same journey was made this week by the trainer of Alydar. John Veitch laid the ground for the greatest Triple Crown campaign of any horse that never won a Triple Crown race by giving him 10 starts as a juvenile. Curiously, however, trainers of the succeeding generation appear to have decided either that they have found a better way; or at least that the materials provided, since breeding became an almost exclusively commercial enterprise, are no longer equal to the same kind of treatment.

Trainers today map out the road to the Derby with two priorities: minimize gas consumption, and avoid traffic. That way, they feel, their charges can reach Churchill with a relatively full tank and pristine engine. But the fact is that you always feel able to drive a car more aggressively once it has taken a few bumps and scratches. And you also learn far more about its capacity and response if you have repeatedly had to accelerate or brake to get out of trouble, as compared with cruising along an open road and every six weeks overtaking a laboring truck while barely changing gear.

In the prevailing environment, then, we must give credit to the people at Fair Grounds for redressing the shortfall in conditioning by extending the distance of all three legs of their trials program. If horses can no longer get the kind of mental and physical foundation they once derived from sheer volume of racing, then at least they can have a little more aggregate. With a field of 14, moreover, the GII Risen Star S. is meanwhile guaranteed to steepen the learning curve.

 

 

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Saturday will be only the fourth time the race has been run over this extra 1/16th, yet its last two winners have both gone on to finish second in the Derby. One, of course, was actually promoted to first place; while much the same was done for the other by voters at the recent Eclipse Awards.

To be fair, the Risen Star was already on a roll, having lately produced a GI Preakness winner, the phenomenal Gun Runner and the promising stallion Girvin. Between here and Oaklawn, then, you won't find many handicappers nowadays still reducing the quest for the Derby winner to the two dimensions of East and West Coasts. Paradoxically, however, I feel that a still better way to regenerate the Triple Crown trail lurks right at the other end of the spectrum.

Alydar started his Classic campaign over seven furlongs; so too, as it happens, did Afternoon Deelites. With Diana Firestone also among the week's obituaries, we might mention Honest Pleasure and Genuine Risk, who both resumed in sprints as well. That had long been standard procedure, for the old school, as a way of sharpening a horse without penetrating to a vulnerable margin of fitness.

I've often remarked on the dilution of the Derby since the willful exclusion of sprinters under the starting points system. Okay, so they finally managed a meltdown last year and so set up a historic aberration in every way. But otherwise the race has lately been dominated by those setting or sharing a pace shorn of raw sprint competition. And I do think that the Derby's status as the definitive test of the American Thoroughbred, identifying the kind of genes we should want to replicate, is suffering as a result.

Between trainers' dread of running horses at all, and the imperative to bank points when they actually do, we're ending up with the worst of both worlds. Remember that it was as recently as 2015 that Nyquist and Exaggerator cranked each other up over seven in the GII San Vicente S., in 1:20.7, and that didn't work out too badly on Derby day.

I really do think that loading a few points into the San Vicente and the GIII Swale S. would be a smart move by Churchill. Because it doesn't feel as though the model nowadays favored by trainers is working on too many levels. It certainly doesn't work for fans, who get a woefully condensed narrative and reduced engagement; it arguably doesn't help the horses, sent straight into the red zone when they can't be fully fit; and I'm not sure it's working for the Derby, either as a spectacle or as a signpost to genes that can carry meaningful speed.

In the meantime, aptitudes of more obvious pertinence to the Derby scenario will at least be examined in this crowd scene for the Risen Star. And wait, look at this: there's actually a horse in the field with eight starts to his name already. Determinedly (Cairo Prince) is followed here by the pair of Tapits he held off in an allowance last month, a performance rather too faintly praised because everyone had written a different script in advance. Actually this horse's own part keeps being rewritten, having started out on turf and apparently flirted with a return to sprinting. But maybe he can keep some of these flashier types honest, and help to measure the kind of talent Victory Formation (Tapwrit) will need to maintain his unbeaten record from a post out near Baton Rouge.

From a European perspective, it's always surprising that people should be so specific, almost dogmatic, about the optimality of dirt horses operating within so narrow a range. The way people talk, you would think that the poor creatures will drop clean off the edge of the world if venturing that crucial 1/16th too far.

That's why I like to see them given the chance to work on their all-around game, and develop different strengths. Because, if the oldest of Old Friends can be so susceptible even in the span of his years, then what limits might we be putting on the things they do in their prime?

