BH 100: Happy Holidays BloodHorse Style

This feature originally appeared in the December 24/December 31, 2016 issue of BloodHorse.

From 1977 through 1991, as managing editor and then as editor-in-chief, we had the fun of annually writing some stanzas of holiday greeting for readers of The Blood-Horse. On occasion we were abetted by who is traditionally referred to as the “better half.” The intent was always pure enjoyment—of the season and of the English language.

Now, as the publication completes its year of weekly chapters commemorating the conclusion of its first century, we are privileged to re-visit that jolly scenario.

In this singular case the following is both a salute to the past and a surfeit of good wishes to those who today populate the grand sport of Thoroughbred racing.

Dear readers, dear readers, pray gather ’round

     Where you’ll find good cheer is now to be found

As we cast a grateful and mirthful gaze

    On thirty-six thousand, five hundred days.

 

Yes, a BloodHorse century has galloped past,

    Proof of a venture designed well to last.

So we honor history, but all the while,

   Send wishes, too, for a holiday smile.

 

Thanks we give for Man o’ War’s grand career,

   With acknowledgment, too, for John P. Grier,

For Regret, Citation, Whirlaway, too,

   Big Red Junior, Affirmed, ’n Seattle Slew.

 

To Belmonts, Wideners, and Whitneys galore

   Gratitude for how you minded the store.

Sunny Jim, we loved you, and Ben A. Jones, too,

   Plus Longden, Arcaro, and Willie the Shoe.

 

The glories of  farms still linger through time

    Calumet, Tartan, their champions sublime;

Claiborne, and Windfields, plus old Sagamore,

   Cavalries of class have passed through your door.

 

Race tracks and sales are distinguished in lore—

     Keeneland, Saratoga, and so many more:

Arlington, Belmont, and Del Mar endure,

    Like Santa Anita and Churchill, for sure.

 

Yes, a first century has slaked a good thirst,

    But the future entices, ready to burst.

So attention turns to holiday cheer,

    Not for old times, but for this very year.

The first random tidings to pass our lips

     Are sent to Shug and the family Phipps,

To Gainesway, Todd Pletcher, also WinStar

    Team Valor, Mike Smith, and the West Coast’s John Barr.

 

A warming toast, perhaps wassail on board,

   Is our wish for Ted Bassett, also Joe Ford,

Mark Casse, Frank Stronach, John Velazquez,

   Chad Brown, Wayne Lukas, and Brothers Ortiz.

 

Gifts under trees—we hope they all get ’em—

    Is the season’s plan for J. Paul Reddam,

Plus Shadwell, Godolphin, and Maggi Moss,

   And the Skychai partners in Da Big Hoss.

 

Cups of egg nog that are mildly bracing,

   Are due Chuck Fipke, and Big Chief Racing,

Stonestreet, Coolmore, and the team at Juddmonte,

  The Ramsey Kittens, and William du Pont.

 

The list continues with NTRA,

  Breeders’ Cup Limited, and HBPA,

Live Oak Plantation, and Songbird’s Fox Hill,

 Starlight Racing, plus Jim ’n Susan Hill.  

 

Yes, good wishes with no limits or bounds

    We hope for the Turf in sights and in sounds.

A new year, and century, are now at the post.

   And we’ll savor the Sport from coast to coast.

 

                             — Edward L. Bowen

Read the entire BloodHorse 100 series here.

BloodHorse 100...and Beyond

This concludes the BloodHorse 100 series, celebrating one century of reporting and analysis of the Thoroughbred industry. We hope you’ve enjoyed it. Thanks go to former editor-in-chief Edward L. Bowen for his contributions, along with BloodHorse copy editor Tom Hall: Both spent countless hours poring over old editions, looking for the best of the magazine. A nod also goes to art director Katie Taylor for her spectacular layouts and artist David Young for his yeoman-like efforts scanning past covers of The Blood-Horse.

...And we’re not finished yet. While BloodHorse won’t be publishing a “BloodHorse 101” feature, we will highlight selected topics as we move through 2017. First up will be a retrospective on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Man o’ War in late March. “Big Red” was considered No. 1 in The Blood-Horse’s “Top 100 Thoroughbreds of the 20th Century” issue that was published in 1999.