by Jeff Apel

Two-time Horse of the Year John Henry is being treated for dehydration at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

The 32-year-old gelding began receiving daily intravenous treatments on Tuesday after previously being treated for dehydration earlier this summer. Cathy Roby, the Hall of Champions barn manager, said John Henry has also lost a noticeable amount of weight.

“Let’s just say we are fairly concerned,” Roby said. “We don’t really know from day to day what’s going to happen.

“But when you’re basically 110 in people years, you never know what can happen.”

After being on fluids for about 24 hours on Tuesday, John Henry has been confined to his stall during the day so he can undergo additional treatments. At night, John Henry is turned out in his paddock at the Kentucky Horse Park, where the temperamental gelding has lived since 1985.

“We just take it one day at a time because we never know what the day is going to hold,” Roby said. “We just do what he needs that day to make him happy, make him comfortable.

“He’s not in any pain. Our vet doesn’t think he’s in any pain or discomfort right now.”

Roby said age may be the reason why John Henry shows a good appetite on some days and seems uninterested in eating on others.

“With the weight being off of him, it’s very hard to keep his condition the way it should be,” Roby said. “Basically, at 32, you’re just like an old person trying to keep weight on. Once they lose the weight, it’s really hard to get the weight back on.”

A seven-time Eclipse Award winner who was Horse of the Year in 1981 and ’84, John Henry wrapped up his eight-year racing career in ’84 with $6,591,860 in earnings and 39 wins in 83 starts.

Bred in Kentucky by Verna Lehman’s Golden Chance Farm, the Ole Bob Bowers gelding out of Once Double, by Double Jay, earned 30 of his wins in stakes races, including 25 graded stakes victories.

Sam Rubin, who along with his wife, Dorothy, raced as Dotsam Stable, purchased John Henry sight unseen for $25,000 in 1978. Transferred to trainer Ron McAnally after previously being trained by Victor Nickerson, John Henry won 16 Grade 1 races and retired as Thoroughbred racing’s all-time leading earner.

Roby said numerous fans have called to inquire about John Henry since learning about his condition.

“Somebody just called and said, ‘I’m going to make a trip from Cincinnati. Can you make sure he’s there?’” Roby said. “We’ll, no, we can’t guarantee he’s going to be here tomorrow. We just don’t know at this point.”

Jeff Apel is a Thoroughbred Times assistant daily news editor