NEWS
Triple Crown Preview: Interview: Chick Lang
Posted: Saturday, April 28, 2001
Chick Lang, Mr. Preakness, discusses his favorite race, the Triple Crown, and the industry
Having spent his lifetime in Thoroughbred racing, Charles John "Chick" Lang remains what he has always been: a born optimist, passionate and true-blue supporter of the Triple Crown series first, last, and always, and racing's most outspoken ambassador-bar none.
Chick Lang Jr.
Birthdate: October 8, 1926
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
Residence: Easton, Maryland
Family: John P. Mayberry (grandfather, trainer of 1903 Kentucky Derby winner Judge Himes); Charles "Chick" Lang (father, jockey of 1928 Kentucky Derby winner Reigh Count); Charles Robert "Chickie" (son, racing executive, now deceased); Bart Lang (grandson, racing official, Lone Star Park); Deborah (daughter)
Past, present positions: Groom, hotwalker, trainer, jockey's agent, general manager and vice president (Pimlico Race Course), senior racing consultant (Lone Star Park), member of advisory board (Jockeys' Guild), racing analyst (WBAL Radio)
Founder: Co-founder of Maryland Million (1986), Triple Crown Productions Inc. (1985)
Awards: Certificate of Distinguished Citizenship of Maryland (three times), Joe Palmer Award (1980), Jockey Agents' Benevolent Association Man of the Year (1969)
While Lang has, at one time or another, performed just about every conceivable racing chore both frontside and backside, from groom to hotwalker to trainer to jockey's agent (five years for Bill Hartack), he is known far and wide to legions of friends and admirers as "Mr. Preakness."
There are several reasons why, and all are equally compelling. First, during Lang's administrative career at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore from 1960 to '87, most prominently as general manager, his passion and promotional genius dramatically increased the profile of Old Hilltop's signature event, the Preakness Stakes (G1), middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown.
Second, by opening Pimlico's infield on Preakness day and incorporating a host of related civic events, Lang etched the race forever into mainstream Maryland culture. And third, this year will mark the 65th consecutive Preakness that Lang will have witnessed, a streak that began in 1937 with eventual Triple Crown winner War Admiral.
Born in Baltimore in October 1926 not far from Pimlico, few people in racing can match Lang's pedigree. His maternal grandfather, John P. Mayberry, trained Judge Himes to win the 1903 Kentucky Derby. His father, Charles "Chick" Lang, accomplished every rider's dream when he rode Reigh Count (sire of '43 Triple Crown winner Count Fleet) to victory in the '28 Kentucky Derby.
Two related events in the 1980s would subsequently affect the direction of both Lang's career and the Triple Crown itself. In 1985, the connections of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Spend a Buck bypassed the Preakness to run successfully for a purse and bonus totaling $1.6-million in the Jersey Derby (G3) in the newly rebuilt Garden State Park.
That slap, three years after 1982 Kentucky Derby winner Gato Del Sol bypassed Baltimore's showcase race for the Belmont Stakes (G1), served to alarm and energize a cadre of racing executives including Lang and Tom Meeker, then the new president of Churchill Downs.
Their solution was to create Triple Crown Productions Inc. to market the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont as an entity, and create a bonus for horses that ran in all three classics. Another wrinkle was a common nomination fee for all three races.
When Frank De Francis became Pimlico's new owner in 1987, Lang's departure just days after Alysheba's Preakness triumph surprised no one. But Lang has remained busy as a consultant and unofficial promoter of the Triple Crown. He is currently senior racing consultant to Lone Star Park, a member of the Jockeys' Guild advisory board, and a racing analyst for WBAL Radio in Baltimore.
His proudest boast, however, is that there have been five generations of Langs in racing. It began with his paternal grandfather, Charles Percival Lang, and continued with his father, the first of three with the nickname "Chick." The current Chick Lang is the median; the other two generations are represented by his late son, Charles Robert "Chickie" Lang, a talented racing executive, and grandson Bart Lang, currently a racing official at Lone Star Park.
