Page 33 - March 2007 The Game

Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper The Game, March 2007 33
Former Jockey and Quarterhorse Entertain the Fans
It’s a beautiful day here, ladies and gentlemen, at Sufferin’ Succotash Downs. The track is fast and hopefully, so are the horses. There is a field of 12 in this maiden race, the favourite is In It To Win It, with 4-5 odds. Cleve Kadiddlehopper is the long shot at 100-1, with Denise Hopkins in the irons.”
Wow! What a lot of changes there have been in the last three decades. When I rode with Denise Boudrot, (as she was known then) it wasn’t uncommon for her to kick dirt in my face as she guided a winner under the wire. But like all jockeys, she rode on the knife edge of uncertainty. In the spring of ’74, I watched horrified as her mount, Larkspur Hill, bolted to the outside and flipped over the rail, leaving Denise with a broken leg, forcing her to sit idly for most of the summer. She came back with a vengeance in the fall meet, winning 94 races in 92 days to become the first woman jockey to win a title at a recognized track: leading apprentice and leading jockey at historic Suffolk Downs.
In 1974, her odds were rarely more than 5-1 as she often brought in both sides of the daily double. So what is this all about? 100-1? Succotash Downs?
“And they’re off! In It To WinIt takes early command with Gone With Whinny trailing 2 lengths. In third position is Airbiscuit, fourth, Lame Again Larry and next to him, I Ain’t Got A Prayer. Trailing is Don’t Call Me Glue, Harry Trotter, Mule Brynner, Beer Belly Bob, Jim Neigh!bours and Flat Fleet Feet. And then there’s Cleve Kadiddlehopper who looks like he’ll be at the wire by the end of next week.”
Wait a minute, that horse doesn’t look like a Thoroughbred. My fine horseman’s eye tells me Cleve Kadiddlehopper is a quarter horse. This really is a different track.
“Around the turn they come and I Ain’t Got a Prayer is challenging for the lead! But look, here’s a horse who really does- n’t have a prayer. Cleve Kadiddlehopper stops for a nature call, on the track!!”
And so begins the saga of The Reluctant Racehorse. Cleve Kadiddlehopper and Denise are currently performing to audiences at Equine Fairs and exhibitions across the US. At 100-1, this show is a winner every time.
Horse trainer, Carole Fletcher, of Singin’ Saddles Ranch near Reddick, Florida, trained Cleve and wrote the hilarious routine. She tells me Cleve was an eager student and that training Denise was easy. “With Denise's jockey back- ground, she picks up fast and is used to being in front of a crowd.” Though never a jockey herself, Carole shares the uncommon courage and perseverance of a rider, something well documented in her memoir, Healed By Horses, published by Atria Books. A horrific accident left her with second and third-degree burns over 65% of her body. A combination of her will to live and the love of her horse, Bailey, brought her steadily along the road to recovery, and eventually into the world of trick horses where her life intersected with that of a great jockey.
Denise and Mr. Kadiddlehopper put on a skilful, yet incredibly entertaining performance that kids and adults enjoy equally. Mr. Kadiddlehopper may appear to be reluctant as Denise tries to coax him around the track, but it’s obvious that both horse and rider are born hams.
Denise and Mr. K. appear at various racetracks around the United States. If you ever get the chance, be sure to catch their show, which could easily be called The Laughter Stakes.
Denise Boudrot
& Cleve Kadiddlehopper
Kinghaven Bookkeeper Charged with Fraud & Theft
Christiane Kohn of Newmarket, a long-time employee of Kinghaven Farms Ltd., has been charged with fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000 after a “cash flow problem” was discovered last fall.
An accountant was called for an examination of the books for the farm which is owned by David Wilmott, COO of Woodbine Entertainment Group.
Christiane had worked as the bookkeeper for Kinghaven for 28 years and was fired in December after forensic accounts discovered $523,000 had been misappropriated since January 1999. She is expected to appear in court on March 29 in Newmarket.
