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John Henry by Carey Warner 
Of all the Cinderella stories that Thoroughbred horse racing has inspired in its hundreds
of years of history, there has never been one like quite like the tale of a knock-kneed,
nasty-tempered gelding that I watched with awe and idolized in the early part of the
1980's. The legend of John Henry is the greatest of all the "Rags to Riches" stories I've
heard among many, many tales of legendary race horses; I feel honored to have been able
to be a witness, however distant, to his long and absolutely incredible career.
I remember first seeing John Henry on television, and the images are as clear in my mind as if it were yesterday, even though the actual race name and its date have long since slipped free of my memory with the passage of time. There he was in the post parade, his eyes as bright as shining dark stars; just a devious little devil walking proudly amidst the finest horses California had to offer. Sure he wasn't much to look at, but John Henry looked, even back then, like he owned the track. There was just something in his eyes... that intangible, indescribable something that it seems all of the legendary greats possess. I remember telling my mother as she watched the race with me in our living room... "that's the one." Not that I made any great pre-race revelation, though... John Henry was already astride the peak of his career by the time I discovered him. But I fell in love with that magnificent little horse as he rounded the final turn and began to draw away... further and further... until it seemed he'd won by a good country mile. I recall that in the winner's circle, standing quietly wasn't on John Henry's agenda, nor was looking dignified. He acted like the race he'd just run was a romp in the park, and he was ready to play some more. Those who knew John, though, would probably say it wasn't "play"... and that he was pretty serious about his attempts to eat the cameramen and run over his handlers. I was glued to the television during horse races in the years that followed as John Henry continued on towards legendary status to become the oldest, winningest stakes horse in Thoroughbred history. Seven Eclipse Awards. Two Horse of the Year Awards. Highest Money Earning Thoroughbred of all time, long before the great Cigar and other big dollar runners galloped the road to riches that John Henry had paved for them. The story of John Henry's life began at Golden Chance Farms in Kentucky in 1975. With breeding that reflected his humble beginnings, John Henry was sired by a rather mediocre stallion known more for his terrible, terrible temperament than for his racing or sire ability, a stallion called Ole Bob Bowers. Ole Bob was such a nasty candidate that he'd been sold as a stallion for a mere $900. John Henry's dam, Once Double, was also a runner without much merit, and she, too, wasn't exactly the cream of the crop of producers. Before he was even born, John Henry already had two strikes against him. As a foal, John Henry is remembered by those who knew him then as small, ugly, and mean-spirited. His conformation, by all professional standards, wasn't what should have made a good runner, and he was "back at the knee," also known as "calf-kneed." Because nothing great was really expected to become of the homely colt, Golden Chance Farms offered him up for Keeneland's January Mixed Sale -- not one of Keeneland's more prestigeous sales. At the sale, John Henry smacked his head in his stall prior to entering the ring, and wound up being auctioned off as a bloody mess at the mere cost of $1,100 to John Callaway. As the colt matured, his defective knee began to look worse, and his attitude wasn't exactly getting any better. In fact, his nature was steadily getting worse, too. Grooms and trainers alike feared his aggressive tendencies. His stall manners were among his worst vices; territorial on no uncertain terms, he would greet visitors with his ears back and teeth bared. During the time Callaway owned him, John Henry was never even saddled. The colt was also notorious for tearing water buckets and feed tubs off the walls of his stall and stamping them into pancakes with his hooves. This habit earned him his name: John Henry, after the "steel driving man" of the old folk song, and this was about all John Henry gained from his "temporary home." John Henry would have many "temporary homes" in his lifetime. A colt who was easy to dislike with his less than amiable temperament, John Henry was shipped back to the Keeneland sales again in 1977 where, even though he wasn't a bloody mess this time around, he still would draw no more than a $2,200 bid. His new owner, Harold Snowden, Jr. made the decision to geld John Henry after he got fed up with John Henry's stall manners and general disposition; there seemed to be no methods of training or handling that would make the colt more agreeable. John Henry trained and performed well athletically, but Snowden hoped that castration might calm him down and make him easier to handle. The colt had gotten downright