to a stranger?”
“More, and more Graham this theft is pointing to an inside job? I am going to get some help to research our files to determine any connection to anyone going back to the installation of the system through the computer to get a match on anyone who may have handled Hunter, at any time. Obviously, that person or person’s must have a special knowledge of this horse because, as you say, he did have a penchant for being aggressive and not just anyone could handle him.”
“Bill, I have a theory about how they got Hunter’s Destiny from the stall to the waiting van. I believe someone he knew, forced Eddie to open the door, placed the shank on him and walked him out the back door, leading the big horse through the paddock and down the lane leading to the back entrance where the security camera was disabled, loading him on the van and driving away in the early hours of the morning.”
“But Graham, there is a “fly in the ointment” because there is no gate at the back paddock! Anyone taking a horse at that point must have a chain saw to cut through a five board rail attached by screws, so a hammer would have been of no use, and either method would have been noisy.”
“Well, I say we walk back to the back paddock and determine if they did cut through the fence or utilized some other methodology similar to those utilized by loggers for example.”
Bill Riley and I walked through the back exit of the stallion barn as the other horses nickered for morning oats. There were fresh hoof prints, easily seen in the fresh snow which had fallen in the night. We followed them along a row of fences until we reached the back paddock, located some two hundred yards from the barn. A chain had been utilized, attached to a truck and the fence rails were pulled out, permitting Hunter’s Destiny to walk through freely and onto the van…there would have been little or no noise associated with pulling the fence apart.
“Pretty slick Bill! They use poor old Eddie Renfroward to gain entry into the stallion’s stall and then an experienced hand feeds the big horse a few mints to calm his fears and take the stallion out the back of the barn to avoid any alarm attracting you from your sleep…I’d say they were in and out of here inside a half-hour…max!”
“Not a sound from the dogs?”
“They came in the back way Bill…got the drop on Eddie…definitely an inside job…they knew their way around this place and they knew the horse.”
“I’d like to go to the hospital, Graham?”
“No problem Bill, I’d guess we will be here the rest of the day but I would appreciate it if you could call the security and have them begin the research on the former employees and the breach of the technology.”
“Ok Graham, I should be back soon…just check with Betty should you need anything…and thanks again for all your help and insight.”
“Try not to worry Bill, we will get these guys and Hunter.”
“At the moment I am most concerned for Eddie who is fighting for his life.”
I was worried about Eddie as well, it would be hard for this team of crooks to hide a twelve hundred fifty-pound horse, but Eddie had been beaten severely, no doubt he fought to protect the horse, refusing to let them into the stall of Hunter’s Destiny. Eddie was no stranger to horse farm security. He had been around through the investigation of the Alydar fiasco. He remembered how the big horse at Calumet Farms had ostensibly been able to kick a hole between the door and the frame, wedging his hind leg between them…a major steel door and frame. This great horse and stallion was supposed to have kicked a hole, jamming his leg and breaking it…and the explanation was that he was able to do so because of his temperament…baloney!
All security guards at all the farms in Kentucky had debated that one for years after the event. Everyone was certain there was foul play to enable the collection of the mortality insurance on Alydar which was for twenty-five million dollars. But Eddie wonder aloud, at the time, to anyone who was within ear-shot about the evil mind which could have conjured such an evil act against a great horse who had done nothing wrong throughout his entire life. And, at the time of his death, Alydar had a full book of mares, collecting a cool one-hundred-twenty-five-thousand-dollars per cover working out to around two point five million per season.
What a sad day for the equine industry in general and all horse lovers in particular. This gallant animal who had battled the outstanding horse, Affirmed in all the triple crown events, only to come up short by less than a combined half-length will be remembered in many years to come by the strength of his progeny, manifested in his come from behind style, winning at different distances and on various surfaces.
And the inside racing community will never forget the “outsider” a person who catered parties for a living was able to gain access to one of the daughters and marry into the hundred-year-old legacy of this family. How was this guy able to marry into a family and gain control of a debt free farm and within five years, bankrupt one of the most successful farms in the history of the American thoroughbred and kill the great Alydar for the money?
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(The following story printed by The Blood Horse Magazine is reproduced by permission with the hope that all will know the true story of the tragic death of the great race horse and stallion Alydar.)
THE ACCIDENT?
My phone rang at 10:15 p.m., moments after my head had hit the pillow. This is not unusual in my line of work, but still not particularly welcome. On this particular evening, Nov. 13, 1990, I had just completed a shift in my church kitchen where I’d received a new appreciation for those folks who make their living operating a commercial dishwasher. On the phone was a panicked Kathy Jones, sister of Calumet Farm president J.T. Lundy. In short-word bursts I heard, “Alydar has broken his leg. Come to the farm quick.”
I was not the adjuster for Calumet claims at that time, having had a falling out with J.T. Lundy years earlier over another claim. Kathy had changed to another adjuster, which was her privilege, so I was surprised to hear from her about Alydar. I asked no questions, dressed, and immediately went to the farm. A staff member met me at the big, red-painted iron gates protecting the farm, and I drove past members of the news media who were already gathering at the front entrance.
During those next few days the only reporter that J.T. would talk to was Kenny Rice.
Arriving at the stallion barn located in the same building as the farm office, I found a small crowd, and you could literally feel the tension of everyone there. In the bookWild RideI was described as going in with tape recorder in hand and “marching into the scene.” Actually, I did not have a recorder with me that night, but this is one of only a few errors made by the author, Ann Hagedorn Auerbach. Her book is, without question, the most complete piece written about Alydar and the demise of Calumet Farm.
After making a mental note of those present, the first thing I noticed was a large piece of red metal laying in the middle of the pristine red floor of the stallion barn. To no one in particular I asked,
“What in the hell is that?” Someone, and I never learned who, said, “Oh, that is where he kicked the stall door.” Lundy was there along with Jones; several farm people; Dr. William Baker; and farm resident vet Dr. Linda Rhodes.
When the subject of euthanasia came up, J.T. Lundy told Dr.
Baker,
