September 10, 2020 • 30 mins
The darker side of American horse racing, and the shadows cast by some of the tragedies along the way.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart
Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Minky. Eddie Sweet
had a nightmare. The race horse he had groomed and
lovingly cared for for the past couple of years was
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running and running hard. Big Red, as Eddie affectionately called him,
had opened up a large lead over the other horses,
and then, without warning, the chestnut horse fell. The next day,
Eddie nervously watched the horses step onto the track for
the running of the Belmont Steaks. In the infield, people
stood shoulder to shoulder, holding up signs good luck Secretariat
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on Red. In sports bars across the country, people stopped
to watch. Others gathered around their TV sets at home.
The red colt, whose jockey wore white and blue silks,
was America's horse. One by one, the horses were loaded
into the starting gates, and Eddie and the enormous crowd
in the stands around him collectively held their breath. The
starting bell broke, the silence and the gates flung open.
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Horses surged forward, their hooves thundering on the track. By
the time they reached the first turn, Secretariat and another
front runner had set mind boggling times for the first quarter.
Head to head, they galloped, leaving the rest of the
field far behind. These horses had been rivals all year,
and now it looked like a match race. Then Secretariat
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began to pull away by one, then two, and then
three lengths. The chestnut Colt increased his lead by ten
lengths than twelve, and the crowd screamed and waved their
signs like banners. Enthusiasts looked at their stopwatches and shook
their heads in disbelief. Announcer Chick Anderson spoke louder as
he called the race, Secretariat is blazing along. Spectators could
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barely believe what they were seeing. More blistering speeds, and
Secretariat's lead kept growing with each ground eating stride. Anderson's
next call became one of the most amiss in sports history.
He yelled to be heard over the roaring crowd. Secretariat
is widening. Now he's moving like a tremendous machine. Eddie's
heart pounded. He had dreamed of this. Stay on your feet, Red,
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stay up, he cried Secretariat and his jockey Ron Turcott.
We're all alone now twenty two lengths and counting no
longer racing the other horses, it was them against the stopwatch.
In a now famous photo, Turcott looks over his shoulder
to check the teleprompter for Secretariat's time as the crowd
nearly drowned out Anderson's final call of the race, Secretariat
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crossed the finish line thirty one lengths ahead of the rest,
shattering the race record, track record and world record for
the mile and a half distance on dirt by an
incredible second and a half. Labeled the Horse of the Century,
Secretariat had just won the coveted triple crown, having swept
the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in the weeks before. To date,
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only thirteen horses have ever accomplished that beat, beginning with
one named Sir Barton in n and Secretariat's time records
for all three races still stand almost fifty years later.
So for a few weeks back in June of nine,
everyone's attention turned from watergate to a starting gate. Time
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magazine even featured a picture of the champion horse on
the front cover of their June issue. Even now, you
can't mention horse racing without talking about Secretariat. No other
horse in history has ever captured the public's attention nor
racing enthusiasts hearts the way he did, So much so
that in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources actually named
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Secretariat's birthplace a historical site. But as any true racing
fan can tell you, the sport of kings isn't all
winner circles and roses. It's also home to its own
fair share of darkness. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, Welcome to American Shadows.
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Horse racing is a world of its own. We associate
it with the wealthy and affluent, and for the owners
and trainers, that's often true. The race horses aren't cheap,
and the better bred ones can sell for millions of dollars,
not to mention the money that goes into training them
and keeping them fit, or at least fit enough to run.
And while there are races with million dollar purses, there
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are limits to how many horses can run that race.
Often there are requirements to like age or prior winnings.
Twenty thousand race horses are typically born each year. Divide
that by the number of well paying races, and you
can see how not every horse comes out profitable riding
to victory Usually that's a jockey ten percent of the
winner's share, second, third and fourth place get around five percent.
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That sounds pretty good in million dollars stakes races, where
the winner gets of the total purse. For perspective, though,
according to the Jockeys Guild, the average stakes race as
of seventeen was just under thirty thousand dollars. That means
for a jockey riding the winner of an average stakes race,
they get seven hundred and thirty five bucks. And for
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every winner, there are losers. And while some races may
draw only five or six horses, others draw fields as
high as twenty two if their horse finishes fifth or worse.
Jockeys average about fifty to a hundred and ten dollars
for their time that day. Basically half of America's thoroughbred
jockeys make less than thirteen thousand dollars a year. It's
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not an easy way to make a living. In the
late eighteen nineties, black jockeys who dominated the tracks were
being squeezed out of the sport. Still, Isaac Burns Murphy
was the best jockey of his day, winning thirty four
percent of his races. Murphy rode in the Kentucky Derby
eleven times and entered the winner's circle on three horses,
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Buchanan in eighty four, Riley in eighteen ninety in Kingman
In When the National Museum of Racing and Hall of
Fame was created in nineteen fifty five, Murphy was the
very first jockey inducted. Sadly, women weren't accepted in the
sport at all, at least not without their husband's permission.
But in nineteen o four, Laska Durnell entered her horse
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Elwood in the Kentucky Derby under just her initials the
best part they won. In nineteen sixty nine, jockey Diane
Crump faced such opposition on the track that she needed
a police escort just to get to the small office
she had to use to change into her riding silks.
Men shouted at her to go back to the kitchen
and cook dinner. Some jockeys across the United States threatened
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to boycott the derby if she rode, but ride she did,
although she didn't win. Live your dream, Crump said during
an interview, don't let anyone tell you that you can't
or that you're not good enough. You are. But for
any jockey riding a one thousand, five hundred pound high
strung animal hurtling toward a finish line at forty miles
an hour, alongside up to twenty two other horses and riders.
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It's a dangerous business. The position in which jockeys ride
perched over the horse and bent forward like a missile,
never rested on the saddle is a feat of course,
strength and balance. Horse racing is a wave of controlled
chaos really, and jockeys are the daredevils who risk their
lives to ride it. Typically, jockeys are sidelined with injuries
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about three times a year. If a jockey loses their balance,
gets bumped, or if the horse stumbles, they can find
themselves flying at high speeds onto the rail or track.
