NEWS
A timeless love affair
Posted: Saturday, July 01, 2000
At age 102, Fred Hooper still savors racing and raising his homebreds
Showered with honors during a love affair with the Turf and the Thoroughbred that spans six decades, Fred William Hooper, at age 102, says simply: "I still enjoy all of it-both racing and breeding."
Born in White County near Cleveland, Georgia, on October 6, 1897, Fred Hooper has two milestone accomplishments on his long journey within the sport. He won the 1945 Kentucky Derby with Hoop, Jr. who was purchased for $10,200 at the 1943 Keeneland yearling sale and named after his son, and he owned three-time champion Susan's Girl, the first female to exceed $1-million in career earnings. Inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1976, Susan's Girl (Quadrangle-Quaze, by *Quibu) is one of Hooper's three Kentucky Oaks (G1) winners and his most beloved horse.
Hooper has bred more than 100 stakes winners and accumulated earnings in excess of $50-million, and the briefest summary of his many highlights in racing would, of necessity, include Eclipse Awards as outstanding breeder in 1975 and 1982 plus the 1991 Eclipse Award of Merit. Susan's Girl won Eclipse Awards in 1972, 1973, and 1975, and his versatile champion Precisionist won the 1985 Eclipse Award as outstanding sprinter and earned $3,485,398.
Other notable horses who have campaigned in Hooper's red, white, and blue silks include Olympia, Crozier, Roman Envoy, My Portrait, Quaze Quilt, Tri Jet, Copelan, and two recent performers, Diplomatic Jet and Recommended List, both of whom are stallions at his Ocala farm. Overall in 1999, Hooper-bred runners won 82 races and amassed $1,030,215 in purses and breeder's awards while also adding three more stakes wins to his career total.
But what really energizes and animates Hooper is touring his farm. Going from one paddock to the next-inspecting his mares with foals at their sides as well as the yearlings and two-year-olds-he discusses his bustling operation and horses that are either racing now or due to be start in the near future.
On March 11, Hooper and his wife, Wanda, were present at Gulfstream Park to witness the exciting victory by Hal's Hope in the $750,000 Florida Derby (G1) for 88-year-old owner-breeder-trainer Harold Rose. The following Saturday, Hooper spent several hours discussing his love of racing and breeding and, after devouring a hearty lunch of ribs, french fries, iced tea, and vanilla ice cream, conducted a personal tour of his 912-acre Hooper Farms. He was interviewed by Reg Lansberry, an Atlanta-based contributing editor of Thoroughbred Times.
Thoroughbred Times: In the minds of racing fans, you will always be linked with Hoop, Jr. and the 1945 Kentucky Derby. What are your memories of winning that race?
Fred W. Hooper: "Well, my memory is that I got a great thrill out of it; to see the horse win. And I thought he could win. Beforehand, I eased up on him as a two-year-old so that he would be a good three-year-old. And he ran great; I thought he could beat anybody.
"I had a boy on him in a race in New York, and the jockey just threw the race away. Eddie Arcaro was riding in that race, and he won it, and he told a groom, I think it was, 'If you see Mr. Hooper around, tell him I'd like to talk to him a little bit.'
"So I saw Eddie and he said, 'I'd like to ride that horse in the stakes race coming up here in a couple of days.' (The race was the Wood Memorial Stakes, which was run in divisions in 1945.) And I said, 'Well, I think my trainer (Ivan Parke) already has a jockey for us, but if we can work it out, why, well all right.' I said we'd have to meet with the other jockey's agent first before Eddie could ride the horse.
"But Eddie wanted to ride him (Hoop, Jr.) so bad that Ivan and I told him that, if he could get hold of the jockey's agent and arrange to switch riders, it would be fine. And Eddie rode Hoop, Jr. in that race and won the race easy. He led all the way, I think."
TT: It was quite muddy on Derby day, wasn't it?
Hooper: "Yes, it was. It had really rained early that morning (Saturday), and I called my trainer up and I said, 'Ivan, I'm going to take Hoop, Jr. out on the track this morning and see how he likes that mud and water.' And Ivan said, 'Oh no, no, don't do that.' And I said, 'Well, I'm going to take him out.' 'All right,' Ivan said, 'if you're going to take him out I'll be out there.' So Hoop, Jr. came out with an exercise boy on him and went around the racetrack in that slop and came back, and the boy said, 'This horse just loves that mud and that slop.' So that was the first time in my life that I ever took a horse to the track to run over it on the day he's going to run. He galloped around there good, too.
