Greenbacks and Green Monkeys
January 9th, 2006by Jude T. Feld
An adaptation of a Barbados green monkey on a Mullins Beach Bar t-shirt from the author’s personal collection.
On the last day of February this year, international bloodstock agent Demi O’Byrne raised the bar at Thoroughbred auctions by winning a bidding war with his arch nemesis John Ferguson for hip number 153, a Forestry colt out of Magical Masquerade by Unbridled. The Calder Sale of Selected Two-Year-Olds In Training featured Coolmore versus Godolphin – Magnier, Tabor and Smith versus Sheik Mohammed and Family, with the top hats edging the keffiyehs at the fall of the $16 million hammer.
This was arguably the biggest buzz in sales news history, but it would be eclipsed a few days later by the announcement of the pricey colt’s new name. The word had only been on the Thoroughbred Times website for a few minutes when another prominent bloodstock agent e-mailed me in apoplexy.
“It’s horrible!” he wrote. “They named the $16 million colt The Green Monkey. What were they thinking?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as I read his note. It reminded of one of my favorite golfing experiences, playing 18 holes at Sandy Lane in Barbados.
In 1993, my friend Sandy Hawley made the trip to Garrison Savannah to ride Chou Chou Royal to victory in the Barbados Gold Cup. I watched Chris Lincoln’s coverage of the race on ESPN and became enamored with the Garrison’s five-eighths mile turf course and the way Bajan owners and trainers loved their sport.
Five years later, I was able to attend the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup and even backed the winner, a Barbados-bred colt named Federico, who coasted to victory at a nice price under Simon Husbands, brother of Woodbine’s top jockey Patrick.
The Wednesday before the big race, I thought a round of golf would be nice, so I drove from my beach pavilion on James Bay to the Sandy Lane resort to see if I could sneak in a round. The pro loaned me his clubs, a beautiful set of Lynx, and put me in a foursome with two American business men and an older English chap who was on the island visiting a ladyfriend, reportedly a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
At that time, I carried a 17 handicap and the two other Americans played similar games. The Englishman was reportedly a 14, and had that consistent “down the middle” shot that doesn’t go tremendously far but never gets in trouble. He was quite impressed with his game and after every decent shot he would congratulate himself by saying, “Crafty.”
It was a beautiful Caribbean day and we were all enjoying a relaxed round beneath the azure sky and warm gentle tradewinds. The last to drive on 14, a par five, the English gentleman hit his best drive of the day by far – 250 yards, in position A.
“Crafty!” he said.
As we were ambling down the fairway, a green monkey ran out of from the trees, grabbed his Schlazenger and hustled back to the trees. The Englishman was noticeably upset by the interloper and took off after the monkey in a vain attempt to retrieve his ball. We three Americans were laughing hysterically at these antics which really did not sit well with the member of the Royal and Ancient.
He returned to our group, red-faced and irritated, requesting a ruling. Still chuckling, we told him drop one at no penalty. His day was ruined, but for me and I’m sure my two compatriots, it was a round of golf we’ll never forget.
I wrote back to my friend the bloodstock agent, telling him this story and informing him that The Green Monkey was a golf course in Barbados owned by the Coolmore boys, named for the island monkeys brought to Barbados from Gambia and Senegal in West Africa during the 18th century.
“Not just any old golf course,” I informed him, but a magnificent Tom Fazio-designed layout, complete with a green monkey island carved out of turf in the middle of a sand trap.”
Spawned by a grand idea to make Barbados an international golf destination, The Green Monkey boasts several spectacular ocean-view holes, including the 635 yard ninth, designed so your tee shot thankfully gets a boost from the prevailing wind. Open only to guests at Sandy Lane, the course will probably only see a few thousand rounds a year played on it.
The Green Monkey, the course, was designed to be dramatic and glorious. Fazio succeeded with every detail. Now it is up to trainer Todd Pletcher to extract drama and glory from The Green Monkey, the horse. If he is as special as Demi says he is, Todd should not have a problem.
As far as the Coolmore braintrust naming a very special horse after a world-class golf course they are marketing as the finest place to play on the planet, there is only one thing to say.
“Crafty.”
This story was first published in The Special at Keeneland.
