Hovdey: Top 10 of 2005 crop not named Lorelei

Charlie Whittingham once said that if no one told you when you were born, you’d never know how old you were. He also trained Sunday Silence and Ack Ack, which is why we let him talk that way.

Our daughter was born Sept. 27, 2005, and she knows it. So, that cat’s out of the bag, which means Sunday marks one of those milestones celebrated by deca-digital creatures who never got over their fascination with having exactly 10 fingers and 10 toes. Also, it begins with the same letter as “top,” which, once discovered, inspired a robust industry of widely varied compilations.

Like this one.

In honor of Lorelei’s 10th – which will be celebrated with a few good friends, cake, and a rinse in the pool – here follows a list of the top 10 foals of 2005 and what they did to earn an everlasting place in the Thoroughbred memory. I will not include Lorelei Judith Krone, one of 4,138,349 registered births in the U.S. that year, because that would be pushing the privilege of proud fatherhood. Anyway, the 35,050 registered Thoroughbred foals of 2005 provided a deep pool from which to choose.

Starting at the top, there will be a squabble between fans of Big Brown and Gio Ponti. Except for his phenomenal flop in the Belmont Stakes, Big Brown was picture perfect in 2008 and has a championship to prove it, although he was retired before he could embellish his record.

Gio Ponti grew wings as a 4-year-old to become the best American grass horse of the era. He raced through age 6, winning three Eclipse Awards, and were it not for mares named Zenyatta and Goldikova, Gio Ponti would have won a Breeders’ Cup Classic and a Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Although you could tell them apart in a dark room, it’s easy to confuse Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator. They both were products of Kentucky who made their fortunes abroad. They raced against each other four times at the top of the European game, with Henry winning the first three and then Raven’s Pass finally breaking through. For a curtain call, they returned to the land of their birth for the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita, and it was Raven’s Pass first, Henrythenavigator second.

The nod among the females of the crop goes to Eight Belles, whose death at the 2008 Kentucky Derby reverberates to this day. Not only was she emerging from a so-so 2-year-old season to be the best of the filly crop, she was the only one of Big Brown’s 19 opponents to give any kind of serious chase in the Derby. It is pointless to speculate as to what kind of legacy she would have left had she lived. Let’s just say it would have been indelible and leave it at that.

It’s easy to have a soft spot for the late-developing warriors. Too often a foal crop is judged on what happens at ages 2 and 3. I will admit, Lorelei was a quick learner, and had her knees closed sooner, she might have gone to the races the moment she learned to walk. But we waited and have been rewarded.

The same happened with Rail Trip, the gelding on whom trainer Ron Ellis lavished faithful patience until, at the age of 4, the son of Jump Start turned into a monster. Spanning two seasons, Rail Trip won the Hollywood Gold Cup, Californian, and Mervyn LeRoy, was just beaten in a Pacific Classic and another Gold Cup, then, after an ill-advised detour to New York, returned to Ellis and finished second in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at age 7. Rail Trip now does business as a spoiled pensioner at Old Friends Equine in Kentucky.

Another late bloomer from the crop of 2005 was Richard’s Kid, who began his 4-year-old season as a minor Maryland stakes winner and ended up winning the 2009 Pacific Classic out West. Synthetic tracks were his secret, and he made the most of them, winning the Goodwood and another Pacific Classic before retiring to stud in California.

The last three places on the list are up for grabs. Give a nod to Colonel John, who won the 2008 Travers in the absence of Big Brown and is carrying his Tiznow genes as a stallion. Into Mischief, the winner of the 2007 CashCall Futurity, did nothing beyond that as a racehorse but is throwing bull’s-eyes at stud, which is probably no surprise to his sister, Beholder.

In the end, I would like to reserve a place for another 10-year-old of note who, like the young and very theatrical Miss Krone, refuses to leave the stage.

Icabad Crane, another son of Jump Start, was a very useful racehorse who ran out more than half a million in earnings and finished third in Big Brown’s Preakness. He retired sound – an achievement right there – and now he is pursuing a show-horse career for Graham and Anita Motion and their trainer, Peter Dutton.

Icabad Crane has become a poster boy for the Off-Track Thoroughbreds program, and just last weekend, he made his debut in serious company at Plantation Fields in Pennsylvania. It was a tall order, but if Big Brown didn’t intimidate him, what are a few fences? Icabad Crane won, proving that life just might begin again in a big way at 10.