Flashback: John Henry rallies to win inaugural Arlington Million

The stakes were high – literally as high as they had ever been in a Thoroughbred horse race.

The obstacles facing six-year-old gelding John Henry were formidable – a bog-like turf course, the far outside post position, 11 talented rivals and more.

The date was Aug. 30, 1981.

The race was inaugural running of the Arlington Million at Arlington Park, the first Thoroughbred horse race to offer a purse of $1 million.

A national television audience was watching live on NBC, and with less than a furlong left to run in the great race it appeared John Henry would come up short in his bid for glory.

It would have been a forgivable defeat.

John Henry – an obscurely-bred gelding purchased by businessman Sam Rubin for just $25,000 – had already won five graded stakes races on both dirt and turf in 1981, a busy schedule that would exhaust many horses.

He was unproven over rain-soaked turf courses, having lost his lone previous run over a course labeled “soft.”

And according to author Steve Haskin in his book John Henry: Racing’s Grand Old Man, John Henry suffered a minor injury scare just 10 days before the Arlington Million, briefly putting his participation in doubt.

Then there was the opposition.

In addition to a strong contingent of U.S. challengers, John Henry was facing the European raiders Madam Gay and Mrs. Penny (both French classic winners) and Argument, winner of the 1980 Washington D.C. International.

John Henry wasn’t knocking heads with mere stakes winners—he was competing against some of the best grass horses in the world.

But as the field charged down the Arlington homestretch, something surreal – almost magical – began to unfold.

While 40-1 longshot The Bart led the way, John Henry sliced his way through the field and slogged down the homestretch with his sights set on the leaders.

Veteran jockey Bill Shoemaker, then 50 years old, had used every nuance of his riding skills to give John Henry a miraculous ground-saving trip from post 12.

Now, it was up to the great gelding to summon something extra and pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

Inch by inch, John Henry narrowed the gap.

At the sixteenth pole, The Bart still led by a length, a seemingly insurmountable advantage.

But tenaciously, resolutely, John Henry kept grinding closer, his white noseband bobbing rhythmically up and down, until in the shadow of the wire he thrust his nose on even terms with The Bart and flashed under the finish line.

John Henry had given every ounce of his strength, but no one knew for certain if he had prevailed.

NBC unofficially called The Bart as the winner, only to retract their declaration a few minutes later when the results of the photo finish were posted and John Henry’s number appeared at the top of the infield tote board.

The gelding’s unmatched determination won the hearts of racing fans, horsemen, and analysts alike.

Praise for John Henry’s historic victory was universal, and the inaugural Arlington Million immediately entered the annals of the greatest horse races ever seen.

“I’ve never had a horse like that,” marveled winning trainer Ron McAnally in the Aug. 31, 1981 edition of the Hartford Courant. “He’s in another league. Both the soft turf and the outside post position were a concern because a horse tends to tire on soft going.”

“He’s a tough little dude, though,” remarked Shoemaker in a Sept. 2, 1981 column by John Schulian published in The Palm Beach Post. “The toughest little dude I ever rode in my life. He scraps, he fights, he don’t give up.”

At the end of the year, when John Henry was a unanimous choice for Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards, Shoemaker again tried to put into words the talent, the determination, the tenacity that made John Henry such a champion.

“I tried to analyze John Henry as an athlete,” Shoemaker told Paul Moran in the Dec. 24, 1981 edition of the Fort Lauderdale News, “and I came up with the conclusion that he is the best professional racehorse I have ever ridden. He can adjust his style and he knows what he’s doing. He’s just a real professional racehorse.

“You don’t find too many horses of that kind.”

Truer words were never spoken.

J. Keeler Johnson is a writer, videographer, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. You can follow him on Twitter at @J_Keelerman.