"John Henry: The Steel Driving Racehorse," and the story you probably didn't know. - Horse Racing Forum - PaceAdvantage.Com

andymays · 03-20-2011, 07:59 AM

http://www.horseraceinsider.com/line...none/#comments

Excerpt:

"The first time I saw him," trainer Ron McAnally tells Koby about half-way through the 82-minute film, "he had long hair and his head was down. I hate to say this, but he looked like a miniature donkey."

McAnally was the last, and most successful, of John Henry's trainers, but Koby, who co-directed, co-wrote and narrated the film, actually spends more time with the tragic Phil Marino, who trained the ageless gelding for the first 16 races of his career, and won only three of them. Marino tells the sad tale of how he was cruelly reminded of that record every time John Henry won a big race, and how he turned into a drunkard and a hophead, consuming a fifth of vodka a day, buying Quaaludes 10,000 pills in a swoop, and sniffing cocaine just so he could make it back to his barn. Anytime an owner would come with a horse in need of a trainer, Marino says, someone would say, "Don't send him to Marino. He couldn't even win with John Henry." Marino says that the day in 1985 when a 10-year-old John Henry was retired, after two Horse of the Year titles and $6.5 million in purses, he "pushed away" from both booze and drugs.

For the rest of the story click the link!

http://www.horseraceinsider.com/line...none/#comments

Fingal · 03-20-2011, 12:01 PM

Christine has been hitting it out of the park recently.

First he writes a top notch column on Little John, then has another winner this time about Big Bad John.

Bruddah · 03-20-2011, 12:52 PM

I had the pleasure of seeing John Henry win two Arlinton Millions. He wasn't very pretty but he was a heck of a race horse.

beertapper · 03-20-2011, 03:07 PM

i have the DVD of this fine film....enjoyed it very much..

i did not the story behind his original trainer, Phil Marino. Felt bad for the guy but he reached some closure when John retired. It's the one that get away that sometimes hurt the most.

You could certainly write a good script for all the stories around John Henry's career...would blow the Seabiscuit movie out of the water imo.

jognlope · 03-20-2011, 03:26 PM

The horse healed him. Thanks for the story.

joanied · 03-20-2011, 03:29 PM

Hey andy...another great link to a great story...thanks...I love that you come up with this stuff

...

question...I saw a special about ol' John on HRTV's 'Inside Information'...is that special I saw the same thing as this DVD of John Henry?

Where can you buy the DVD?

Thanks

andymays · 03-20-2011, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joanied

Hey andy...another great link to a great story...thanks...I love that you come up with this stuff

...

question...I saw a special about ol' John on HRTV's 'Inside Information'...is that special I saw the same thing as this DVD of John Henry?

Where can you buy the DVD?

Thanks

John Henry: The Steel Driving Racehorse - Home

http://www.johnhenrymovie.com/home.html

joanied · 03-20-2011, 09:24 PM

hey, andy...to the rescue...my man

...thanks so much...I just bought a copy and can't wait to see it

...great addition to my Thoroughbred/racing DVD collection...when I get older and greyer, I can sit back in my ol' rocker chair and watch and remember...the good ol' days

!!

Thanks

andymays · 03-20-2011, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joanied

hey, andy...to the rescue...my man

...thanks so much...I just bought a copy and can't wait to see it

...great addition to my Thoroughbred/racing DVD collection...when I get older and greyer, I can sit back in my ol' rocker chair and watch and remember...the good ol' days

!!

Thanks

Good for you!

Stillriledup · 03-09-2013, 05:55 AM

John Henry fans, on NYRA's youtube channel, you can see some old races from JH that he ran in NY, check out NYRA website for more info.

mountainman · 03-09-2013, 11:18 AM

I saw Jh win the (1979? 1980?) Oak Tree Invitational at sa. The horse was beaten , but refused to lose. The way he marshalled his energy that day when Spence Bay, a strong finisher with class, blew by him for home is still clear in my mind and brings chills. John Henry first gritted his teeth and refused to let his opponent completely pass him. His next response was eerily suggestive of a human swimmer as the horse refocused on his own lane, concentrated on perfect form, and somehow lengthened his stride to win narrowly. To see the great John Henry exhibit the heart for which he is best known is a memory I cherish. I was later gifted with one of his halters.

iwearpurple · 03-09-2013, 12:38 PM

I was fortunate to live in Southern CA while John Henry was in his prime, and witnessed almost all of his races. Many times, I would wager against him thinking another horse was better and almost always lose the wager. The strange thing about this was, I really was happy to lose these bets, since I was beaten by John Henry. He was my favorite horse, and still is today.

After retiring and moving to Minnesota in early 2007, it was a goal of mine to visit him at the Kentucky Horse Park. In September on a trip to the east coast we came back through Kentucky and stopped at the Kentucky Horse Park and saw him up close. He was frail at the time and didn't look good, but he still didn't mind posing for a picture. I was not aware of the fact that he was very ill, until we got there and spoke to his handlers. Several days later on October 8th, he was euthanized.

As a side note, if you ever get a chance to visit the Horse Park, do so. My wife thought that it would be all about race horses, but they are only a small part of the place. About 50 different breeds of horses are there, and it was a day well spent.

Sysonby · 03-09-2013, 09:49 PM

Loved this DVD, highly recommend it.

nijinski · 03-10-2013, 07:36 PM

One of the toughest , grittiest little horses ever . Happy Birthday wherever you are!

pandy · 03-10-2013, 07:56 PM

Loved John Henry.

Trainer Marino made the same mistake that dozens of trainers make every day at racetracks all over North America, they put a horse up for sale before trying every scenario. Trainers get burned over and over this way and never seem to learn.

How many times have you see a horse bred for turf dropped in for a tag after dirt-only races, then go on to win a bunch of races. And, even more common, I see trainers all the time who have a horse is is one-paced and looks like a router, is bred to route, they run the horse a few times in dirt sprints, the horse doesn't fire, they drop in for a tag, the horse gets claimed, the new trainer stretches the horse out and the horse wins as it finally get a chance to do what it wants to do.

There are only a few things that a trainer can try if a horse isn't breaking its maiden in a dirt sprint: synthetic track, turf, route, blinkers. John Henry won an $86k stakes race in his 7th lifetime start. That was enough to give him the benefit of the doubt. They tried him in two dirt routes, they tried blinkers. There was only one thing left, turf, but they didn't try turf. The new connections put him in a $35,000 claiming turf route at Belmont, he won by 14 lengths and that was the key, turf.