2013 Travers Brings Back Memories by Lisa A

2013 Travers Brings Back Memories By Lisa A. Miller Not since 1982 has there been a Travers field of horses as impressive as this one. If all goes according to plan, Derby winner Orb and Belmont winner Palace Malice will both be on the track this Saturday with a host of other stellar stakes Diamond Point summer resident Al Coppola, age 88, returns each winners. It’s a race card that stirs up memories of one August summer to Lake George and the Saratoga Race Course where his horse day 31 years ago when Runaway Groom came from the back - made history in the 1982 Travers Stakes. of the pack and took home the cup. No one was more surprised than the horse’s owner, Sche nectady native and Diamond Point summer resident Albert P. Coppola, Sr. “As they came down the home stretch, everyone fourth and last turn, Runaway Groom started to move. He took was standing up, and I couldn’t see anything. So I stood on my the long way, heading to the outside as they rounded the corner. chair, and then I had to stand on the table! I was amazed when Jockey Jeffrey Fell’s blue and red silks were a blur as the horse I saw Runaway Groom cross that finish line at the very last methodically charged up the outside, passing Gato del Sol and second.” Lejoli with ease. He continued to accelerate, defying the odds- It was one of the great racing moments in Travers history. makers and stupefying spectators as he poured on steam. The There were five horses in the field, and the odds-on favorites crowd went wild! At the last moment, Runaway Groom breezed had each claimed a leg of the 1982 Triple Crown. Gato Del past Conquistador Cielo and Aloma’s Ruler to win the race by Sol won the Kentucky Derby, Aloma’s Ruler prevailed in the halfLocal a length.Roots Preakness, and Conquistador Cielo triumphed in the Belmont. Their jockeys have since gone down in history: Angel Cordero,- - Jr.; Laffit Pincay, Jr. and Eddie Maple. Conquistador Cielo was a Al Coppola started going to the Saratoga Race Course when he cinch to win, going off at 5-2. No one was paying much atten was a young teen growing up in the Italian section of Sche tion to the lesser known Lejoli or Runaway Groom with the nectady. “I used to hitchhike to the track, jump the fence back longest odds at 13-1. by the barns and watch the races for free. I had my Brownie The race got off to a clean start, and Aloma’s Ruler took camera and took pictures. At the end of the day, I’d hitch a ride the lead with Conquistador Cielo behind by a head. Gato Del back home.” Sol, a sleek gray horse easily confused with Runaway Groom, As a young man Coppola camped on Lake George and snuck trailed four lengths behind the leaders. Runaway Groom was into dances at the Sagamore Hotel. After a World War II stint in - dead last—so far out that he didn’t even appear in the race the U.S. Army, Coppola followed his brother to Washington, DC, camera’s frame. - where he attended college, got a job, married and started a fam It was a fast race with the first quarter run in just over 23 ily. In 1970 he bought his Virginia farm, “Drumlarig,” and began seconds. The battle raged between Aloma’s Ruler and Con buying horses. - quistador Cielo, the bettors’ favorites. As they headed for the He acquired Runaway Groom as a yearling at the Fasig- Tipton sales auction in Kentucky for $39,000. “His conforma tion wasn’t that good, but I liked his breeding and the price was right,” he said with an endearing smile and a twinkle in his eye. Most thoroughbreds begin racing at age two, but Coppola held off until the colt was three. He entered the horse into the first leg of the 1982 Canadian Triple Crown series, and Runaway Groom surprised the crowd by coming in a close second place. He won the second leg, just 13 days before coming to Saratoga for the Travers. Later he won the last leg of the Canadian series, earning the title of 1982 Canadian Champion 3 Year Old Colt. Runaway Groom was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2001 and sired many future stakes winners, - among them Cherokee Run. Runaway Groom earned his place in American racing his tory as the only time a horse has beaten the Derby, Preakness and Belmont winners in the same race. You can see the race on YouTube (search for “Runaway Groom - Travers Stakes 1982”). Grab the edge of your seat, and watch the race of a lifetime!.

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