Remembering the Brilliance That Was Ogygian

Ogygian relaxes in his paddock. (Photo by Salt and Light Equine Photography)
Every now and then there are moments in your life when you see something that causes you to freeze and removes any other thought from your mind.
In an instant, you’re re-living a scene that never left you, regardless of how many years have passed since that day when you first experienced it.
That feeling hit me last month, when I read that Ogygian had been euthanized at the age of 32. After an initial feeling of sadness, my mind took me back in time nearly 29 years to a dark and rain-swept day at Belmont Park and a winner’s circle interview that remains as fresh and poignant in my memory now as it did all those years ago.
The date was June 7, 1986 and most racing fans will remember it for the day when trainer Woody Stephens won his fifth straight Belmont Stakes. Like everyone else there that day, I can still see the charismatic trainer hold up all five fingers in his hand to symbolize his still unmatched achievement.
Yet what left such an indelible mark on me came a few races earlier on that card when trainer Jan Nerud spoke about Ogygian with words that resonated like few others I’ve heard in the ensuing three decades around a racetrack.
His horse had just won a sprint race – that, ironically enough, is now named for Stephens – on a day when the other stars of the 3-year-old division were competing in mile and a half classic known as the Test of the Champion.
Ogygian was on the undercard, which to his detractors seemed quite appropriate. Ogygian, you see, made snarky comments fashionable long before anyone even envisioned Twitter.
He was exceptional at age 2 in 1985, winning his first three starts. As a 27-1 shot in his June 13 debut, the Tartan Farm homebred beat Peter Brant’s 1-2 favorite Mogambo in a maiden race. Sore shins sidelined him for the next three months, but when he returned to the races, he was simply brilliant. He won an allowance race by 8 ½ lengths, beating Danzig Connection (more on him later), and trumped that effort by romping to a dazzling 9 ½-length victory over Groovy in the Futurity at Belmont.
His performance in that Grade 1 stakes was so astonishing that it nearly turned the day’s featured race, the Marlboro Cup, into an afterthought.
He seemed destined to be a star attraction in the second edition of the Breeders’ Cup, which would be held at Aqueduct. Unfortunately, his shins flared up again and it ended his season after just those three auspicious races.
He was viewed as a logical winter-book favorite for the Kentucky Derby, sharing highweight on the Experimental Handicap with Tasso, who had beaten Storm Cat by a nose in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and was voted 2-year-old champion.
Yet even after his dominance at two, there was a deep divide over Ogygian and never a gray area. He was either beloved or scoffed at. Some saw him as a freak who had the potential to do wondrous things like the superstars of the 1970s. Skeptics painted him as little more than a fragile sprinter and bristled at comparisons with revered champions.
The haters had their way when Ogygian never made it to the Triple Crown trail due to complications from an ankle injury suffered when he kicked a rail in December. He did not race at age 3 until April 30 at Aqueduct, when he finished second in an allowance race and the aura surrounding him melted away like ice on a 100-degree day.
OGYGIAN IN RETIREMENT

