Stute Recalls What Might Have Been

At the grand old age of 86, Mel Stute still has a goodly number of lucid brain cells, especially when it comes to his favorite subject, 1986 Eclipse Award winner Snow Chief.

The retired trainer, who conditioned the California-bred son of Reflected Glory to win the 1986 Preakness Stakes after finishing 11th as the 2-1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby, credits the immortal Charlie Whittingham for giving him the impetus to run in the second leg of the Triple Crown after his huge disappointment in the Run for the Roses.

“Getting Snow Chief beat in the Derby was my fault,” Stute confessed from his favorite chair at Clockers’ Corner, where he holds court every racing day. “He ran so bad (beaten 19 ½ lengths by Ferdinand), I couldn’t believe it. I had beaten Ferdinand seven lengths in the Santa Anita Derby.

“The morning after the Kentucky Derby, I had my horse’s legs done up in mud, but I had to leave the barn. I wanted the groom to have his legs washed off so a neurosurgeon could look at them, but when I got back to the barn, the groom wasn’t up yet. Now I’ve got this veterinarian trying to hold Snow Chief, and he’s trying to bite his hands.

“The vet says to me, ‘Mel, these bleepin’ hands are worth a million dollars,’ when out of nowhere, a voice says, ‘Give me that SOB.’ It’s Charlie Whittingham.

“He snatched the horse a couple of times, the legs were washed off, I’m in the stall looking at Snow Chief and can’t find a thing wrong with him. Charlie says, ‘Mel, I gotta tell you something. If you want to run in the Preakness, go.’

“He said, ‘I ran a filly at Churchill that shipped in like your horse, two days before the race. She ran horrible. Some horses don’t get a hold of this track. You beat me seven lengths at Santa Anita, and I had Ferdinand in Kentucky almost three weeks. That’s why I beat you.’

“Anyway, Lynn Swann, who was working for ABC, comes by my barn after the Preakness. He tells me Charlie told him the story about how he was a sergeant in the Marines, ‘but if I was more intelligent, I’d have probably been an officer.

“’To show you how dumb I am, I told Mel Stute to run his horse in the Preakness. If I hadn’t, I don't think he would have, and I’d be going for the Triple Crown with Ferdinand.’”