Breeders' Cup Sprint champion Elmhurst is still fast
I had to admit that the old boy looked pretty spiffy in the Keeneland paddock on a soggy October morning. He stood posing for the cameras and the admiring nods of early arrivals. I was chilled, yet he looked like he was just getting warmed up.
His hooves were polished, his dark bay coat was freshly brushed, and he wore his best bridle. If one tracked his gaze, it wasn’t hard to see why Elmhurst had acquired his reputation. Foaled on Valentine’s Day 1990, the 1997 Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion is fast with the ladies — four-legged or two, it doesn’t seem to matter, although the 27 year-old shows a preference for young brunettes.
Jeanne Mirabito, founder of Our Mims Retirement Haven, said this aging champion is partial to snapping brassiere straps, an odd habit she swears the horse picked up on his own. Elmhurst startled one visiting grandmother last spring when he planted his lips on her retreating backside. One volunteer swears that he is a cleavage aficionado, concentrating his gaze below her face and leaning in to check out her female wonders.
No harassment headline is necessary, as Jeanne states that Elmhurst takes the first “no” seriously if accompanied by a pointed finger. This grand old gent does have his favorites among the ladies of Our Mims, a thoroughbred aftercare facility, splitting his attention between Dogwood Patty and Ms. Royal Flagship. He provokes the occasional flattened ear and toothy nips of jealousy when one mare is favored over the other.
Elmhurst is the only gelding among 10 retired race mares and one mini-horse — and is the grandson of the illustrious Our Mims, the founding race mare of the Haven. Our Mims was the brilliant filly that competed in the golden era of the ‘70s, on the same tracks as the great Secretariat, Affirmed, the Bid and Seattle Slew. Crowned the Eclipse Champion Three-Year-old Filly in 1977, Mims shared the spotlight with her male counterpart, the estimable Seattle Slew, causing Jimmy the Greek to muse during a broadcast that he thought that Our Mims was the only horse that could beat the Slew. Equally notable was that this millionaire son of Wild Again, “Elmo”, was trained by a woman, Janine Sahadi. And bringing the Elmhurst story into context with the 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships is the fact that Elmhurst’s jockey, Corey Nakatani, will be riding the favorite Bolt d’Oro the $2 million Juvenile.
Our Mims Retirement Haven in Paris, Ky., is an accredited thoroughbred aftercare facility, a licensed non-profit and an operation totally dependent on grants and donations from racing fans who revere the history of this sport and acknowledge the responsibility of retirement. Given their outstanding reputation and community presence, Our Mims Retirement Haven was most recently designated a “Kentucky Proud” tourist designation. While excited about this honor, Jeanne and her volunteers also noted to this reporter that their farm entry road needed work to facilitate visitor buses. Donations for this project are being welcomed at DrivewayToTheHaven.com.
Artwork provided by A.E. Sabo of Off The Pace