Landing on the rail is bad enough, but landing on
the track means there's a risk of being trampled by
race horse hoofs that strike the ground with three thousand
pounds of pressure. In three, up and coming jockey Dominic
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Belizies Mount feared off course during a race, throwing the
twenty one year old rider off balance. Blizie fell into
the path of the other horses and died at the
hospital five days later from excessive internal injuries. Jockey John
Red Pollard was aboard fair Knitests in the stakes race
in nineteen thirty eight. Another horse slowed down in front
of his, causing fair Knightess to trip. She somersaulted on
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to the track and trapped Pollard beneath her. Although injured,
fair Knight Tess tried to stand. At the same moment
another horse attempted to jump over her, slamming into her.
She fell again, crushing Pollard a second time. The horse
miraculously recovered, but Pollard suffered a crushed chest, a broken arm,
shoulder and ribs, a shattered collar bone, a concussion, and
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a few internal injuries. Between nineteen thirty and nineteen thirty nine,
nineteen jockeys died as the result of track injuries. Finally,
in the late thirties, jockeys met in secret to discuss
the formation of a group to help protect them in
the event of injuries or if they were disabled due
to an accident on the track. Unsympathetic track operators and
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trainers often blacklisted them for participating in such meetings despite
the objections, though the Jockey Guild was formed in nine
teen forty after famous rider Eddie ar Caro visited another
injured jockey in the hospital. Our Caro, along with Red
Pollard and thirteen others, set in motion new safety measures,
including having an ambulance on the track, shorter post parades
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and cold weather, plus the use of goggles and helmets
to name a few. The horses, though sadly they didn't
have a guild in his day, he was what trainers
called a flat out flyer, and it's no wonder. In
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nineteen twelve, Old Rosebud won twelve of fourteen starts and
repeatedly clocked the fastest five furlongs of any two year old.
The following year, he won the Kentucky Derby by eight lengths,
making it one of the most dominant wins in the
race's history. His owner didn't retire the champion after his
three year old season, though, or any season for that matter.
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You see. Being a guilding Old rose Bud's value was
only based on what he could win, But to his trainer,
who worked with him every day, Old Rosebud was something more.
But racing was and is a business. So on May
sevent Old Rosebud stepped onto the track for his eightieth
start of Low end race with a miniscule purse. With
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each breath, his ribs showed against his now dull, mud
colored coat. His ears flicked, and he shuffled uneasily. He
had once been a gentleman on the track, not now,
though to the trained I it appeared that Old Rosebud
no longer enjoyed racing. Maybe the track was the last
place he wanted to be. He was eleven, after all.
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He ran fourth that day, probably much to the aggravation
of anyone who had bet on him. Just days later,
Old Rosebud was out on the track for a morning workout.
He stumbled, bobbing his head low. Then he staggered to
a halt, favoring his right front leg. Later that evening,
a bullet ended Old Rosebud's life. He didn't receive a
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burial in a green pasture or in a race tracks
in field, though, no that would have prevented Old Rosebud
from learning one more paycheck for his owner, the money
offered by the local rendering plant along the back stretch.
His trainer, Wept bred by her late husband, Black Gold,
was a promising three year old horse that Rosa Hoots
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refused to sell, not even for fifty dollars. Owning a
Derby horse had been her husband's dream, but he had
died before the Derby. It marked the fiftieth running of
the race and was also the first year a gold
trophy cup was offered, and for fans of the Derby,
it was notably the first time My Old Kentucky Home
was played. As the horses entered the track. In the stretch,
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the jet black colt was bumped hard but recovered he
was a tough horse. To get a clear path, his
jockey swung Black Gold wide around the other horses while
the crowd cheered. They poured on the speed and overtook
the leader in the last seventy yards to win. An
exciting day. Indeed, Mrs Hoots retired the champion to stud
later that year. It turned out Black Gold wasn't fertile, though,
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and returned to racing at the age of six. However,
he broke down in the stretch and while he still
managed to finish the race, Black Gold was euthanized before
he ever left the track. Mrs Hoots had her beloved
horse buried at the sixteenth pole. In eighty five, a
Kentucky Derby winner, Joe cotton horse that had been named
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after a bookie met the same fate after tripping over
two horses that had fallen in front of him. Then
tragedy struck again. In nineteen sixty nine. Dark Mirrage was
the darling of America. She had swept everything before her
in her three year old season. In her second race
as a four year old, she injured a leg and
never recovered. Historically, the ratio of accidents per starts has
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been about two out of every one thousand races. Oddly enough,
about one third of injuries that lead to fatalities happened
off the track, and some horses have recovered. When the
outstanding horse Neurea, fractured a leg running in a pasture,
veterinarians were able to save him and he lived many
years after that, passing away at the ripe age of
twenty four. But it's not just the injuries that make
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the sport dangerous. Drugging has plagued horse racing since at
least the nineteen thirties, and according to one New York
Times article from n three, it existed even back then.
Most famously, perhaps was the nineteen sixty eight winner of
the Churchill Downs, a horse named Dancer's Image. Known for
their zero tolerance for any drug found in a horse's system,
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Churchill Downs found trace amounts of a drug in the
blood of a winner named Butte. The drug they found
was a pain reliever similar to aspirin with antihistamine properties
in it and one that's allowed today, But owner Peter
Fuller claimed that it wasn't really the drug the disqualified
Dance Image. It was his own involvement in the civil
rights movement. You see. Fuller was very outspoken about social
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issues and had donated over sixty two dollars of the
champions winnings to KURTA. Scott King just days after her husband,
Martin Luther King Jr. Was murdered. After Dancer's Image retired,
he was sold as a stud horse, living the good
life until he passed away at the very old age
of twenty seven. While it's always been part of the
business to sell a horse's breeding rights, horses that no
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longer produce foals or quality horses have often ended up
in slaughter houses, including at least one Kentucky Derby winner
named Ferdinand. In two thousand and six, the House of
Representatives passed a bill making the selling or raising of
horses for food illegal. The bill failed at the Senate, though,
and the bill wasn't the first to fail either. Similar
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laws have been proposed several times since nineteen fifteen, and
while there are currently no slaughter houses for horses in
the United States, they're often sold to brokers who take
the horses of cross the northern and southern borders. In
just one decade, it's estimated that more than seven thousand,
five hundred American race horses were shipped to Mexico for slaughter. Fortunately,
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that hasn't been the fate of every horse that disappointed
their owners on the track. With the right amount of
luck and guided by just the right hands, some have
even become legendary. Tom Smith first laid eyes on him
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after a race it suffled downs in East Boston. The
three year old colt had won an allowance race, a
race that generally signifies the horses one at least one
previous race, but isn't good enough for higher paying stakes
race company. The horse had won in the stifling heat,
and something about him caught trainer Tom Smith's attention. It
certainly wasn't the brown horses looks he had Knobby knees
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and was quite small for a thoroughbread. It might have
been his bloodline and the horse was the grandson of
the great racehorse man O War, or it could have
been how well respected the stable had been born out was.
