This video just showed up on Youtube and it reminded me of a good story.
In the fall of 2001 my partners and I went to buy horses at the Cottonwood Farm auction out in Big Rock, Illinois. Three of the biggest buyers were my partner, Brian, Erv Miller, and Robin Schadt. They were all pretty friendly and so they got together prior to the sale and loosely split up the horses that they wanted so we wouldn't all be bidding against each other. That meant we were mainly just going up against the Joe Anderson crew and a few odd guys here and there.
My favorite broodmare in Illinois was a horse named Broadway Siren. Brian used to mock me because I liked to say she was from the family of the great Savilla Song. After Brian died his dad told me, "Brian said the Vernonshire guys really opened my eyes to that family." I took that as a great compliment. Sort of like Babe Ruth saying you taught him something about hitting.
Anyway, we tried to buy Broadway Siren's foal every year. We had had good success with a horse named She's The Reason and Charley Choo Choo who died prematurely of complications from EPM, but we really hit the jackpot with Diamond Man who was the best horse in Illinois in 2001:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymZ1kWwqlzcSo I went to the sale fully intending to buy her foal of 2000, Only Choice. I needed partners, but I had a regular group that I bought with- Brian and his family and a real good guy named Roger Samson. But Brian had picked up this Canadian owner named Bob Waxman who didn't partner with anybody. This guy was a really sleazy scrap metal salesman:
https://www.solidwastemag.com/waste-man ... 000036274/Right before the sale Brian pulls me aside and says, "Bob wants to buy the Broadway Siren." My first reaction was, "Fuck Bob." Brian then told me I didn't have as much money as Bob, which of course was true. I was getting a little hot under the collar now. I told Brian I don't care if Waxman outbids us but you don't have to train the horse for him. "Tell Bob that you have owners who buy that mare's colt every year and you can't fuck them."
Well, Brian, smooth talking motherfucker that he was, goes into full placation mode with me. He says, "Look, let Waxman have that big gray colt. I like Cold Sweat better. You and I will buy Cold Sweat and beat Bob's brains in with him." I didn't know if Brian really preferred the other colt or not. I just knew I didn't, so I was very unhappy. But Brian had made me a lot of money and we were good friends so I went along.
As we were training these horses down in Florida that winter, Only Choice was clearly better than Cold Sweat. In fact, he looked better to me than Diamond Man ever did. We ended up having to cut Cold Sweat to get him to pay attention. When they started racing Only Choice was really strong. Cold Sweat was okay, but I didn't think he could beat the other guy.
In August we shipped them down to DuQuoin for the Governor's Cup. What do you know? We got up to win the elimination at 10/1. I didn't have a dime on him. But we beat Only Choice and my buddy Jimmy Kezios's horse, Democritus. (I love how the goof butchers Democritus's name in the post parade.
)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrJ8on6bbiMThe next week we went for the big cash, $100,000. We beat Only Choice again. I could not believe it. Fuckin' Brian. R.I.P. B.P.
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