dangerous, and the only time he was happy was when he was running. Though gelding helped some, it didn't perform any miracles for The Steel Driving Man. Snowden sold John Henry for $10,000 to a trio of Louisiana owners who would put John to train under the care of Phil Marino. In his first start for the Louisiana syndicate, John broke his maiden with a win at the now defunct Jefferson Downs, in spite of an odd break out of the gate. John Henry had the notion that day to walk out of the gate, then had to sprint to catch up with the other horses. Marino was encouraged enough by John Henry's effort, though, to look towards the Lafayette Futurity at Evangeline Downs in Lafayette, Louisiana. Under an ominously dark sky that ironically matched John Henry's notoriously dark personality, the gelding plowed through the mud and the muck during a hurricane warning for his first stakes win with the courage and determination that would later become his trademark. John Henry failed to follow up with any further wins through the nine races that followed, and his Cajun connections wound up swapping him back to Snowden for a couple of two-year-olds. John Henry raced at Keeneland a few times for Snowdon, but after the gelding threw in nothing but clunkers, Snowdon was ready to sell once again. By this point in his life, though, it was getting harder to sell the gelding that most viewed as mediocre, at best, but Snowden finally found a buyer in Sam Rubin through Jimmy Ferraro, an independent agent. Rubin purchased John Henry, sight unseen, over the phone. John Henry was Rubin's first horse. Rubin had John Henry sent to trainer Bob Donato. Donato thought maybe turf was what the gelding needed, so he sent John Henry out on grass with the hope that it might perk up what seemed like a moderately talented racehorse. John Henry shocked everyone when went on to win 6 of his next 19 races, and after starting with Donato as a low-level claimer, John Henry wrapped the season up as a stakes winner who'd earned about $120,000 that year. As Sam Rubin describes in his book about John Henry, "What started out as a lark and a game developed into a tale of fantasy. Dorothy and I never in our wildest dreams ever thought the vents that followed our purchase of John Henry would develop into what it has. Never having owned a horse previously, we really did not know what to expect. After his first two races we had the feeling he may be a nice horse, whatever that means." The following season, John found himself under yet another new trainer, Lefty Nickerson. Under his training, John Henry took 4 wins in eleven races. As the grass season was ending in New York in 1979, Rubin decided that John Henry would need to be moved to another track where he could continue on grass through the winter. Nickerson recommended his good friend for the job, Ron McAnally, who trained on the west coast; John switched trainers again and was shipped out to California. The original plan was to have John run in New York under Nickerson during the New York grass season then ship back to California during the winters, but this idea would be later abandoned as John Henry's career began to sky-rocket. John Henry won six stakes races in a row under McAnally that first year. The relationship between the soft-spoken McAnally and John Henry was a solid one; their success that first year wasn't just luck. McAnally seemed to understand the gelding, and John Henry showed his happiness in his performances. Because of McAnally, John would finish the season that followed with eight wins in twelve starts, and John Henry would hit the board in every single start of the year.  John Henry's career peaked in 1980 and stayed in high gear for another four years; he
won the Santa Anita Handicap twice... the Arlington Million twice, and finished second
in another running of the same, scoring wins in graded stakes on both turf and dirt. He
defeated such nice runners as Gato Del Sol and Relaunch, as well as countless others.
John Henry won seven Eclipse Awards, including Horse of the Year twice.
In 1984, after seven years of racing and at the ripe old age of nine, fate stepped in to remind The Steel Driving Man to pay his dues. After four straight stakes wins, John Henry was aiming for the inaugural Breeders' Cup Turf for his final start before retiring, but he suffered an injury that forced his retirement a month earlier than planned. A brief attempt was made in 1985 towards a comeback, but John Henry was re-injured and his retirement was made permanent. John Henry was retired to the Kentucky Horse Park to take up residence in the Hall of Champions. My hero finally found his bright spot in the sun after a long, stormy career. Enjoy the sunshine on your withers, John Henry... you've earned it, ol' boy. Pedigree:
(Female Family #8, going back to the Spadille Mare, 1793) Breeder: Golden Chance Farm, Kentucky Owner: Sam Rubin, Dotsam Stables Trainer: Ronald McAnally Current Location: Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Kentucky Racing Record:
Career Highlights:
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