Lang recently relished discussing his two favorite subjects-racing and the Triple Crown-with Reg Lansberry, an Atlanta-based contributing writer to Thoroughbred Times.
Thoroughbred Times: You have been around racing your entire life. What are some of your earliest memories around the racetrack?
Chick Lang: "Well, I'm 74 years old and when people ask me how long I've been in racing I tell them 74 years. Racing's in my genes, it's in my blood. I was born into racing, which I'm very proud of.
"My earliest memories are going out to the racetrack when I was 11 and walking hots for a dime or a quarter or whatever it might be. I was walking hots, selling newspapers, and, naturally, being the son of Chick Lang I guess I had some advantages."
TT: Who would be your first memorable horse?
Lang: "It would have to be War Admiral in 1937. The first great horse that I ever saw and the first of the eight Triple Crown winners I've seen. I would go out in the mornings to see him train, and he just looked like a big, black, shiny automobile. Wow, what a pretty horse! And I didn't know anything about conformation, but he just looked like what you thought a good horse should look like."
TT: When did you train, and who are some of the Racing Hall of Fame trainers you've known?
Lang: "I won with the first horse I ever saddled, Wiseshot at Hialeah in 1947. He won by eight or nine lengths when Hialeah was one of the top tracks in the country. It wasn't like it was one of those half-mile tracks.
"I've worked around, and been around, some of the great trainers such as Ben Jones and his son, Jimmy Jones. I worked with Calumet Farm for three or four years. I've watched and been friends with Max Hirsch, Buddy Hirsch, Hirsch Jacobs-I was very close friends with him-Preston and Elliott Burch, and Jack Van Berg and his dad, Marion.
"You learn something from each horseman. If a horse had a problem, you 'stop' on him, give him time, send him to the farm. With another horse, you might try to work with him. All in all, a high percentage of the horsemen today really have the feeling to be patient with a horse."
TT: What makes the Preakness so special?
Lang: "It's the first public appearance of the Kentucky Derby winner. And that's not to sound flip or smart. When the horses go to Louisville, they're all equal. But when the Derby winner comes to Pimlico, the second jewel in the Triple Crown, he's now part of racing history. I always said when I was younger, and I'd go to Churchill Downs, and it probably didn't sit too well, but I'd have a few bourbons with the hardboots there. And we'd get to drinking, and sure enough they'd talk about how the Preakness would never be the Kentucky Derby.
And I'd say, 'Well let me tell you something, pal. The greatest horse in the history of racing didn't run in the Derby, but he ran in and won the Preakness: Man o' War. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.'
"Those would be my bragging points at Pimlico with our board of directors, too. I'd try to convince them, about 40 years ago, to build a statue of Man o' War and put it right smack where everyone could see it. Because that (his 1920 Preakness victory) gave us bragging rights."
TT: What is the Preakness innovation that you are most proud of?
Lang: "It would have to be opening up the infield (on Preakness Stakes day). No question. I had that on my agenda for three or four years before I did it. The board of directors would keep turning me down until I finally told them, 'It's either the infield or I'm taking a hike.' "
TT: What year was that?
Lang: "It was Damascus's year, 1967. And I'm not bragging, but I'm proud to say that when I joined Pimlico the Preakness wasn't exactly dying but it wasn't exactly enjoying good health either. It was becoming just another race. I realized that we had to do something. And because of the size of the facility we were only getting around 19,000-20,000 people on Preakness day. By the time I left in 1987, it was up to around 88,000.
"In the beginning we put in the mutuel division behind the tote board, plus 50 portable toilets because we didn't have the proper facilities for restrooms. And we only had 30 to 40 betting windows, so we made them $2 windows. In those days they were all separate betting windows-$2 win, $2 place, $2 show. It was funny, because the young people didn't know what place and show bets were.
