NEWS
Racing Hall of Fame: Lifetimes of achievement
Posted: Saturday, August 04, 2001
Holy Bull, Paseana, Maskette, Earlie Fires, Richard Mandella, and Tom Smith enter shrine
Entry into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame is not achieved overnight, nor is the honor conferred on one-minute wonders. Staying power at the top of the sport is a prerequisite.
On August 6, trainer Richard Mandella, jockey Earlie Fires, trainer Tom Smith, and horses Holy Bull, Paseana (Arg), and Maskette will be inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in ceremonies in Saratoga Springs, New York, at the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion. Clearly, the new Hall of Fame members have earned their plaques.
Although a youthful 50, Mandella has been training on his own for more than a quarter-century after studying under trainers Farrell Jones and Victor J. "Lefty" Nickerson. Mandella grabbed the racing world's attention in 1993 when he won two Breeders' Cup races, with Phone Chatter and eventual Horse of the Year Kotashaan (Fr), and he has been among the sport's leading trainers since then.
Fires may not own a marquee victory in a Breeders' Cup or classic race, but the jockey has been a model of consistency in Midwest racing for decades. Smith, the selection of an old-timer's committee, trained the great Seabiscuit, currently the hot horse on best-seller lists this year because of Laura Hillenbrand's acclaimed book.
Holy Bull, owned and trained by Hall of Fame member Warren A. "Jimmy" Croll, was undefeated at two and Horse of the Year at three in 1994 before an injury ended his racing career early in his four-year-old season. Paseana, superb on two continents, was a two-time champion in North America, in 1992 and '93, and maintained her quality over six racing seasons. James R. Keene's great filly Maskette, the brilliant performer of yesteryear, was a two-time champion who never lost to a member of her sex and regularly trounced her male opponents.
Following are the profiles of the new Hall of Fame members, all models of consistency at the pinnacle of the sport.-Don Clippinger
Earlie Fires
Birthdate: March 19, 1947
Birthplace: Riverdale, Arkansas
Residence: Palatine, Illinois
Record: 6,148 career victories through July 15; 45 wins in 2000; 10 victories in 2001 through July 15
Career accomplishments: Leading apprentice rider, 1965; winner of six riding titles at Arlington Park; has won meet titles in each of four decades through the 1990s; rode his 5,000th winner in 1999 and ranks 12th on all-time list by wins; won the 1967 Florida Derby and Jersey Derby with In Reality
When Earlie Fires came to the Churchill Downs press box during Kentucky Derby (G1) week for the announcement that he was to be inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame, a Turf writer asked him which of his achievements made him the most proud.
"Standing here today," replied the 54-year-old rider whose roots reach back to the family farm outside Riverdale, Arkansas.
Fires, who has not won either a Triple Crown or a Breeders' Cup race, feared that as a consequence his many accomplishments might be overlooked. "I've been let down a few times," he admitted. "I thought maybe my time had passed because a lot of people now weren't doing their writing when I was on a roll and don't know much about me."
His record speaks for itself. Fires is the Chicago circuit's all-time leading rider, with more than 6,100 visits to the winner's circle in a career that began in 1965. Only 11 other North American jockeys have won more races.
The six-time Arlington Park champion also has won championships at Hawthorne Race Course, Keeneland Race Course, Churchill Downs, Gulfstream Park, Hialeah Park, Calder Race Course, and the now-defunct Miles Park, earning at least one title in each of the last four decades.
The three greatest performances of Fires's career came in Chicago. He won with seven of his eight mounts at Arlington on August 16, 1983, and again on May 25, 1987, and he won with all six of his mounts at Hawthorne on July 19, 1989.
"I love Chicago," said Fires. "My wife Kathy's family lives here, and we raised our children (Keith, Kimberly, and Shannon) here. This is where I started working. I came up here in the summer with my brothers when I was a little boy and I would get on some horses. I got to knowing the place and knowing the people. For me, this always will be home.
"I guess they consider me a Midwest rider, but I've probably won more races in Florida than anybody riding today. I've ridden a lot of real good horses once or twice. In Reality was probably the best three-year-old I ever rode regularly. He just had the poor luck to be in the same year (1967) as Dr. Fager and Damascus."
