Jay Hovdey's Favorite Horses: Serena's Song

[Flanders]

https://www.thoroughbredracing.com/arti ... yne-lukas/

Haven't read it yet but I know her story well. Wont be a nightmare like the last one. One of the few who was tough as nails and made it the whole way through the Lukas training program and retired without ever losing her form. She raced all the time for 3 years straight making double digit starts every year. Somehow her starts increased each year. She might not have won her last 6-8 races but she always tried. As a 4yo it wasn't abnormal for her to race 3 times in about a month. She also faced the boys every year she ran, multiple times at 3 and 4. I don't know why he threw her in vs. the boys at 10f multiple times, she clearly didn't want to go that far.

I remember Bob Lewis wanted to sell her at the end of her career because they weren't breeding horses. Beverly told him something akin to, if he even thought about it, he better pack his bags too. He took that to heart and they became thoroughbred breeders.

[stark]

When somebody came up with the phrase...."They don't make 'em like they used to"

Serena's Song was example #1.

[barbaro111]

https://www.thoroughbredracing.com/arti ... yne-lukas/

Haven't read it yet but I know her story well. Wont be a nightmare like the last one. One of the few who was tough as nails and made it the whole way through the Lukas training program and retired without ever losing her form. She raced all the time for 3 years straight making double digit starts every year. Somehow her starts increased each year. She might not have won her last 6-8 races but she always tried. As a 4yo it wasn't abnormal for her to race 3 times in about a month. She also faced the boys every year she ran, multiple times at 3 and 4. I don't know why he threw her in vs. the boys at 10f multiple times, she clearly didn't want to go that far.

I remember Bob Lewis wanted to sell her at the end of her career because they weren't breeding horses. Beverly told him something akin to, if he even thought about it, he better pack his bags too. He took that to heart and they became thoroughbred breeders.

I was not following racing back then- thank you for posting that wonderful story about Serena's Song: She is one tough cookie!!! what a horse-- amazing. I was impressed that only she and Rachel Alexandra, the only two fillies to win the Haskell. I am so glad she remains on this earth. She is wonderful

[Curtis]

Serena’s Song was the exception that proves the rule…..well, my rule. Another mare that gets forgotten who Lukas did his best to run into the ground was Life’s Magic. Both were tough as old boots.

[CoronadosQuest]

Serena's Song was the horse that really got me into horse racing, along with Cigar. I remember writing about her in my journal as a kid, I love her so much!

[Missbeholder]

Serena’s Song was the exception that proves the rule…..well, my rule. Another mare that gets forgotten who Lukas did his best to run into the ground was Life’s Magic. Both were tough as old boots.

And Lady's Secret was known by fans and media alike as "The Iron Lady". Until the time came when she just said "NO MORE"! She knew when she had nothing left to give!

[Curtis]

Serena’s Song was the exception that proves the rule…..well, my rule. Another mare that gets forgotten who Lukas did his best to run into the ground was Life’s Magic. Both were tough as old boots.

And Lady's Secret was known by fans and media alike as "The Iron Lady". Until the time came when she just said "NO MORE"! She knew when she had nothing left to give!

There are a series of old jokes referencing the hubris of weekend hackers out in the golf course and how they overestimate their prowess. The jokes are multi-generational and the punchlines have varied from Arnie Palmer to Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Wood. It can be argued that Eldrick’s extracurricular exploits also have led to his being a punchline of another type. There are similar jokes at the racetrack. One is, “What’s the rarest thing at the racetrack?” The punchline will change but before I shoo you off my lawn, back in my day it was a DWL trained 4yo.

[Missbeholder]

Serena’s Song was the exception that proves the rule…..well, my rule. Another mare that gets forgotten who Lukas did his best to run into the ground was Life’s Magic. Both were tough as old boots.

And Lady's Secret was known by fans and media alike as "The Iron Lady". Until the time came when she just said "NO MORE"! She knew when she had nothing left to give!

