Kentucky Horse Trails

By Ercel Ellis, Robert W. Copelan and Michael Blowen

Ercel Ellis Jr. was born into the Thoroughbred horse business and has worked in it for seventy-five years.

He has been an owner, breeder, trainer, writer and radio broadcaster. His radio show, Horse Tales, has run for twenty years. For all his work, he won the Charles W. Engelhard Award for contributions to the industry. During his life, Ercel has amassed a trove of stories on some of the biggest names in Thoroughbred racing, like Mata Hari, Spy Song and world-famous Man o' War. He also includes stories of lesser-known horses like Dark Mirage, El Chico, Blue Peter and By Jimminy. Join Ercel as he entertains with fascinating stories from more than seven decades with Thoroughbreds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781439667385

Book preview

Introduction

By Michael Blowen, Old Friends Inc.

The voice seems to come up through the same limestone and blue grass that made Man o’ War the greatest horse of all time. It’s a voice that has been invited into homes throughout Kentucky for many decades—whether it was relaying the day’s race results long before the internet or telling stories on his long-running radio show, Horse Tales. All of us who love racing owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my friend, Ercel Ellis.

Just as we might have thought that Ercel has given us enough, he gives us more. You are very fortunate to be holding this remarkable memoir in your hands. And, as you might have predicted, the stories in this book are more about the sport than Ercel. I’m sure that’s the way he wants it.

Personally, Ercel was the first person of influence in racing to help publicize aftercare when it was in its infancy. When others scoffed and ridiculed the idea, he embraced it. At the core, he realized that what was good for the athletes was good for the sport.

Whether recounting the ups and downs of his career as a trainer or as a writer and editor for various publications such as the Daily Racing Form and the Blood-Horse, Ercel never resorts to self-aggrandizement because it’s rarely about him—it’s about the horses and personalities. And every Thoroughbred or human athlete fortunate enough to fall under Ercel’s literary spell owes him a deep debt of gratitude. We are all fortunate that Ercel spent many hours recalling stories that are unique to him. For without him, the horse tales would’ve disappeared, and that would be a tremendous loss to the Sport of Kings and serfs. We can never repay that debt, but we can indulge in the great pleasure of reading the unmistakable voice that has done for racing as much as his idol, Joe Palmer. I can’t wait to read the sequel.

1

My Dad and Man o’ War

My dad, Ercel Ellis Sr., was born in 1892 in Peaks Mill, Kentucky, which is in Franklin County, also home to Frankfort, the state capital. He used to tease his mother, who lived with us the last few years of her life, that he came out of Peaks Mill on a grapevine. First time I saw a train, over in Frankfort, it scared me so bad I ran up under the station platform and they had to feed me on a plank for three days. Dad never let the truth stand in the way of a good story, a character flaw passed on to me.

At some stage in his life, his family moved to Lexington, where his father had obtained a job as county jailer. He attended the old Morton High School in Lexington, which was on the southeast corner of what is now Martin Luther King Boulevard and Short Street. He was an all-state fullback on a team that lost but one game, that to the state university team, 16–0. A few years later, in 1916, the state university team evolved into what is now the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Don’t know if they called themselves the Wildcats when they played Morton High. Dad always described them as those dirty bastards.

Dad’s first job with horses was with August Belmont’s Nursery Stud, which was a couple of miles north of Lexington on the Georgetown Pike. On March 29, 1917, he went to work and put the first halter on a chestnut colt by Fair Play out of Mahubah, by Rock Sand, that was later named Man o’ War. I was to grow up with tales of Man o’ War, some of which may have even been true. But they were all fun and let me admit up front that I was in awe of the horse—to me, he is still the greatest ever to step on a racetrack.

Dad went into the army a few months after his first meeting with Man o’ War. Because he was a horseman, he was assigned to the cavalry, then later transferred to the field artillery. They still used horses in the field artillery. Dad then shipped from here to France. He talked about his trip over. For the first half of the trip I was so seasick I thought I was going to die. For the second half, I was afraid I wasn’t. He arrived in France just in time for the Armistice, turned around and came home, bringing his saddle and his helmet. That helmet was useless. Later on, I put a hole in it with a 22 short that you could put your thumb through. The saddle was the most uncomfortable I ever sat in. I would’ve deserted.

