On DVD or VHS:
JOHN HENRY...Santa Anita's favorite champion!! Relive all of JOHN HENRY's record 12 stakes wins at Santa Anita - each race IN ITS ENTIRETY complete from gate -to-wire, with original race calls.
Highlights include JOHN HENRY's two Santa Anita Handicap victories - in 1981, and again the following year when he was awarded the win via a disqualification of PERRAULT. Also featured are the two-time Horse of the Year's multiple wins in a pair of Grade I events - the San Luis Rey (1980 and 1981) and the Oak Tree Invitational (1980, 1981 and 1982).
Here's the exact race run-down of races included in this feature (all in their ENTIRETY from gate-to-wire UNEDITED):
1979 Henry P. Russell Handicap
1980 San Gabriel Handicap
1980 San Marcos Stakes
1980 San Luis Rey Stakes
1980 San Juan Capistrano
1980 Oak Tree Invitational
1981 San Luis Obispo Handicap
1981 Santa Anita Handicap
1981 San Luis Rey Stakes
1981 Oak Tree Invitational
1982 Santa Anita Handicap
1982 Oak Tree Invitational
Included are interviews with his former human connections and also features on JOHN HENRY past and present!!
The program concludes with coverage of JOHN HENRY's 30th birthday celebration on March 9th in 2005 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, where the grand champion resides. A crowd of more than 200 fans and friends of JOHN HENRY gathered to wish the Horse-of-the-Year and five-time Eclipse award winner a happy birthday. Included in the fanfare was retired jockey, CHRIS McCARRON, who rode JOHN HENRY in his final 14 of 83 career starts, including his second win in the 1984 Arlington Million at age nine. "When I got the mount on JOHN, it sent my career to another level because everywhere JOHN went, people followed. If you had the mount on JOHN HENRY, people all over the world - not just in the racing industry - knew who you were. I got this old man here to thank a great deal for sending my career into the stratosphere", McCARRON told the crowd.
Despite his reputation as a grouch, JOHN HENRY, who turned the equivalent of 98 in human years, greeted the crowd rather calmly as they joined to sing Happy Birthday and moved in for a close-up view of the gelding in his winter coat. Cathy Roby, barn manager at the Kentucky Horse Park's Hall of Champions, said JOHN HENRY's disposition hasn't changed over the years but fans love him all the same.
The horse has been an inspiration not only to racing fans but also to people all over the world mainly because of his determination and his tenacity to keep going and going no matter what. That's why so many people - not just racing fans - love this horse...because he has given them courage over the years to keep digging and keep trying and eventually you'll win. For him to live this long is proof of that.
Also in attendance was breeder Verna Lehmann (who bred JOHN HENRY in the name of Golden Chance Farm), first owner Jean Calloway and early trainer Bobby Donato. JOHN HENRY's long-time trainer, RON McANALLY even called in on McCARRON's cell phone to wish JOHN HENRY happy birthday and McCARRON proceeded to hold the phone to the gelding's ear. Hearing McANALLY's voice on the line, the sleepy-eyed old gelding perked both his ears and opened his eyes. "He recognized your voice!", McCARRON told McANALLY. Calloway, who is credited with giving JOHN HENRY his name, became weepy and said," he is totally a beloved animal because he stands for so much. He stands for the common man...what a wonderful life he's had and how he has inspired so many of us."
An overdue and overwhelming celebration for the legend, JOHN HENRY, that legions of loyal fans will cherish can be yours!
FOR A DETAILED CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF ALL 12 RACES FEATURED IN THIS TIME CAPSULE, JUST REQUEST A COPY AND A COMPILATION SHEET ALONG WITH THE 1,2,3 FINISHERS WILL BE E-MAILED TO YOU.
40 Minutes.
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