There are a series of old jokes referencing the hubris of weekend hackers out in the golf course and how they overestimate their prowess. The jokes are multi-generational and the punchlines have varied from Arnie Palmer to Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Wood. It can be argued that Eldrick’s extracurricular exploits also have led to his being a punchline of another type. There are similar jokes at the racetrack. One is, “What’s the rarest thing at the racetrack?” The punchline will change but before I shoo you off my lawn, back in my day it was a DWL trained 4yo.

Lady's Secret did at least manage 5 starts as a 5yo (or should I say 4-1/2). 3 of those were allowance races which included her final start when she said "No more", bolted to the outside rail, and DNF.

[Curtis]

And Lady's Secret was known by fans and media alike as "The Iron Lady". Until the time came when she just said "NO MORE"! She knew when she had nothing left to give!

There are a series of old jokes referencing the hubris of weekend hackers out in the golf course and how they overestimate their prowess. The jokes are multi-generational and the punchlines have varied from Arnie Palmer to Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Wood. It can be argued that Eldrick’s extracurricular exploits also have led to his being a punchline of another type. There are similar jokes at the racetrack. One is, “What’s the rarest thing at the racetrack?” The punchline will change but before I shoo you off my lawn, back in my day it was a DWL trained 4yo.

Lady's Secret did at least manage 5 starts as a 5yo (or should I say 4-1/2). 3 of those were allowance races which included her final start when she said "No more", bolted to the outside rail, and DNF.

The last time I saw her run in person was the 1986 BC Distaff. I’d like to remember her that way.

In 2007, I was at DMR with my then 10yo daughter. I used to give her $2 a race to bet. We both had a bad day betting and going into the 9th she was frustrated. So I pointed to a gelding named Secret Stranger who looked like he’d be 8-1. I said I don’t know much about him but his mama could beat all the rest of these horse’s mamas. He broke his maiden that day and never won again. We each had $19.80 to show for it.

[Flanders]

https://www.thoroughbredracing.com/arti ... yne-lukas/

Haven't read it yet but I know her story well. Wont be a nightmare like the last one. One of the few who was tough as nails and made it the whole way through the Lukas training program and retired without ever losing her form. She raced all the time for 3 years straight making double digit starts every year. Somehow her starts increased each year. She might not have won her last 6-8 races but she always tried. As a 4yo it wasn't abnormal for her to race 3 times in about a month. She also faced the boys every year she ran, multiple times at 3 and 4. I don't know why he threw her in vs. the boys at 10f multiple times, she clearly didn't want to go that far.

I remember Bob Lewis wanted to sell her at the end of her career because they weren't breeding horses. Beverly told him something akin to, if he even thought about it, he better pack his bags too. He took that to heart and they became thoroughbred breeders.

I was not following racing back then- thank you for posting that wonderful story about Serena's Song: She is one tough cookie!!! what a horse-- amazing. I was impressed that only she and Rachel Alexandra, the only two fillies to win the Haskell. I am so glad she remains on this earth. She is wonderful

I found the quote, it was actually when she was much older than I thought. 14.
https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/t ... 0decision.

“This was when Serena's Song was about 14,” Lukas recalled, “and Bob said to me, 'Wayne, maybe we should hedge our bets and send Serena's Song down the road.' I'll always remember him saying that because 'send her down the road' was not an expression you hear every day. We were at dinner and there was a long silence and then Beverly said, 'Bob, if you send Serena's Song down the road, you're going with her.'”

Craig Bandoroff, who served as an advisor to the Lewises, was also involved in the Serena's Song decision. He flew to California to try to talk Bob Lewis out of selling her, but never had to give his pitch.

“I got off the plane, he picked me up and said not to worry about a thing,” Bandoroff recalled. “He said, 'I can't sell Serena's Song. Beverly would kill me. Let's go get a Whataburger.'”

[Starine]

What else is there to say? She was hickory and enormously talented. What a treat that she is still around at 32.

[Izvestia]

When somebody came up with the phrase...."They don't make 'em like they used to"

Serena's Song was example #1.

Exactly. Wish there were more like her.

[Northport]

Thorpedo Anna may be as close as we get at this point in time. McPeek may not throw his horses to the wolves as often as 90s era Lukas, but if she stays sound and happy, they have some pretty big ambitions for her.