EQUESTRIAN TIME ON HORSES
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JOHN HENRY Il cavallo dei record By Dario Mastria
JOHN HENRY THE HORSE OF RECORD Which was the first horse to ever win US$ 3 million? John Henry. And the first horse to have won US$ 4 million? John Henry. And the first horse to have won US$ 5 million? John Henry. And the first horse to have won US$ 6 million? John Henry. How much was John Henry sold for at auction at the Keeneland sales in January 1976? US$ 1,100. His breeder, Robert Lehmann, was famous for not wanting to take his young horses to auctions, terrified that he might miss a future champion. However, he died in the winter of 1974 and the first decision made by his son Fred was to have fewer horses in the stables. One of the very first that ended up on that list of horses to be sold was precisely that son of Ole Bob Bowers and Once Double, born on March 9th, 1975. He was small with an ordinary ancestry, with a very aggressive temperament and, above all, a clear malformation affecting his knees. In other words the worse that could happen to a racehorse. The only man who raised his hand for that over-excited colt at the Keeneland sales was John Callaway, a ranch owner with a huge passion for racehorses. Callaway soon realised that he was taking home a small monster. He did however manage to do one good thing and that was choose his name: John Henry, in honour of the African-American hero-worker “steel driver”, celebrated in a famous popular song. Having not even managed to break-in the colt, so as to get rid of him Callaway took John Henry back to the Keeneland sales in January 1977. This time too there was only one person who raised a hand to buy him for US$ 2,200. His name was Harold “Bubba” Snowden, partly an owner, partly a trainer. But above all a trader specialised in buying and selling good horses especially for minor racecourses. Snowden was convinced he could make a profit out of John Henry and he was right. The first to turn up was Akiko McVarish, a Japanese lady who lived in the United States and was married to an Irishman. She liked the horse and agreed on a price of US$ 7,500, but her trusted vet opposed the sale (“ With those knees he will probably never race and he certainly won’t ever do much”). The second person who was interested in John Henry was a certain Colleen Madere, from New Orleans. The woman brought along a very young trainer called Phil Marino, who only had four horses in training in an isolated racecourse in Jefferson Downs. Marino fell in
Ron McAnally darà sempre la stessa risposta: «Gli ho insegnato che poteva fidarsi di me.»
C hi è il pr imo c a vallo ad a ve r v i n to 3 m i l i o n i d i d o l l a r i ? Jo h n He n r y. C hi è il pr imo c a vallo ad a ve r v i n to 4 m i l i o n i d i d o l l a r i ? Jo h n He n r y. C hi è il pr imo c a vallo ad a ve r v i n to 5 m i l i o n i d i d o l l a r i ? Jo h n He n r y. C hi è il pr imo c a vallo ad a ve r v i n to 6 m i l i o n i d i d o l l a r i ? Jo h n He n r y. Per quant o è s t a t o vendut o Jo h n He n r y a l l e a s te g e n e r a l i d i K e e n e l a n d d e l g e n n a i o 1 9 7 6 ? 