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Eclipse Award Winning Owner Diana Firestone Passes Away at 91

Diana Firestone, who, along with her husband Bert campaigned a number of champion horses, including 1980 GI Kentucky Derby winner Genuine Risk, passed away peacefully at her home in Florida on Feb. 12. She was 91.

In 1980, the Firestones won an Eclipse Award as the nation's top owners. Bert Firestone passed away in 2021.

“I can't say enough good things about her and Bert and the opportunity they gave me when I shifted from the Midwest to New York,” said Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who was hired by the Firestones to be their private trainer in 1986. “They gave me the opportunity to break into New York and they treated me like family. She was a wonderful person and a very good horse person herself. She was very knowledgeable about racing and breeding. She always conducted herself so well and was a very kind person.”

Firestone was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1932 and was the granddaughter of Robert Wood Johnson, the founder of the health products manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. She was the daughter of John Seward Johnson, an executive with Johnson & Johnson, and Ruth Dill Johnson, a native of Bermuda.

A lifelong equestrienne, Firestone learned to ride in England with her siblings. While in prep school in Washington, D.C., she rode hunters and jumpers and fox hunted across Virginia's northern landscape. After graduating from Bennett Junior College, Firestone had a renowned equestrian career, representing the United States in horse shows worldwide.

“Horses, with the single exception of my family, have been the most important thing in my life,” Firestone once said.

“She was an amazing mother and an amazing horse woman,” said Firestone's daughter Alison Robitaille. “Pretty much every animal loved her. Whether it was dogs, horses, whatever, when it came to animals she was like a magnet. She gave to me my love of horses and introduced me to them at an early age, which I am very grateful for.”

In recognition of Firestone's commitment to equestrian sports, the American Horse Shows Association awarded her the Walter B. Devereux Trophy for having exemplified the ideal of good sportsmanship through commitment, dedication and service.

The Firestones were perennially among the top owners in the sport in the 70s and 80s and horses running under their familiar green and white silks accounted for 51 graded or group stakes wins.

Teaming up with trainer Leroy Jolley, they landed their first Eclipse Award with Honest Pleasure, the champion 2-year-old of 1971. He was followed by 1977 champion sprinter What a Summer.

But the Firestones will always be best remembered for winning the Derby with Genuine Risk, who, at the time, became only the second filly to win the sport's most prestigious race. She finished second in a controversial running of the GI Preakness S. and was then second in the GI Belmont S. She is the only filly to win or place in all three Triple Crown races. In 1986, Genuine Risk was enshrined in the Racing Hall of Fame.

Two years after Genuine Risk, the Firestones had another Eclipse Award winner. Already a champion in France, April Run (Ire) won an Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding turf mare in 1982. In 1987, the Firestone's Theatrical (Ire) won six Grade I races, including the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, and was named champion turf male. He was the first Breeders' Cup winner and Eclipse champion for Mott.

The Firestones were also active in Europe. In 1981, their Blue Wind (Ire) was named champion 3-year-old filly in both England and Ireland and April Run was named champion 3-year-old filly in France. That same year, Play it Safe (Ire) was named champion 2-year-old filly in France.

The Firestone homebred Winchester became the couple's final top-level victor with four Grade I wins from 2008 to 2011, and they completed the dispersal of their bloodstock in January 2020. The Firestones, who owned both Gulfstream Park and Calder Racecourse from 1989 to 1991, began scaling back their racing ventures in the late 1980s.

Firestone is survived by four children, Robitaille, Lorna Stokes, Christopher Stokes, Cricket MacDonald and three stepsons, Matthew Firestone, Ted Firestone and Greg Firestone. She is also survived by 16 grandchildren.

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Eclipse Award Winner Bert Firestone, Owner Of Derby-Winning Filly Genuine Risk, Passes At Age 89

The Eclipse Award-winning owner of 1980, Bertram Robert Firestone died July 12 in West Palm Beach, Fla., at the age of 89, reports bloodhorse.com. He is perhaps best known for campaigning Genuine Risk, just the second filly in history to win the Kentucky Derby (1980).

In all, Firestone and his wife Diana Johnson campaigned 17 Grade or Group 1 winners and multiple champions: Honest Pleasure (1975 U.S. Champion 2-Year-Old); April Run (1981 French Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, 1982 U.S. Champion Grass Mare); Blue Wind (1981 English & Irish Champion 3-Year-Old Filly); Play It Safe (1981 French Champion 2-Year-Old Filly); Theatrical (1987 U.S. Champion Grass Horse); and Paradise Creek (1994 U.S. Champion Grass Horse).

