by Dan Rosenberg

At one time in my life, I dreamed that someday I might be close to a really good horse. Not really believing at the time that my dream would come true, it still seems a little bit of a surprise to realize how extraordinarily fortunate I have been to have been associated with so many of them.

To be associated with one Kentucky Derby (G1) winner is the ultimate, of course. And to have been involved with one in a lifetime is enough. Depending on how one counts, I have been with six or seven, or maybe by stretching it, even eight Kentucky Derby winners. (I might add that my daughter may be the only person to be able to claim that she had been on the backs of two Derby winners at the age of one.)

Dancer's Image, who was disqualified from the 1968 Derby win, was standing at Glade Valley Farm in Maryland when I worked there. Out of loyalty, I still considered him the winner despite his disqualification for a medication positive.

I remember him as a big, strong horse with a bit of attitude. Perhaps the first stallion I ever handled, he bit me hard one day while I was leading him, not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough and fast enough to let me know what a stallion is capable of. I also got to know his owner, Peter Fuller, when he came to the farm to see Dancer's Image and his mares. Peter is a great gentleman and humanitarian who befriended me as a groom and has kept in touch with me to this day.

I had to change my loyalties several years later when I arrived at Calumet Farm, home not only to Forward Pass, who had been moved up to first by the disqualification in that 1968 Derby, but also to Tim Tam. Winner of the 1958 Derby and Preakness Stakes, Tim Tam broke down in the stretch run of the Belmont Stakes and finished a game second with fractured sesamoids. Forward Pass was a gentleman, a kind horse and easy to get along with.

Tim Tam was one of the worst breeding horses I have ever been around. It would regularly take him ten or more attempts to cover a mare, with long periods of time between jumps. He was an old man of 20 when I went to work with him, but his sire, Tom Fool, was also notorious for being a shy breeder.

Melvin Cinnamon loved to tell a story about Robert Courtney bringing a mare to the breeding shed to Tim Tam. After handing the mare over to the handler, he proceeded to unfold a small camp table in the breeding shed, covered it with a tablecloth, and set a rose in a vase on the table. "What the hell are you doing?" Melvin asked. "Well," replied Courtney, "I figured if I was going to have to be here all day I might as well bring my lunch!"

Seattle Slew arrives

In 1986, Seattle Slew arrived at Three Chimneys Farm from Spendthrift Farm. While the responsibility was somewhat daunting at first, the thrill of being even a small part of a living legend was tremendous.

Without question, I have never experienced another horse like Seattle Slew. He was by far the smartest horse I have ever been around. His eye was unique, and he looked at you and through you with complete confidence. He was always in control of every situation.  He was generous and willing to do what was asked of him, but he did not take orders. His relationship with his lifetime groom, Tom Wade, who came with him from Spendthrift, deserves to be described as legendary and spoken of along with Will Harbut and Man o' War and Clem Brooks and Nashua.

Seattle Slew came with a history of being a slow breeding horse, sometimes having even refused to breed. I do not know what the difference was, maybe just a change of scenery or maybe a different atmosphere, but we never saw that side of him from the first day he walked into the Three Chimneys breeding shed.

Seattle Slew introduced me to the public and the media. People came in droves from all over the world just to see him. He was a ham and knew he deserved to be admired. Once in a while he would get tired of it, was not in the mood to be bothered, and would go to the back of his stall. There was no point in going into the stall to press the issue.

But, as soon as he would see another horse out and being admired, he would be right at the stall door demanding the attention. And the media started calling Three Chimneys when they needed a quote for a story because Seattle Slew was there. You cannot buy that kind of advertising.

Penny Chenery once gave me a piece of advice that I always remembered and tried to follow. "Always answer a question as if it's the first time you've ever heard it," she advised.

There was one notable time when I slipped. I was being interviewed about Seattle Slew for a television show. I was in the middle of answering a question when a plane went overhead, drowning out the sound. The reporter, very disappointed, said: "I'm so sorry. We'll have to do that again. But your answer was so good, we won't be able to get it as well the second time."

I said, "I've been asked that question about 5,000 times. It's a canned answer. I can do it in my sleep." Her face fell.

Genuine Risk's baby

We really learned about the media though Genuine Risk. One morning during the Keeneland Race Course spring meeting, I ran into Joe Durso, the late Turf writer for the New York Times. It was a dark day, and I invited him to the farm. Walking through the foaling barn, he was looking at the names on the doors and to whom they were in foal when we got to Genuine Risk's stall.

He asked what she had ever had, and I explained that, although she conceived easily, she had lost some pregnancies early and some late and had some full-term stillborn foals. She was due soon again, and we were crossing our fingers. "Do you mind if I do a story about that?" he asked.

The story came out in the New York Times and was as picked up by the wire service. Soon, we started getting phone calls from newspapers, magazines, national networks, local stations, National Public Radio, and radio talk shows, not to mention sacks full of letters and cards.

Childless couples all over the world identified with this mare. Everyone was waiting and watching with baited breath. We had to fend off television crews that wanted to camp out to film the delivery. (That was all we needed, a stillbirth or dystocia on national television.) With the world watching, we were praying for this story to have a happy ending.

