by Frank Angst

To remember a young friend who died from cancer, Robert and Janice McNair have committed any earnings by Cowboy Cal in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) to cancer research.

Any money earned in the $2,211,800 race will be donated to the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in memory of John Long. Long gave the McNairs’ son Cal the nickname “Cowboy Cal” 34 years ago. The nickname inspired the name of this year’s Tropical Park Derby (G3) winner and Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) runner-up.

The McNairs’ family friends David and Mellie Long brought their son John from their Columbia, South Carolina, home to Houston when he was just three years old to receive the best treatment available at M. D. Anderson. During frequent visits to the hospital, John began to refer to the McNairs’ son Cal as “Cowboy Cal.”

Friends since college, the Longs stayed with the McNairs during their time in Houston. John lost his battle with cancer two months shy of his fourth birthday. The McNairs have never forgotten him, or the nickname he gave their son.

“When we started breeding and racing Thoroughbreds, that name came back to us as something we’d like to use for one of our special horses,” McNair said of the name Cowboy Cal. “Now, having been blessed with a horse of Cowboy Cal’s talent, we thought it would be appropriate to donate his earnings to the fight against cancer, and specifically to a fund set up in John’s memory.”

The winner of Saturday’s race will earn his connections $1,451,800.

Rev. David Long said his family will be the McNairs’ guests at the Derby.

“Cal and our John were buddies,” said Rev. Long. “Cal would check in on John in the hospital, and always got him to laugh. When Bob called me and told me about the horse, and what they are doing, we were so touched.”

It will be an exciting weekend for the McNairs, who will start homebred Country Star in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Raven’s Pass in the Stan James Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1), and Cowboy Cal in the Derby.

Frank Angst is Thoroughbred Times senior writer