Cheers For ‘Red

by Buck Jackson

In March of 2004, a three-year-old gelding by Tinner’s Way from the Black Tie Affair mare Black Tie Dancer, made his racing debut in a $25,000 maiden claiming race at Gulfstream Park. Bred in Kentucky by Richard and Yvette Wira, the chestnut named Lil Red, “finished willingly” to get up for the show dough under Phil Teator. Not an auspicious start to his racing career, but a promise of some success.

The Wira’s racing consultant, Jude Feld, was impressed with Lil Red’s effort.

“It wasn’t much of a field, but he showed some determination,” Feld said. “All you can ask from a horse is an honest effort. He gave us that right off the bat.”

Fooled by his late running style, trainer Chuck Simon stretched Lil Red out to a mile for his next start at historic Churchill Downs. He “improved his position” to finish fifth. After another race at a mile and a sixteenth, Simon dropped his charge back to six and a half furlongs. Lil Red responded with a third-place finish.

Two more unsuccessful route races sandwiched a second-place finish in a sprint. Lil Red’s final race of the year came at River Downs.

“I really wanted him to break his maiden before the end of the summer,” Feld said. “We sent him to Mike Crowder and dropped him in for $7500 going six furlongs. “He was lugging out into the stretch, but still managed to finish second. “A couple of days after the race, we found a chip in his ankle.”

“Mr. Wira always does right by the horses,” Feld continued. “We both knew ‘Red had heart and loved being a racehorse, so we had the chip taken out and gave him the winter off at the Wira’s Valley View Farm in Midway.”

There was a phone call from Wira in early February that would enhance the lives of many people.

“He asked if I knew anyone who would want to buy Lil Red,” Feld said. “He wanted to concentrate on improving his breeding operation, and a maiden four-year-old gelding that runs for a tag was about as far away from that as possible. As usual, he was extremely fair about the price.”

That night, over dinner, Feld began singing the praises of Lil Red to Gretchen Kieckhefer.

“I had made a couple of calls trying to sell him, but my heart really wasn’t in it,” Feld shared. “Somebody called back while we were eating. Ignoring the call, I started to tell Gretchen all about Lil Red – what a trier he was and how he was best sprinting. Her favorite horse was Black Tie Affair, so when I got to his pedigree, she said, ‘I so want to buy him!'”

Kieckhefer, whose father Robert is a racing writer for UPI, has been a racing fan since she was a yearling. A Keeneland regular, she has been in charge of the pressbox at Turfway Park on Lane’s End and Kentucky Cup days, served as a mutuel clerk at Arlington Park and helps run the souvenir stands at the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships.

“I had always wanted to own a racehorse,” Kieckhefer said. “This was the perfect opportunity. Acquiring Lil Red was like buying the proverbial used car that was only driven to the grocery store on Wednesday and church on Sunday. Jude knew all about him. He had been well taken care of and being a grandson of Black Tie Affair was just icing on the cake.”

Kieckhefer’s enthusiasm for her new horse was contagious.

“My mom and a couple of my friends thought I was nuts when I told them I had bought a Thoroughbred,” Kieckhefer stated. “But my brother Ben was really excited. He really wanted to participate, so I let him in.”

“At Ben’s bachelor party in Reno last March, we were sitting at the poker table playing Texas Hold’em, when Ben asked me how Lil Red was doing. That’s when my sister Kelley found out I had bought a horse, she immediately said, ‘I want in.’ She wrote me a check the next morning and Gamer Racing Stable was born.”

The stable, named after Ben Kieckhefer’s boyhood pals who affectionately refer to each other as “Gamers,” has touched the lives of many of its namesakes including Joe DeRosa, a bar operator in Chicago.

“When I found out that Ben and Kelley and Gretchen had bought Lil Red I was so excited,” DeRosa said. “It was like I bought him myself. Even some of my friends, who don ‘t even know the Kieckhefers got into the Lil Red thing. When Gretchen sent out a picture of the horse training, a bunch of us put him on our computers as a screen saver!”

Training in the fields of Chestnut Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, under the watchful eye of T.J. Evans, Lil Red soon came to hand.

“This horse has amazed me,” Evans said. “He came around very quickly. It’s been a team effort. Training a horse on the farm is a bit unorthodox, but we have an excellent crew and ‘Red really seems to like the relaxed atmosphere.”

Jo Johnson, a retired exercise rider turned car salesperson, takes Lil Red through his paces every morning and his groom, Hugo Labra, is known around the barn as “Nicky Z.,” – for his horsemanship, not his scratchy voice.

“About ten days before he ran, Jo thought ‘Red was getting too tough for her to ride,” Evans said. “She almost threw in the towel. Luckily, her prayer group at church convinced her to keep the faith with him. I’m glad she did.”

Lil Red made his first start for his new connections on July 16 at River Downs in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“Jude told me we should wait to run him at River ’til everyone ships to Ellis Park,” Gretchen said. “The tougher maidens will be in Owensboro and that could give us an edge. He was right.”

Breaking sharply under Lori Wydick, Lil Red raced uncharacteristically close to the pace in the $5000 maiden claiming event. Fighting off challenges at the three-eighths pole and quarter pole, he opened up a daylight lead straightening in the stretch, Wydick tapping him a couple of times to keep his mind on business. The pair arrived at the wire three and a half lengths to the good. Lil Red fans around the country were ecstatic!

“Because it was Saturday, TVG didn’t show any of the River Downs races,” Gretchen stated. “Ben and his wife April were in Reno listening to me call the race over the phone from trackside. Kelley and Dad were at our family reunion in Wisconsin and Jude was calling the race to them. Joe DeRosa and some of our friends were in Chicago. Kelley’s friends were at the OTB in New York and there was a whole bunch of people at Keeneland simulcasting. With all the people betting on Lil Red, you would think he would have been odds-on.”

Congratulatory cards, letters, e-mails and phone calls have flooded in since the race, and Kelley Kieckhefer’s friends even baked her a cake, but Joe DeRosa’s e-mail made the reason Thoroughbred ownership is so wonderful, crystal clear.

“At the Dark Horse Saturday night,” DeRosa wrote. “I killed the music and made a toast to a room full of paying customers for Lil Red’s victory. They all screamed and cheered. This is so much fun! You guys have just made a little corner of the world stand up and cheer and we’re thankful to you and Lil Red for doing so.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 13th, 2005 at 6:07 pm and is filed under Featured Articles. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.