Arlington Parks Chooses Polytrack
After announcing in 2006 that they will be installing an all-weather surface for the start of their 2007 meet, Arlington Park has decided that they will be using the Polytrack brand surface. Thoroughbreds at the Chicago racetrack have run on dirt for 80 years. The new synthetic surface is expected to be completed before the scheduled opening on May 4 at an estimated cost of $10 million.
The Story of Barbaro: Final Chapter
By Sean Clancy
I had to ask. Four days after winning the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr.I), as Michael Matz talked about his horse and his life, he paused and I pounced.
What about a book? Matz laughed and then thought about it, briefly entertaining the prospects of a book—plumber’s son, Olympics, plane crash, and now Derby winner. Too reserved to get swept away in nepotistic chatter about a book, Matz diverted the conversation to a memory about a writer who had compiled a book on his life. It ended with Matz carrying the flag at the closing ceremonies at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
Matz said to the guy, "How do you know that’s the end? Maybe there’s a lot more to the story than just carrying the flag in the Olympics."
He never heard from the guy again.
In early January, eight months after that conversation, I found myself at my kitchen table, trying to figure out an end to the book I was writing on Barbaro and Matz. I couldn’t shake Matz’ voice from my head,
"How do you know that’s the end? Maybe there’s a lot more to the story..."
This time, it was more about a
horse than a man, but finishing a
book without knowing the ending
had me flummoxed—like taking
the winner’s circle photo as the
field hits the quarter pole. Writing about a horse who still hovered between life and death was unsettling. I waffled back and forth from May to December, struggling with the context of the story. I typed an e-mail to my editor, saying I couldn’t do it.
Never hit send. I started and restarted the book, snapping my laptop shut more times than a screen door on a summer day. I started running miles and miles, trying to make sense of the process of writing a book without knowing the end. At some point, I decided to write it like I knew Barbaro was going to make it. Really, it was the only way to be able to type out a word—believe in a miracle. Actually, in this case, a miracle upon a miracle upon a miracle. I’ve never tried fiction, but this time, I contrived the end I wanted—needed—stuck by it, and started writing.
Once I started, it got progressively easier, especially as Barbaro’s prospects started looking up. Talking to all the people who touched Barbaro’s life helped, too. Bill Sanborn, John Stephens, Edgar Prado,
Michael Matz, Scott Palmer, Dan Dreyfuss, Dean Richardson...they each knew his character, felt his charisma.
As I tried to finish the book, Barbaro was still in the intensive care unit at New Bolton but seemingly rolling along, defying veterinary science, talk swirling
about him moving to a breeding farm in Lexington.
In January, I shared a bottle of red wine with Dr. Dean Richardson, talking about the fracture, the surgery, the laminitis, the stress, the precariousness of the situation. Richardson still couldn’t fathom writing a book about a horse who was far from cured.
Cautious as ever, Richardson did say how it would be good for the horse to smell some mares, get in a farm routine where he could be a horse again. To get out of an intensive care unit and to a farm. The miracle seemed palpable.
I finally typed out an ending to the book. It went like this—People love a hero, and what’s more heroic than to die trying? Beating death? That sounds better.
In January, I traveled to Lexington to
Barbaro’s 2006 Kentucky Derby Win. - NTRA Photo
interview Matz one last time before sending the book to the printer.
Matz was optimistic about Barbaro, I was relatively content with the book, kept the ending, and made the deadline that would have it out in April.
Once finished, everyone asked me about the book. "How’s your book?" became as steady as "How are you doing?"
My answer became matter-of-fact, almost flippant. "It’ll be good as long as he doesn’t die between now and when the book comes out."
The day after I finished the book, the laminitis in his left hind foot threatened again. We postponed sending the book to the printer, watched and waited to see which way the story went. When things looked up, we sent the book, then in a few short weeks, everything came crashing down. The house of cards finally folded. Barbaro was put down Jan. 29.
I went back and edited the last few pages. We finally knew the ending. The one none of us wanted.
Copyright © 2007, Blood-Horse Publications. Reprinted with permission.
Sean Clancy is the author of the upcoming Eclipse Press title: Barbaro: The Horse Who Captured America’s Heart, available for pre-order at www.ExclusivelyEquine.com