THE LITTLE BROWN JUG 116 HOOF BEATS SEPTEMBER 2006 ED KEYS

Transcription

1 THE LITTLE BROWN JUG CALIFORNIAN Ken Carver had lived a Hollywood dream in the racing business by the early part of the 1990s. Together with his father, Jay, and brother, Marc, they had operated Markenjay Stud (get it Marc, Ken and Jay) and had raced such top Golden State-bred champions as $80,000 winner Mollie Markenjay and $300,000 winner Foxy Markenjay. Markenjay was lost as a moniker when Jay died in 1986 and Marc decided he wanted out of the business. Ken Carver, however, was far from done with racing. He kept for breeding the mare Alison Sara, who he had named for his own daughter. Then he kept her daughter Saraton as a broodmare, and every year sent the mares to stallions he felt might make for a magical connection. From 1988 to 1991, he had sent Alison Sara to Tyler s Mark in hopes of cashing in on the lucrative Maryland Fund circuit. In 1992, he decided to send her to Cam Fella, but he was still drawn to the Tyler s Mark blood. He opted instead to send daughter Saraton to Tyler s Mark, and hoped he might find a golden cross with one of his mares. What he found was pure fantasy. 116 HOOF BEATS SEPTEMBER 2006 ED KEYS

2 HOOF BEATS SEPTEMBER

3 FAST FACTS In 1995, Nick s Fantasy became the second gelding in the past 20 years to win the Little Brown Jug. As a 3-year-old, he paced to his personal best of 1:50 in the Bluegrass. During his 4-year-old campaign, he raced only eight times, with no victories. He is retired on Jean Rastetter s 181-acre farm near The Meadows. \\ // \\ // \\ // \\ // Saraton s colt was named Nick s Fantasy for one of Carver s best friends, with whom the owner played fantasy football. The pacer took Carver to heights an owner can only dream. For two magical months in the summer and fall of 1995, he won eight of nine races over six different racetracks, including the Cleveland Classic, an elimination of the Adios, divisions of the Bluegrass, Tattersalls and Jug Preview, and pacing s Holy Grail, the 50th edition of the Little Brown Jug just the second gelding in 20 years to take home the Jug. Nick s Fantasy was an amazing experience, said Carver. They say anything can happen if you work hard. He s the best of that example I can think of. Born free By the time Nick s Fantasy started training to be a racehorse in the fall of 1993, the colt already had quite a bit of excitement in his young life. Saraton had actually started the birthing process on March 23, 1992, at John Townsend s farm in Pennsylvania. Her foal, however, had to be born in Maryland to be eligible to the Free State s lucrative stake circuit. In the early hours of March 24, the mare was led quickly into a trailer that rocketed toward the state line toward Tyler s Mark s home of Pin Oak Lane Farm. Just over the border, a commotion could be heard coming from the back of the trailer, and when the driver went back to evaluate the situation, he found two horses where moments earlier there had been one. They arrived minutes later at the farm, where the still-wet foal was loaded into a wheelbarrow and transported to Pin Oak Lane personnel, his anxious mother by his side. But as Nick s Fantasy started his early conditioning at The Meadows barn of Caroline Lyon and Bob Ritchie 118 HOOF BEATS SEPTEMBER 2006

