The ivory-coated wonder horse Gander, a fixture at New York tracks for the seven years he raced, has died at the age of 26 at Mill Creek Farm in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
According to Tonya Terranova, wife of trainer John Terranova II, who conditioned Gander during his tenure at the racetrack, Gander died peacefully from the infirmities of old age Dec. 7.
"Three weeks ago he was happy running around the paddock but a few days ago Anne (Morgan, owner of Mill Creek) reached out to me because he seemed to be a little quiet," Terranova said. "I drove up there Tuesday and spent quite a bit of time with him, giving him love and carrots. He seemed to be a little quiet and the next morning he just let us know he had enough."
Gander had been relocated to Mill Creek Farm when Stone Bridge Farm was sold to new owners in February 2021.
"We had Gander before we had our kids," Terranova said. "We went to see him as much as we could. It was a very, very sad day yesterday for our family and the Gatsas family. He meant the world to all of us. With Mike (Gatsas) and Teddy (Gatsas) there was never an expense spared for his happiness. His wall plaque on his stall even reads 'Whatever Gander wants, Gander gets.' That’s pretty much the way his life was in retirement and the racetrack as well. He had people who loved him around him at all times.
"We were lucky to have him. I texted Johnny Velazquez this morning and let him know Gander had died because he rode Gander a lot and Johnny said he had a special place in his heart too."
Campaigned by Gatsas Thoroughbreds, Gander enjoyed an illustrious career, making an unheard of 60 starts before retiring at the age of 8 with 15 wins and $1,824,011 in earnings. At the time of his retirement, Gander retired as the third richest New York-bred earner of all time behind only Say Florida Sandy and Funny Cide. Eighteen years after his retirement, he sits at number 12 on that same list.
In addition to a memorable Meadowlands Cup Handicap (G2) victory in 2001, Gander captured five other stakes, including two editions of the Empire Classic Handicap. The Gander Stakes, a two-turn race for New York-bred horses, is held every year at Aqueduct Racetrack.
"I was watching the Meadowlands Cup last night and it just brought tears to my eyes," Terranova said. "There's a lot of memories of Gander that stand out, but that Meadowlands race just brought the tingles right back. It was right after 9/11 happened. I look back at it now and it was Gander, Broken Vow, and Include, all ridden by three Hall of Fame jockeys, right at the line together. Gander would not be denied.
"He ran so hard all the time. When you look back at his record he was running against the best horses from that time. He ran against any big-name horse you can think of at the time. Seven triple-digit Beyers. Gander was always right there fighting and he never stopped trying."
Terranova fondly recalls Gander running the "most perfect race a horse could run riderless" in the 2002 Saratoga Breeders' Cup (G2) after sending jockey Mike Smith over his head when stumbling at the start. Steering clear of the field, he soared down the homestretch in perfect imitation of Napoleon’s Marengo leading the charge to the wire.
"The crowd just went wild for him," Terranova said.
On Dec. 7, 1998, a then 2-year-old Gander won for the second time in his career at Suffolk Downs.
"And Dec. 7 was also the day that he died, so even in the end, Gander went out his own way," Terranova said.