In 1929, Dad went to work at Dixiana as assistant manager for Charles T. Fisher. Dixiana was as it is today located some six miles north of Lexington on Russell Cave Road. In fact, the main farm entrance is just across the road from the Russell Cave. Mr. Fisher, a lovely man, had purchased Dixiana from the estate of James Cox Brady. He, with his brothers, had started in business as blacksmiths specializing in making buggies. This soon evolved into making bodies for Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs. Body by Fisher. His motive for buying Dixiana was that his daughter, Mary V., loved horses and was active with Saddlebreds. So Dixiana under Mr. Fisher started out breeding Saddlebreds and Thoroughbreds and became highly successful in both fields. Dad was named manager several years later, and I was to grow up on the farm, which was just a short bike ride from Faraway Farm, home of Man o’ War. Dad was to stay at Dixiana until his death in 1964.

MAN O’ WAR

I was born on May 30, 1931, and probably six years old when Dad first took me to see Man o’ War. Take a good look at this horse, boy, you’ll never see another one like him. That was over eighty years ago. And he was right.

August Belmont II, breeder of Man o’ War, volunteered his services when World War I broke out and received a commission at the age of sixty-five. It had been his custom to race his homebreds, but because of military activities, he decided to sell all but six of the twenty-nine that comprised the yearling crop of 1918. He retained five fillies and one colt. The fillies were retained as future broodmares, and Belmont obviously knew what he was doing. All five became distinguished producers. The colt was Man o’ War.

Ercel F. Ellis Sr., longtime manager of Dixiana Farm. Dad put the first halter on Man o’ War when he was foaled on March 29, 1917. Author’s collection.

Joe Estes, editor of the Blood-Horse magazine, years later was to write of Man o’ War that almost from the beginning he was to touch the imagination of men. Belmont must’ve seen something in him as well. Man o’ War was not prepped for the sale, and this turned out to be a blessing. It was the custom to fatten yearlings up for sales as a means of hiding flaws. On July 24, 1918, Belmont wrote to Elizabeth Kane, who had taken over as farm manager on the death of her husband, Edward, that he had decided to add Man o’ War to the sale. The sale was to be held at Saratoga and was scheduled for August 17. That left precious little time for sale prep. Louis Feustal had been to the farm to inspect the yearlings for Riddle, which were first offered for sale privately and then as a package group, and he remembered Man o’ War as a tall gangly colt. But he liked him. So, Man o’ War went through the ring, and Riddle bought him for $5,000, which seems ridiculously low but was the third-best price of the sale. The likely under bidder was R.L. Gerry, who was looking for a hunter.

Man o’ War, when his racing career ended, arrived in Kentucky on January 27, 1921, spending the night at the old Kentucky Association Track in Lexington. The next day he came out to canter before a crowd of admirers then was taken to Hinata Farm where he was to stand his first and also a good portion of his second season at stud. Hinata Farm, located on the southeast corner of Russell Cave and Iron Works Pike, was under lease to Elizabeth Dangerfield. Miss Dangerfield’s father had managed James R. Keene’s Castleton Farm. She was actively supervising property purchased by Riddle and Walter Jeffords, who was married to Mrs. Riddle’s niece, that had been purchased from the back of Mount Brilliant Farm on the Huffman Mill Pike and named Faraway Farm by the partners.

Man o’ War was placed under the care of groom John Buckner, who was employed by Miss Dangerfield and who had previously taken care of the great stallions at Castleton. The story goes that shortly after Man o’ War was turned out at Hinata Miss Dangerfield looked out her office window and there he was at a dead run in his paddock. Calling out the door to Buckner she said, John catch that horse before he kills himself. Miss Josephine, he hollered back, if all them good horses in New York couldn’t ketch him, how you ’spect me to? He was to stay with Man o’ War until Miss Dangerfield retired because of poor health in 1930. That’s when Will Harbut took over Buckner’s duties as Man o’ War’s groom.

Traffic wasn’t bad on the Russell Cave Pike back then so I could ride my bike over to Faraway Farm in about fifteen or twenty minutes to see Man o’ War. Dad told me to stay out of the way, don’t wear out your welcome and call Will Harbut Mr. Harbut. Mr. Harbut was to stay with Man o’ War for seventeen years.

Man o’ War’s grandsire, Hastings, had been vicious. His sire, Fair Play, was a hellion. Man o’ War had beautiful manners. Mr. Harbut would, many times, just snap the shank to the ring of the halter to turn him out. Man o’ War would stand still until Mr. Harbut stepped back, and then he would explode into a dead run. The power would take your breath away—remember, the horse was twenty years old when I first saw him.

