Consummate Horseman= John A. Nerud Dies at 102
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2015 732-747-8060 $ TDN Home Page Click Here >CONSUMMATE HORSEMAN= JOHN A. NERUD MONCEAUX AIMING FOR POLE POSITION DIES AT 102; INFLUENCE SPANNED By Emma Berry GENERATIONS By T.D. Thornton Last year, Ecurie des Monceaux sold 27 yearlings at Remembrances and condolences poured in from all Arqana=s August Sale for a princely i8,727,000, corners of the racing world on Thursday in the wake of putting the Normandy-based news that the sport lost one of its oldest living legends: farm on the top spot for the John A. Nerud, 102, died from heart failure at his home third year running, just six Old Brookville, N.Y., in the early hours of Aug. 13. years after making a consigning Nerud=s death was confirmed by the National debut at France=s premier sale. Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, which inducted It would be folly to bet him in 1972. against Monceaux retaining Nerud=s life with horses spanned an improbable, but that title this week in Deauville, highly respected and successful career arc. He rose with its blue-blooded draft of from the ranks of 29 containing, as ever, an array ranch hand to rodeo of precious gems. cowboy to stable There will be plenty of fuss groom; to jockey and about the Frankel (GB) sextet jockey=s agent, and selling at Arqana--and to eventual Monceaux offers four of them-- prominence as a but of arguably greater trainer, owner, Henri Bozo | Emma Berry significance is the fact that its breeder, and draft contains the only two co-founder of the yearlings in the catalogue by Dubawi (Ire), who looks a Breeders= Cup. major threat to Galileo (Ire) for European champion sire But it was Nerud s = honors this term. John Nerud (1913-2015) | Horsephotos class, tenacity, and I m very fortunate that we have the four Frankel down-to-Earth A = demeanor that shone through to generations of racing yearlings and two colts by Dubawi, which is rare at the industry participants, earning him the unofficial title of August Sale. It=s getting tough to find horses by him,@ Atrainer of trainers@ for his willingness to take under his said Henri Bozo, who manages the farm just an hour tutelage up-and-coming conditioners who showed from Deauville for owner Lucien Urano. Cont. p9 promise and respect for the horse. Cont. p3 SPA DAY FOR THIS >MISS= A competitive field of five is slated to line up in Friday=s GII Lake Placid S. at Saratoga, including Allen Rosemblum, Sagamore Farm and The Club=s Miss Temple City (Temple City). The Graham Motion trainee annexed her first two career starts and finished third behind Consumer Credit (More Than Ready) in the GIII Sweetest Chant S. Jan. 24. She was just 2 1/2 lengths behind Lady Eli (Divine Park) in the GIII Appalachian S. at Keeneland Apr. 12, and took Pimlico=s Hilltop S. May 15. Most recently, she was a credible fourth in Royal Ascot=s G1 Coronation S. June 19. AShe's doing great,@ Motion said. AI wasn't in a hurry to run her. She's had two months, so I think that should be fine. It's a tough trip coming back. We have to go to Amsterdam to fly back to the States. It makes for a long trip. She got beat two lengths against the best fillies in Europe.@ Cont. p6 IN THIS ISSUE President & Co-Publisher: Barry Weisbord [email protected] @barryweisbord Sr. V.P. & Co-Publisher: Sue Finley [email protected] @suefinley V.P., International Operations: Gary King [email protected] @garykingTDN EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief: Jessica Martini Managing Editor: Alan Carasso Senior Editor: Steve Sherack Racing Editor: Brian DiDonato Associate Editor: Justina Severni Associate Editor: Christie DeBernardis Assistant Editor: Heather Anderson Assistant Editor: Ben Massam ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising: Alycia Borer Classic Peb sketch of the late John Nerud Art Director: Lia Kusch Sr. Ad Coordinator/Dir. of Distribution: Sarah K. Andrew Advertising Designer: Amanda Crelin Big Blue Kitten to Calumet Advertising Assistant: Amanda Foster Social Media Strategist: Nichola Henry Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Big Blue Kitten (Kitten's Joy--Spent Gold, by Unaccounted CUSTOMER SERVICE For), the morning-line favorite for Saturday's GI Arlington Million, will enter stud at [email protected] Brad Kelley's Calumet Farm upon completion of his racing career. Dir. of Customer Service: Vicki Forbes Page 7 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Watch Out, Goliath Director of IT: Robert Williams [email protected] Sue Finley talks with Eric Puerari and Michel Zerolo from Haras des Capucines about Director of Internal IT: Ray Villa their consignments’s 30 yearlings that will be on offer at the Arqana's August Sale. [email protected] Page 11 WORLDWIDE INFORMATION Cursory Glance Retired from Racing International Editor: Kelsey Riley [email protected] One of last season's leading juvenile fillies, Cursory Glance (Distorted Humor--Time Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing: Control {GB}, by Sadler's Wells) has been retired from racing. Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] Page 15 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.thoroughbreddailynews.com www.thetdn.com EST Race Click for TV 9:55a Prix de Pomone-G2, DEA 5:29p Maker’s Mark Lake Placid S.-GII, SAR (TJCIS PPs) HR/TVG Headline News • PAGE 3 of 16 • thetdn.com Friday • August 14, 2015 >CONSUMMATE HORSEMAN= JOHN A. NERUD Michael Hernon, currently the director of sales at DIES AT 102; INFLUENCE SPANNED Gainesway, recalled meeting Nerud a bit later in life, GENERATIONS (cont. from p1) when Hernon was with Fasig-Tipton and the sales A number of those horsemen--like Flint S. AScotty@ company was handling the Tartan-Nerud dispersal in Schulhofer and D. Wayne Lukas--later joined Mr. Nerud 1987. A $70,000 weanling sold at that dispersal ended in the Hall of Fame. In turn, those trainers= own up being Unbridled. Hernon and Nerud subsequently subsequent generations of proteges and assistants worked together when another champion that Nerud seem destined for the Hall of Fame, thanks to lessons bred and raced--Cozzene--stood at the nursery. cont. p4 passed down from Nerud. Another Hall of Famer in that group is Carl Nafzger, My last conversation with Turf who trained GI Kentucky Derby winners Unbridled legend John Nerud, he said "I'm (1990) and Street Sense (2007). Nafzger recalled trying 102, don't you think that's to get established in the racing business at Saratoga in something?" Yes sir, I surely do, 1981 when he first met Mr. Nerud, who was then RIP Mr. Nerud. --Dora Delgado @ddelgado64 overseeing the sprawling Tartan Farms racing and breeding operation. The two hit it off, and a few Sad to hear of the passing of legendary horseman John Nerud. He was months later, Nafzger got his first big break when Mr. a great man feel privileged to have known him! --Richard Migliore @RichardMigliore Nerud sent him a string of horses to train at Oaklawn Park. Mr. Nerud once read in an article, the 1 person I would like to have AI can only say one thing about Mr. Nerud: It was an dinner with from horse business. Called and had us to his home. absolute honor, privilege and blessing to be able to #Class --Mark Hennig @Hennigracing work under him and work with him,@ Nafzger said. AHe was an unbelievable horseman. He understood the RIP John Nerud. Very happy you were able to see a male line whole scope of the horse. He knew exactly where a great-great-grandson of your Fappiano win the Triple Crown. horse was in his training, what that horse could do, and --Heidi Carpenter @AmandaBry91 where he was going with him. And if you worked for him, you=d better be able to answer those same A legend. If heaven has no horses, then we should all be comforted questions. If you didn=t understand the horse, you didn=t that John Nerud is still with us. --Welbourne Stud @WelbourneStud work with Mr. Nerud for very long.@ Headline News • PAGE 4 of 16 • thetdn.com Friday • August 14, 2015 John Nerud cont. AHe was a consummate horseman. He was a very quick study. He was articulate. Yet he was a >regular guy,=@ Hernon said. AMr. Nerud accomplished great things. He was a horseman from the ground up, and he left his own indelible mark on the business, broadly speaking.@ Nerud was born Feb. 9, 1913, and grew up as one of nine children in Minatare, Nebraska. According to a family legend, at age five he received a horse from his father. At 13, young John became lost in a blizzard while riding AOld Red@ to care for cows on the family ranch. He turned the horse loose, knowing that by instinct it would lead him back home. In retelling that tale to the New York Times this past June, Nerud credited that horse with saving his life. According to his Hall of Fame bio, Nerud was the agent for jockey Ted Atkinson in New England prior to serving in the Navy in World War II. After serving his country, her returned to racing as an assistant to Frank J. Kearns at Woolford Farm. He eventually took over from Kearns and in 1949 trained his first elite-level horse, Delegate, who was named co-champion Sprinter. Although he saddled over 1,000 winners and 27 stakes winners, Nerud was also known for grace in defeat. In 1957, he lost the Kentucky Derby by a nose when jockey Bill Shoemaker misjudged the finish and stood up in the irons aboard Gallant Man in the shadow of the wire.