Derby winner's remains escape development
Jun. 27th, 2006 09:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sitaangelDERBY WINNER'S REMAINS ESCAPE DEVELOPMENT
By MaryJean Wall
HERALD-LEADER RACING WRITER
Kentucky Derby Museum officials are hoping to hold a ceremony in
July to mark the reburial of 1983 Kentucky Derby winner Sunny's Halo.
His cremated remains are to be sent to Louisville from Texas, where
the farm where he was buried in 2003 has been sold for development.
Makes you wonder: How many burial sites of famous horses have been
paved over and forgotten as cities expanded into countrysides, or as
generations forgot where they were buried?
The kindness of some people in Texas racing has saved Sunny's Halo
from slipping into oblivion. His remains will join those of Derby
winners Carry Back (1961), Broker's Tip (1933) and Swaps (1955) at
the Derby museum.
Not so lucky to find a specially marked resting place was the 1935
Derby winner, Omaha. According to stories, he's buried somewhere
beneath the old Ak-Sar-Ben racetrack in Omaha, Neb. It is now an
industrial park.
Another missing Derby winner is Alan-a-Dale (1902), who is rumored
to be buried somewhere at Ashland, the estate of Henry Clay.
Archeological digs taking place at the estate five years ago
unearthed the foundations of a barn and the skeletons of two foals --
but no sign of a mature horse that might have been the Derby winner.
Kentucky horse country abounds with equine cemeteries on farms and
at the Kentucky Horse Park. Cemeteries and individual headstones
demonstrate the respect and kind feelings people have for their
horses.
Some of these burial sites will become endangered as the city
expands. The horse cemetery at Hamburg Place faced such a future --
until Patrick Madden, descendant of Hamburg founder John E. Madden,
put the gravestones in storage so they would not disappear with
development.
The grave sites are gone but their markers will be repositioned on
another site. This appeared to be the best solution to the
inevitable expansion of the city.
Across Lexington in the Beaumont subdivision lie more horses
including Ornament, one of the best horses of his era. He lost the
1897 Kentucky Derby to Typhoon II by a neck.
According to Etched in Stone: Thoroughbred Memorials, by Lucy Zeh,
Ornament's grave now lies in the parking lot of an office complex.
The headstone is not visible from the level of the parking lot but
can be found by climbing a small rise.
Thoroughbred Heritage Web site states that Alcibiades, for whom
Keeneland's Alcibiades Stakes is named, is also buried in Beaumont.
In Tennessee, the famous race horse Enquirer, named for the
Cincinnati newspaper by that name, is buried beneath a subdivision
that once was part of the Belle Meade plantation. Enquirer is
remembered with a monument, according to Thoroughbred Heritage.
The most famous racehorse, Man o' War, was moved from his original
resting place on Huffman Mill Pike to the Kentucky Horse Park. His
problem wasn't an encroaching subdivision but vandals, who would
occasionally deface his memorial.
Time and changing attitudes result in continual change to
landscapes. The Sunny's Halo story ended in a way that will keep his
name more visible for a long time to come.
By MaryJean Wall
HERALD-LEADER RACING WRITER
Kentucky Derby Museum officials are hoping to hold a ceremony in
July to mark the reburial of 1983 Kentucky Derby winner Sunny's Halo.
His cremated remains are to be sent to Louisville from Texas, where
the farm where he was buried in 2003 has been sold for development.
Makes you wonder: How many burial sites of famous horses have been
paved over and forgotten as cities expanded into countrysides, or as
generations forgot where they were buried?
The kindness of some people in Texas racing has saved Sunny's Halo
from slipping into oblivion. His remains will join those of Derby
winners Carry Back (1961), Broker's Tip (1933) and Swaps (1955) at
the Derby museum.
Not so lucky to find a specially marked resting place was the 1935
Derby winner, Omaha. According to stories, he's buried somewhere
beneath the old Ak-Sar-Ben racetrack in Omaha, Neb. It is now an
industrial park.
Another missing Derby winner is Alan-a-Dale (1902), who is rumored
to be buried somewhere at Ashland, the estate of Henry Clay.
Archeological digs taking place at the estate five years ago
unearthed the foundations of a barn and the skeletons of two foals --
but no sign of a mature horse that might have been the Derby winner.
Kentucky horse country abounds with equine cemeteries on farms and
at the Kentucky Horse Park. Cemeteries and individual headstones
demonstrate the respect and kind feelings people have for their
horses.
Some of these burial sites will become endangered as the city
expands. The horse cemetery at Hamburg Place faced such a future --
until Patrick Madden, descendant of Hamburg founder John E. Madden,
put the gravestones in storage so they would not disappear with
development.
The grave sites are gone but their markers will be repositioned on
another site. This appeared to be the best solution to the
inevitable expansion of the city.
Across Lexington in the Beaumont subdivision lie more horses
including Ornament, one of the best horses of his era. He lost the
1897 Kentucky Derby to Typhoon II by a neck.
According to Etched in Stone: Thoroughbred Memorials, by Lucy Zeh,
Ornament's grave now lies in the parking lot of an office complex.
The headstone is not visible from the level of the parking lot but
can be found by climbing a small rise.
Thoroughbred Heritage Web site states that Alcibiades, for whom
Keeneland's Alcibiades Stakes is named, is also buried in Beaumont.
In Tennessee, the famous race horse Enquirer, named for the
Cincinnati newspaper by that name, is buried beneath a subdivision
that once was part of the Belle Meade plantation. Enquirer is
remembered with a monument, according to Thoroughbred Heritage.
The most famous racehorse, Man o' War, was moved from his original
resting place on Huffman Mill Pike to the Kentucky Horse Park. His
problem wasn't an encroaching subdivision but vandals, who would
occasionally deface his memorial.
Time and changing attitudes result in continual change to
landscapes. The Sunny's Halo story ended in a way that will keep his
name more visible for a long time to come.
