Calumet's Comeback

In 1941, Whirlaway became the fledgling Calumet Farm's first Classic winner.  He also just happened to be the operation's first Triple Crown winner, as well.  That quirky colt sparked a golden era of racing for Calumet, which included eight Derby winners and two Triple Crown champions.  Among the famous horses to carry Calumet's famous devil's red and blue colors were Davona Dale, Alydar, and the great Citation, who was the first horse to surpass a million dollars in earnings.

Calumet was originally owned by the Wright family.  But, as family members either died or lost interest, the farm fell into slow decline.  In 1992, the farm was put up for auction and purchased by a successful investor who passed away in 2003.  While this investor, a man named Henryk de Kwiatkowski, kept the farm looking as beautiful as ever, the racing glory of Calumet Farm was a thing of the past.  It was nothing more than a Lexington tourist attraction now.  I remember, on my trip to Kentucky, the beautiful sight of its red barns and white fences.  Calumet Farm is a time capsule to the golden days of racing.

Just recently, Calumet was passed over to the care of Brad Kelley, a wealthy businessman whose racing stable, Bluegrass Hall, LLC, had already been racing horses for a short time.  He began to acquire stallions to stand at his farm and racing horses in Calumet's name.  The ears of racing fans perked up at the sight of the once formidable stable's name next to entries in races.  Even though the rights to the famous silks were sold to South American interests a long while back, the name is still there.

Last Saturday, I was one of millions who eagerly awaited Orb's run in the Preakness.  (If we want to talk sentimentally about the colors of the past, Joel Rosario, aboard the Derby winner, was clad in the famous white and red silks of the Janney family, most famous on champion filly Ruffian and her young jockey Jacinto Vasquez.)  The bay son of Malibu Moon couldn't have looked better.  He went off as the 3-5 favorite for the race - the shortest price since Big Brown in 2008.  As I watched the post parade, though, I couldn't help noticing how well Oxbow looked.  I chose to overlook that fact - my first mistake.

Oxbow had been in my top five to win the Derby before his disastrous luck in drawing the #2 slot for the run for the roses.  He did very well, despite all of that, finishing sixth after laying close to a white-hot pace.  The dusty bay colt, a brother by blood to Haskell winner and recent colitis survivor Paynter, was coming into the Preakness very well.  However, he went off at 15-1.  If you were against Orb, you looked at Departing, the Claiborne colt coming off an impressive win in the Illinois Derby, or at Govenor Charlie, a fresh horse just recovered from a slight injury that kept him out of the Derby.  Oxbow entered the Preakness starting gate as an overlooked horse.

But why overlook that colt?  Aboard him was Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens.  At 50 years old, the rider was making a miraculous comeback, and Oxbow was his best chance at newfound glory.  In control was trainer D. Wayne Lukas, another Hall of Famer who had already won five other Preakness Stakes in history.  Finally, Oxbow carried the weight of history, for he raced under the name of none other than Calumet Farm.  He might have worn black and gold, but he still raced for the sake of a legacy.

Oxbow inherited the lead right away.  There were those who thought the speedy colts Goldencents and Titletown Five would chase him, but it ended up being just Oxbow, all by himself.  Gary Stevens, with a mind like a stopwatch, carefully guided the bay racehorse through steady fractions.  :23.94.  :48.60.  By six furlongs, Oxbow had traveled the distance in 1:13.26, the slowest six furlong mark in quite some time.  He was stealing the race.  Derby champion Orb was trying his best to make up the ground, but couldn't manage to find room on the outside to make his patented late run.  He floundered on the far turn as horses began to pass him.  Meanwhile, on the front end, Oxbow was merely cruising.

The cries of more than a hundred thousand racegoers filled the air as Oxbow held off a late charge by Itsmyluckyday to win the Preakness Stakes.  As he galloped out, he opened up even more lengths on the field.  Orb had rallied bravely to finish fourth.  It was all about Oxbow, though.  The two would meet again in the Belmont Stakes, but it was the dusty bay son of Awesome Again who was in the limelight on this day.

Gary Stevens became the oldest rider to win the Preakness.  D. Wayne Lukas now was in second-place in terms of most Preakness wins.  And while I was looking on Calumet Farm's webpage, at its history, I noticed the name Oxbow next to names of champions.  Calumet had won its first Classic race since 1968. 

Calumet Farm now stands five stallions, including Horse of the Year Point Given, Melbourne Cup victor Americain, and Lentenor, a stakes-winning full brother to Derby winner Barbaro.  Their breeding operation is just getting started again.  As for their racing operation, it seems to be gathering steam again.  In the race before the Preakness, Calumet ran 1-3 with Skyring and Optimizer in the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes.  With Oxbow's upcoming try in the Belmont Stakes, a bright future awaits the home of so many former champions.

2013 has really been a year of the past.  In the Derby, Shug McGaughey won for the Phipps and Janney families, two racing dynasties of yore, and just last Saturday, in the Preakness, D. Wayne Lukas led a Calumet horse to victory.  It feels almost as if we're traveling back in time, to a time where racing truly was the sport of kings.  It really helps to ease the nagging shadow of modern day drug violations and corruption in the highest echelons of the racing world. 

If there's one thing the return of Calumet has shown us, it's that things thought long dead can rise from the ashes once more.  I hope that Brad Kelley continues to show good leadership in the running of the historical stable and that it once more will rise to glory as one of the most successful racing operations in this day and age.  Oxbow is just the beginning.