Fires has twice been close to the winner's circle in the Derby. He finished third on a mutuel-field horse, Blue Skyer, in 1966. In 1968, he was aboard Francie's Hat, a 23.50-to-1 longshot promoted from third to second after first-place Dancer's Image tested positive for the then-prohibited medication phenylbutazone.
"Probably the race I remember most is Abe's Hope losing by a jump to Buckpasser in the (1966) Flamingo (Stakes)," continued Fires, who was North America's champion apprentice rider in 1965 and recipient of the George Woolf Memorial Award in '91.
"When I set out, I never set any goals. I just wanted to win them all. I've always been a hard-working rider on a horse. I ride as hard as anyone can ride. I may not be the best rider, I may not be riding the best horse, and I may not win, but I give that horse every chance to win.
"And, if I don't win, and some jockey or trainer or owner who hasn't been doing much good is the one who beats me, I get a lot of pleasure out of seeing that, too. I probably love the people as much as I love winning."
Fires has eight brothers and two sisters, and all the brothers have had jobs on the racetrack at some point in their lives. Earlie's older brother, William "Jenks" Fires, is a successful trainer, and a younger brother, Jackie, was an outstanding young jockey before suffering a crippling injury at River Downs in the early 1970s.
Two of Fires's first and foremost patrons were owner-breeder Leonard Lavin and trainer Willard Proctor. "Mr. Proctor helped me as much as it's humanly possible to help a bug boy," said Fires. "I was under contract to Harbor View Farm for awhile, and I went to New York, but it wasn't my cup of tea."
The same was true of California. "Willard and I brought him from Arlington one of those first years," Lavin said. "Guys like Charlie Whittingham and Buddy Hirsch were putting him on horses, and he was winning a lot of races. If he'd have stayed, I think he'd have been a Gary Stevens or a Chris McCarron. But he wanted to go back to Chicago."-Neil Milbert
Richard Mandella
Birthdate: November 5, 1950
Birthplace: Altadena, California
Residence: Bradbury, California
Career record (1974-July 20,2001): 8,506 starts, 1,497 wins, $83,159,954 in earnings; 60 wins in 2000; 45 wins in 2001 through July 20
Champions and major stakes winners: Kotashaan (Fr), 1993 Horse of the Year; Phone Chatter, 1993 champion two-year-old filly; major winners Gentlemen (Arg), Siphon (Brz), Sandpit (Brz), Malek (Chi), Dare and Go, Dixie Union, Phone Trick, Puerto Madero (Chi), Wild Rush, Atticus, Romarin (Brz), Soul of the Matter, Afternoon Deelites, Advancing Star, Reluctant Guest, Matiara, Virginie (Brz), Bel's Starlet, Likeable Style, Golden Treat, Devil's Orchid, Stop Traffic, Lexicon
Trainer Richard Mandella enjoyed a preview day of sorts on July 7 when Hollywood Park saluted him for his induction into the Racing Hall of Fame. Mandella's life and career whizzed by on an infield screen video. He was feted for the three Hs-"Hard work, honesty, and horsemanship"-and lauded for "professionalism that has served as a shining light."
A bit overwhelmed in the winner's circle, Mandella replied as sincerely and directly as always: "It's something you can't imagine growing up, but if they're going to give it to me, I'll take it."
Mandella, 50, certainly has earned it. A California native and the son of a blacksmith, he grew up on a nine-acre ranch in Cherry Valley, 100 miles east of Los Angeles. During his teenage years, he spent long hours working on the farm and galloping horses at nearby Three Rings Ranch, thus laying a solid foundation that has served him well throughout his career. He worked for a year at the ranch of Farrell Jones in California and 18 months as an assistant to Victor J. "Lefty" Nickerson in New York before launching his training career in 1974.
The experiences made him a complete horseman, and his success has covered a wide range of horses, from the precocious two-year-old filly champion Phone Chatter to the ten-year-old senior Exclusive Partner, from star sprinter Phone Trick to 1993 San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap (G1) marathon winner Kotashaan (Fr), from California-breds Survive and Supercilious to foreign imports Gentlemen (Arg), Siphon (Brz), and Sandpit (Brz). Mandella is known for having starters ready first time out and coming back from long layoffs.