The mare was full term, and we were monitoring the foal by ultrasound several times a day. During an examination one day, resident veterinarian Jim Becht determined that the fetal heart rate was significantly elevated, and we needed to induce labor and get him out of there pronto.

We decided that, even though it meant waiting a few more minutes, she was better off at a veterinary clinic, so we loaded her on the van and drove her to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. Our relief and exhilaration were indescribable when Becht and broodmare manger Gary Bush delivered a healthy colt with no difficulties or further complications.

The media and the public were all over us. Although it was the middle of breeding season, we had to take time to deal with it. To keep it somewhat under control, we set up media events for photographers, television crews, reporters. Virtually every media outlet covered it. And the cards and letters kept coming.

We did not want a circus the first time Genuine Risk was turned out with her foal, but knew it was an event that deserved to be properly recorded. We invited Tony Leonard to be present, and the photograph he got might be among his best ever. Reproduced as a print, it shows Genuine Risk perfectly in stride with her foal and looking back at him with a genuine combination of concern, love, and pride.

But our relief was short-lived. A few days later, the colt developed a meconium impaction that required surgery. Once again we were deluged with phone calls, requests for interviews, cards, and letters. To have come so far only to end in tragedy was unbearable, but fortunately the colt recovered completely, and the story did have a happy ending.

As is so often the case, it is the people involved with a horse that are so memorable. Diana Firestone, a classy lady if there ever was one, loved Genuine Risk. She would often fly into Lexington and come straight to the farm, go to Genuine Risk's barn, and take her out on a shank to graze for an hour or so. I was very sorry to learn of Genuine Risk's passing recently and know that Diana will always cherish her memory.

No backing down

The next Derby winner into our stallion barn was Silver Charm, and I saw something I had never seen before or since. In every other case, when a new stallion walks into the barn, all the other stallions come to the front of their stalls and call out to challenge and intimidate this new kid on the block. And in every other case I have seen, the new stallion reacts with some hesitation and insecurity in this new location and atmosphere. Not Silver Charm. He stood stock still as proud and confident as a horse can be, as if to say: "I'm here. Deal with it." And all the other stallions stood back and shut up.

Silver Charm was an easy horse to deal with. Nothing much ruffled his feathers. Not just a Derby and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner, he was a fan favorite, and the fans kept coming. Bob and Beverly Lewis always came to see him when they could. I know he held a special place in their hearts, so the decision to sell him to Japanese interests was not an easy one.

A clause was put in the purchase agreement to provide for his return to Three Chimneys upon retirement, and his page on the Three Chimneys website was updated regularly with photographs of him in his new home to reassure fans that he is healthy and well looked after.

The experience we gained dealing with the press with Seattle Slew, Genuine Risk, and Silver Charm turned out to be invaluable when we landed Smarty Jones. In fact, that experience was at least part of the reason that our bid for him in a highly competitive field was successful.

"America's horse"

Smarty Jones was and is "America's horse." His owners, Roy and Pat Chapman, were very conscious of this and wanted to provide the public with access to him. We were able to say: "We've been doing this for years, with Seattle Slew, Genuine Risk, and Silver Charm. We're experienced handling the public and the press. Seattle Slew was ÔAmerica's horse,' and it is appropriate that Smarty Jones occupies his former stall."

Little did we know, the attention he drew necessitated the building of a visitors parking lot and a visitors center along with hiring a full-time person to schedule and conduct tours. To this day, approximately 25,000 fans a year come to see him. Think of the economic impact this one horse has had on the restaurant business in Midway, Kentucky.

Smarty Jones likes to be left alone. He will tolerate being groomed, and he is happy to be admired by his fans. Mostly, he wants to be outside in his paddock, but he will usually come to the fence if visitors come by.

The day we signed the deal for Smarty Jones, I called Roy and Pat Chapman to thank them for their confidence in entrusting their horse to us. Roy said in his gruff voice, "Now Dan. I've got some instructions for you and your entire staff."

I thought, "Oh no. Here it comes."

"It's not Mr. and Mrs. Chapman. It's Chappy and Pat." In my experience, that is the kind of man he was, and that is the kind of woman she is. I don't know that I've ever seen an owner enjoy traveling around Kentucky seeing every Smarty Jones foal and yearling that she can as much as Pat has. With his first crop at the races, we are excited about his prospects as a sire. He has the speed and the stamina, his foals are out of the right mares, and they look the part. You just wait.

I cannot claim any relationship to Big Brown except to say that I am thrilled that Three Chimneys will stand him. It is notable that Case Clay closed this deal for another Derby winner. He will be another great stallion for Three Chimneys, and I am sure he will not be the last Derby winner for the farm.

I have looked back at these horses and tried to find a common thread. They are every shape and size. They are not all "correct." The common denominator I have observed is that they are all very smart, and they all have a very powerful sense of who they are. I just wish I could pick one out in advance. That would be fun.

Dan Rosenberg, owner of Rosenberg Thoroughbred Consulting, is a consultant to "Farm Management News" and a regular columnist