50 Years Ago Today March 2, 1966

[Shemp Howard]

Five time Horse of the Year, Kelso, finishes 4th in a non-descript 6f Allowance race at Hialeah. Afterwards it is discovered he has a splint injury and the 9yo is retired from racing.

[EMD4ME]

Five time Horse of the Year, Kelso, finishes 4th in a non-descript 6f Allowance race at Hialeah. Afterwards it is discovered he has a splint injury and the 9yo is retired from racing.

I wish Kelso was still around....Heck I wish the real Hialeah was still around.

The history of this game should always be kept alive. Thanks Shemp for reminding us.

Was Kelso your favorite horse of all time?

[Shemp Howard]

No other horse in the 20th Century defeated more Champions and/or Hall of Famers.

[bigeastbeast]

I can recall Freddy Capp:"Kelso and Gun Bow down the stretch."

[Stillriledup]

[QUOTE=bigeastbeast]I can recall Freddy Capp:"Kelso and Gun Bow down the stretch.

Good video of this race at YouTube, won't let me 'playback' or else I would post it.

[Brogan]

This one?

https://youtu.be/E29sSeEKyNo

Quite a race, even though its a loss for Kelso.

[burnsy]

He was the horse of horses and kind of made a joke of the modern day race horse. 5 Jockey Gold Cups @ 2 miles, 3 Woodward's and the 4th one he was second to Gun Bow. The Whitney, The Stymie, The Washington, D.C. International, so on and so on. The races he lost were against Gun Bow, Beau Purple and Carry Back some real slouches no doubt. As someone already mentioned he beat a whose, who list of race horses at the time.

By todays standards this would never happen and many of the horses raced this way. Many years Kelso faced some of the same ones because horses actually raced. Imagine that? What a novel idea racing the good horses for a period of time and establishing rivalries and a following.

I was only 2 when this happened but in the 70's Forego won 4 Woodward's in a row and was kind of the same just not as dominant. He could win at 7f to 2 miles. Most of the "Legends" today race for a season and a half but some jokers will yell and scream that nothing has changed......wake up........yes it has. People will get mad at you for saying anything about this, deny it, and then wonder why no one actually goes to the track anymore. Horse Racing, you just gotta shake your head and wonder. The horses lasted longer and the owners were there to win races and make their fortune and fame, winning races........point blank.

[ultracapper]

When I first started going to Longacres in the early 80s, it was the same way. The best horses on the grounds would run against each other for years, with new blood coming in every year as 4yos, and it was great racing. It obviously wasn't on the national stage like Kelso and those, but for the local race fan, it was great. You could have a favorite horse like Kent Green, Firesweeper, Tilt the Balance or Captain Condo and root for them for years. It was great racing back then, even though it was just the local show. My first handicap race I ever bet I bet on Tilt the Balance in the 1982 Memorial Day Handicap, and he was my favorite horse for the next 3 or 4 years.

[VeryOldMan]

Forego remains my all-time fave, but I learned to love this game because of legends like Kelso. As the Beatles said - "boy, you're going to carry that weight . . . " :)

[HalvOnHorseracing]

I was only 2 when this happened but in the 70's Forego won 4 Woodward's in a row and was kind of the same just not as dominant. He could win at 7f to 2 miles. Most of the "Legends" today race for a season and a half but some jokers will yell and scream that nothing has changed......wake up........yes it has. People will get mad at you for saying anything about this, deny it, and then wonder why no one actually goes to the track anymore. Horse Racing, you just gotta shake your head and wonder. The horses lasted longer and the owners were there to win races and make their fortune and fame, winning races........point blank.
Remember the difference with Kelso and Forego was that they were geldings. It's fairly rare to geld a horse you think might be a champion, but there have been some memorable geldings that had multiple year careers in your lifetime. John Henry, Best Pal, Lava Man, Ancient Title, and Fourstardave to name a few. Name me a horse that had four or five superlative years after its three year old season that wasn't a gelding. I think it is unfair to criticize horseracing in general for not having horses who are worth tens of millions as breeding stock race into their sunset years. Of the great horses of the 70's, Affirmed, Alydar, Seattle Slew, Secretariat, and Foolish Pleasure to name a few, how many of them raced past four years old? This has been the way of horseracing for eons. We all lament the fact that the superstars of racing have limited careers, but the first time this was a discussion topic was before I was well before I was two. I expect it will continue far into the future.