Originally Posted by
str
Q. .and while you were working under dick dutrow or before what do you think one of the best claims he ever made was in your opinion
A. He made a lot of really good claims during my years there but the one that stands out in my mind was a horse he claimed before I started there. His name was Lucky Lord. Dickie claimed him in late 1970. I didn't start until the fall of 1972. By then, Luck had become the king of the barn, a position he never relinquished. If you rubbed Luck you were the head groom, the best he had. Everybody, myself included, kept tabs on Lucks stall and how the groom went about his business.
It was a helluva position and one I never knew existed until I started working there. And everybody took it seriously. No way an apprentice blacksmith or a rookie vet touched Luck.
Bud Delp, an arch rival of Dickie's had the same kind of thing at his barn with a similar type horse (years before Spectacular Bid). I suppose Big John Tammaro and King Leatherbury did as well now that I think about it. Those four were dubbed the big 4 back then.
Dickie took Luck from an in and out ordinary claimer, to a model of consistency.
Dickie ran him 36 times , the last being March 29th, 1975. his record was 36 starts with 16 wins 7 seconds 8 thirds and 2 fourths with 2 off the board and one "Did Not Finish".
Back then, 36 starts in 5 years was really low. By today's standards that would probably be about 3 or 4 starts a year.
He took Luck from a miler or longer and made him a sprinter that went up to 7/8ths.
Luck was always in the 1st stall closest to the tack room. He was not really quite good enough to be a stakes horse but he ran in allowance races and high claimers like 25 and 35K races. Keep in mind that 25k and 35k in 1970 was quite a bit of money.
Dickie connected with this horse in ways I did not understand until years later. He knew every subtlety needed to make the right calls on when to run and when to pass races. In hindsight, the job he did with Luck, was incredible. Luck had really bad feet from foundering when he was young. He was a really nervous type horse that kept him from being his best. Dickie figured that out and got him a goat to live with. Boy did that make a difference. Those two were attached at the hip.
Of the 2 off the board races Luck ran, one was in the first few starts after Dickie claimed him. The other was a few years later . In that race, Luck was stepped on leaving the gate in a turf race at Monmouth Park and had a piece of his foot and back quarter area sliced off. It took 3 months to grow back and 2-3 more to race again. Other than that, he was the picture of consistency.
He was ridden by some big name riders such as Bill Hartack, Sandy Hawley, Chris McCarron, Vince Braccialle, Craig Perret, and others.
I had the honor of being Lucks groom from mid 1974 through his last race. It's funny what a horse can do to someone's life. All of the sudden, those that worked for Dickie that were either passed over as a candidate to be his groom or were new to the stable were all watching Me !
That title is what propelled me forward in the racing game. It opened my eyes and allowed me to see things that were always right in front of me but I had never seen. It truly changed my life.
I loved rubbing Lucky Lord. But unfortunately, it did not last as long as I thought it might. On March 29th 1975, the day before Easter Sunday, Luck hurt himself in a race at Pimlico. He broke his shoulder at the 3/8ths pole throwing Chris McCarron hard on the track. Chris hurt his shoulder I'm pretty sure. ( Sorry I don't remember more than that CJ). Luck never went down. He just stood calmly. I ran from the finish line to the 5/16ths pole to get him. Put his halter and shank on him and we got a van ride back to the barn. When we arrived, my dear friend Dr. Stewart was waiting for us. Doc was as good as there was and after looking at Luck, he told us of the potential problem. There was no way to know for sure as that is not something easily X rayed. And time was of the essence. The decision was made that nobody wanted to hear. To say it was tough is a gross understatement. I think we were all in shock to some extent. I know I was. Afterwards, Dr. Stewart was indeed correct with his diagnosis. There was nothing anyone could have possibly done to save Luck.
I remember people from all over the track coming by the barn to see if Luck was OK. It was surreal. Even our feed man came by. This horse meant that much to so many. He was put down in his stall, 1st stall next to the tack room. That was very uncommon but so was this horse. I told Dickie I wanted to bury Luck on a farm my family had just purchased in Howard County Md. , about 45 minutes away. Dickie said OK, so that was the plan.
The next day, Easter Sunday, every employee Dickie had showed up to help load Luck on a truck to go to the farm. People from other barns came as well as this was very difficult to do with a thousand pound animal. In hindsight, I was blown away by the kindness, passion, and caring that others from all over the place had shown. But that IS the epitome of the people that work on the backside.
My father, brother and a friend of his helped me dig a grave by hand for Luck. It was the least I could have done for a horse that gave me more than I could have ever expected.
I will try and attach a picture after I post this. I don't want to lose the post again. Already messed it up once.
The picture is of Lucky Lords portrait I had painted that hangs in my office along with his saddle towel he wore and the program page from his last race. His halter with his name inscribed in brass and his own shank rolled up are currently put away while I remodel my house somewhat. Once that is finished I will try and post a picture of that along with the next horse I will tell you about that was another of Dickie's best claims he ever made in Md.