"FINDING FIONN" 

IS A NEW RELEASE COMING OCTOBER 17TH INSPIRED BY THE KIDNAPPING OF THE FAMOUS IRISH RACEHORSE SHERGAR!

On a cold, foggy night in county Kildare, Ireland, the famous racehorse, and Irish hero, Shergar was kidnapped. The next day, a phone call came in to his trainer with a demand for 2 million pounds. Shergar's owner refused to pay and the horse was never seen again. To this day, this mystery has not been solved. 

Shergar was the 1981 European horse of the year. He shocked everyone by winning the Epsom Derby in England by more than 10 lengths. 

Shergar was beloved by everyone who knew him and worked with him. After an extremely successful career as a three-year-old. He was retired back to his birthplace, the Ballymany stud in Ireland. As a four-year-old, he fathered many successful colts and fillies. But his promising career as a stud came to a halt on that fateful night in February 1983. 

Many theories abound as to who was responsible for his theft. Was it the Irish Republican Army (IRA) seeking funds to continue their war efforts? Was it a jealous competitor? Was it insurance fraud? 

No one knows. 

My new book, to be released on all sites on Oct. 17, 2023, takes the facts of the kidnapping and applies them to a fictional horse named Fionn MacCool. Because I am an author, I can create the ending to the story as I would like to have seen it happen. 

Autographed copies are available on the website: www.dancinghorsepress.com

 

MAN O' WAR - Greatest Horse of the 20th Century

I only know of one horse for whom a heavy metal band was named! Actually, I don't listen to heavy metal bands but I thought it was fun to make the connection with one of the most famous horses of all time. The second scene in Mists of Darkness-Book Two of the Mist Trilogy takes place at Churchill Downs when the evil unicorn Hasbadana sends his oppressive mist to the famous race track to "invite" horses to join his army. So, in honor of Mists of Darkness's impending release, I decided to do another blog post about a famous race horse...clearly one of the noble and great horses that is surely a unicorn now.

Man o' War was born in Lexington, Kentucky on March 29th, 1917. His owner and breeder was August Belmont, Jr. (1851-1924.) The Belmont Stakes had been named after his father. At the age of 65, August Belmont, Jr. joined the U.S. Army to fight in France during World War I. The foal was born while he was away and Mrs. Belmont named it Man o' War in honor of her husband's brave service for his country.

Upon returning from the war, August decided that he was done with the horse racing business and Man o' War was sold at the Saratoga Yearling Auction in 1918 for $5,000. The buyer was Samuel Riddle. The beautiful yearling proved to be a very wise purchase. With Jockey Johnny Loftus riding, Man o' War won 9 our of 10 races as a two-year-old. In those days, there were no starting gates. All of the  horses circled around behind a piece of webbing that was stretched across the track. When the "barrier" as it was called was lifted, the horses started running. In his one loss, it has been reported that Loftus had Man o' War facing the wrong direction when the barrier was lifted and the rest of the field got a big head start on him.

As a three-year-old, Man o' War was 16 and a half hands tall and weighed 1,150 pounds. Clarence Kummen became his new jockey when Loftus was denied a renewal of his license by the Jockey Club. Man o' War was not entered in the Kentucky Derby because his wise owner thought he was too young to go the 1 and 1/4 mile long race. If you have been reading my blog long, you know how I feel about racing these horses at such a young age. Anyway, Man o' War went on to obliterate all of the other horses he raced against until, by the end of the season, no one wanted to race him.

His final race was in Canada against the previous year's Triple Crown winner (though they didn't call it that back then,) Sir Barton. Man o' War won easily.

Man o' War won 20 out of his 21 races and broke numerous world, American and track records. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and the Hall of Fame in 1957. The AP ranked Man o' War as the greatest horse of the 20th Century.

Man o'War retired in Kentucky and sired many fabulous horses. He died on Nov. 1, 1947 at the age of 30.

SEND ME THE STORY OF YOUR NOBLE AND GREAT HORSE. 

Write to me at mjevansbtm@gmail.com

GIACOMO - Surprise winner of the Kentucky Derby

Sometimes surprises happen...even in the world of big-time horse racing. When they happen there, a few brave souls actually make a lot of money! The winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby was one of those profitable surprises.

No one expected the beautiful dapple-gray thoroughbred, Giacomo to win that day. Mastis, one of the star unicorns of Behind the Mist and Mists of Darkness is a dapple-gray. That is my favorite color although I don't buy a horse for color. Anyway, his sire, Harry Bull failed to live up to his reputation in the 1994 Derby and came in 12th instead of the expected winner's circle appearance. Not only that, but the same jockey rode both father and son! So, of course everyone was thinking "like father, like son." But, surprise, surprise. The son vindicated the father and zoomed across the finish line first! It was also the first win for jockey Mike Smith after 12 Derby tries.

Don't you love it when the underdog wins!

I found an interesting fact on www.horse-races.net. They said on that site that "Giacomo is owned and was bred by Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss. They live in Los Angeles and have been active in Thoroughbred racing and breeding for many years. Moss is the co-founder of A & M racords along with partner Herb Alpert of the Tijuana Brass. They sold A & M to Polygram in 1990 but Moss remains active in the music business today. This is shown by the fact that Giacomo is named after recording artist Sting's 9-year-old son."

He is now at stud and loves to show off for his many visitors. He loves people and they love him! And he loves red peppermints as do my  horses!

Share the story of your noble and great horse. Write to me at: mjevansbtm@gmail.com

Go to the Behind the Mist Facebook page and "like" it.

The Print version of Mists of Darkness will be out soon!