But it was neither of those things, not really. It
was pure intuition that told Smith this horse could be
a champion. Smith convinced automobile magnate Charles S. Howard to
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buy Sea Biscuit for just eight thousand dollars. He paired
the horse with a red haired jockey named John Pollard,
known as Red on the tracks. Pollard was an underdog
jockey who had suffered a brain injury and been left
partially blind after a horse had kicked a rock into
his head during a race. When Smith offered him the job,
Pollard was a lot like Sea Biscuit. Down and out.
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Jockey and horse developed a quick bond. Sea Biscuit wasn't
just a racehorse to Pollard either. The man loved him,
often bringing the horse sugarcubes. It helped that the trainer
Smith had what others thought of as unusual training methods
the first starters. He didn't treat Sea Biscuit like the
typical racehorse. He allowed the colt to be in the
company of other animals, fed him the best food, and
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allowed him to sleep frequently. Basically, he cared for Sea
Biscuit as though he were part of his family, and
Sea Biscuit thrived on it. The unassuming Brown Colts started
winning and winning a lot. Big steak races brought in
the best horses and gamblers. With the limitations on gambling,
betting at the tracks had become popular during the Great Depression.
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Some looked at winning at the track as a way
out of poverty. To them, plain looking Sea Biscuit stood
out among the bigger, flash ear horses. His jockey and
trainer were underdogs in their own right. In a way,
they were the team of the working class and the poor.
Before Smith and Pollard had taken charge of him, Sea
Biscuit had been raced and whipped far too often, Mistreated
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and discouraged, the horse didn't even bother to try anymore.
But Pollard, Smith and Howard had given him a new chance.
In treating him well in tough times, the bay colt
gave people hope. His victories became their victories. New owner
Charles Howard saw this and gave the people more of
what they wanted. Reporters who wrote about Sea Biscuit were
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sent champagne. Before long, sea Biscuit was getting more pressed
than President Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler. Shops began to sell
Sea Biscuit themed hats and toys. His image adorned cleaning services, hotels,
and pinball machines. Movie theaters played real footage of Sea
Biscuits races. He even appeared on crates of oranges. Sea
Biscuit earned it too. The horse that had once been
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regulated to allowance races had gone on to win a
string of handicapped steak races. In seven He beat the
best of the best, well except for one horse, seven
triple crown winner War Admiral. That horse was owned by
the famous racing tycoon Samuel Riddle, and Riddle coincidentally had
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also owned the legendary man O War Sea Biscuits grandsire.
But despite Sea biscuits recent victories and his prestigious grandsire,
Riddle scoffed at the horse. As far as he was concerned,
Sea Biscuit was beneath his horse and a match race
between them would be a waste of his time. And
more Admiral's talent, but Howard persisted and the public kept
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clamoring for the match. Finally, Riddle agreed, but only under
certain conditions. He got to pick the track, and since
war Admiral didn't like starting gates, they'd use a starting
line instead. Team Sea Biscuit agreed. The match race was
finally set. It would be November first, nineteen thirty eight,
at Pimlico Racetrack in Maryland. Smith and Pollard trained Sea
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Biscuit to start without a gate, and everything was going
well until Pollard had that near fatal accident aboard fair
Knight Tess that we touched on earlier. With the race
weeks away, Smith tried three jockeys on Sea Biscuit, but
the horse didn't take to any of them. Finally, George Wolf,
a friend of Pollard's, was given the ride, and he
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and Sea Biscuit seemed to hit things off. But as
the saying go, when it rains, it pours, and it
did exactly that the day before the match race, war
Admiral liked sloppy tracks and Sea Biscuit didn't. For the
working classes horse, the odds just kept stacking up, so
Wolf walked the course the night before, seeking out the
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driest part of the track. On the day of the race,
even President Roosevelt stopped and listened to the radio broadcast.
The Nazis were ramping up forces for World War two.
Just a couple of days earlier, the world had been
in a panic over orson Wells broadcast of War of
the Worlds, and on top of everything, people were still
struggling to come out of the Great Depression. With all
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that going on, the race became a sort of symbol
and reflection of the times in America. Pour against rich,
elite against average, Sea Biscuit gave them something tangible, something
to count on, and he took the early lead. War
Admiral rallied though and matched him stride for stride, Wolf
fees up on Sea Biscuit. Pollard had told him that
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the horse liked to see his rivals and what he
was up against. War Admiral edged slightly ahead and the
two entered the stretch. Sea Biscuit caught up nose two knows,
they ran, and then Sea Biscuit poured on the speed.
Despite so many disadvantages, he won the race by an
impressive four lengths. Working America saw in him a hero,
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a fighter who represented them and could overcome great obstacles.
Howard said that what made Sea Biscuit a great race
horse was his heart. He loved to run and put
everything he had into his races. The people said he
was scrappy, and what he lacked in stature he made
up with pure grit. The Nation named ten top newsmakers
that year, including Roosevelt and Hitler. The tenth spot went
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to Sea Biscuit, who retired after that match race, at
least for a while. Pollard reunited with his beloved horse
for one final race, winning the nineteen forties Santa Anita
Handicap at the ripe age of seven. Sea Biscuit retire
for good this time and lived out his days comfortably
and well cared for and Howard's California ranch. As for
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Red Pollard, Howard treated his higher jockey like a son,
paying for his hospital bills after that fall on fair Knightess,
taking him in when he recovered, and even paying for
a nurse, a nurse who Pollard eventually married. The two
went on to live a happy life together. While the
stories of Pollard and Sea Biscuit had fairy tale endings,
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temporary jockey, George Wolf wasn't so lucky. Wolf struggled with
his weight, constantly trying to keep it down low enough
to ride. He resorted to disorder exercise and eating, often
running in sweaters before race day and depriving himself of
food and water. Complicating his struggle was the fact that
he was diabetic. Collecting a paycheck was a balance between
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staying at the right weight and managing his blood sugar,
and it was a balancing act that would one day
prove fatal. On a winter day in Wolf passed out
while racing. His had hit the rail, and he was
pronounced dead at the scene. For him, the race was over.
