It just feels right that a Derby horse whose name translates to “kisses” has an origin story filled with so much love; love of the horse, love of the sport, and love for one especially strong little girl. When O Besos enters the starting gate beneath the Twin Spires this Saturday, he'll have more people rooting for him than only those listed in the program.
The story begins in 1993 at Trinity Meadows, a now-defunct racetrack located just west of Dallas. A filly named With A Splash was entered in a $2,500 claiming race, and horseman Carl Potts took notice.
Potts convinced his owners, the Hall family, to claim the filly, hoping to breed the granddaughter of Roberto. The claim was voided when With A Splash broke down during the running of the race, but Potts bought her anyway.
It proved a shrewd decision — With A Splash foaled nine winners from 11 starters, four of which earned $100,000 or more.
The best of her foals was Snuggs and Kisses. Sired by Soto, the filly was born in 2007. By this point, Potts' daughter was three years old and had already survived more than most people endure in an entire lifetime.
Her mother was 40 when she became pregnant, and an amniocentesis when she was just three months along showed the presence of an extra chromosome. Potts remembers being horrified when the hospital performing the procedure wrote them a prescription for an abortion.
Instead, Santana Love Potts was born six months later, healthy and happy.
“When people see this little girl, she's opened a lot of eyes,” Potts said, becoming emotional. “I've never been married, and I never had peace of mind until this little girl came along.”
Santana Love Potts, the namesake behind O Besos' dam, Snuggs and Kisses
When Santana was just 12 months old, Potts noticed small dark spots along the insides of her wrists. A visit to the doctor revealed that she was suffering from leukemia.
“We went from the doctor's appointment straight upstairs and lived in the hospital for a year,” said Potts. “It was the toughest thing I ever had to do.”
St. Jude's Children's Hospital treated Santana with the most intense regimen available at the time, for upwards of 96 hours at a time. All that time, Potts spent every moment he wasn't taking care of his horses at Santana's side. When she turned two, doctors finally declared her to be in remission.
“This little girl,” Potts said, his voice wavering, “you know, you get a horse ready to run, take them over to the paddock and send them out, and that horse might let you down. But this little girl, she's never let me down.”
Santana loved helping her daddy at the farm, especially bringing the young horses in from the field. She and that daughter of Soto met in 2008, when the yearling filly would allow Santana to “ride” on her back as she was led in from the field.
Potts named that filly Snuggs and Kisses in Santana's honor.
“Santana likes to snuggle and give everybody kisses,” he explained.
A big filly, Snuggs and Kisses showed she'd need a little extra time before entering training, so the Hall Family gave her to Potts. He turned her out for several months, allowing the filly time for her growth plates to close.
In her third career start, Snuggs and Kisses ran third in a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs. It was that race that made Kentucky native Dr. Barrett Bernard stand up and take notice.
An emergency room physician and graduate of the University of Louisville School of Medicine, Bernard first fell in love with horse racing through his father, who particularly loved harness racing. Though the man worked banker's hours (including Saturdays), he always made time to take his son to the local OTB on Kentucky Derby day.
Bernard had gotten into a few small partnerships after his residency training was completed, but as he began to ease back on medicine — from 100 hours a week to something more reasonable, like 60 — he wanted to spend more time enjoying his passion for horse racing.
“It's my relaxation time,” said Bernard. “I like to go out and watch my horses train, and of course to see them race. It's like a mini-vacation.
“I actually have a son that I just can't watch races with; he's jumping up and down, slapping the program against his hand. My friends always say, 'Why don't you get more excited?' But as an E.R. doc, you have to be even-keeled. You can't be up one minute, then doom-and-gloom the next, so I just sit back and enjoy the race my way.”
Potts hesitated to sell even part of Snuggs and Kisses, knowing there was more to the mare than she'd shown on the track at that point. However, with Santana's medical bills and the always-challenging economics of a small-time trainer, it was hard to turn down Bernard's offer.
At first, Bernard bought half of Snuggs and Kisses for $25,000. Still a bit immature mentally, the filly finished off the board once before running a good third at Tampa and a fourth at Keeneland.
Eventually Potts relented and allowed Bernard to buy out the second half of the filly.
“I told him then, 'I want you to remember that Carl Potts sold you the best horse you ever had,'” the trainer remembered.
In her very next start, Snuggs and Kisses broke her maiden for a $50,000 tag.at Churchill Downs. She would go on to win 12 of her 32 starts, finishing on the board 21 times and earning $288,020. She may not have won a stakes race, but in her final start in February of 2013 at six years of age, Snuggs and Kisses defeated millionaire and Grade 1 winner Daisy Devine by a head at Fair Grounds.
“She could really run,” said Bernard, 72. “She gave us so many thrills, I wouldn't have sold her for any amount of money.”
Though Bernard had never previously owned a broodmare or bred a Thoroughbred, he couldn't bear to let Snuggs and Kisses go, so he decided to breed her himself. He still has just the one broodmare.
“She has a home for life,” Bernard said. “And the fact that he named her for his daughter, that just makes her even more special. She still loves carrots, I go out to Knuckles Farm in Midway and feed her once a month or so.”
As it turns out, Snuggs and Kisses was an even better broodmare than her dam.
Her 2014 son by Stormy Atlantic, Transatlantic Kiss, is a stakes-placed earner of $203,516. Her 2016 colt by Central Banker has earned $162,418 thus far.
“She's gold,” Bernard said. “It doesn't matter what I breed her to, she just throws runners.”
Now, her 2018 son by Orb is taking Bernard and family to the Kentucky Derby.
O Besos ran fourth in the G2 Risen Star and was an impressive late-closing third in the G2 Louisiana Derby for trainer Greg Foley.
“No matter what happens, this has been such a blessing,” Bernard said. “In all seriousness, he really can be there at the end. He'll do his best.
“Even small people in the Thoroughbred industry can get lucky and make it big occasionally. That's what I've thought my whole life; I just didn't think I'd be the one to do it.”
O Besos will have his fans cheering for him from outside the track, as well, and likely a few extra kisses blown toward him on the television screen.
“I'm not really a gambling person, but I could put $100 on the horse,” Potts said, laughing. “I'll be watching the race with Santana, cheering him home.”
O Besos training for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs
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