"So we loaded up very heavy on the show windows because we thought the kids would bet $2 to show to pick up 50 or 60 cents. That might buy a Coke or a beer, or whatever.
"Then, as we grew, and it didn't take too long, we put in $50, $10, and $5 windows. The show windows kind of dropped off. Today, the infield at Pimlico handles more money than any other division in the entire place-more than the Turf Club. But the Preakness is a happening. And I tell people when they come there that they're part of history."
TT: Do you have a favorite or most memorable Preakness?
Lang: "I have to say that my fondest memory is Secretariat's Preakness in 1973. I look closely every year at the connections of all the Triple Crown horses-owner, trainer, jockey, groom, the people around the horse, and the horse himself. And as much as I'm a graduate of the University of Calumet, to me Secretariat was the perfect horse-in his conformation and his makeup. And when you looked at the cast of characters-the lovely Penny Chenery, the first lady of racing; then trainer Lucien Laurin-an ex-jockey-with his French accent; and Ron Turcotte, who rode him.
"What I'll never forget, of course, was the clubhouse turn. No horse in history had ever looped his field going around the clubhouse turn! Secretariat went into it last and came out of there first like a big kid on the back of a motorcycle. He ran by those horses like they were tied. And, as I've said before, the time that I spent with Penny, Lucien, and Ron made it special, too."
TT: Were you also attracted to Secretariat's charisma and his presence?
Lang: "That and the fact that Secretariat was so intelligent. Whether he was being brushed off, or washed and groomed, if somebody came along with a camera, he would raise his head regally and throw his ears forward, as if to say, 'This is my good side, get a good picture.'
"I remember one time, in particular, I'd go out to the barn to watch him in the morning and Secretariat would be nibbling on the grass. Lucien gave me the elbow and said, 'Watch this.' There was a cameraman who asked if he could get closer to take a picture, and Lucien replied, 'You can, but you're doing it at your own risk. He's not a mean horse or a bad horse, but be careful.'
"So the cameraman gets down on the ground and starts wriggling like a snake, getting closer and closer. And Secretariat was really pulling the grass out in big clumps, roots and all. You know, he was eating like he enjoyed it. Lucien gives me the elbow again, and says, 'Look at him, watch his eyes.' ...
Secretariat is watching the cameraman, rolling his eyes, looking at him. Now the cameraman is just, literally, three or four feet away from him. He wants to get this great picture. And then Secretariat blows his nostrils!
"Well, we just roared with laughter! It was like Secretariat was saying to the cameraman, 'Ha, ha,' like a prankster, a kid."
TT: You were also proud of Maryland's own Spectacular Bid.
Lang: "Oh, yes. Another special horse in my life. And being a native Marylander and a lover of Pimlico, Spectacular Bid in 1979 will always have a special place because of Harry Meyerhoff and Buddy Delp and Ronnie Franklin. Spectacular Bid was our local hero, and looking again at the cast of characters around him, it was all Maryland. And you talk about people that enjoyed the Triple Crown! They shared the Derby, the Preakness, the whole time with everybody."
TT: Let's talk about your other great passion, the Triple Crown. You are one of its staunchest defenders.
Lang: "The Triple Crown is the ultimate prize in racing and maybe in all of sports. After all, only 11 horses have ever won it. I mean, the first thing any owner, trainer, breeder, or jockey would tell you is that they want to win the Triple Crown. Just think, since Sir Barton became the first horse to win it in 1919 there have been hundreds of thousands of horses foaled. And how can you have three trainers who won the Triple Crown that are not in the (Racing) Hall of Fame-George Conway (War Admiral), Don Cameron (Count Fleet), and Billy Turner (Seattle Slew). Plus Carl Hanford, who trained a five-time Horse of the Year, Kelso, is not in, either. I've scolded the Hall of Fame about it, too. Hell, let's get real!"