4 Nick s Fantasy was an amazing experience, said Ken Carver. They say anything can happen if you work hard. He s the best of that example I can think of. Eye opener: Bob Ritchie drove Nick s Fantasy to a stunning 1:53.3 score in his Adios elimination. ED KEYS Carver s long-time trainers in California who had relocated east for increased racing opportunities the pair wondered if he had been worth all the effort. The colt was good-sized and good-looking, but his attitude was less than enthusiastic. He was lethargic and stubborn. He refused to lower his head for bridling. They nicknamed him Mr. Dozy. Lyon and Ritchie took the obvious route to changing the colt s attitude and gelded him. It didn t have much effect, as he went winless in his first six starts and showed no sign of wanting to beat anybody. Even jogging proved to be a chore for the lumbering pacer, and when the colt stumbled and flipped over while Ritchie was behind him at The Meadows, the veteran trainer had enough. Ritchie took the colt back to the barn and told Lyon to put the hobbles on him. Then he sent him out for the hardest training mile of his life, with Ritchie yelling and whipping, and the colt flying home his last half in 56 seconds. By the mile s end they were both out of breath, and had each learned a very important lesson. Nick learned what it meant to go, and Bob learned the horse had real speed, said Lyon with a chuckle. Nick s Fantasy had clearly gotten the point. The colt won his next race at The Meadows in 1:58.4, and three weeks later dropped his mark to 1:56.2 in a $7,000 conditioned claimer at The Meadows. He then won four of his next six starts, dropping his mark to 1:55.2, and finishing a competitive fourth in open company at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Ohio. His time of 1:55 in the 1:54.1 mile would have been a world record for freshman geldings on a halfmile track. I knew then and there he was the real deal, said Carver. I knew I had a horse who would and could compete on the Grand Circuit. After a ninth-place finish against older horses Bob just raced him easy, said Lyon Nick s Fantasy ended the year with a 1:54.4 wire-to-wire victory at Rosecroft, and left his connections anxious for the year to come. He was getting better and better every time we raced him, Lyon said. We really had no idea how good he would be. ED KEYS Golden moment: Owner Ken Carver (above) and trainers Caroline Lyon and Bob Ritchie (left) in Delaware after Nick s Fantasy won the 50th Little Brown Jug. MARK HALL Striding out Nick s Fantasy s early 1995 starts, however, left much to be desired. The colt was deemed Meadowlands-ready by his connections, but he could barely pick up a check in his first seven starts. Lyon said a random equipment check revealed a groom had changed the colt s hobbles from 59 inches to 61 1 /2 inches. Once corrected, he won June 3 at Rosecroft in 1:55, and gained Lyon as his new caretaker. HOOF BEATS SEPTEMBER

5 FARM FENCING Professional Installation Treated posts Select Southern Oak boards BLACK FENCECOAT paint (other colors available) GTO Automatic Gate Operators (Sales/Service/Installation) Keepsafe Diamond Mesh Shipped anywhere in the Continental U.S. Discounted Freight Rates Penrod Lumber & Fence Construction Company 7926 Shelbyville Road, Simpsonville, KY (800) (502) North U.S. Hwy 441, Ocala, FL (352) THE LITTLE BROWN JUG Nick s Fantasy Life of leisure: Nick s Fantasy is enjoying his retirement in Pennsylvania, where Jean Rastetter sometimes takes him out for a ride. By July 1, he was ready to face the big boys, and Carver paid the $5,000 starting fee to get him into the Messenger Stake with driver Steve Warrington. The colt was shuffled back and finished eighth, six lengths behind winner David s Pass. Bob was very mad at the drive, Lyon recalled. He told Warrington to leave and he took the horse way back. If you watch the replay, even at the end of the mile, he is closing. He s the only horse gaining ground. After a pair of seconds and thirds at The Meadows, Pocono Downs and Vernon Downs, Ritchie felt the colt was strong enough to make the trip to Northfield for the Cleveland Classic, which featured a small field of secondtier sophomores. The result: a 1:55.1 victory with a last quarter in 27.4 over the half-mile oval. To Ritchie, it was the sign he had been seeking, and he returned to The Meadows where he told announcer Roger Huston, This horse is going to win the Little Brown Jug. I thought he had a shot, but I m not going to say I totally believed he was going to win the Jug, said Huston. That s a pretty major step up from where he had been. I didn t feel he was totally crazy with his statement. But a lot of trainers make a lot of statements like that. I d like to tell you how many trainers every year that say that, and we haven t had a 13- horse dead heat in the Jug yet. Nick s Fantasy made Ritchie look prophetic a week later when he won his Adios elimination in 1:53.3. Though he was third in the final to David s Pass, Ritchie said the colt was hindered by a new shadow roll, put in place for his first foray into day racing to keep him from jumping shadows on the track. He would never have worried about the shadows, Lyon said in hindsight, but he hated that shadow roll. He fought Bob the whole way. PHOTOS COURTESY JEAN RASTETTER 120 HOOF BEATS SEPTEMBER 2006