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Behind every winning horse has been people, each with their
own powerful story, and among the heartache and shadows along
the back stretch, there are beacons of light. Although she
had been born Helen Chennery, everyone just called her Penny.
Her father went from poverty a millionaire status and owned
a farm called Meadow Stables in Virginia. Her mother died
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in nine and her father became ill, unable to manage
the farm. Racing was still a male dominated sport, but
Chennery managed to run Meadow Stables. She convinced trainer Lucian
Lauren to come out of retirement to train and manage
the farm's horses, and when her father died, leaving behind
an enormous tax bill, she negotiated the largest indication for
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a horse ever, selling breeding rights to Secretariat for seven
million dollars that's about seventy million today. She became one
of the first women to be admitted to the elite
and male dominated Jockey Club. She served for a few
years as president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association,
and she also founded the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, which rescued
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retired race horses from abuse, neglect, and slaughter. For her contributions,
a year after her death in seventeen, she was awarded
the highest honor given that thoroughbred owners and breeders by
the National Museum of Racing in Hall of Fame, the
Pillar of the Turf. Then there's Ron Turcott, who, for
his wins on several of America's best race horses in
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the nineteen sixties and seventies, was given the prestigious George
Wolf Memorial Jockey Award. It's the honor given to jockeys
who are shining examples of personal and professional conduct in
thoroughbred racing. Turcott took a fall from a horse at
the start of a race in Belmont Park in nineteen
seventy eight, and the accident left him a paraplegic, but
he still makes appearances at tracts today, helping to raise
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money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, and even this year,
there's more history to be made. For the first time
in the running of the Kentucky Derby, the race did
not take place on the first Saturday of May due
to COVID nineteen. America's most famous race was held on
September four, but that's to be expected because of the
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history of horse racing has taught us anything over the years,
it's that the records and traditions from long ago aren't
just there to be revered and respected. Sometimes they're meant
to be broken. There's more to this story. Stick around
after the brief sponsor break to hear all about it.
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He needed to lose ten pounds before the race, so
thirty five year old Irish American writer Frank Hayes ran
and sweat. He was determined to make it as a
first eight jockey, but that dream had eluded him. He
spent most of his time exercising the horses instead of
riding them across the finish line. Time and time again.
Had watched from the sidelines as the horses he trained
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entered the winner's circle with a smiling jockey posing for
the crowd, and while each of those jockeys was cheered,
he was quietly guiding the horses off the track. His
big break came when a horse suddenly didn't have a
jockey for an upcoming race. He asked to ride the horse,
but the owner declined. Hayes weighed too much, and every
pound counts in games of speed. After a lot of
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convincing and promising that he had losed the weight before
race day, he was given the ride. He had just
days to drop ten pounds. It's impossible to do healthily,
but he denied himself food and water. The morning of
the race, he jogged some more in the jockey room
and excited Hayes told his fellow riders that today was
a great day to make history. He had no idea
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how right he was. The day was rather warm on
June four, and when Hayes finally climbed into the saddle,
he wasn't just ten pounds lighter. He was dehydrated and exhausted. Thankfully,
he had little pressure to win. He had never won
a race before, and his horse, a Philly named Sweet Kiss,
was a twenty one long shot against the favorite, the
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highly regarded horse Gimme. From the start, sweet Kiss and
Gimme were the front runners, and after clearing fence after fence,
the two alternated trading first position back and forth like
some sort of relay. Then it became a match race,
just these two horses barreling for the finish line. At
the top of the stretch. The crowd jumped to their feet,
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cheering on Haze and Sweet Kiss tries he might Gimme
couldn't shake off the newcomer, and the two were never
more than a couple of lengths apart. Sweet Kiss, under
encouragement from Hayes, surged in front and then opened up
her lead over Gimme. A hundred yards before the finished
line of the rueling two mile steeple chase, Hayes dropped
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one hand casually to his side, as though he and
Sweet Kiss were out for a Sunday stroll, or maybe
he was fixing his stirrup. Seconds After cruising across the
finish line as the winner, Sweet Kiss cantered a hundred
yards and then stopped, and that's when Hayes swayed to
one side and tumbled to the ground. Onlookers rushed to
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see if he was okay and to congratulate him on
a stunning victory, but he hadn't collapsed from shock or dehydration.
Frank Hayes was dead. Naturally, the usual after race activities
were canceled, no jockey way in and certainly no posing
in the winner's circle. After a brief investigation, the racing
board determined that Hayes had probably had a heart attack
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just before the finish line. The Jockey club decided that
since no foul play had occurred, Sweet Kiss his wind
shouldn't be disqualified, and in doing so, Frank Hayes became
the only jockey in history to win a race while dead.
In fact, Hayes is still the only dead athlete to
win in any competitive sport. A week later, he was
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buried in the same silks he wore on the day
he died. The race had been his first and last win.
Sweet Kiss never raced again after that day and retired unbeaten,
and like Hayes, that race had also been her first.
It's not that she didn't want to keep competing, just
that no one would ride her. You see, she had
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picked up a new nickname, one that frightened off all
the other jockeys. The Sweet Kiss of Death American Shadows
is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by
Michelle Muto with researcher Robin Miniter, and produced by Miranda
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Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Minky, Alex Williams,
and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit
Grim and Mild dot com. For more podcasts from My
Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. M
You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart
Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Minky. Eddie Sweet
had a nightmare. The race horse he had groomed and
lovingly cared for for the past couple of years was
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running and running hard. Big Red, as Eddie affectionately called him,
had opened up a large lead over the other horses,
and then, without warning, the chestnut horse fell. The next day,
Eddie nervously watched the horses step onto the track for
the running of the Belmont Steaks. In the infield, people
stood shoulder to shoulder, holding up signs good luck Secretariat
(00:46):
on Red. In sports bars across the country, people stopped
to watch. Others gathered around their TV sets at home.
