The funeral of Elizabeth II in September of 2022 prompted 10 days of official mourning, included 3,000 military personnel, and cost an estimated $300 million.
That's how you say goodbye to a queen.
The farewell for Thorpedo Anna has been somewhat more subdued, but no less heartfelt. She was a racehorse for everyone, a Thoroughbred in full. Every step she took on a racetrack reeked of integrity, even those moments this season when she was far from her true self. It happens. They're animals. When it comes to a filly like Thorpedo Anna, their majesty transcends petty pari-mutuel concerns.
After winning 12 of 16 starts, $5.4 million in purses, and 2024 Horse of the Year, Thorpedo Anna will make one last round of public appearances on the weekend of Oct. 25-26, first at Keeneland and then at Churchill Downs. As an added treat, at Keeneland on the 25th, beginning at 11 a.m. in the morning, fans will be able to visit Thorpedo Anna in her barn, up close and personal.
"I think people should be allowed to touch these horses," said Kenny McPeek, trainer and part owner of Thorpedo Anna. "I don't know why it can't be done. I love the energy of people when they're able to, and how happy it makes them. Especially the children. These are lifetime memories for these kids. They become lifetime racing fans."
To the credit of racetracks' managements and cooperative owners, there have been any number of public tributes to great racehorses as they transition to retirement. Their impact lingers, even when they're not under starter's orders.
On Nov. 6, 1973, some 33,000 fans showed up at Aqueduct Racetrack, not bad for a chilly Tuesday afternoon. They had come to see Secretariat one more time, as he trotted the length of the stands to rapturous applause under Ron Turcotte. As a memento of the day, track management gave away keychains bearing the image of Big Red.
A few months later, this reporter had a front-row seat at the farewell parade of champion and future Hall of Famer Cougar II at Santa Anita Park. The high-headed Chilean was easily the most popular West Coast star since the days of Silky Sullivan. I was deputized by Joe Burnham, racing's foremost cinematographer, to trail along behind Cougar and Bill Shoemaker with a tape recorder to capture crowd reaction as they made their way down the length of the grandstand, hugging the rail. Cries of "the Big Cat" still echo.
Kelso and Forego, with eight Horse of the Year trophies between them, came out of retirement to lead the post parade for the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park Oct. 23, 1983. Their owners, Allaire du Pont and Martha Gerry, volunteered their old boys to help raise money for the nascent Thoroughbred Retirement Fund.
The massive Forego, 13, plodded along like a dray horse on holiday, while Kelso, a perky 26, bounced around at the side of his pasture pal, a former racehorse nicknamed Pete. More than 32,000 fans were able to say they saw the iconic pair that day. After the ceremony, Forego returned to his retirement home at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, and Kelso was vanned back down the road to Woodstock Farm in Maryland. Then the following evening came the awful news that Kelso had suffered a severe bout of colic and died.
"We'll never know what killed him or what the effect of the trip to New York was," Dr. Alan McCarthy, Kelso's vet, told the New York Times. "All sorts of things can cause colic. Stress is one of them and that had to be a stressful trip for him. But he was a very, very old horse."
John Henry, making his 72nd start, finished fifth to Slew o' Gold in that '83 Gold Cup. Three years later, the ageless wonder had the most spectacular adios of his several farewells Nov. 1, 1986, at Santa Anita Park, where 12 of his 30 stakes victories took place.
With Trevor Denman delivering a ringing introduction and video highlights blaring throughout the grandstand, a captive audience of 69,155 attending the third Breeders' Cup was treated to an ambling stroll down the stretch from the 11-year-old champion. His groom, Jose Mercado, was at the shank. Not long after that, John Henry was sent to the Kentucky Horse Park, where he joined Forego and lived for another 21 years.
After her swansong in the 2010 Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs, Zenyatta returned to her California stall in the barn of John Shirreffs, who presided over a steady flow of visitors anxious for one last goodbye. Then, on the afternoon of Dec. 5, the 6-year-old mare was at the center of a 40-minute farewell ceremony at Hollywood Park that swelled the usually small Sunday crowd to more than 11,000 of the faithful. Between the paddock and her walk down the track, every one of those 11,000 had an opportunity to share the same air as the towering mare, as she was led by her groom, Mario Espinoza.
Kenny McPeek can recall the first celebrity Thoroughbred he brushed near, back in 1983 when he first started working at Keeneland. It was the gray colt Marfa, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby (G1) who was in town for the Blue Grass Stakes (G1).
"Wayne Lukas was right there grazing him," McPeek said. "You never forget that first good one."
He's trained plenty since.
"I never thought I'd have a better mare than Take Charge Lady, then Swiss Skydiver came along," McPeek said. "And I never thought there'd be a better one than Swiss Skydiver. Then came Anna. I'm just happy we were able to share her with as many people as we have."
There was a time when horses were no big deal. They provided transportation, labored in fields, fought in wars. As their utility was replaced by mechanical technology, their presence persisted in the world of entertainment, from Westerns on TV and the big screen to rodeos, parades, and racing.
Today, a person living in the United States can go a lifetime without admiring a horse up close, never mind touching a muzzle, stroking a forelock, or extending a peppermint to a bonafide sports star like Thorpedo Anna. And that's a shame.
"Access to the great horses is something we're missing in horse racing," McPeek added. "Let the fans touch them, feel them. What's to be scared of? There's only upside to giving fans a chance for that kind of experience."