The Firestones originally partnered with Hall of Fame trainer LeRoy Jolley, but were also responsible for sending Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott his first big horse, Theatrical.

“I had a private job with them for about five years, and I could not have been treated any better,” Mott told bloodhorse.com. “They were the ones who got me to New York full-time. They gave me a huge opportunity, and they sent Theatrical to me. He did more for my career than any other single horse. He was my first champion and first Breeders' Cup winner. I'm forever grateful for those opportunities.”

Read more at bloodhorse.com.

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Bert Firestone Passes Away

Bert Firestone, who along with his wife Diana, enjoyed international success at racing's top level for decades, passed away Monday at JFK Medical center in West Palm Beach. He was 89.

Firestone, a successful industrial real estate developer, was a hands-on horseman–he spent a summer in the early 1950s galloping for trainer Charlie Whittingham–whose American racing successes led to seven Eclipse Awards. Honest Pleasure (What a Pleasure) earned the couple's first Eclipse statue as champion 2-year-old of 1971 and he was followed by 1977 champion sprinter What a Summer (What Luck).

In 1980, the Firestones enjoyed perhaps their greatest stateside success when Genuine Risk (Exclusive Native) became only the second filly to win the GI Kentucky Derby. The filly's victory on the First Saturday in May bettered the previous runner-up efforts of Firestone colorbearers Honest Pleasure and General Assembly (Secretariat) and earned the couple, not just an Eclipse statue as leading 3-year-old filly, but also contributed to a championship as leading owners.

Already a champion in France, April Run (Ire) (Run the Gauntlet) earned the Eclipse Award as the top turf mare in the U.S. in 1982 and the great Theatrical (Ire) (Nureyev) reeled off six Grade I victories in 1987 to become the first Eclipse champion and Breeders' Cup winner for future Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

“They are great horse-people,” Mott told TDN's John Berry last year. “They understand horses, understand racing. They are people who are passionate about the horses themselves and when people are passionate about the horses as individuals, then it makes it easy for everything to go well.”

Firestone's Eclipse champions also include Jimmy Lorenzo (GB) (Our Jimmy), the top steeplechaser of 1988.

The Firestones success in the U.S. was matched or exceeded by their achievements in Europe, where they enjoyed their first top-level victory when King's Company (Ire) (King's Troop {GB}) won the 1971 Irish 2000 Guineas. The following year, the colt retired to the couple's newly purchased the 1,200 Gilltown Stud in Co. Kildare.

A year after Genuine Risk was named the top 3-year-old filly in the U.S., the Firestones ran the table in that division in Europe when Blue Wind (Ire) (Lord Gayle) was named champion in both England and Ireland, while April Run was named top 3-year-old filly in France and Play it Safe (Ire) (Red Alert {Ire}) was that country's champion 2-year-old filly.

The Firestones, who owned both Gulfstream Park and Calder Racecourse from 1989 to 1991, began scaling back their racing ventures in the late 1980s, selling Gilltown back to the Aga Khan in 1989. They also downsized from their 2,000-acre Catoctin Stud in Waterford, Virginia and acquired Newstead Farm in Upperville in 1991.

The Firestone homebred Winchester (Theatrical {Ire}) became the couple's final top-level victor with four Grade I wins from 2008 to 2011 and they completed the dispersal of their bloodstock in January 2020.

Christophe Clement, who trained Winchester for three of those Grade I victories, told TDN last year, “Very rarely will one train for people who have been a leading owner and breeder in both the States and Europe. It was also a touch intimidating, as Mr. Firestone had a great knowledge of racing through his time as a trainer and in racetrack ownership. Mr. and Mrs. Firestone are wonderful owners. They are great horse-people and the horses always come first.”

Both Bert and Diana Firestone were avid showjumpers and hunted in Virginia with the Piedmont and Middleburg Hunts and were Joint-Masters of the Kildare Foxhounds in Ireland. Two of his children, Matt and Alison, rode for the U.S. Equestrian team.

Firestone is survived by his wife, Diana; his four children, Matt, Greg, Ted and Alison; his three stepchildren, Lorna, Chris and Cricket and several grandchildren.

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