Mandella's defining moment came on November 6, 1993, Breeders' Cup championship day at Santa Anita Park. Mandella could do no wrong before an international audience, winning the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) with eventual Horse of the Year Kotashaan as well as the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) with Phone Chatter. In addition, he won supporting stakes on the card with Memo (Chi) and Region.
Proving that his 1993 Breeders' Cup day was no fluke, Mandella continued to win major stakes throughout the decade, including a string of six straight million-dollar races on the Southern California circuit from '96 to '98: Siphon in the '96 Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap (G1), Dare and Go in the '96 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) (snapping Cigar's 16-race winning streak), Siphon in the '97 Santa Anita Handicap (G1), Gentlemen in the '97 Hollywood Gold Cup, Gentlemen in the '97 Pacific Classic, and Malek (Chi) in the '98 Santa Anita Handicap. In the 1997 Santa Anita Handicap, Mandella saddled the first three finishers: Siphon, Sandpit, and Gentlemen in that order.
Other major stakes winners include Bad 'n Big, Dixie Union, Puerto Madero (Chi), Wild Rush, Atticus, Poley, Romarin (Brz), Soul of the Matter, Afternoon Deelites, Advancing Star, Reluctant Guest, Matiara, Virginie (Brz), Bel's Starlet, Likeable Style, Golden Treat, Devil's Orchid, Stop Traffic, and Lexicon.
Mandella has long been respected for his work ethic, but his usually serious demeanor can occasionally give way to his dry wit. Once asked about a horse, Mandella deadpanned: "I have plans, but I keep them a secret. If the horse finds out, he'll put a wrench in them."
Mandella is admired for his attention to detail, thoroughness, patience, and ability to listen to others. His communication skills have made him a model teacher who has helped shape the careers of former assistants Dan Hendricks, Jedd Josephson, Mike Machowsky, Chris Baker, Richard Baltas, and C. Beau Greely.
Mandella takes great pride in being chairman of the California Horse Racing Board's necropsy committee at the University of California at Davis, which has led to many equine medical advances in the state.-Steve Schuelein
Tom Smith, 1879-1957
Birthplace: Georgia
Career record (incomplete): 366 wins, $955,497 in earnings
Champions, major stakes winners: Seabiscuit, *Kayak II, Mioland, Star Pilot, War Jeep, Lord Boswell, Colony Boy, Jet Pilot, Model Cadet, Porter's Cap, Admiral Lea
No more suitable time could have been found for trainer Tom Smith to be inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame than this year, when the buzz about his greatest horse, Seabiscuit, has swept the nation.
Thanks to Laura Hillenbrand's book Seabiscuit: An American Legend, which became No. 1 on the New York Times best sellers list in the spring and has remained among the top ten for over 18 weeks, the entire world has discovered what the racing community knew for decades: Smith was a tremendous if somewhat enigmatic trainer of Thoroughbreds.
Smith was the antithesis of a self-promoter, earning the nickname of "Silent Tom." Though he seldom spoke with the press, he did share his thoughts on training in a 1940 newspaper story: "In my estimation, more harm can be done by overworking a horse than by going easy with him. That's why, I guess, I have appeared mysterious; why stories have been spread of how I sneak horses out at night and work them, or work them in a fog. If I tried, however, to rush here and there to correct every wrong story spread about me or the horses I train, I would have time for nothing else."
Born in Georgia in 1879, Smith was raised in Colorado, where he began working with horses as a ranch hand. He then worked for both the racing stable and the Wild West show owned by C. B. "Cowboy" Irwin. With Smith as his assistant, Irwin led the nation's Thoroughbred trainers in victories in 1923 and '30.
Smith began training his own stable in 1934, eventually hooking up with Charles S. Howard. They purchased Seabiscuit for $7,500 from the Wheatley Stable in 1936, and Seabiscuit became the world's all-time leading money earner with $437,730.
Seabiscuit was 1938 Horse of the Year and champion handicap horse in '37 and '38, winning prestigious stakes from coast to coast, including the '38 Pimlico Special Handicap over '37 Horse of the Year War Admiral. Seabiscuit usually did his racing from off the pace, but Smith changed his horse's training for the match race, and he led from start to finish, winning easily by four lengths.
In his final race, Seabiscuit won the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap, a stakes he had lost by a nose in both '37 and '38, in track-record time of 2:01 1/5. That victory helped Smith finish as the nation's leading trainer in earnings in 1940 with $269,200.
