|
Ancient Title
“He was what dreams are made of,” said an anonymous fan of Ancient Title –- not necessarily dreams of Classic glory, but the dream of every small breeder to produce a good horse from modest resources. In this case, the dreamers were William and Ethel Kirkland, who had entered the Thoroughbred world by becoming part owners in a filly named Salma. Salma had shown some speed early in her career, but by the time the Kirklands acquired their interest in her, she had also developed a penchant for stopping badly in her races and was soon retired with only two sprint wins from forty-three starts to her credit. Salma produced only three foals in nine years of broodmare service, and none were of much account on the track. However, her daughter Hi Little Gal had shown enough ability in a brief career for the Kirklands to retain her as a broodmare prospect. Bred to the undistinguished *Nasrullah horse Slamruler for her first two seasons, she produced two winners of modest class, then visited Gummo in 1969. A multiple stakes-winning son of Fleet Nasrullah and the good broodmare Alabama Gal, Gummo was to become a perennial leading California sire, but at the time of his mating with Hi Little Gal, his first foals were only two-year-olds and his stud fee was a modest $1000 – a respectable fee for a California sire in the late 1960s but not very expensive by anyone’s standards. The resulting foal arrived at Three Rings Ranch near Beaumont, California, on April 19, 1970. The lanky bay youngster soon proved to have a rambunctious disposition, and on arriving at trainer Keith Stucki’s barn at Hollywood Park as a yearling quickly became the trainer’s problem child. Difficult to handle around the barn, he developed the bad habit of rearing on the track and one morning strained a leg with his antics. After that, Stucki concluded that he might have even odds of getting Ancient Title to the races as a gelding but little chance if the colt remained entire, and the youngster was accordingly gelded in the spring of his juvenile season. The operation did not make a gentleman of Ancient Title, who still bore watching any time he was in contact with a human (he once kicked Stucki in the head after the trainer got too close), but it did settle him down enough to be trainable. Ancient Title soon proved himself one of the best juveniles in California, winning the 1972 CTBA Sales Stakes, the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes, and the Sunny Slope Stakes in front-running style. His campaign was promising but erratic; he could not handle his fellow Cal-bred Lucky Mike, who easily took his measure in the De Anza Stakes (Ancient Title third), yet he just as easily defeated the nation’s second-ranked juvenile, Groshawk, in the Sunny Slope while running the fastest seven furlongs ever turned in by a juvenile to that date (1:20-4/5). William Kirkland passed away soon after that race – his greatest triumph as a breeder and owner -- and thereafter the gelding campaigned in the name of Mrs. Kirkland. At three, Ancient Title stepped up to try graded competition. He ran second in the San Miguel Stakes (gr. III), then took his first graded victory in the seven-furlong San Vicente Stakes (gr. II). But he could not seem to move forward off his San Vicente form. Although he placed in the San Felipe Handicap (gr. II), San Jacinto Stakes (gr. II), Will Rogers Stakes (gr. IIT), and Palos Verdes Handicap (gr. III), his only other stakes victory was in the Inglewood Handicap (gr. IIT) at Hollywood. All of his sophomore victories were at seven furlongs or less, and he showed enough form at sprint distances to be assigned a weighting of 125 pounds on the Daily Racing Form’s year-end handicap, ranking him fourth behind champion Shecky Greene in the sprint division. Ancient Title remained a headlong front-runner as a three-year-old, but as a four-year-old Stucki’s patience began to reap dividends. Although still a front runner by inclination, the gelding was learning to relax on the lead instead of running off with his jockey sawing at the reins. He opened the 1974 season by winning the seven-furlong Malibu Stakes (gr. II), then showed a new dimension by posting wire-to-wire wins in the nine-furlong San Fernando Stakes (gr. II) and ten-furlong Strub Stakes (gr. I). He thus completed the “Strub Series” for four-year-olds, which had previously been swept only by Horse of the Year Round Table in 1957-1958 and champion handicapper Hillsdale in 1958-1959. After that, Ancient Title cooled off somewhat, running second in the Santa Anita Handicap, Californian Stakes, and Hollywood Gold Cup -- all grade I races. He then returned to sprint distances