6 But Nick s Fantasy was a horse on a roll and he couldn t have picked a better time to peak. David s Pass, who had led the division with wins in the North America Cup, Meadowlands Pace, Adios and Messenger, began suffering lameness issues that would end his season in early September. Jenna s Beach Boy, the reigning freshman champion, had broken a bone in early June and did not return to racing until mid-september. Nick s Fantasy prepped for the Little Brown Jug with a 1:52.2 mile at Rosecroft, with a last quarter in A week later at Scioto Downs, he romped in the Jug Preview in 1:52.2. And Carver s phone was ringing with offers to buy his homebred. At the Adios, John Campbell spoke to Bob and asked if the horse was for sale, Lyon recalled. After the Preview, negotiations started going on hot and heavy. The winning bidder was David Brooks Perfect World Enterprises, who bought into the Jug favorite for a sixfigure price, according to Carver. As a stipulation to the sale, Campbell replaced Ritchie in the sulky, so Ritchie planned to drive Carver s other colt, St Outrageous, in the Jug. When that colt missed the earnings cut-off under the race s 30-horse rule the only horse in history so impacted Ritchie got the afternoon off to watch his charge perform on their biggest-ever stage. He knew his horse could not be in better hands. Bob is good friends with John, said Lyon. He s known him since John started qualifying horses. It was fine with Bob. Rainy days When dawn broke on Sept. 21 for the Little Brown Jug, it was hard to tell day from night due to the thunderous storm clouds that had set up camp over Delaware, Ohio. One of the few people not worried about the weather, however, was Caroline Lyon. Nick and another Tyler s Mark we had, Courteous Mark whenever it was muddy or sticky, they would always win, she said. I wasn t worried a bit. Lyon, it turned out, had other things to worry about. The field was barely to the quarter in Nick s Fantasy s elimination when driver Ray Fisher Jr. attempted to fit Lightning Lane Lo in a tight pocket HOOF BEATS SEPTEMBER

