tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836301946075505494.post5463724206627523160..comments2023-04-29T05:32:18.995-05:00Comments on THE PEDIGREE CURMUDGEON: Time travelJohn P. Sparkmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17859746883188760958noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836301946075505494.post-2276586627502822932010-05-19T09:04:56.537-05:002010-05-19T09:04:56.537-05:00Frank, from conversations with George Comer, Rokeb...Frank, from conversations with George Comer, Rokeby's manager at the time, I think it was partly a matter of timing. Peter Hastings-Bass, Mellon's trainer in England at the time, was dying, and the situation there was uncertain. Plus, Elliot Burch, no fool, wanted the horse badly, so Arts and Letters stayed on this side of the pond. By the time Mill Reef came along a couple of years later, Hastings-Bass's son-in-law Ian Balding had taken over Kingsclere and so Balding got the "too small" Mill Reef and Burch chose the bigger, more physically impressive Farewell Party as his first choice from that yearling crop.<br /><br />If I remember correctly there was at least some talk of sending Arts and Letters over for perhaps the King George and Queen Elizabeth as a 4yo, but he pulled a suspensory, which ended his racing careeer. <br /><br />By the way, in 1970 when the magnificent Key to the Mint was a yearling, I happened to arrive for a visit at Rokeby the day after Rokeby Venus was born....Somewhere I have a photo of her alongside All Beautiful, as well as a photo of Key to the Mint as a yearling, but neither is digitized yet.<br /><br />And in a further aside, although Paul Mellon bred and raced Arts and Letters, he did not plan the mating. That honor goes to William du Pont Jr., who died before the horse was born. Mellon bought All Beautiful, in foal to Ribot, for something like $375,000 at the du Pont dispersal.John P. Sparkmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17859746883188760958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836301946075505494.post-68117895339986183252010-05-18T20:49:21.221-05:002010-05-18T20:49:21.221-05:00Majestic Prince was a splendid beast, but his oppo...Majestic Prince was a splendid beast, but his opponents really gave luster to his brief career. Arts and Letters was such a distinct individual and such a talented classic colt that he really deserved to test the fields abroad. Any idea why Mellon didn't take him overseas?<br /><br />I once amazed one of our common acquaintances by picking up a dead-file photo and saying, "Oh, that's Arts and Letters." The horse was that distinctive, at least to you and me.<br /><br />Cheers,<br />Frankfrank mitchellhttp://fmitchell07.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836301946075505494.post-29703889885778382272010-05-17T17:11:20.209-05:002010-05-17T17:11:20.209-05:00You're absolutely right of course....Memory pl...You're absolutely right of course....Memory plays tricks on you after 40 years....My first trip to Laurel had been the previous fall for Sir Ivor's International....but that's another story!John P. Sparkmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17859746883188760958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836301946075505494.post-61991250583864033052010-05-17T16:27:58.804-05:002010-05-17T16:27:58.804-05:00Sorry to bust your balloon, but if you witnessed i...Sorry to bust your balloon, but if you witnessed in person Arts and Letters finishing fourth in the Pimlico-Laurel Futurity, you were at Laurel on November 2, 1968. Pimlico ceased running fall meets after 1965 and the race was transferred in 1966.<br /><br />Also want to make note that the Garden State Stakes was one of the premier juvenile events of that era too, perhaps the biggest given it was often the richest race in the world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836301946075505494.post-22138979852727053152010-05-12T21:07:58.652-05:002010-05-12T21:07:58.652-05:00I love going back in time with you. You make it a...I love going back in time with you. You make it all real again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836301946075505494.post-49660609225381175022010-05-12T20:28:36.312-05:002010-05-12T20:28:36.312-05:00Thanks for sharing. My road to the racetrack began...Thanks for sharing. My road to the racetrack began in the spring of 1969, cheering for Majestic Prince on the black and white TV. I clearing remember Arts and Letters, of course.Lianenoreply@blogger.com