1 1 0 0 dollar i. E dir e c he il s uo alleva t or e, R o b e r t L e h m a n n , e r a fa m o s o p e r n o n v o l e r p o r ta r e s u o i pr odot t i alle as t e. N on per c h é n o n r i u s ci s s e a s e p a r a r s i d a q u e i p u l e d r i n i ch e a v e v a vis t o nas c er e, ma per il t er r o r e d i fa r s i s fu g g i r e u n fu tu r o ca m p i o n e . Pe r ò R o b e r t muor e nell’ inver no del 1 9 7 4 e l a p r i m a d e ci s i o n e d e l fi g l i o Fr e d è q u e l l a d i s fo l ti r e l a s c uder ia. A f inir e s ubit o nell a l i s ta d e i ca v a l l i d a v e n d e r e è p r o p r i o q u e l fi g l i o d i O l e B ob B o w er s e O nc e D ouble, n a to i l 9 m a r z o d e l 1 9 7 5 . Pi cco l o , d i g e n e a l o g i a o r d i n a r i a , di c ar a t t er e molt o a ggr es s iv o e , s o p r a ttu tto , co n u n e v i d e n te d i fe tto d i co n fo r m a z i o n e alle ginoc c hia, ovver o quanto d i p e g g i o p o s s a ca p i ta r e a u n ca v a l l o d a co r s a . A ll’ as t a di K eeneland, l’ unic o a d a l z a r e l a m a n o p e r q u e l p u l e d r o e s a g i ta to è u n ce r to J ohn C alla w ay, pr opr iet ar io d i u n r a n ch , co n u n a p a s s i o n a cci a p e r i ca v a l l i d a co r s a . C alla w ay s i r ende pr es t o c on to d i ch i s i è p o r ta to i n ca s a . U n a p i cco l a b e l v a ch e a vr ebbe da t o f ilo da t or c er e a u n p r o fe s s i o n i s ta n a v i g a to , fi g u r a r s i a u n s e m i dilet t ant e c ome lui. U na c os a b u o n a , p e r ò , C a l l a wa y r i e s ce a fa r l a ; è l a s ce l ta d e l nome: J ohn H enr y, in onor e d e l l o “ s te e l d r i v e r ” , e r o e - o p e r a i o a fr o a m e r i ca n o ce l e b r a to in una f amos a c anz one popo l a r e . N on es s endo r ius c it o neppur e a d o m a r l o , p e r l i b e r a r s e n e C a l l a wa y r i p o r ta Jo h n He n r y alle as t e di K eeneland del ge n n a i o 1 9 7 7 . A nc he s t a volt a c ’ è una s ola p e r s o n a ch e a l z a l a m a n o p e r co m p r a r l o , a l p r e z z o d i 2 2 0 0 dollar i: è H ar old “ B ubb a ” S n o wd e n . “ Ho fa tto i l m i g l i o r a cq u i s to e l a p e g g i o r e vendit a nella s t or ia della as t e d i K e e n e l a n d ” , co m m e n te r à a n n i d o p o C a l l a wa y. D a n o i , S no w den ver r ebbe def init o co m e “ u n ca v a l l a r o ” : u n p o ’ p r o p r i e ta r i o , u n p o ’ a l l e n a to r e , ma s opr a t t ut t o c ommer c iante , s p e ci a l i z z a to n e l co m p r a r e e r i v e n d e r e ca v a l l i b u o n i s opr a t t ut t o per gli ippodr omi m i n o r i . S no w den è c onvint o di r ius c i r e a g u a d a g n a r e co n Jo h n He n r y e n o n s i s b a g l i a . L a pr ima a pr es ent ar s i è A kiko M cVa r i s h , u n a s i g n o r a g i a p p o n e s e ch e v i v e n e g l i S ta ti U nit i e ha s pos a t o un ir lande s e . I l ca v a l l o l e p i a ce , co n co r d a u n p r e z z o d i 7 5 0 0 d o l l a r i ma, per via di quell’ evident e d i fe tto a l l e g i n o cch i a , s u b o r d i n a l ’ a cq u i s to a l p a r e r e f a vor evole del s uo vet er inar i o d i fi d u ci a . I l p a r e r e d e l v e te r i n a r i o è u n a s e n te n z a . C on quelle ginoc c hia, J ohn He n r y p r o b a b i l m e n te n o n s ce n d e r à m a i i n p i s ta e d i s i cu r o non c ombiner à nient e di buo n o . S no w den è r ient r a t o in pos s e s s o d i u n b i g l i e tto d e l l a L o tte r i a d a 6 m i l i o n i d i d o l l a r i , ma non vede l’ or a di dis f ar s e n e . L a s e co n d a p e r s o n a a v o l e r e Jo h n He n r y è u n a ce r ta C olleen M ader e di N ew O r lea n s . U n a d o n n a ch e s i v e s te i n m o d o e cce n tr i co e ch e , s i dic e, abbia f a t t o i s oldi in m a n i e r a a l tr e tta n to e cce n tr i ca , o v v e r o g e s te n d o u n ’ a r e n a per i c omba t t iment i di galli. L a M a d e r e s i è p o r ta ta d i e tr o u n g i o v a n i s s i m o a l l e n a to r e ,