7 THE LITTLE BROWN JUG Nick s Fantasy between leader Nick s Fantasy and second-place Midnight Island. Midnight Island caught his foreleg in Fisher s bike, veered into Jody s Cam, and sent that colt s driver, Mike Lachance, to the mud, where he was hit by Mattgilla Gorilla and Wally Hennessey. Nick s Fantasy, the only horse to stay clear of the incident including the loose Jody s Cam, who lapped the track several times cruised home in 1:54.3 and won by six widening lengths. In the final, the gelding was favored over fellow first-heat winners Powerful Structure and Village Connection, and he did not disappoint, winning by four lengths in 1:51.2. He was just totally awesome today, said Campbell after the race. I was fortunate to get the drive. Winning the Jug was an unbelievably joyous moment, recalled Lyon. We figured he had a very good shot. I ll never forget that Campbell warmed him up the day of the Jug. John had never sat behind the horse, so he wanted to go a trip. He came back with a big smile on his face and said everything would be all right. He was right. Campbell and Nick s Fantasy paired for two more victories in 1995 the Bluegrass in a lifetime best 1:50 and the Tattersalls in 1:51.2 but Nick s Fantasy was starting to fade. He finished fourth against older horses at The Meadows in a tune-up for the Breeders Crown at I knew he deserved a good home he made that much money, said Jean Rastetter. Woodbine. He was second in his Crown prep and fifth in the final. Nick was pretty sick when we got up to Canada, said Lyon. He didn t have a temperature, but he was full of mucus. The horse just wasn t 100 percent when he raced in the Breeders Crown. He was getting tired and sick. We decided to quit with him. With that, the Perfect World partnership with Markenjay came to a conclusion, as Carver bought back the missing half of his best horse. The fantasy, however, had also come to an end. Nick s Fantasy rested until February of 1996, and started his 4-year-old campaign with sixth-place finishes at The Meadows and Yonkers. Though he was third in a Graduate leg behind Highly Promoted, he was clearly not the same horse he had been a year prior. Lameness began to plague the pacer s every step. His ankles were shown to be a trouble spot through a nuclear scan, and continuing foot ailments limited him to eight winless starts as a 4-year-old. He was ultimately diagnosed with a broken coffin bone. Ritchie and Lyon took Nick s Fantasy to California to rest, and the pacer also underwent heel-nerving procedures in his front feet. He returned to the races in December, finishing sixth at Los Alamitos. Though he made one start at Los Alamitos in January of 1997, finishing third, he could not hold up to the strain of racing. And the Ritchie/Lyon/Carver relation- FINAL SCORE SPORTS PUB FINE FOOD AND SPIRITS FEATURING NEXT TO KIN ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20th The Grand Sport of Harness Racing, an exhibition of Currier & Ives lithographic prints depicting scenes of The First Great American Pastime DELAWARE S UNIQUE SPORTS PUB COME SEE US DURING JUG WEEK BIG SCREEN SATELLITE TV 6 Troy Rd. (Georgetowne Plaza) Delaware, Ohio (740) Located across the street from Grady Hospital in The Georgetowne Plaza. Richard M. Ross Art Museum Ohio Wesleyan University 60 S. Sandusky St. Delaware, OH August 24th thru September 29th, 2006 For hours, call: HOOF BEATS SEPTEMBER 2006

8 THE LITTLE BROWN JUG Enjoy the Little Brown Jug and Explore Union County only minutes away Stay at one of our fine hotels, experience small town charm by visiting one of our unique restaurants and stores Nick s Fantasy ship also could not hold up to the strain, resulting in the dissolution of the partnership that same year. Nick s Fantasy was reassigned to trainer Bernie Wolin, who returned him to The Meadows to try for another comeback. Though the effort was futile, it did change the pacer s life, as he was ultimately paired with trainer Jean Rastetter and her partner, Ron Harvey. I tried with him in the winter of 1997 before we decided to quit with him, said Rastetter. I told Mr. Carver, I have a farm, and I d be happy to let him live out his life there. I figured he was a nice-sized horse and would be good as a riding horse. I knew he deserved a good home he made that much money. Rastetter paid to ship Nick s Fantasy to her 181-acre farm near The Meadows and have him spend six to eight months of pure rest. The pacer looked so good in the field prancing, however, that Rastetter thought another go at racing might be in order. She managed to get him qualified in 2:01.3, but after finishing eighth in a conditioned event, pacing in 2:02.4 in a 1:56.2 mile, Nick s Fantasy s racing days were done. We took him back to the farm and he s been there ever since, she said. Now 11 years after his dominating Jug win, Nick s Fantasy is but a blip on racing s radar. He received no significant attention in the bid for year-end honors, as Jenna s Beach Boy ran away with the divisional award. His last brush with fame came in 2001 when he returned to Delaware, Ohio, the site of his greatest triumph, and led the post parade for a heat of the Little Brown Jug. It was real cool, Rastetter said. Everyone clapped. He really liked it. He spends his retirement days in a pasture with the Forrest Skipper mare Sheer Mist He s in love with her, said Rastetter and six other horses. But time cannot take from him the moment he called his own, when he shone brightest on a rainy afternoon in September and earned the right to drink from the Little Brown Jug. I call him Sir Nick, said Rastetter. He has more presence than any other horse I ve ever had. He still knows he s a good horse. HB To comment on this article, us at readerforum@ustrotting.com. 124 HOOF BEATS SEPTEMBER 2006