"So then when Hoop, Jr. ran in the Derby-the horse had an outside post position (12th)-I said to Arcaro before the race, 'He's got speed so you've got to get yourself in shape (to the rail) by the time you get to the first turn.' And that's what Eddie did. He just got him over there to the first turn, galloped him around there slow and easy to get him ready to run. Then he turned him loose a little bit, and he won by ten lengths or something. (The official margin was six lengths.) Eddie said that he could have won by a lot more if he'd let him run. He really just ran off by himself. And if you look at the pictures in the winner's circle, Hoop, Jr. and Eddie are clean. There's no mud on them."
TT: You had named him after your son, of course. Was Hoop, Jr. literally one of the first three or four horses that you ever owned?
Hooper: "Well, I think he was one of the best horses I ever owned. É I bought him at Keeneland in 1943. I went up there to bid on horses. I didn't know a man in Kentucky, and nobody knew me. I went up there to buy *Sir Gallahad III fillies. There were four fillies in the sale, and I wanted to get into racing and I wanted to raise my own children. I wanted to get into the breeding side of it. There were four fillies, and I went there to buy all four; not particularly anything else. One of 'em I didn't like at all, it was all spindly legs and I didn't really care for her. But I bought the others, and raced them a little bit and turned them into broodmares.
"I saw this *Sir Gallahad III colt (out of One Hour, by *Snob II) in another barn by another owner, and they wanted me to look at him. And I just fell in love with him to start with. I watched him walk that day, and came back the next day to do the same thing, and the third day and the fourth day. He just impressed me more all the time."
TT: Was there anything in particular about Hoop, Jr. that you liked? Did he look like an athlete?
Hooper: "He was just a good-looking colt and, I don't know, I just fell in love with him right away, and I was going to buy him regardless of price. I wasn't worried about the money side of it; most horses didn't bring anything in those days, you know.
"So he came into the ring and the man asked for a bid. And I said, 'Five thousand dollars,' and you heard this big groan come up all the way around. 'My God, biddin' this horse off at $5,000 to start with ... ' Anyway, there was this man sitting behind me representing this cosmetics woman (Elizabeth Arden), and she was sitting right in back of me, too, and she raised me a little bit-$50 or something or other. The bid kept going up little by little, maybe up to $8,500, and the man was still trying to get bids. So I said, '$10,200.' And there was a scream! And somebody said, 'What's the matter with this fella; a crazy fella.' They couldn't get any more bids so I bought Hoop, Jr. at that price-$10,200."
TT: What kind of racehorse was he?
Hooper: "He was a kind horse, he had speed, and he could go any distance you wanted him to go. And Eddie (Arcaro) was tied up with a Greentree Stables horse, I think, on Preakness day and couldn't ride Hoop, Jr. in the Preakness Stakes. And I said to him, 'Well, who do you suggest, then?' And he said, 'Oh, anybody could win on this horse.' (Albert Snider rode him.) ... Polynesian (the Preakness winner), he was a nice horse, too, and I had told the rider to get to the front around the first turn and just go on. He came out of there and was laying right up close to being in front, but Polynesian was running up along beside him, and as they went around the first turn he crowded over on Hoop, Jr., and Hoop, Jr. hit himself on the leg and bowed. And that was that-he just got beat. (Hoop, Jr. finished second.)
"And so one of the fine veterinarians said that he could treat him ... and he kept him for a couple of months, but it didn't do any good. I took Hoop, Jr. back to my farm in Alabama, but the rest and the treatments didn't do any good, and I never could get him sound. Never was able to run him again."
TT: How do you feel about two-year-old racing? Do you think that horses today are pushed too fast and too hard?
Hooper: "I think that they do probably crowd the two-year-olds too much today. But, of course, I've done it all my life and got by with it."
TT: Do you think there is more pressure on a two-year-old now than there used to be years ago?
