Mark Twain was one of the country's first great turf writers. Well, sort of.
In November 1865, in "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," Twain offered rare insight into a horseplayer's mindset when he wrote about a compulsive gambler named Jim Smiley: "If there was a horse race, you'd find him flush, or you'd find him busted." Two months later, also in the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, Twain wrote about "Fitz Smythe's Horse." Then there was the famous "Genuine Mexican Plug" of Roughing It and Soldier Boy in A Horse's Tale, and, of course, this from Pudd'nhead Wilson:
"It is a difference of opinion that makes horse races."
Yes, he was a great turf writer—well, sort of. But that's not why a former president of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, Gary West, named a horse Tom Sawyer and another Huckleberry Finn. Well, not entirely why.
In 2023, a partnership of investors bought a son of Practical Joke for $110,000 at the Texas Thoroughbred Association yearling sale. He was the sale-topper. The plan was to sell him the following year for a neat little profit, but you know how plans go. Yes, awry.
With the pinhooking plans set aside, they redirected the horse to the racetrack, where, of course, he needed a name. Preferably something memorable, descriptive if possible, nothing silly or demeaning because, after all, great horses always had great names, didn't they?
An original partner, West, suggested the name Tom Sawyer, after one of Mark Twain's most colorful creations and one of American literature's great practical jokers. That name came to mind quickly, and West admittedly can be a literary popcorn popper. Before becoming a turf writer and president of the NTWAB, West taught English at the University of Tennessee and wrote his dissertation on Mark Twain.
In 2024, at the TTA yearling sale, West, in partnership with Chip Mansfield, bought a son of Shoplifted out of the Congaree mare Bayou Bend. West explained that he hadn't intended to buy anything and was there only as an interested spectator. But he said the pedigree page was better than it looked, and the colt was so handsome he should surely bring in more than the latest bid of $19,000. West and Mansfield bought him for $20,000.
The colt had been foaled at Valor Farm in Pilot Point, Texas. Just moments after buying the colt, West spoke with Donny Denton, Valor's general manager. He provided the information that inspired the horse's name.
"Bayou Bend was a big, beautiful mare," Denton said. "But when her baby was just about three months old, she went down with colic that was really bad, and we couldn't save her."
"So, you mean this Shoplifted colt was an orphan,"
"So, you mean this Shoplifted colt was an orphan," West said, and Denton agreed. With that realization, another name popped out of the literary popper: one of American literature's most memorable orphans, Huckleberry Finn.
Tom Sawyer, a four-time winner who ran second in the Ring The Bell Stakes at Lone Star Park, has earned $154,700, and Huckleberry Finn, a maiden who ran third in the Staunch Avenger Division of the Texas Stallion Stakes at Lone Star, has earned nearly $10,000 in his incipient career. After some R&R, both horses have resumed training at the Highlander Training Center in Sulphur Springs, Texas, to prepare for the season at Sam Houston Race Park, which begins Dec. 18 and continues through April 3.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
