"That sums his whole life up. It was the most amazing mile I ever saw –- and I got absolutely nothing for it.”
John McDermott stares into the stall of Hurrikane Kingcole and a wistful smile crosses the trainer’s face as he watches his six-year-old pacer move playfully toward him.
“I just wish we had a chance for him to show what he’s really made of,” McDermott says.
He thought this might be the year. Hurrikane Kingcole, back on the racetrack after throat surgery last year appeared to correct a myriad of health issues, was 2-for-2 in 2015. The speedy stakes-winner captured his two starts by a total of seven lengths and posted one of the season’s fastest times to date – 1:49.4 – in January.
But two weeks ago, Hurrikane Kingcole turned up sore after a training mile. Last week, tests revealed that Hurrikane Kingcole suffered a broken splint bone in his left front leg. Although McDermott said the injury was minor, and a return to racing was deemed probable following surgery, he decided it was time to stop.
Hurrikane Kingcole, who in 2012 paced 1:48.1 at Mohegan Sun Pocono to equal the then-world record for a three-year-old on a five-eighths-mile track, has been retired. McDermott, who last year bred Hurrikane Kingcole to two mares, hopes the stallion can land a stud deal sometime soon.
A son of Cams Card Shark out of the mare Blazing Yankee, Hurrikane Kingcole won 14 of 49 career races and earned $582,807. His lifetime mark is 1:47.3.
“He had an undefeated six-year-old season; he’s got that going for him,” McDermott quipped Monday morning. “But really I’m thrilled that he won his last two starts. It couldn’t have gone a better way.
“It’s important to me that this horse doesn’t get hurt on the racetrack. Every veterinarian I’ve talked to believes we could do the surgery and bring him back to race, but you’re going to lose a percentage (of performance). I don’t want him to come back to race in non-winners and hope he’s going to work out and make $100,000 the hard way. That’s not what he’s about. He’s supposed to be a special horse, and he always has been.”
Hurrikane Kingcole struggled with immune system issues as well as breathing difficulties throughout much of his career. Still, he managed to produce memorable performances – even if not always in victory.
As a three-year-old, Hurrikane Kingcole jumped and went off stride behind the gate in his elimination for the North America Cup at Mohawk, spotting the field more than two dozen lengths. That he rallied to miss advancing to the final by only 1-1/4 lengths was impressive, but not nearly as much as what track officials told McDermott following the race: A transponder carried by Hurrikane Kingcole clocked the horse in 1:46.1 for his mile.
“The speed that he went that night was just insane,” McDermott said.
Later that summer, Hurrikane Kingcole missed advancing to the final of the Meadowlands Pace by a whisker, but won the consolation the following week by 8-3/4 lengths in 1:47.3. The Pace final went in 1:48.1. Less than a month later, Hurrikane Kingcole led the field in the New Jersey Classic to three-quarters in a record 1:18.2 only to lose by a head to Panther Hanover.
Hurrikane Kingcole’s top career victory came in a division of the Nassagaweya Stakes in 2011 at Mohawk.
“His gait is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” McDermott said. “His front leg stands so far out beyond his nose when he’s in full gear, it’s ridiculous. He wears a 64-inch hobble, but he strides out so far that it’s not a true measurement of his gait. That’s what really made him special.”
Purchased by McDermott for $10,000 as a yearling, Hurrikane Kingcole is owned by Jeffrey Kuhen and the partnership of Arthur Brewer, Mitchell Cohen, Jeffrey Gorden and Jonathan Klee.
And while McDermott is losing a very good horse from his stable, he is losing a very good friend as well.
“He’s the best,” McDermott said. “He’s the reason I get up every day to come to the barn. The rest of them, I love them all, but he has such a life to him. He wants to make you happy. He’s never once thought there was something wrong with him. He thinks he’s ‘The Man’ every day and he just loves doing what he does.
“I love the personality. He’s just such a pleasure to be around. He likes what he does, he likes us; he’s just a happy-go-lucky horse. He’s just awesome.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.