DEATH OF A DERBY WINNER
FERDINAND

It was the story nobody wanted to believe, yet no one could disprove. It was the biggest news item of 2003 in the Thoroughbred industry, and coming on the heels of 2002’s Ultra Pick Six scandal, made it two years in a row where our most enduring story was a negative one. The only hope now is that Ferdinand’s death in a Japanese slaughterhouse will hasten awareness and action to ensure we will not again have to read about this type of tragedy.

The demise of the 1986 Kentucky Derby (Gr.1) winner and 1987 Horse of the Year signaled an end to whatever innocence may have remained in the Thoroughbred business. While it is easy to point fingers at the Japanese culture that holds monetary issues above emotional ones, the story of Ferdinand also ends the era when North American interests can sell bloodstock without taking responsibility for the ultimate disposition of the animals they’ve brought into this world. While it numbs the brain that Ferdinand was passed from farm to farm and agent to agent throughout Japan with nobody thinking to contact people in the United States who’d bring him back home, it is also mind-boggling that nobody here inquired into what happens to stallions who have outlived their breeding usefulness overseas.

Ferdinand’s plight came to light thanks to extensive and meticulous reporting by Barbara Bayer, who spent several months tracking the path of shame that marked Ferdinand’s last days. After The Blood-Horse broke the story in late July, other industry publications attempted to discredit Bayer, The Blood-Horse’s Japan correspondent, as a “freelancer.” They said she lacked proof, that the timing was wrong for this type of story (as if there’s ever a right time), and that the horse’s fate was uncertain. They were wrong on all counts.

Bayer, through her intimate knowledge of Japanese culture, got it exactly right. She knew just what it meant when she was told Ferdinand had been “disposed of.” If fact, he had been killed late in 2002, the victim of two societies all too willing to rid themselves of what is no longer money-producing.

After failing to make the desired impact as a stallion at Claiborne Farm (also his birthplace) near Paris, Ky., Ferdinand was sold and arrived at Arrow Stud in Japan in 1995 with high expectations. His covers, which peaked at 77 in his initial year, plummeted in subsequent seasons. By 2000, his final season at Arrow, he covered 10 mares. He moved to a smaller operation, Goshima Farm, where he covered six mare in 2001 and two in 2002. Then he passed into the hands of a dealer, whose job it is to get whatever he can for unwanted bloodstock.

That dealer initially lied to Bayer several times when she inquired as to Ferdinand’s whereabouts. The story evolved from “he’d been given to a friend” to “he’s at a riding club far away from here” to, finally, “he isn’t around anymore. He was disposed of.”

Retirement facilities for old or infirm horses are a relatively recent phenomena, spurred mainly by the similar death of Exceller in Europe in the 1990s. Just a few years later, retirement homes of every size and in all corners of the United States have sprung up in an effort to give equine athletes a comfortable place to spend their golden years, or to train them for second careers as jumpers, hunters, or trail horses. From the outpouring of responses in the wake of the Ferdinand story, his death may yet bring benefits for those who follow him.

Domestic farms that sell stallions overseas are increasingly inserting clauses in contracts giving them first right to buy the horse back when his stud career is finished. Nevertheless, a look at the some 200 imported stallions now standing in Japan reveals some familiar name whose covers are dangerously low, among them Colonial Affair, Criminal Type, Fraise,Hawkster, and Sunshine Forever.

One organization benefiting from the Ferdinand fiasco is Old Friends, a proposed retirement home for pensioned stallions near Midway, Ky., “After the Ferdinand story broke, we went from getting five e-mails a day to hundreds,” Blowen said, “Philip and Betty Sue Walters gave us 40 acres of their Afton Farm on a $ 1 per year lease for five years.”

Blowen’s plan is to bring famous old horses to Old Friends and set it up as a tourist attraction for visitors to the Blue-grass region. Blowen’s efforts dovetailed with those of Kim Zito, wife of trainer Nick, who has been attempting to bring Kentucky Derby winners Strike the Gold and Sea Hero back from Turkey. Although stallions are thought to be well cared for in that country, Derby winners certainly have a more powerful cachet domestically, and would be the kind of draw Old Friends needs for success. Blowen said Sunshine Forever might be the first stallion to be successfully retrieved from foreign stud duty.

The Ferdinand saga caught the eye of Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) as well. “I was shocked that a Kentucky Derby winner and Breeders’ Cup champion could end up in a slaughterhouse,” said Whitfield. “Then I learned horses are being slaughtered here in the U.S. at two places in Texas. So I’m working to pass HR 857, which would prohibit the slaughter of horses for consumption in the United States. It may take some time, but we haven’t put on a full-court press yet and we still have 140 co-sponsors, so I’m optimistic we’ll eventually get it.”

Whitfield is also an expert on Turkish issues, having spent time in that country on military matters. He is working with Old Friends on bringing back Strike the Gold and Sea Hero. “I’ve met with the Turkish ambassador about bringing them back here when their breeding careers are over, and he was quite receptive to our request,” Whitfield said.

Lexington attorney Mike Meuser has handled contracts for equine transactions for 20 years, many times representing foreign interests. Since the Ferdinand situation came to light, he said, “I’ve noticed people are now consistently asking for a provision wherein they can buy back the horse when it is retired from stallion or broodmare duty. Before this, most times it wouldn’t even come up.

“We just concluded the transaction of sending Coronado’s Quest to Japan, and Claiborne asked that such a provision be inserted in the purchase agreement, which we consented to.”

Richard Vimont is an attorney who is on the board of directors of Old Friends. He has also worked extensively with Japanese, Turkish, and insurance interests in equine transactions. “I’ve seen assurances from several foreign entities that the Ferdinand situation would not occur again,” Vimont noted. “And that some of the famous horses standing overseas would be offered to us to return here as part of Old Friends. Also, as claims arise, some of these insurance companies are likely to give us a shot at acquiring stallions who’ve had problems reproducing. The climate has changed dramatically since the Ferdinand story.”

Thus here, where we tend to become emotional about our Turf heroes, some daylight has broken through the clouds of despair wrought by Ferdinand’s stormy ending. Though it is a lesson we need constantly be reminded of, there is much more to this life than what money can bring.