Page 55 - Canada Spring 2019

“He was a marvel on the track, so complacent before a race. You could walk by his stall and see him resting in there in a back corner with a hind leg cocked. Then you’d watch him break and see an honest horse come loose.”
horse and wished I had the guts to get him.”
Ed Honnen was in the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas when Earl Shapiro came up and took him
by the arm. Beneath the din of spinning roulette wheels, the rattle of rolling dice and the metallic serenade of legions of slot machines, Johnny Dial went to his last owner in one of the briefest trades on record.
the Quonset huts – stallions in one and stalls and the collection room in the other – are rusting. The old bus (Greyhound type) parked on the grounds is used for storage. No decorations, but no superficiality, either. This is a down-to-business horse farm, and you see that in the Blood that dominates it.
The Thoroughbreds, Zevi (Cornish Prince-Spire) and Kannapali (*Hawaii-*Megalong), have stalls that take up half of one of the Quonset huts. They are young, full of themselves, and very aware that they are studs. The ground rumbles when they cavort in their paddocks. Far away, in all directions, are the steep hills where the Shapiro mares roam free, taking the
hills as they come. The mares
are Johnny Dial daughters
and granddaughters by other patriarchs like Jet Deck, Rocket Bar TB, Royal Bar, Deep Fathom, Go Man Go, Easy Jet, Triple Chick and Spy Song.
The mares live outdoors year round. They do not come in at feeding time. Small feed storage bins dot the hills.
“Feeding is easy around here. All you need is a bucket and a good pair of legs.”
The groups of mares wander to the bins at feeding time. They are strong but gentle mares,
quite feminine when they circle a visitor and nudge him a friendly, inquisitive way.
The paddocks of Zevi and “Pali” face southwest. On the other side of the Quonset, a big paddock on level ground extends from a door in the Quonset that is almost always open. The paddock and half of
the Quonset belong to Hairball, who comes and goes at will. Thirty years young, his favorite pastime is standing in his paddock looking up toward the hill where cars sparkle in their progress along the highway.
The paddock next to Johnny’s is reserved for a special mare; one of his daughters, Linda’s Dial. Foaled in 1972 out of Mercedes Rocket
by Rocket Bar, Linda’s Dial made 38 starts 1974 through 1975. AAAT (si 101), she came in first fourteen times, placed eleven times, showed twice and earned a total of $29,235.52. She pulled up lame
in her last race with a fracture in her right fore ankle. Surgery at the University of Missouri included bone grafts. Today, her ankle is bigger than a prize grapefruit but gives her no trouble or pain. Soft- eyed, longhipped and beautiful, she will produce her first foal in 1978. The mare and her dad spend long sessions visiting over the fence.
Time consumes everything, and it has not spared the brown horse from New Mexico. The back
“Is Johnny Dial for sale?” “Yes.”
“How much?”
Ed Honnen named the price. “I will take him,” Earl said.
WINTER
About 50 miles south of St. Louis, the highway swings into wide S-shaped curves through hills and dales, on the outskirts of the small town of Festus. Most of the year this countryside is a study of colorful beauty. In the winter time, it is bleak, cold and bare, No Man’s Land. It is difficult to spot the Shapiro spread along this stretch, though it includes about 300 acres and extends from both sides of the highway. No fancy trappings here.
“I have what the rich guys can never buy. Poverty.”
It is hardly poverty ridden,
but no attempt has been made to “pretty it up.” The pipe fences are unpainted and rusting. Patches on
SPEEDHORSE CANADA, Spring 2019 55
LOOKING BACK - AN EXCERPT FROM JANUARY 1978 ISSUE
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