and finished out the year with wins in the Los Angeles Handicap (gr. II) and Palos Verdes Handicap (gr. III). Ancient Title reached his peak form at age five, winning the San Carlos Handicap (gr. II), Californian Stakes (gr. I), and Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I). Following the Gold Cup, the gelding was sent to New York to compete against the best of the Eastern handicap division. He won the Whitney Stakes (gr. II) at Saratoga and ran third under 130 pounds behind eventual three-year-old champion Wajima and Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure in the Governor Handicap (gr. I) with Forego behind him in fourth, but a third behind Wajima and Forego in the Marlboro Cup (gr. I) ended any pretensions of capturing an Eclipse Award as best older male. At year’s end, Ancient Title ranked second behind Horse of the Year Forego in the older male division, the closest the gelding from California would ever come to a national title. After 1975 a slow decline set in -- very slow. Although Ancient Title was not quite as good at six as he had been at five, he still had enough zip left to win the Californian Stakes (gr. I) and Caballero Handicap (gr. III) before fracturing a splint bone in his right foreleg; he had also run second in the Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) and third in the Palos Verdes Handicap (gr. III). Mrs. Kirkland died in 1976, but Ancient Title marched on, making a full recovery from his injury. (He would race in the colors of Kirkland Stable for the remainder of his career.) At seven, the gelding added his fifth grade I victory to his trophy case, this in the 1977 San Antonio Stakes (gr. I); he also won the grade II Del Mar Invitational and Bel Air handicaps, and ran third in the grade I Oak Tree Invitational and Californian Stakes. Ancient Title’s performance in the Del Mar Invitational Handicap was a smasher, taking more than a second off the previous record for the about-ten-furlong distance after scorching the first six furlongs in 1:08-3/5 and the mile in 1:32-3/5. Stucki, however, maintained that Ancient Title’s best performance was in the Oak Tree, in which he just barely failed to hold off the top handicappers Crystal Water and Vigors by a head and a nose, respectively, after leading for all but the final stride of the mile and a half. Ancient Title took his final graded stakes victory at the age of eight, winning the San Pasqual Handicap (gr. II) in track record time before running second in the San Antonio Handicap (gr. I). A hoof injury sidelined the aging warrior for several months after that, but Ancient Title found one final moment of glory in a six-furlong allowance at Del Mar, in which he defeated the best sprinters in Southern California while hanging up a time of 1:08-1/5. The “old man” still had all his old speed but was getting less eager in his training and showing unexpected flashes of sourness. Perhaps they were due to aches and pains in his aging legs, for in his next start, the Bing Crosby Handicap, those legs reached their limit. Fans watched his stride suddenly go from smooth to awkward and rough on the backstretch, and jockey Bill Shoemaker immediately eased Ancient Title up. The injury was at first reported as a foot bruise, similar to the injury that had sidelined him earlier in the year, but it later became apparent that the tendon was involved. Repair surgery was considered, but in the end Stucki decided to retire his veteran campaigner. Ancient Title was sent to a life of ease at Wally Dollase’s Rio Vista Farm near Atascadero, California. Unfortunately, ease did not suit Ancient Title, who seemed unable to relax in his new home. He was often seen pacing the fence, and when put in with other geldings, he proved ill-tempered and difficult, forcing a return to a solitary existence. It did not last long. In 1981, Ancient Title developed colic and died on September 1 following an attempt to save his life via surgery. Ancient Title was never quite the crowd favorite that the flashier Swaps and Native Diver had been, but he was nonetheless treasured by his fans, who saw him become the leading Cal-bred money winner of all time with $1,252,791 in his bankroll. His final record showed twenty-four wins, eleven seconds, and nine thirds from fifty-seven starts, and he had taken home the trophies from twenty stakes races. Although at his best at a mile and under, he had proven effective at up to a mile and a half, could run on both turf and dirt, and ran in top company year after year. Right up to the end he was never anyone’s sweetheart, but as Stucki said after the gelding’s death, “He was all horse.” © 2005 by Avalyn Hunter |