Smith also won handicap championships with *Kayak II in 1939 and Mioland in '41.
When Seabiscuit retired and Howard died, Smith became the trainer for Elizabeth Arden Graham's Maine Chance Farm in 1944. Her stable's earnings jumped from $6,865 the previous year to $79,235 in 1944 and then reached $589,170 in '45 as Smith again led the country in earnings ($510,655), thanks to two-year-old colt and filly champions Beaugay and Star Pilot, respectively.
Even so, 1945 was bittersweet for Smith. That November, he was hit with a controversial one-year suspension by the New York State Racing Commission for administering a nose spray that allegedly contained ephedrine even though the horse's urine test was negative.
Smith sat out 1946 but returned in '47 to win the Kentucky Derby with Maine Chance's Jet Pilot. His 29 stakes winners also included Lord Boswell, Porter's Cap, and War Jeep.
Smith died in 1957, the year before Seabiscuit was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Now that storied horse has the company of his gifted trainer.-Bill Heller
Holy Bull
Breeding: Gray horse, 1991, by Great Above-Sharon Brown, by Al Hattab
Breeder: Pelican Stable (Florida)
Owner-trainer: Warren A. "Jimmy" Croll Jr.
Record: 16 starts, age two to four, 13 victories, no seconds, no thirds, earnings of $2,481,760
Major titles and victories: Horse of the Year and champion three-year-old male in 1994; at two, won Futurity Stakes (G1) and In Reality Stakes; at three, won Metropolitan Handicap (G1), Woodward Stakes (G1), Travers Stakes (G1), Florida Derby (G1), Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1), Blue Grass Stakes (G2), Dwyer Stakes (G2), and Hutcheson Stakes (G2); at four, won Olympic Handicap
Brilliant speed and courage are a devastating combination. Holy Bull, 1994 Horse of the Year, had both, winning 13 of 15 starts before suffering a career-ending injury in the 1995 Donn Handicap (G1) as the 3-to-10 favorite.
Holy Bull was trained by Warren A. "Jimmy" Croll Jr., who also became the owner of the gray son of Great Above under terms of longtime client Rachel Carpenter's will after Holy Bull's first race at two, a front-running,
2 1/2-length victory in a quick 1:03.93 for 5 1/2 furlongs at Monmouth Park.
Adding a seven-length allowance victory, a game half-length win over Dehere on a sloppy track in the Futurity Stakes (G1), and a 7 1/2-length romp in Calder Race Course's restricted In Reality Stakes, Holy Bull completed his first season undefeated.
He began 1994 with a hard-fought victory by three-quarters of a length over Patton in the Hutcheson Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park, but the race may have taken something out of him. In his next start, the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), Holy Bull's unbeaten record ended when he stopped badly, finishing sixth by 24 1/4 lengths to Dehere.
Croll's confidence in Holy Bull was unshaken, and he entered him in the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby (G1) three weeks later. Holy Bull won effortlessly by 5 3/4 lengths.
He followed that impressive score with a 3 1/2-length win in the Blue Grass Stakes (G2) and was sent off the 2.20-to-1 favorite in the 1994 Kentucky Derby.
For the only time in his career, Holy Bull broke slowly while in tight quarters and faded from fifth to 12th, beaten 18 1/4 lengths by winner Go for Gin.
Croll wisely revised his Triple Crown aspirations and instead went after older horses in the one-mile Metropolitan Handicap (G1). With regular jockey Mike Smith in the saddle, Holy Bull won by 5 1/2 lengths, stamping himself as a contender for Horse of the Year. He strengthened his case by winning the Dwyer Stakes (G2) by 6 3/4 lengths and the Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1) by 1 3/4 lengths, but he chose the 1 1/4-mile Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course to demonstrate his ability at a classic distance.
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas entered a rabbit, Commanche Trail, to press Holy Bull, hoping to ensure a rapid pace for his Preakness (G1) and Belmont (G1) Stakes winner, Tabasco Cat. Holy Bull had little trouble putting away Commanche Trail early and ran the first six furlongs in 1:10.43. Concern closed from far back and appeared ready to engulf Holy Bull in the final 100 yards, but Holy Bull dug in and held on by a neck. Tabasco Cat was another 17 lengths back in third.
