Back in the day when a truck stacked with hay rumbled into Windfields Farm, Northern Dancer never paid it a lick of attention from his stall across the lane from the breeding shed. But if he laid eyes on an approaching van with a mare aboard, all hell broke loose.
Tag: Legends
Sky Beauty: The Epitome of Class With the Ability to Take Your Breath Away
The late Allen Jerkens trained Beau Purple when he upset the mighty Kelso three times in the 1960s. He saddled Onion when he shocked Secretariat in the Whitney Invitational in 1973 and got the best of “Big Red” once more that year with Prove Out in the Woodward Stakes. Yet, when Jerkens was asked to name the top horse he conditioned, he immediately responded with Sky Beauty. “She’s in front of all of them,” he told the Daily Racing Form, adding, “She was sheer class.”
Songbird: ‘Everything You’d Want in a Racehorse’
Songbird captured the heart of bloodstock agent Tom McGreevy the instant they exchanged glances. McGreevy had scrutinized so many horses through the years, long enough to know that the great ones separate themselves from the good, the good distance themselves from the mediocre. Songbird’s look all but demanded that he purchase her in behalf of Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm.
Ghostzapper: The Horse That Blazed a Brilliant Path in a Brief, But Potent Racing Career
Ghostzapper was not exactly a workhorse. He never raced more than four times in any of his four seasons. Yet in the relatively brief time he spent on the racetrack, Ghostzapper had few - if any - peers. In 2004, when he was named Horse of the Year, he was an undefeated graded stakes winner, versatile enough to win at seven furlongs, 1 1/8 miles, and 1 ¼ miles while registering blazing fast times in each of them.
