Jay Hovdey's Favorite Horses: Best Pal

[Flanders]

https://www.thoroughbredracing.com/arti ... town-hero/

Another good read.

[sweettalk]

my father worked for john (they were close enough that he was able to address him as johnny) when he had Big Bear. he has some fun stories abt john, and abt how the store was excited for Best Pal. what a horse he was. wish he'd had a happier epilogue.

[Curtis]

I have a soft spot for geldings in general and CA bred geldings in particular. Best Pal is easily in my top 5 all-time favorites. I just adored him. When it was evident he was going to win the Pacific Classic, that old Del Mar grandstand shook enough to register on the Richter Scale. He got hurt during the Pimlico Special at four and was never the same horse again. Still, he did some special things, at times, at 5,6 and 7. I'm not much for Country Music but there's a song from that genre that has the lyric, "I won't ever be as good as I once was but once, I can be as good as I ever was". That was Best Pal those last few years. He could conjure up that old magic, you just never knew when. He had a short life, but a happy one. He went out doing what he liked.

[Missbeholder]

I have a soft spot for geldings in general and CA bred geldings in particular. Best Pal is easily in my top 5 all-time favorites. I just adored him. When it was evident he was going to win the Pacific Classic, that old Del Mar grandstand shook enough to register on the Richter Scale. He got hurt during the Pimlico Special at four and was never the same horse again. Still, he did some special things, at times, at 5,6 and 7. I'm not much for Country Music but there's a song from that genre that has the lyric, "I won't ever be as good as I once was but once, I can be as good as I ever was". That was Best Pal those last few years. He could conjure up that old magic, you just never knew when. He had a short life, but a happy one. He went out doing what he liked.

Me too Curtis! Best Pal was truly one of the biggest "heart" horses of my life in the game. I was always so proud of him that he was the rare horse to have a career sweep of all the big 10 furlong races in So Cal. And I was ecstatic when he got in the HOF! I was so afraid that he never would because he was just a "lowly" Cal-Bred gelding that didn't have anything to show for himself east of the Colorado River besides a second in the KY Derby and a win in the Oaklawn Hcp.

You put a more positive spin on his early death and I thank you for that. But I honestly think that the news of his death at age 10 broke my heart into more pieces than any other of my beloved equine heroes. Took me quite a while to truly get over it.

He was a Champ!!

[Curtis]

I have a soft spot for geldings in general and CA bred geldings in particular. Best Pal is easily in my top 5 all-time favorites. I just adored him. When it was evident he was going to win the Pacific Classic, that old Del Mar grandstand shook enough to register on the Richter Scale. He got hurt during the Pimlico Special at four and was never the same horse again. Still, he did some special things, at times, at 5,6 and 7. I'm not much for Country Music but there's a song from that genre that has the lyric, "I won't ever be as good as I once was but once, I can be as good as I ever was". That was Best Pal those last few years. He could conjure up that old magic, you just never knew when. He had a short life, but a happy one. He went out doing what he liked.

Me too Curtis! Best Pal was truly one of the biggest "heart" horses of my life in the game. I was always so proud of him that he was the rare horse to have a career sweep of all the big 10 furlong races in So Cal. And I was ecstatic when he got in the HOF! I was so afraid that he never would because he was just a "lowly" Cal-Bred gelding that didn't have anything to show for himself east of the Colorado River besides a second in the KY Derby and a win in the Oaklawn Hcp.

You put a more positive spin on his early death and I thank you for that. But I honestly think that the news of his death at age 10 broke my heart into more pieces than any other of my beloved equine heroes. Took me quite a while to truly get over it.

He was a Champ!!

Ancient Title went at 11. Not a gelding but Seabiscuit at 14. No guarantees as they say. Enjoy them while you can. There was a very talented CA bred from the crop of 1969 named Royal Owl. He was massive, at least 17h. Alas he broke down at Santa Anita during the winter of 1974 and was euthanized as a result. He was intact and could have carried on but he’s largely forgotten. Oddly enough, you can find his 1971 Hollywood Juvenile Championship win on YouTube. As for the lowly CA Bred geldings and the HOF; Native Diver, Ancient Title, Best Pal and I could be wrong (I often am), but I think the reluctant traveler Lava Man is as well. So to paraphrase Sally Field, “They like us, they really, really like us!”

[Starine]

Good read about another that was before my time. As a young girl, the first race I remember watching was Dare and Go upset Cigar in the Pacific Classic.

[Curtis]

Good read about another that was before my time. As a young girl, the first race I remember watching was Dare and Go upset Cigar in the Pacific Classic.

That was the opposite of Best Pal’s win. As the horses came down the stretch towards the wire and it was apparent Dare and Go was going to win, silence swept the grandstand. As the horses began to gallop out, you could have heard a pin drop.