The red colt, whose jockey wore white and blue silks,
was America's horse. One by one, the horses were loaded
into the starting gates, and Eddie and the enormous crowd
in the stands around him collectively held their breath. The
starting bell broke, the silence and the gates flung open.
(01:08):
Horses surged forward, their hooves thundering on the track. By
the time they reached the first turn, Secretariat and another
front runner had set mind boggling times for the first quarter.
Head to head, they galloped, leaving the rest of the
field far behind. These horses had been rivals all year,
and now it looked like a match race. Then Secretariat
(01:28):
began to pull away by one, then two, and then
three lengths. The chestnut Colt increased his lead by ten
lengths than twelve, and the crowd screamed and waved their
signs like banners. Enthusiasts looked at their stopwatches and shook
their heads in disbelief. Announcer Chick Anderson spoke louder as
he called the race, Secretariat is blazing along. Spectators could
(01:50):
barely believe what they were seeing. More blistering speeds, and
Secretariat's lead kept growing with each ground eating stride. Anderson's
next call became one of the most amiss in sports history.
He yelled to be heard over the roaring crowd. Secretariat
is widening. Now he's moving like a tremendous machine. Eddie's
heart pounded. He had dreamed of this. Stay on your feet, Red,
(02:13):
stay up, he cried Secretariat and his jockey Ron Turcott.
We're all alone now twenty two lengths and counting no
longer racing the other horses, it was them against the stopwatch.
In a now famous photo, Turcott looks over his shoulder
to check the teleprompter for Secretariat's time as the crowd
nearly drowned out Anderson's final call of the race, Secretariat
(02:36):
crossed the finish line thirty one lengths ahead of the rest,
shattering the race record, track record and world record for
the mile and a half distance on dirt by an
incredible second and a half. Labeled the Horse of the Century,
Secretariat had just won the coveted triple crown, having swept
the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in the weeks before. To date,
(02:57):
only thirteen horses have ever accomplished that beat, beginning with
one named Sir Barton in n and Secretariat's time records
for all three races still stand almost fifty years later.
So for a few weeks back in June of nine,
everyone's attention turned from watergate to a starting gate. Time
(03:18):
magazine even featured a picture of the champion horse on
the front cover of their June issue. Even now, you
can't mention horse racing without talking about Secretariat. No other
horse in history has ever captured the public's attention nor
racing enthusiasts hearts the way he did, So much so
that in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources actually named
(03:40):
Secretariat's birthplace a historical site. But as any true racing
fan can tell you, the sport of kings isn't all
winner circles and roses. It's also home to its own
fair share of darkness. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, Welcome to American Shadows.
(04:06):
Horse racing is a world of its own. We associate
it with the wealthy and affluent, and for the owners
and trainers, that's often true. The race horses aren't cheap,
and the better bred ones can sell for millions of dollars,
not to mention the money that goes into training them
and keeping them fit, or at least fit enough to run.
And while there are races with million dollar purses, there
(04:28):
are limits to how many horses can run that race.
Often there are requirements to like age or prior winnings.
Twenty thousand race horses are typically born each year. Divide
that by the number of well paying races, and you
can see how not every horse comes out profitable riding
to victory Usually that's a jockey ten percent of the
winner's share, second, third and fourth place get around five percent.
(04:52):
That sounds pretty good in million dollars stakes races, where
the winner gets of the total purse. For perspective, though,
according to the Jockeys Guild, the average stakes race as
of seventeen was just under thirty thousand dollars. That means
for a jockey riding the winner of an average stakes race,
they get seven hundred and thirty five bucks. And for
(05:14):
every winner, there are losers. And while some races may
draw only five or six horses, others draw fields as
high as twenty two if their horse finishes fifth or worse.
Jockeys average about fifty to a hundred and ten dollars
for their time that day. Basically half of America's thoroughbred
jockeys make less than thirteen thousand dollars a year. It's
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not an easy way to make a living. In the
late eighteen nineties, black jockeys who dominated the tracks were
being squeezed out of the sport. Still, Isaac Burns Murphy
was the best jockey of his day, winning thirty four
percent of his races. Murphy rode in the Kentucky Derby
eleven times and entered the winner's circle on three horses,
(05:56):
Buchanan in eighty four, Riley in eighteen ninety in Kingman
In When the National Museum of Racing and Hall of
Fame was created in nineteen fifty five, Murphy was the
very first jockey inducted. Sadly, women weren't accepted in the
sport at all, at least not without their husband's permission.
But in nineteen o four, Laska Durnell entered her horse
(06:19):
Elwood in the Kentucky Derby under just her initials the
best part they won. In nineteen sixty nine, jockey Diane
Crump faced such opposition on the track that she needed
a police escort just to get to the small office
she had to use to change into her riding silks.
Men shouted at her to go back to the kitchen
and cook dinner. Some jockeys across the United States threatened
(06:42):
to boycott the derby if she rode, but ride she did,
although she didn't win. Live your dream, Crump said during
an interview, don't let anyone tell you that you can't
or that you're not good enough. You are. But for
any jockey riding a one thousand, five hundred pound high
strung animal hurtling toward a finish line at forty miles
an hour, alongside up to twenty two other horses and riders.
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It's a dangerous business. The position in which jockeys ride
perched over the horse and bent forward like a missile,
never rested on the saddle is a feat of course,
strength and balance. Horse racing is a wave of controlled
chaos really, and jockeys are the daredevils who risk their
lives to ride it. Typically, jockeys are sidelined with injuries
(07:26):
about three times a year. If a jockey loses their balance,
gets bumped, or if the horse stumbles, they can find
themselves flying at high speeds onto the rail or track.
Landing on the rail is bad enough, but landing on
the track means there's a risk of being trampled by
race horse hoofs that strike the ground with three thousand
pounds of pressure. In three, up and coming jockey Dominic
(07:47):
Belizies Mount feared off course during a race, throwing the
twenty one year old rider off balance. Blizie fell into
the path of the other horses and died at the
hospital five days later from excessive internal injuries. Jockey John
Red Pollard was aboard fair Knitests in the stakes race
in nineteen thirty eight. Another horse slowed down in front
of his, causing fair Knightess to trip. She somersaulted on
(08:10):
to the track and trapped Pollard beneath her. Although injured,
fair Knight Tess tried to stand. At the same moment
another horse attempted to jump over her, slamming into her.