TT: The Triple Crown went through some tumultuous times in the 1980s when Gato Del Sol and Spend a Buck skipped the Preakness. You were critical of their connections, weren't you?
Lang: "With me, when somebody says something, or does something to hurt racing, I consider it an insult to my family-the family of racing. It might sound corny to some people, but it's like someone calling my sister or my mother a name.
"In 1982, with all due respect to (the late) Eddie Gregson (trainer of Gato Del Sol), because of that I never called him by name. I always referred to him as 'the man who trained that gray horse.' And I should say that I am a fan of Arthur Hancock III (who was a part owner along with Leone G. Peters). I happen to think a lot of him.
"In 1985, I was devastated. And I spent a lot of time with Cam Gambolati (trainer), and Robert Brennan, and Dennis Diaz (owner). With Dennis Diaz, I was trying to convince him why not running in the Preakness would hurt racing. Not just Chick Lang or the Preakness, but the Triple Crown. I said to him, 'It's un-American.' And he's looking back at me, saying, 'What are you talking about?' "
TT: When Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed won the Triple Crown in the 1970s, some people said the Triple Crown was too easy to win. And now, 22 years and counting after Affirmed did it in 1978, some say it is too hard to win and should be changed. Are you still adamantly against any changes?
Lang: "Well, (D.) Wayne Lukas wants to change it every year. He and I have debated it, argued it, and discussed it. He wants to start at a mile-and-a-quarter in the Derby and go a little farther for the Preakness, and a little farther for the Belmont. And I told him, 'Wayne, what do you want to do? Make this easy?' If you look at the distance of the two races, from 1 1/4 miles down to 1 3/16 miles, that's like the difference between six and half-a-dozen. Now, I'm not saying there's not a difference, but the way that horses run there's very little difference.
"Let me say this. I think that all three races should have the same number of starters. I don't think there should be 20 in the Derby, and 14 in the Preakness, and 20 in the Belmont. I realize that people would be critical of that, they'd say you're excluding horses when you ought to get in as many as you can, and so forth. I'm almost contradicting myself.
"But I think to try and make the conditions of each race as similar as possible-fees, number of starters-Pimlico cannot run more than 14 horses; the track is not wide enough. The Kentucky Derby has 20 horses because the racetrack is wide. But look at where they start the Derby; it's sort of in a chute area that's very, very wide. The Belmont starts a big field, too. Prize money would be another thing."
TT: What do you think the prize money should be, and why hasn't it been raised?
Lang: "First of all, it's very simple. You're living today in the most competitive business there is, sports and entertainment. So we just cannot sit on the current prize money for the Triple Crown. In addition to having the same number of starters for each race I think the purse of each Triple Crown race should be raised immediately to a minimum of $2-million. And keep the Visa Triple Crown bonus going, too. You've got to try and stay competitive.
"I know I read where somebody has said they would run in the Triple Crown even if there wasn't any prize money. While that might sound good or look good in print, don't try that on me or anybody else. Why do you think that Bob Baffert, Bobby Frankel, Jerry Bailey, Gary Stevens, and Chris McCarron went to Dubai in March? Because there's $15-million there in purse money, that's why.
"If you have a horse that runs in each Triple Crown race, you're paying the nomination fee, the entry box fee, the starter's fee. Throw in the transportation to the three races for the horse, the owner's box tickets, the parties, you get caught up in it. You also probably get phone calls from 35 of your closest friends that you haven't heard from since high school. The Triple Crown's an expensive trip. But as a horse guy, I look at it this way: Racing is the straw that stirs the drink for the trainers, the jockeys, the grooms, and the breeders. And the horse is what it's all about. We need to make sure that we never lose sight of that; that we nurture it and take care of it."
TT: Let's say it was decided to tweak the Triple Crown in one small way: Schedule a full three weeks between each Triple Crown race. Would you have any problem with that?
