The Big Horse

The big horse in racing vernacular is the animal that brings fame and fortune to a stable. Hes the heavyweight champion the All-American quarterback the four-legged Michael Jordan of the barn. Seabiscuit was once Tom Smiths big horse. A generation ago Secretariat was Lucien Laurens. In 2003 Funny Cide was Barclay Taggs. In sixty years as a trainer P. G. Johnson had never had one -- until Volponi. P. G. Johnson was a blue-collar wizard a hardscrabble tough guy who had come east from Chicago determined to make his mark on New York. And he did. He became leading trainer at all three New York tracks -- Saratoga Belmont and Aqueduct -- as well as at Floridas Tropical Park. And he did it without ever winning a Triple Crown or Breeders Cup event or having the big horse. I never knew how to kiss rich peoples asses and I got too old to learn. If no owner was going to give me a big horse I figured Id have to find one myself he said. He did that in his seventies buying a mare for $8000 breeding her to a $20000 stallion and in 1998 producing Volponi the horse that would change his life. In October 2002 weakened by surgery and radiation treatment for cancer P. G. watched Volponi -- the longest shot in the field at 43 to 1 -- bring home more than $2 million by winning the Breeders Cup Classic the richest race in America. The following summer at Saratoga McGinniss -- journalist investigative reporter and horse racing obsessive -- began showing up more Tuesdays with Morrie than Guys and Dolls at P. G.s barn in the predawn hours to listen to the inside racing stories and lore P. G. had gathered. McGinniss came to appreciate that Johnson was not only a stellar horseman but an American original whose wit and wisdom carried far beyond the confines of the racetrack. As for Volponi the big horse had given P. G. the perfect Disney ending with the Breeders Cup victory and indeed Disney soon bought film rights to P. G.s life story. Hell be even better next year P. G. had said but by the time McGinniss got to Saratoga Volponi had not won a race in nine months. His faith undiminished P. G. continued to race Volponi against the best at Saratoga and beyond until in the end it came down to the 2003 Breeders Cup Classic in Santa Anita a race only one horse in history had ever won twice. As fires burned in the Southern California hills Volponi -- with Funny Cides jockey Jose Santos in the saddle -- ran the last race of his life. This book is about what happened that day about what came after and about much of what had come before. Its the most exciting rewarding and heartwarming story about the world of horse racing that youll ever read by one of Americas finest writers at the top of his form.