We’ve written a lot about Wise Dan through the years. The early days, when he transitioned from stakes winner on dirt to monster on the grass. His first Horse of the Year campaign, then his second Horse of the Year campaign. Setbacks and comebacks. Who could ever forget that day at Saratoga, closing weekend when he won the Bernard Baruch just a few months removed from colic surgery?
Sean Clancy wrote about Wise Dan not long after the year got started, after a visit to Charlie and Amy LoPresti’s farm to finally see the gelding as he recovered from an injury that kept him from defending his back-to-back titles in the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 2014.
Sean piece, titled “Hello friend: Visiting Wise Dan,” was posted Jan. 21 and starts with the writer convincing himself to get out there once and for all.
“It’s January, on my last day in Lexington, and I force myself to go see the LoPrestis’ farm, to see horses being horses.
“Force, because I think I have too much to do. Force, because I don’t take road trips to write columns of my own free will any more. Force, because I’ve got eight hours to drive. Force, because I’ve got a kid to feed, a wife to see, a farm of my own, with a never-ending to-do list. But, for a change, I make the call and arrange to see Wise Dan. I haven’t seen the two-time Horse of the Year since the last night of Saratoga, when I drifted around the backstretch in my golf cart, eventually stopping in the grass behind his barn. Facing the front corner of his stall, he turned his head and looked out the back window, through the screen, he stared. I snapped a photo in the dark and said thanks, the endless summer coming to an end. It was like he knew what I meant.”
Check out No. 6 on our 15 for 2015 list of popular stories
6: Hello friend: Visiting Wise Dan
Other stories in the 15 for 2015
No. 7: A man in the crowd, with a horse
No. 8: Motion appeal concerns responsibility, guidelines
No. 9: Icabad Crane shines in prelim debut
No. 10: Lexington’s hot ticket
No. 11: Rage for the sake of the sport
No. 12: Funerals and Field Trips
No. 13: The ultimate workhorse
No. 14: Horse racing in Georgia?