Photo courtesy Connie Bush
On May 23, he returned in an allowance race at Belmont and won by nine lengths as a 1-10 favorite. The Kentucky Derby and Preakness were already in the books and Nerud made the sound decision to run Ogygian on Belmont Stakes Day, but not in the featured race. The next stop was the Riva Ridge, where Ogygian would meet up with fellow 3-year-olds, including Groovy, the beaten pacesetter in the Derby and Preakness who would later become a champion sprinter.
On a rain-soaked track, Ogygian, a 2-5 favorite, collared the pace-setting Groovy and then drew off to 3 ½-length triumph over Wayar and then Landing Plot as Groovy faded to fourth.
As members of the press corps gathered around Nerud in the pond that passed for a  winner’s circle, a reporter put a question to Nerud, asking just how good Ogygian could be.
Nerud paused for moment, and then, with his emotions wrapped around every word, said, “I’ve never had a horse or been around a horse like this in my life. If he’s half of what I think he could be, I’ll never have another one like him.”
If he’s half of what I think he could be, I’ll never have another one like him.
It was an amazing comment, and not one filled with bluster. It was not intended to pump up a stud fee or campaign for an Eclipse Award. It was not spoken by someone new to the game. Nerud hailed from racing royalty. His father, John, trained the great Dr. Fager for Tartan and played an instrumental role in the development of the Breeders’ Cup. Jan himself trained Dr. Patches, who defeated no less of a rival than Seattle Slew, and Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Cozzene. It was not said about an accomplished champion. Rather it was spoken without fear of contradiction or being proven wrong about a horse whose best days seemed to be ahead of him.
Nerud’s words came from the heart and the emotion in them was overwhelming. In a sport where so many people talked in reserved tones, he spoke with platitudes about a horse some viewed as flawed. He made it clear that in spite of what others thought, his love and respect for his horse had no limits.
They were words that were quite simply as unforgettable now as they were 29 years ago.
Later that day, after Danzig Connection captured the Belmont to extend Stephens’ streak and give 1986 three different Triple Crown race winners, a jubilant Mr. Belmont Stakes was asked if Ogygian could emerge as a major player in the jumbled division.
Stephens, never one to mince words, was unfazed by Ogygian’s performance.
“We’ll have to face (Ogygian) sometime. You can run but you can’t hide. I was just partially impressed with Ogygian’s race, not entirely impressed. Look at the time (1:23 2/5, with a final furlong in :13 3/5).
That day, Stephens spoke about running Danzig Connection against Ogygian and fellow 3-year-olds in the Dwyer, but opted instead to tackle older horses in the Suburban, where the Belmont Stakes winner finished fourth.
In Danzig Connection’s absence, Ogygian won the Dwyer. He faced just three rivals, but the runner-up was Johns Treasure, who was second in the Belmont, and finishing third was Personal Flag, who was fourth in the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Everything seemed to be in place for Ogygian to turn the second half of 1986 into the stage for a coronation worthy of a champion.
But it was not to be.
Instead of running in the Haskell, Nerud pointed Ogygian to the Jim Dandy and Travers, warning that he would not race his homebred in either race if the track was wet. It rained both days and Ogygian sat him out.
He finally returned to the races in September, beating Mogambo by a head in the Jerome Handicap, and then was pointed to the Pegasus at the Meadowlands and a meeting with Danzig Connection.
In a clear sign of who the betting public believes was the year’s best 3-year-old, Ogygian was the overwhelming favorite, bet down to 2-5, while Danzig Connection was dismissed at 5-1. But under the bright lights of a night-time race in New Jersey, Ogygian fizzled and finished third as Danzig Connection won by three-quarters of a length over Broad Brush.
Afterwards, with Ogygian’s star dimmed, Stephens was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer as saying about Ogygian that “Devil’s Bag could have pulled a buggy and beaten him.”
After the Pegasus, bone chips were again found in Ogygian’s ankle and he did not race again in 1986. When he returned in 1987, he finished sixth in the Bold Ruler at Aqueduct and was subsequently retired. It was an ignominious end to a career marked by boundless potential that was mostly unfulfilled.
As years passed, both horse and trainer faded from the scene. Nerud never won a graded stakes after 1987 and retired from training in 1990. Ogygian’s breeding career started with high expectations at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky but in 1995, after siring about two dozen stakes winners, he was sold to a stud farm in Japan. In 2005, he was brought back to the United States by Madeleine Paulson-Pickens and joined Sunshine Forever and Creator as the flagship stallions at the fledgling Old Friends Thoroughbred retirement farm in Georgetown. Ky. He remained there until his death on March 14 at 32.
OGYGIAN WITH A TOUR GROUP AT OLD FRIENDS

Photo courtesy Beth Shannon
At the time of his passing, Ogygian was largely unknown by a new generation of racing fans, which is to be expected considering his relatively modest achievements.
But for those were who were fans of the sport in 1985 or 1986, the mere mention of his name is usually akin to a trip in a time machine, taking you back to a long ago time and a horse who for most people created so much excitement, only to disappoint in the end.
Then again, if you heard Jan Nerud talk about Ogygian on a rainy day at Belmont Park in 1986, you might have other thoughts. You might remember the emotions that so much potential can generate and how they can sometimes impact people for the rest of their lives.
That, more than the wins and losses, is what I’ll remember about Ogygian: sheer brilliance that deeply touched people and left an indelible mark on them.
He may not have been a champion, yet what makes racing great is that he didn’t have to be one to become unforgettable in some minds.
He simply had to be a horse worthy of being described with words like, “If he’s half of what I think he could be, I’ll never have another one like him.”
That was more than enough then, and decades later, it’s still enough now.
Rest in peace, Ogygian.