She fell again, crushing Pollard a second time. The horse
miraculously recovered, but Pollard suffered a crushed chest, a broken arm,
shoulder and ribs, a shattered collar bone, a concussion, and
(08:32):
a few internal injuries. Between nineteen thirty and nineteen thirty nine,
nineteen jockeys died as the result of track injuries. Finally,
in the late thirties, jockeys met in secret to discuss
the formation of a group to help protect them in
the event of injuries or if they were disabled due
to an accident on the track. Unsympathetic track operators and
(08:53):
trainers often blacklisted them for participating in such meetings despite
the objections, though the Jockey Guild was formed in nine
teen forty after famous rider Eddie ar Caro visited another
injured jockey in the hospital. Our Caro, along with Red
Pollard and thirteen others, set in motion new safety measures,
including having an ambulance on the track, shorter post parades
(09:14):
and cold weather, plus the use of goggles and helmets
to name a few. The horses, though sadly they didn't
have a guild in his day, he was what trainers
called a flat out flyer, and it's no wonder. In
(09:35):
nineteen twelve, Old Rosebud won twelve of fourteen starts and
repeatedly clocked the fastest five furlongs of any two year old.
The following year, he won the Kentucky Derby by eight lengths,
making it one of the most dominant wins in the
race's history. His owner didn't retire the champion after his
three year old season, though, or any season for that matter.
(09:57):
You see. Being a guilding Old rose Bud's value was
only based on what he could win, But to his trainer,
who worked with him every day, Old Rosebud was something more.
But racing was and is a business. So on May
sevent Old Rosebud stepped onto the track for his eightieth
start of Low end race with a miniscule purse. With
(10:21):
each breath, his ribs showed against his now dull, mud
colored coat. His ears flicked, and he shuffled uneasily. He
had once been a gentleman on the track, not now,
though to the trained I it appeared that Old Rosebud
no longer enjoyed racing. Maybe the track was the last
place he wanted to be. He was eleven, after all.
(10:41):
He ran fourth that day, probably much to the aggravation
of anyone who had bet on him. Just days later,
Old Rosebud was out on the track for a morning workout.
He stumbled, bobbing his head low. Then he staggered to
a halt, favoring his right front leg. Later that evening,
a bullet ended Old Rosebud's life. He didn't receive a
(11:02):
burial in a green pasture or in a race tracks
in field, though, no that would have prevented Old Rosebud
from learning one more paycheck for his owner, the money
offered by the local rendering plant along the back stretch.
His trainer, Wept bred by her late husband, Black Gold,
was a promising three year old horse that Rosa Hoots
(11:25):
refused to sell, not even for fifty dollars. Owning a
Derby horse had been her husband's dream, but he had
died before the Derby. It marked the fiftieth running of
the race and was also the first year a gold
trophy cup was offered, and for fans of the Derby,
it was notably the first time My Old Kentucky Home
was played. As the horses entered the track. In the stretch,
(11:48):
the jet black colt was bumped hard but recovered he
was a tough horse. To get a clear path, his
jockey swung Black Gold wide around the other horses while
the crowd cheered. They poured on the speed and overtook
the leader in the last seventy yards to win. An
exciting day. Indeed, Mrs Hoots retired the champion to stud
later that year. It turned out Black Gold wasn't fertile, though,
(12:12):
and returned to racing at the age of six. However,
he broke down in the stretch and while he still
managed to finish the race, Black Gold was euthanized before
he ever left the track. Mrs Hoots had her beloved
horse buried at the sixteenth pole. In eighty five, a
Kentucky Derby winner, Joe cotton horse that had been named
(12:35):
after a bookie met the same fate after tripping over
two horses that had fallen in front of him. Then
tragedy struck again. In nineteen sixty nine. Dark Mirrage was
the darling of America. She had swept everything before her
in her three year old season. In her second race
as a four year old, she injured a leg and
never recovered. Historically, the ratio of accidents per starts has
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been about two out of every one thousand races. Oddly enough,
about one third of injuries that lead to fatalities happened
off the track, and some horses have recovered. When the
outstanding horse Neurea, fractured a leg running in a pasture,
veterinarians were able to save him and he lived many
years after that, passing away at the ripe age of
twenty four. But it's not just the injuries that make
(13:21):
the sport dangerous. Drugging has plagued horse racing since at
least the nineteen thirties, and according to one New York
Times article from n three, it existed even back then.
Most famously, perhaps was the nineteen sixty eight winner of
the Churchill Downs, a horse named Dancer's Image. Known for
their zero tolerance for any drug found in a horse's system,
(13:43):
Churchill Downs found trace amounts of a drug in the
blood of a winner named Butte. The drug they found
was a pain reliever similar to aspirin with antihistamine properties
in it and one that's allowed today, But owner Peter
Fuller claimed that it wasn't really the drug the disqualified
Dance Image. It was his own involvement in the civil
rights movement. You see. Fuller was very outspoken about social
(14:06):
issues and had donated over sixty two dollars of the
champions winnings to KURTA. Scott King just days after her husband,
Martin Luther King Jr. Was murdered. After Dancer's Image retired,
he was sold as a stud horse, living the good
life until he passed away at the very old age
of twenty seven. While it's always been part of the
business to sell a horse's breeding rights, horses that no
(14:28):
longer produce foals or quality horses have often ended up
in slaughter houses, including at least one Kentucky Derby winner
named Ferdinand. In two thousand and six, the House of
Representatives passed a bill making the selling or raising of
horses for food illegal. The bill failed at the Senate, though,
and the bill wasn't the first to fail either. Similar
(14:49):
laws have been proposed several times since nineteen fifteen, and
while there are currently no slaughter houses for horses in
the United States, they're often sold to brokers who take
the horses of cross the northern and southern borders. In
just one decade, it's estimated that more than seven thousand,
five hundred American race horses were shipped to Mexico for slaughter. Fortunately,
(15:10):
that hasn't been the fate of every horse that disappointed
their owners on the track. With the right amount of
luck and guided by just the right hands, some have
even become legendary. Tom Smith first laid eyes on him
(15:32):
after a race it suffled downs in East Boston. The
three year old colt had won an allowance race, a
race that generally signifies the horses one at least one
previous race, but isn't good enough for higher paying stakes
race company. The horse had won in the stifling heat,
and something about him caught trainer Tom Smith's attention. It
certainly wasn't the brown horses looks he had Knobby knees
(15:56):
and was quite small for a thoroughbread. It might have
been his bloodline and the horse was the grandson of
the great racehorse man O War, or it could have
been how well respected the stable had been born out was.