Holy Bull capped off his three-year-old season by winning the Woodward Stakes (G1) against older horses by five lengths and was voted Horse of the Year as well as champion three-year-old male.
After skipping the Breeders' Cup, Holy Bull won his four-year-old debut in the Olympic Handicap at Gulfstream by 2 1/2 lengths. The Donn Handicap (G1) was next against an aspiring but then untested Cigar, who was looking for his fourth straight victory. Racing second behind Cigar on the backstretch, Holy Bull pulled up lame and never raced again. He stands at stud at Jonabell Farm near Lexington.-Bill Heller
Maskette
Breeding: Brown filly, 1906, by Disguise-Biturica, by Hamburg
Owner: James R. Keene
Breeder: James R. Keene
Trainer: James Rowe Sr.
Record: 17 starts, age two to four, 12 wins, 3 seconds, no thirds, earnings of $77,090
Major victories and accomplishments: Champion filly at two and three; at two, won Futurity Stakes, Spinaway Stakes, Matron Stakes, and Great Filly Stakes; at three, won Ladies Stakes, Gazelle Stakes, Alabama Stakes, Mermaid Stakes, and Pierrepont Handicap; never beaten by another female; won under 128 pounds; set Aqueduct's 6 1/2-furlong track record; won from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/8 miles
On August 6, 2001, James R. Keene's superb filly enters the Racing Hall of Fame-91 years to the day that the strapping daughter of Disguise-Biturica, by Hamburg, closed her career with a rare subpar effort in the 1910 Delaware Handicap at Saratoga Race Course, in which she conceded up to 30 pounds to her rivals.
Never beaten by another filly, Maskette usually carried high weight, routinely beat top males, won from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/8 miles with front-running exuberance, captured 12 of 17 starts (with three powerful seconds), and added $77,090 to Keene's financial coffers.
Maskette was bred to be exactly what she turned out to be. Her flawless pedigree represented the apex of fashion in turn-of-the-century American breeding, blending as it did the priceless blood of Domino with that of the legendary Hamburg. Dark brown and of no particular beauty, she was a rugged tomboy of a filly, a large, powerful speed marvel.
Keene and trainer James Rowe Sr. had hoped to win the 1908 Futurity with Ultimus but, when that colt was injured and retired, Rowe unveiled Maskette instead.
August 29, 1908, was sadly significant in that it marked the first Futurity on which open betting was not allowed. The New York Senate had on June 13 passed antiwagering legislation that would destroy racing in the Empire State.
Pinkerton officers patrolled the Sheepshead Bay Racetrack grounds that afternoon, strictly enforcing the new rules. The track's stands stood nearly empty; whereas past renewals of the Futurity had drawn crowds of 50,000, only about 12,000 witnessed the historic triumph of Maskette over Sir Martin.
Maskette's initial campaign also included victories in the Spinaway, Matron, and Great Filly Stakes; her only loss was a narrow defeat to Sir Martin in the Flatbush Stakes. At three, she dazzled in the Alabama, Ladies, Gazelle, and Mermaid Stakes and Pierrepont Handicap.
Maskette raced on at four but was clearly not at her best form-though good enough to set a 6 1/2-furlong Aqueduct record under top weight over males and to give 25 to 40 pounds and a beating to four distaff rivals in a handicap at Gravesend Racetrack. After an inexplicable fifth-place finish in the Delaware, Maskette returned to her old Kentucky home, Castleton Farm, and was bred to former stablemate Ultimus.
In failing health and discouraged by the sad state of New York racing, Keene soon sold Castleton and began dispersing horses. In 1912, Maskette was purchased by William K. Vanderbilt and exported to France, never to return.
Maskette proved marvelously fertile, producing ten foals in ten years but none of her quality. She produced some decent runners and was grandam of 1925 Cambridgeshire Stakes winner *Masked Marvel II. After Vanderbilt's death in 1920, she was sold to another American living in Paris, A. K. Macomber, and died without matronly distinction around 1930.
The Maskette Stakes was inaugurated in 1954 at Belmont Park, and for decades her name was proudly synonymous with the best in distaff performance. The Maskette, which became a Grade 1 event under the rating system devised in the early 1970s, was won by such champions as Searching, Tosmah, Bold 'n Determined, Lady's Secret, Personal Ensign, and Go For Wand-each of whom used it as a steppingstone to precede her into the Hall of Fame.