Hooper: "Well, of course, there's more money now in the business than there used to be. And everybody in the business wants to win the money. There probably is more pressure put on the two-year-olds today than there was years ago."
TT: Tell me about your feelings about the Triple Crown series. Do you think that it comes too early for a three-year-old? Especially for a late foal?
Hooper: "For late foals, yes. It's just tough going for the horse, that's all."
TT: But you like the tradition of the Triple Crown? You don't have any quarrel with the spacing between races and the distance?
Hooper: "Yes, I do like it (the tradition). No, I don't have any argument with it (the spacing). I like the Triple Crown just the way it is."
TT: Why haven't we had a Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978? Just bad luck, perhaps?
Hooper: "Well, I guess so. Horses break down, you know. So many things can happen to them. Just like last year, I had a two-year-old that I thought could beat anybody-Whata Brainstorm. He had a race last year in the rain, the track was all bad, and he drew an outside post position. Then going around the first turn you lose a lot of distance, and the horse was way, way back, and then he came on down the stretch to finish fifth in a big race and got beat. And we kept looking for a jockey to ride him the way he should be."
TT: How has he progressed as a three-year-old?
Hooper: "He came up recently with some gravel in his foot-neither my trainer nor the grooms noticed it-and it busted a hole in it. It was operated on recently and seemed to go perfect, so we're going right on with him now. But he's just as good a horse as I've had. He's trained some here on the farm. I'm really looking forward to seeing him race later this year. He acts like he's a real racehorse."
TT: You won the 1972 Kentucky Oaks with Susan's Girl. She was a special filly, a great mare ... three Eclipse Awards, a good broodmare. She did it all. What are your memories of her?
Hooper: "Well, she was just great. She could do anything. Coming out of the gate she could break quick as anything. She could run behind; she was versatile. Distance didn't bother her a bit."
TT: Were you feeling some pressure when she ran in the Oaks?
Hooper: "Yes, I was. I figured all along that she would win it, I was expecting to win it. And when she did win it was such a great thrill, I can tell you."
TT: And Susan's Girl was the dam of Copelan, who was a very good two-year-old.
Hooper: "Yes, he was. Copelan was also a nice three-year-old, and he's turned out to be all right at stud. His broodmares are producing, too. I'm very pleased with him."
TT: What are some of the biggest changes in racing that you've seen since you first became involved in the sport?
Hooper: "Well, I haven't seen too much change in the racing itself other than they've increased the purses all over the country now. Now this filly (points to a medium-sized statuette of Susan's Girl that occupies a prominent position on his desk), the races that she ran, if she ran in them today, why she would have won some big money compared to what she did ($1,251,668). Maybe three or four times as much. Back then, a $350,000 race was considered absolutely great, you see. Now it's pretty ordinary."
TT: Are you a fan of year-round racing or do you wish that there could be maybe a 60-day break, or so, like there used to be?
Hooper: "I think it's stretching your horses a lot to run them the full year. I mean, if you drive a car 100 miles ... then drive it 500 miles, it's going to be a lot tougher on you. Here at the farm we can give them time off in their own paddock, and I have fresh water in every paddock, but we can train them here, too. I have a seven-furlong training track and a starting gate."
TT: You were among the pioneers in Florida racing and breeding. Do you think that Florida has realized its full potential as a racing and breeding state?
Hooper: "Well, I think Florida's great. This county right here (Marion County) has more (Thoroughbred) racehorses on it than any county in the United States. You've got one farm after another after another."
TT: Do you think that Florida receives its just due as a racing and breeding state compared to Kentucky, or is it still the stepchild?
Hooper: "I think that Florida horses have certainly shown that they can beat Kentucky horses! That's shown up in the records. Of course, I started to breed horses in Alabama, and Florida had fresh land. I bought over 1,000 acres here when I started the farm in 1966. It was all wooded then, and the first year and a half I brought in a lot of heavy equipment from my road construction business. I had to move a lot of dirt, clear a lot of trees, and take out a lot of stumps."
TT: Here in Florida, there is a perceived rivalry between Frank Stronach, chairman of the company that owns Gulfstream Park, and Churchill Downs, which owns Calder Race Course. Do you think such a rivalry is good for Florida racing?