Lang: "No, I wouldn't have any problem with that. Not at all. As long as the distances of the races are kept the same, because it works."
TT: Before you became a racing executive at Pimlico, you were Bill Hartack's agent. What was he like to work with?
Lang: "When we started together he had just lost his apprentice at Charles Town. When Hartack and I started off together, the best way to put it is like this: I was a man, he was a boy. And when I left him in 1959-'60, he was a man and I was a boy. If someone said to me, what made Hartack such a great rider, I'd say it was his will to win and his competitive juices.
"Personally, I've got to tell you that the greatest single thrill I've had in my entire life was when I was Hartack's agent and we won the 1957 Kentucky Derby with Iron Liege. Ben Jones told me, 'We got this Derby in our back pocket.' That was the phrase he used when we were over at Keeneland after coming out of Florida."
TT: You serve on the Jockeys' Guild Advisory Board. How important is that to you?
Lang: "That's been the love of my life. The jockeys, to me, are racing's most valuable asset. It is the most hazardous occupation. We've had 143 riders that have been killed in the 60 years of the Guild. Right now, the Jockeys' Guild is caring for somewhere around 50 or 51 quadriplegics, paraplegics, and jockeys with neurological problems.
"I just think it's a shame when I watch a race where they don't have a safety rail-and there are major racetracks in this country where they don't. Churchill Downs just finished installing its rail, for which I am so grateful and appreciative, and I am hopeful that Pimlico and Belmont will follow. And the Jockeys' Guild, right now, has very serious financial problems."
TT: Pimlico clearly needs a major upgrade. Does it sadden you to see it now?
Lang: "It does need a lot of work. But I'll tell you what I've seen in the last couple of years. One of the things that I'm very pleased about is Joe De Francis bringing on Lou Raffetto as the chief operating officer. He resurrected the Mass 'Cap (Massachusetts Handicap [G2]) and Suffolk Downs, and right now, he's made a lot of changes. Last year, they made a lot of physical changes to the building."
TT: Is there anything about it that you miss, or get nostalgic about?
Lang: "I don't say this critically, but I think that one of the great things we had at Pimlico was along the front of the grandstand, from the sixteenth pole to the finish line. We had painted every winner of the Preakness and the year that they won. I used to take classes of schoolchildren to the racetrack, and then turn around and look at that wall-it's almost a wall of fame-and now it's gone. It's like tearing my heart out."
TT: What does the Maryland Legislature need to do to help the state's racetracks and revive racing in the state?
Lang: "Let me tell you, if Pimlico wants to continue to grow, they've got to continue to make a lot of improvements to the facility. But it's a money thing, a dollar and cents thing. Our current governor, Parris Glendening, knows that there are slot machines at Delaware Park and Charles Town."
TT: So you're a realist about slot machines?
Lang: "Sure I am. Slots are something that's inevitable, so why put it off?"
TT: Alfred G. Vanderbilt had such a monumental impact on racing. Is there anyone like him on the horizon of Maryland racing now?
Lang: "No, there isn't. Alfred Vanderbilt is all by himself. If you knew the man, and sat down and talked to him, he was what it was all about-the single most influential person that I ever met in my lifetime. And, to Chick Lang, there'll never be another one like him. You've got some wonderful people now in racing that I think are genuinely doing things to help racing-such as Robert Lewis, a man of integrity who wants to do the right thing."
TT: You have not only been a tireless booster of racing but also one of its great optimists. Are you at all concerned or worried about the future of racing?
Lang: "When people ask me about the future of racing, I tell them that as long as you have a horse and I have a horse, I'm going to tell you, 'My horse can beat your horse.' As long as there are two horses left in this world, there'll be horse racing.
I would add this: Live racing is what it's all about. And live racing produces the heroes that we've had in recent years, horses that excite people like Cigar or the filly Hallowed Dreams in Louisiana. She's won 20 out of 21 races. These are great stories, the romance of racing."