When the Maskette Stakes was renamed the Go For Wand Stakes in 1992, the early 20th-century champion seemed fated to slip from racing's collective memory altogether. Her induction into the Hall of Fame ensures that this will not happen. Preceding Maskette in the shrine to racing's immortals are fellow Keene-breds Kingston, Commando, Colin, Peter Pan, and Sysonby.-Mary Simon
Paseana (Arg)
Breeding: Bay mare, 1987, by Ahmad-Pasiflin (Arg), by Flintham
Breeder: Haras Vacacion (Argentina)
Owner: Sidney H. Craig
Trainer: Ron McAnally
Record: 36 starts, three to eight, 19 victories, ten seconds, two thirds, earnings of $3,317,427
Major titles and victories: Eclipse Award winner as champion older female, 1992 and '93. Grade or Group 1 victories: Breeders' Cup Distaff, Apple Blossom Handicap (twice), Spinster Stakes, Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap (twice), Vanity Handicap, Milady Handicap (twice), Santa Maria Handicap, Gran Premio Enrique Acebal
RACING HALL of Fame trainer Ron McAnally vividly recalled the fateful 1991 trip to Argentina and his introduction to Paseana (Arg) by Ignacio Pavlovsky, the veterinarian who has been his primary link in that country.
"I remember calling Sid Craig from South America and telling him that I found the best filly down here," McAnally said. "That's all I had to say. He said, 'Go get her.' "
Paseana, an elegant filly who ran to her good looks, did not disappoint during a six-year career on the track in which she won at least one graded stakes race in each of those years.
Already a Group 1 winner in Argentina with a victory in the 1990 Gran Premio Enrique Acebal, Paseana continued to consistently beat the best in her division in the United States. When she retired in 1995, she had a stellar record of 19 victories and ten second-place finishes in 36 starts and earnings of $3,317,427.
After winning the 1991 Silver Belles Handicap (G2) at the autumn Hollywood Park meet for her first U.S. stakes victory, Paseana put together a dream year in 1992. Craig and his wife, Jenny, are widely known for their diet centers, but their favorite horse continued to put together a weighty record as she won handicap after handicap.
She won six Grade 1 stakes during the year-Santa Maria, Santa Margarita Invitational, Apple Blossom, Milady, and Vanity Handicaps-and the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) as a $200,000 supplemental entry. She won seven of nine starts during the year and earned $1,518,290.
The Breeders' Cup triumph by four lengths under regular rider Chris McCarron at Gulfstream Park clinched the first of two Eclipse Awards as champion older female.
In 1993, Paseana added three more Grade 1 victories with repeats in the Apple Blossom and Milady, as well as a triumph in the Spinster Stakes at Keeneland Race Course. The Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita Park proved one of the most exciting in history and, although Paseana finished second by a nose to eventual three-year-old filly champion Hollywood Wildcat, she nevertheless earned her second straight Eclipse Award.
In doing so, Paseana continued a remarkable string of success in that division by McAnally, who also won Eclipse Awards in 1989 and '90 with another Argentine import, Bayakoa (Arg).
Paseana added a final Grade 1 stakes victory in 1994 with a repeat triumph in the Santa Margarita. In 1995, she won her final stakes race, the Hawthorne Handicap (G2) at Hollywood Park.
Foaled on August 23, 1987, the daughter of Ahmad out of the Flintham mare Pasiflin (Arg) was bred in Argentina by Haras Vacacion. Since her retirement, Paseana has encountered more than her share of fertility problems. In 1998, a mating was attempted with Storm Cat, but she was barren.
Later that year, Paseana was shipped back to Argentina, where Pavlovsky applied his veterinary skills. In 1999, she was bred to the Mr. Prospector stallion Lode at Haras Santa Maria de Araras. On September 13, 2000, Paseana delivered her first foal, a bay filly whom the Craigs named Paseana's Girl.
Returned to Kentucky this year, Paseana encountered more problems in the breeding shed. Most recently, veterinarians at Lane's End were attempting to get her in foal on Southern Hemisphere time.
But nobody can argue with her performance on the track. Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere, from seven furlongs to 1 1/4 miles, over a six-year period, few horses have compiled a more glittering record than Paseana.-Steve Schuelein