Hooper: "I don't really understand Churchill Downs buying a place like Calder. ... Of course, Churchill made about $18-million out of it, the records show. And now they have televisions everywhere so that everybody can come out and watch the races on TV ... from other places. And a lot of people bet those races. I never fooled with them myself."
TT: This is not only Triple Crown season but more importantly for you it's breeding season. How many mares will you breed this year?
Hooper: "I have 30 mares here (at the farm) that I'm going to breed, and I also have another that is coming off the racetrack soon. So that makes 31. At one time I had 130-to-135 broodmares here."
TT: And who are your stallions?
Hooper: "There will be four. I've got my three stallions here-Diplomatic Jet, Recommended List, and Presailist, who is Precisionist's only son. Precisionist only had six foals. One died ... and there were four fillies and one colt. The other stallion, his name is Way West (Fr). He stands at Sez Who Thoroughbreds here in Ocala."
TT: It was unfortunate that Precisionist had fertility problems.
Hooper: "Well, it is, because when I retired him everybody wanted to breed to him. Boy, he could really run! He was by Crozier, who finished second in the 1961 Kentucky Derby for me. And I had such high hopes for him (at stud).
"But we've gotten some good news lately. So we're hoping. ... It seems that some vets have developed a new serum that has helped another stallion with similar problems to Precisionist's. After they inject the serum into the mare this other stallion's been able to get them in foal. I hope it can work for Precisionist, too."
TT: How many two-year-olds will you have this year?
Hooper: "I'll have 18."
TT: What traits do you like to breed for stamina, a horse that can go a route? Or speed?
Hooper: "Well, speed, speed. Speed always."
TT: As a breeder, and as an owner, what accomplishment are you most proud of?
Hooper: (Nods toward the Susan's Girl statuette again.) "You know, if you look at her, the races that she won, the Eclipse Awards ... then they put her in the Hall of Fame-she was pretty special. (He then picks up a 1945 Kentucky Derby winner's circle photo, which shows him next to Hoop, Jr., with Arcaro in the saddle.) I think it's just a shame that Hoop, Jr. couldn't run again after the Preakness. He was probably my best ... he really liked to run. He was so talented, he really was."
TT: You will always be remembered for the high caliber of riders that you brought to this country including Manuel Ycaza, Braulio Baeza, and Laffit Pincay, Jr., who is now the all-time winningest jockey. What was it about Pincay that impressed you, and what makes him such a great rider?
Hooper: "Well, I had gone down to Panama, and I had a man introduce me to three riders down there ... and one of them was Laffit. I brought him to Chicago and signed him to a contract. Marje Everett was running the track there.
"I think Laffit was great because he really wanted to win; that's what he seemed most interested in. In the very beginning, I brought him to Florida and I told him, 'Tomorrow morning at 8, I want you to be at the barn. I want you to work a horse a half-mile for me in :48. I want to see how you can gauge it.' And he says, 'Okay, okay.' I guess I don't really know what he said because I don't know if he even understood me!
"So the next morning he finishes the work and I ask him, 'Well, how do you think you did?' And he says, 'A little slow, a little slow.' And I said, 'Yes, you went in :49 instead of :48, but that's okay.' So then I had my lawyer draw up a three-year contract. He couldn't ride in any race against me. He had to ride my horses.
"He's turned out to be the world's winningest jock that's ever been. He's been very good, honest ... a hard worker. And in January, my wife and I flew out to Santa Anita for the celebration day (honoring Pincay) that they had. He came and put his arm around me, and his mother was there-I had never met her before. She was very pleasant, very nice. She kissed me on one cheek, then on the other cheek. And she said, 'If it hadn't been for you, Laffit would probably be eating nuts down there in Panama.' (He laughs.) They also had a great big dinner partyÐa room to take care of 1,500 people, can you imagine that? And they rolled me in there in a wheelchair and I was at the head table. It was great for him."
TT: Last year there were a number of publications and lists that ranked the best horses of the century. What horses would be at the top of your personal listÐthe best colts and the best fillies?
Hooper: "Well, Citation would be one. And then there's Secretariat. I saw him win the Triple Crown at Belmont. He was great. (He points to the statuette of Susan's Girl.) "She won those Eclipse Awards. ... She comes first for me-before all."
