Flashback: Mr. Prospector's career flashy but frustrating

Imagine, if you will, a capable sprinter lacking the stamina to negotiate classic distances — one with the speed to blaze six furlongs in 1:07 4/5, but plagued by injuries and illnesses at inopportune times.

Suppose this sprinter never won a graded stakes race of any kind, though he raced during the 1970s, before the advent of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and back when short-distance speedsters were looked down upon as horses that couldn’t compete in the longer classics.

Now imagine this sprinter retiring to stud and developing into one of the greatest and most influential sires in the history of racing. It sounds farfetched, right? But it’s also the unique story of Mr. Prospector.

Without question, Mr. Prospector had serious talent. As a 3-year-old in 1973, his first three starts yielded powerful victories. In a six-furlong allowance race at Gulfstream Park, he obliterated his rivals by nine lengths and stopped the timer in 1:07 4/5, breaking the track record. As an older horse he continued to show flashes of significant ability, most notably finishing second in the seven-furlong Carter Handicap (G2), beaten just 2 ¼ lengths by three-time Horse of the Year Forego.

But for all his talent, Mr. Prospector struggled to string big efforts together in consecutive fashion. He was briefly considered for the 1973 Kentucky Derby, where he would have knocked heads with the immortal Secretariat, but Mr. Prospector suffered a rough trip when second in the one-mile Derby Trial Stakes and was subsequently sidelined with a bone chip in his pastern.

Mr. Prospector’s tough luck largely continued as a 4-year-old. While he did pick up a couple of stakes victories, cruising in the Whirlaway Handicap and Gravesend Handicap, his attempts to win against graded stakes company proved futile. He faded to finish third in the Paumonok Handicap (G3). He was beaten a head in the Firecracker Handicap (G3). Trainer Jimmy Croll tried to shake things up by running Mr. Prospector 1 1/16 miles on grass, but the son of Raise a Native faded to finish fourth, the only off-the-board finish of his career.

Just when it seemed as though Mr. Prospector’s racing form couldn’t get more frustrating, he fractured a sesamoid during a morning workout and was retired. He left the sport with seven victories from 14 starts and earnings of $112,171 — hardly the record of a superstar.

Nowadays, a horse like Mr. Prospector wouldn’t be given much of a look at stud. But back in the 1970s, though, it was easier for horses lacking top-level victories to make a big impression in regional markets. Although Mr. Prospector started off at Aisco Farm in Ocala, Fla. — far from the epicenter of breeding in Kentucky — he proved to be an immediate sensation.

Indeed, his stud career took off right from the start. From his first crop came champion 2-year-old filly It’s in the Air, who helped establish Mr. Prospector as the leading freshman sire of 1978. Grade 1 winners Fappiano and Hello Gorgeous followed in his second crop, and before long Mr. Prospector was relocated to historic Claiborne Farm in Kentucky.

From there, history was made. Over the ensuing two decades, Mr. Prospector sired an abundance of high-class winners and established a legacy as a “sire of sires.” Among his 181 stakes winners were Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, Belmont Stakes winner Conquistador Cielo, Preakness Stakes winner Tank’s Prospect, Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Gulch, and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Forty Niner — to name just a few.

Although he died in 1999, Mr. Prospector’s influence continued to expand through his descendants. He was North America’s leading broodmare sire on nine occasions, and many of his sons became acclaimed sires in their own right, including Smart Strike, Fappiano and Kingmambo. Incredibly, Mr. Prospector’s male-line descendants have combined to win 47 of the 114 Triple Crown races conducted since 1982. Fappiano has provided a particularly vivid branch through his Derby-winning son Unbridled, whose descendants include Grindstone, Birdstone, Red Bullet, Empire Maker and American Pharoah.

How is it possible an injury-prone sprinter like Mr. Prospector could be responsible for such an incredible array of classic winners? It’s one of the great mysteries of racing, but Jimmy Croll believed there was much more to Mr. Prospector than met the eye.

“I think Mr. Prospector would have stayed at least eight and a half or nine furlongs, maybe further, if he hadn’t kept getting stopped by injuries,” he told author Avalyn Hunter in her book, Gold Rush: How Mr. Prospector Became Racing’s Billion-Dollar Sire. “Mr. Prospector had a lot of speed, but the timing was bad throughout his career — that rush to make the Derby compromised his entire career. He never had a fair chance to prove what he could do. He was certainly talented… He was a really game horse.”

And as the Grade 3 race in his name renews Saturday at Gulfstream Park, he’s noted as a mighty good sire, too.

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.