Homebred General Quarters colt honors McCarthy's memory

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tom McCarthy is gone but not forgotten. The late owner and trainer of General Quarters, the storybook winner of the 2009 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, is being remembered through a 2-year-old colt named Tom’s Last General, who runs here Friday in the third race.

Owned in partnership by a surviving son, Thomas S. McCarthy, Tom’s Last General won a September maiden race on the Indiana Grand turf in his second career start. The dark bay colt is the family’s last homebred colt sired by General Quarters, who was shipped off to stud duty in Turkey in December 2016, just a few months after McCarthy died at age 82 and his family began liquidating most of his equine holdings.

McCarthy’s background as a retired schoolteacher who saddled General Quarters for the 2009 Kentucky Derby off his Blue Grass win resonated in the sports world and beyond.

“It’s pretty neat getting to run here, given how much Keeneland meant to Tom,” said Jerry Hills, whose Run for the Hills Stable is majority owner in the colt. “We ought to get a fair gauge on how good this colt is, running against that WinStar horse.”

The WinStar Farm co-owned runner among a field of six in the $67,000 allowance sprint is Preamble, who figures to be heavily favored off an eye-catching debut victory last month at Churchill.

Besides race 3, three other allowances also will be run on the Valley View Stakes undercard Friday. They go as races 4, 7, and 8.

Stakes in short supply

After Saturday, just two stakes remain at the 17-day fall meet – the Grade 3 Dowager on Sunday and the Grade 2 Fayette on closing day, Oct. 27.

The $125,000 Dowager, the filly and mare turf marathon twin to the Sycamore, was expected to get a mid-sized field when entries were taken Thursday, with known prospects being Daring Duchess, Res Ipsa, Savannah Belle, Vexatious, and Viva Vegas.

The $200,000 Fayette, for 3-year-olds and up, could have Hofburg as the favorite, although trainer Bill Mott is holding off on committing the 3-year-old colt pending a final pre-race work at Saratoga. Otherwise, the 1 1/8-mile race is expected to get Hence, Leofric, Prime Attraction, Rated R Superstar, and at least a few more.

◗ More than 2,700 students registered last Friday for the College Scholarship Day raffle at Keeneland. Dave Schneck, who oversees the semi-annual event for Keeneland and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, said total scholarship giveaways since 2002 total $380,000 at Keeneland and an aggregate of more than $630,000 at state racetracks.

◗ The Backside Learning Center, the philanthropic outlet that provides a litany of goods and services to backstretch workers at Churchill, is hosting its 12th annual signature fundraising event on Millionaires Row 6 during the Nov. 16 card. Further information is available at backsidelearningcenter.org.