But it was neither of those things, not really. It
was pure intuition that told Smith this horse could be
a champion. Smith convinced automobile magnate Charles S. Howard to
(16:19):
buy Sea Biscuit for just eight thousand dollars. He paired
the horse with a red haired jockey named John Pollard,
known as Red on the tracks. Pollard was an underdog
jockey who had suffered a brain injury and been left
partially blind after a horse had kicked a rock into
his head during a race. When Smith offered him the job,
Pollard was a lot like Sea Biscuit. Down and out.
(16:41):
Jockey and horse developed a quick bond. Sea Biscuit wasn't
just a racehorse to Pollard either. The man loved him,
often bringing the horse sugarcubes. It helped that the trainer
Smith had what others thought of as unusual training methods
the first starters. He didn't treat Sea Biscuit like the
typical racehorse. He allowed the colt to be in the
company of other animals, fed him the best food, and
(17:03):
allowed him to sleep frequently. Basically, he cared for Sea
Biscuit as though he were part of his family, and
Sea Biscuit thrived on it. The unassuming Brown Colts started
winning and winning a lot. Big steak races brought in
the best horses and gamblers. With the limitations on gambling,
betting at the tracks had become popular during the Great Depression.
(17:25):
Some looked at winning at the track as a way
out of poverty. To them, plain looking Sea Biscuit stood
out among the bigger, flash ear horses. His jockey and
trainer were underdogs in their own right. In a way,
they were the team of the working class and the poor.
Before Smith and Pollard had taken charge of him, Sea
Biscuit had been raced and whipped far too often, Mistreated
(17:47):
and discouraged, the horse didn't even bother to try anymore.
But Pollard, Smith and Howard had given him a new chance.
In treating him well in tough times, the bay colt
gave people hope. His victories became their victories. New owner
Charles Howard saw this and gave the people more of
what they wanted. Reporters who wrote about Sea Biscuit were
(18:08):
sent champagne. Before long, sea Biscuit was getting more pressed
than President Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler. Shops began to sell
Sea Biscuit themed hats and toys. His image adorned cleaning services, hotels,
and pinball machines. Movie theaters played real footage of Sea
Biscuits races. He even appeared on crates of oranges. Sea
Biscuit earned it too. The horse that had once been
(18:30):
regulated to allowance races had gone on to win a
string of handicapped steak races. In seven He beat the
best of the best, well except for one horse, seven
triple crown winner War Admiral. That horse was owned by
the famous racing tycoon Samuel Riddle, and Riddle coincidentally had
(18:52):
also owned the legendary man O War Sea Biscuits grandsire.
But despite Sea biscuits recent victories and his prestigious grandsire,
Riddle scoffed at the horse. As far as he was concerned,
Sea Biscuit was beneath his horse and a match race
between them would be a waste of his time. And
more Admiral's talent, but Howard persisted and the public kept
(19:12):
clamoring for the match. Finally, Riddle agreed, but only under
certain conditions. He got to pick the track, and since
war Admiral didn't like starting gates, they'd use a starting
line instead. Team Sea Biscuit agreed. The match race was
finally set. It would be November first, nineteen thirty eight,
at Pimlico Racetrack in Maryland. Smith and Pollard trained Sea
(19:35):
Biscuit to start without a gate, and everything was going
well until Pollard had that near fatal accident aboard fair
Knight Tess that we touched on earlier. With the race
weeks away, Smith tried three jockeys on Sea Biscuit, but
the horse didn't take to any of them. Finally, George Wolf,
a friend of Pollard's, was given the ride, and he
(19:56):
and Sea Biscuit seemed to hit things off. But as
the saying go, when it rains, it pours, and it
did exactly that the day before the match race, war
Admiral liked sloppy tracks and Sea Biscuit didn't. For the
working classes horse, the odds just kept stacking up, so
Wolf walked the course the night before, seeking out the
(20:17):
driest part of the track. On the day of the race,
even President Roosevelt stopped and listened to the radio broadcast.
The Nazis were ramping up forces for World War two.
Just a couple of days earlier, the world had been
in a panic over orson Wells broadcast of War of
the Worlds, and on top of everything, people were still
struggling to come out of the Great Depression. With all
(20:39):
that going on, the race became a sort of symbol
and reflection of the times in America. Pour against rich,
elite against average, Sea Biscuit gave them something tangible, something
to count on, and he took the early lead. War
Admiral rallied though and matched him stride for stride, Wolf
fees up on Sea Biscuit. Pollard had told him that
(21:00):
the horse liked to see his rivals and what he
was up against. War Admiral edged slightly ahead and the
two entered the stretch. Sea Biscuit caught up nose two knows,
they ran, and then Sea Biscuit poured on the speed.
Despite so many disadvantages, he won the race by an
impressive four lengths. Working America saw in him a hero,
(21:22):
a fighter who represented them and could overcome great obstacles.
Howard said that what made Sea Biscuit a great race
horse was his heart. He loved to run and put
everything he had into his races. The people said he
was scrappy, and what he lacked in stature he made
up with pure grit. The Nation named ten top newsmakers
that year, including Roosevelt and Hitler. The tenth spot went
(21:45):
to Sea Biscuit, who retired after that match race, at
least for a while. Pollard reunited with his beloved horse
for one final race, winning the nineteen forties Santa Anita
Handicap at the ripe age of seven. Sea Biscuit retire
for good this time and lived out his days comfortably
and well cared for and Howard's California ranch. As for
(22:06):
Red Pollard, Howard treated his higher jockey like a son,
paying for his hospital bills after that fall on fair Knightess,
taking him in when he recovered, and even paying for
a nurse, a nurse who Pollard eventually married. The two
went on to live a happy life together. While the
stories of Pollard and Sea Biscuit had fairy tale endings,
(22:27):
temporary jockey, George Wolf wasn't so lucky. Wolf struggled with
his weight, constantly trying to keep it down low enough
to ride. He resorted to disorder exercise and eating, often
running in sweaters before race day and depriving himself of
food and water. Complicating his struggle was the fact that
he was diabetic. Collecting a paycheck was a balance between
(22:48):
staying at the right weight and managing his blood sugar,
and it was a balancing act that would one day
prove fatal. On a winter day in Wolf passed out
while racing. His had hit the rail, and he was
pronounced dead at the scene. For him, the race was over.
