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Sean Clancy Longtime horseman W. Gary Baker died Monday in Middleburg Va. The veteran owner and race meet director was 71. Baker served as the chairman of the Virginia Fall Races, secretary/treasurer of the Virginia Steeplechase Association and was deeply involved in showing as well. Baker received the United States Equestrian Federation’s Pegasus Medal of Honor in 2007 for his commitment to showing.
Veteran steeplechase and flat trainer, Thomas H. Voss, died at his home in Monkton, Md. Tuesday, Jan. 21. He was 63.
Am I still working on this? Sorry, the Top 10 for 2013 was meant to be finished at Christmas, at the latest New Year’s Day. OK, I’m now aiming for February 1. Joe and Tom described such eloquent memories – and with such alacrity – that I decided to back off and let them dance. Then return with big moments and big words when the cupboard was bare. It’s 7 degrees outside, racing is cancelled, the cupboard seems bare.
One of the Saratoga Special graduates emailed me after Christmas, asking if I had any time to chat about careers, goals, directions – life. There are Saratoga Special graduates who you never hear from again and there are Saratoga Special graduates who ask for advice. The email went like this… I’ve begun the arduous task … Read more
Number 6. Wise Dan. This could be number one, but it’s on my mind at the moment so it goes as number 6. Simply another stellar season by the soon-to-be two-time Horse of the Year.
Looking at horses at Keeneland January. Frigid. Ball point pens are frozen, they indent on the page but don’t write. The horses walk like they’re made of popsicle sticks. Heaters roar from the aisles of the barns. The wind whips, biting. Like a Jack London short story, you know the one, “To Build a Fire.” … Read more
Number 7. Could be number 1. Another personal one. Apse. Saratoga, August 15. We made a plan in May – one race, this race, that’s it. Richard Valentine counted backward and delivered Apse to an allowance hurdle at Saratoga. Apse and Robbie Walsh did the rest. The 4-year-old son of Arch placed himself in a perfect spot, jumped with alacrity and kept pressuring Kingdom to win by a half-length. Elation.
Yes, I’m still working through my list. Christmas, traveling and an impending book deadline has derailed my journey through 2013’s greatest moments. Number 10 was watching Sprinter Sacre soar over the third-to-last in the Queen Mother. Number nine was seeing Ramon Dominguez at Saratoga. Here’s number 8.
No. 9: August 12, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Actually not at the track, but at the Vapor Night Club at the Saratoga Casino and Raceway. This one is more personal than public. It was just a moment, shared by two retired jockeys – one a legend, one a pretender.
It is the best of runs, it is the worst of runs…the Christmas Day run in Birmingham, Alabama. The best because of the optimism, the annual re-setting of life’s goals that Christmas brings, I promise to get fit, promise to write more, promise to be a better man. I believe it for a day. The worst because of the egg casserole this morning, the bottles of Stella Artois last night, the overall gluttony of the season and the hills in every direction. I feel like I’m dragging a blocking sled behind me. I haven’t run in months, that’s an annual plight, somehow caught up with year-end tasks and done in by year-end pessimism. My weight has gone up and my desire has gone down, I’ve been here before.