Man o’ War and longtime groom Will Harbut. Note that the shank is merely snapped in the halter ring. Bert Clark Tayer, photographer.

Visits were mostly during summer vacations, and I can’t ever remember being there without tourists about. Mr. Harbut was a showman. Writers referred to his rich dialect but I suspect that it was a bit richer when entertaining visitors. He also had a sense of humor. Back in the ’30s, headlines around the nation trumpeted the arrival of the Dionne Quintuplets in Canada, five little girls. The story goes that the parents visited Man o’ War and the father told Mr. Harbut, I can’t wait to see Man o’ War, to which the reply was, He’s sure been looking forward to seeing you, too.

A description of Man o’ War is difficult. He just didn’t look like other Thoroughbreds. People who didn’t know which end of the horse the tail was on would see a picture and say, That’s Man o’ War! Joe H. Palmer, considered in this corner to be the greatest journalist ever to write about horses, described him as being as near to a living flame as horses ever get, and horses get closer to this than anything else.

Palmer also wrote of watching Man o’ War free in his paddock: All horses, particularly all stallions, like to run, exultant in their strength and power. Most of them run within themselves, as children run at play. But Man o’ War, loose in his paddock at Faraway, dug in as if the Prince of all the fallen angels were at his throat latch and great chunks of sod sailed up behind the lash of his power. Watching, you felt that there had never been, nor ever could be again, a horse like this. Amen!

Years after Man o’ War’s retirement, his trainer Louis Feustal was asked if he had ever given him something to make him run. Testing for drugs was lax at that time. Feustal replied that all that horse ever wanted to do was run, and I would have been afraid to give him anything. He is reported to also have said that Man o’ War was no trouble to handle. On one occasion, though, Man o’ War did toss his exercise rider and wander about the track at Saratoga for some twenty minutes before being caught. The only time he was unruly was at the break of his races; occasionally, he caused a delay. At that time, there were no starting gates and horses broke from behind a webbing. He just wanted to go, Feustal allowed.

There was absolutely no chance of hiding Man o’ War before he got to the races. Early on, a clocker watched him breeze and walked down to ask the groom, Who’s the big chestnut colt by? The groom’s reply was by hisself, mostly. I thought it was interesting that one of the five first crop stakes winners sired by Man o’ War was named By Hisself.

Man o’ War did develop one bad habit as a stallion. He became unruly when taken out of his stall to cover a mare, rearing up and flaying with his fore legs. Harrie Scott, who had taken over the management of Faraway Farm upon the departure of Elizabeth Dangerfield in 1930, claimed that Man o’ War was the smartest horse he had ever been around. He told Riddle that he could cure that but that there was a risk involved. Given the green light, when Man o’ War went up, Scott pulled him over backward. Observers said the horse landed with a thud that shook the barn, got up, shook himself and thereafter walked on all four feet.

MAN O’ WAR AT STUD

Man o’ War entered stud for a fee of $2,500, no return. No return meant that if your mare didn’t get in foal, tough luck. After his first crop hit the tracks in 1924, it went up to $5,000, but few seasons were offered to outside breeders. His first crop consisted of but thirteen foals, seven colts and six fillies. One of the fillies was never named, so I assume she died, but five of the twelve named foals became stakes winners.

The first Man o’ War foal to start was the filly Lightship, bred by Jeffords. She never won a race but later produced two stakes winners. The first to win was American Flag, bred by Riddle. The next year American Flag was undefeated in four starts to rank at the top of his class after taking the classic Belmont Stakes, the Withers and the Dwyer. Two fillies from the first crop also won classic races. Jeffords’s Florence Nightingale won the Coaching Club American Oaks and Riddles’ Maid at Arms the Alabama. That was the beginning of a great career at stud, a career that could’ve been greater had he been provided better quality mares.

Riddle, it seems, reached the conclusion that you could breed anything to Man o’ War and he would sire you a runner. For instance, what is generally considered to be his greatest runner, Triple Crown winner War Admiral, was out of the tiny mare Brush Up, by Sweep. She stood 14.3 hands and couldn’t outrun a fat man. Still, at career’s end, he had sired 17 percent stakes winners. Among those foals was champion Crusader, considered by many to be the best son of Man o’ War, over War Admiral. These days, breeders would flock to any stallion that was siring 17 percent stakes winners from foals.

War Admiral,