Tracy Farmer could barely contain his enthusiasm as a Sallee horse van made its way up the van entrance on Thursday morning at Robert and Blythe Clay's Three Chimneys Farm near Midway, Kentucky.Farmer was excited about the cargo on board, Grade 1 winner Albert the Great, who was coming back "home" to begin his second career in the breeding shed.

"It's almost more exciting than a race," Farmer told a group of nearly 20 farm representatives, photographers, media, and others who turned out for the four-year-old son of Go for Gin's arrival.

When Albert the Great stepped off the van, the attractive bay colt took in all the sights amidst the camera clicks, including a familiar face he has seen the last three years. Trainer Nick Zito was among the group that greeted Albert the Great, who had flown from New York to Louisville before a van ride to Three Chimneys.

Zito, who has a string of runners at nearby Churchill Downs, arrived at Three Chimneys a good two hours before Albert the Great was scheduled to arrive. The 53-year-old New York-based conditioner arrived early to scope out the scene, brief Three Chimneys stallion manager Sandy Hatfield and her staff on the colt's tendencies and idiosyncrasies, and inspect the large stall in the main stallion barn that will now be Albert the Great's home.

Zito, who had just seen Albert the Great bounce back from a tough loss in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) to be a gallant third in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) five days ago, was impressed with the colt's appearance and pondered if he knew he was home.

"He must know that he was born here; he has to," Zito told Robert Clay. "You have to think they remember things like that. Things that are familiar to them from the past."

Foaled at breeder Albert Clay's and John Clay's Fair Way Farm, located in the town of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Albert the Great was prepped for the 1998 Keeneland September yearling sale at Three Chimneys Farm. Farmer purchased the colt at that sale for $85,000 and named him in the honor of the breeder.

Unraced at two, Albert the Great went on to become one of the country's top three-year-olds in 2000 and handicap runners in 2001 under Zito's care.

Albert the Great won five of 13 starts as a three-year-old, including wins in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Dwyer Stakes (G2), where he defeated Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Red Bullet and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Commendable. He ended the season with a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs.

Albert the Great was arguably even better as a four-year-old and after a second-place effort to Captain Steve in the Donn Handicap (G1), he won Hialeah Park's Widener Handicap (G3) in track-record time. He was second to Include in the Pimlico Special Handicap (G1), then won two of the three signature events for older horses at the Belmont spring-summer meet—the Brooklyn (G2) and Suburban (G2) Handicaps—in succession.

He failed to win in his final four career starts, but finished second to Lido Palace (Chi) in both the Whitney Handicap (G1) and Woodward Stakes (G1).

Overall, Albert the Great made 15 consecutive starts in stakes company with five wins, five seconds, and two thirds. He will keep equally competent company at Three Chimneys with the likes of Point Given, Silver Charm, War Chant, Wild Again, and Rahy housed in the same barn.

"If he were a male, a human male, I'd have to say he's like Cal Ripken Jr.," Zito said. "It would be, 'Cal Ripken comes to Three Chimneys.' He's like Cal Ripken in that he came to work every day, did his job, did it well, and danced every dance. I wish they all could come home looking like he did."—Tom Law