(23:10):
Behind every winning horse has been people, each with their
own powerful story, and among the heartache and shadows along
the back stretch, there are beacons of light. Although she
had been born Helen Chennery, everyone just called her Penny.
Her father went from poverty a millionaire status and owned
a farm called Meadow Stables in Virginia. Her mother died
(23:31):
in nine and her father became ill, unable to manage
the farm. Racing was still a male dominated sport, but
Chennery managed to run Meadow Stables. She convinced trainer Lucian
Lauren to come out of retirement to train and manage
the farm's horses, and when her father died, leaving behind
an enormous tax bill, she negotiated the largest indication for
(23:53):
a horse ever, selling breeding rights to Secretariat for seven
million dollars that's about seventy million today. She became one
of the first women to be admitted to the elite
and male dominated Jockey Club. She served for a few
years as president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association,
and she also founded the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, which rescued
(24:15):
retired race horses from abuse, neglect, and slaughter. For her contributions,
a year after her death in seventeen, she was awarded
the highest honor given that thoroughbred owners and breeders by
the National Museum of Racing in Hall of Fame, the
Pillar of the Turf. Then there's Ron Turcott, who, for
his wins on several of America's best race horses in
(24:37):
the nineteen sixties and seventies, was given the prestigious George
Wolf Memorial Jockey Award. It's the honor given to jockeys
who are shining examples of personal and professional conduct in
thoroughbred racing. Turcott took a fall from a horse at
the start of a race in Belmont Park in nineteen
seventy eight, and the accident left him a paraplegic, but
he still makes appearances at tracts today, helping to raise
(25:00):
money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, and even this year,
there's more history to be made. For the first time
in the running of the Kentucky Derby, the race did
not take place on the first Saturday of May due
to COVID nineteen. America's most famous race was held on
September four, but that's to be expected because of the
(25:21):
history of horse racing has taught us anything over the years,
it's that the records and traditions from long ago aren't
just there to be revered and respected. Sometimes they're meant
to be broken. There's more to this story. Stick around
after the brief sponsor break to hear all about it.
(25:50):
He needed to lose ten pounds before the race, so
thirty five year old Irish American writer Frank Hayes ran
and sweat. He was determined to make it as a
first eight jockey, but that dream had eluded him. He
spent most of his time exercising the horses instead of
riding them across the finish line. Time and time again.
Had watched from the sidelines as the horses he trained
(26:11):
entered the winner's circle with a smiling jockey posing for
the crowd, and while each of those jockeys was cheered,
he was quietly guiding the horses off the track. His
big break came when a horse suddenly didn't have a
jockey for an upcoming race. He asked to ride the horse,
but the owner declined. Hayes weighed too much, and every
pound counts in games of speed. After a lot of
(26:34):
convincing and promising that he had losed the weight before
race day, he was given the ride. He had just
days to drop ten pounds. It's impossible to do healthily,
but he denied himself food and water. The morning of
the race, he jogged some more in the jockey room
and excited Hayes told his fellow riders that today was
a great day to make history. He had no idea
(26:56):
how right he was. The day was rather warm on
June four, and when Hayes finally climbed into the saddle,
he wasn't just ten pounds lighter. He was dehydrated and exhausted. Thankfully,
he had little pressure to win. He had never won
a race before, and his horse, a Philly named Sweet Kiss,
was a twenty one long shot against the favorite, the
(27:19):
highly regarded horse Gimme. From the start, sweet Kiss and
Gimme were the front runners, and after clearing fence after fence,
the two alternated trading first position back and forth like
some sort of relay. Then it became a match race,
just these two horses barreling for the finish line. At
the top of the stretch. The crowd jumped to their feet,
(27:42):
cheering on Haze and Sweet Kiss tries he might Gimme
couldn't shake off the newcomer, and the two were never
more than a couple of lengths apart. Sweet Kiss, under
encouragement from Hayes, surged in front and then opened up
her lead over Gimme. A hundred yards before the finished
line of the rueling two mile steeple chase, Hayes dropped
(28:03):
one hand casually to his side, as though he and
Sweet Kiss were out for a Sunday stroll, or maybe
he was fixing his stirrup. Seconds After cruising across the
finish line as the winner, Sweet Kiss cantered a hundred
yards and then stopped, and that's when Hayes swayed to
one side and tumbled to the ground. Onlookers rushed to
(28:23):
see if he was okay and to congratulate him on
a stunning victory, but he hadn't collapsed from shock or dehydration.
Frank Hayes was dead. Naturally, the usual after race activities
were canceled, no jockey way in and certainly no posing
in the winner's circle. After a brief investigation, the racing
board determined that Hayes had probably had a heart attack
(28:45):
just before the finish line. The Jockey club decided that
since no foul play had occurred, Sweet Kiss his wind
shouldn't be disqualified, and in doing so, Frank Hayes became
the only jockey in history to win a race while dead.
In fact, Hayes is still the only dead athlete to
win in any competitive sport. A week later, he was
(29:07):
buried in the same silks he wore on the day
he died. The race had been his first and last win.
Sweet Kiss never raced again after that day and retired unbeaten,
and like Hayes, that race had also been her first.
It's not that she didn't want to keep competing, just
that no one would ride her. You see, she had
(29:28):
picked up a new nickname, one that frightened off all
the other jockeys. The Sweet Kiss of Death American Shadows
is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by
Michelle Muto with researcher Robin Miniter, and produced by Miranda
(29:52):
Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Minky, Alex Williams,
and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit
Grim and Mild dot com. For more podcasts from My
Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. M
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Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.