Maryland's Hoof-First Connection to the Triple Crown: Raceplates and Horseshoers in Preakness History

Photos from Victory Racing Plates, a Baltimore-based horse shoe manufacturer whose plates have been on eight of the 11 horses that won the Triple Corwn. (Courtesy of Only A Game's Sam Gallant)

It's Preakness Stakes day in the USA! Whether you think Kentucky Derby winner Orb is a shoe-in to win in his Jim Bayes Jr. crafted raceplates or if you like California's Goldencents, shod by Jim Jimenez, today's the day they line up at the Baltimore, Maryland track affectionately known as "Old Hilltop" for the second leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred racing.

What is it about Maryland? Why are there so many connections to the Triple Crown that pass through this state?

As the racing world comes to Baltimore for the second leg of the Crown, it also enters a zone of rich hoofcare tradition, historic icons and even a noisy factory where the raw material of aluminum is crafted into the delicate raceplates today's runners will wear.

You can hear all about it, too: National Pubic Radio (NPR) devoted a big segment today to Baltimore's own aluminum racing plate factory known as the Victory Racing Plate Company, including a listen-in podcast version of NPR interviewing Victory President Dave Erb and Baltimore-area racetrack shoer Joe Ludford.

The sound file is complete with the factory noise in the background! You can hear it today on many NPR stations or listen to / read a transcription on the NPR web site:
Shoe Maker Primes Horses For The Track (Victory Raeing Plate Company)

While Dave states that eight of the 11 winners of the Triple Crown wore Victory Racing Plates, it might be an even better statistic if people knew that Sir Barton won the Triple Crown before aluminum plates like Victory's were available.

The last farrier to shoe a Triple Crown winner was Affirmed's Elmer Campbell, who was from Maryland, as well. He shod Affirmed in 1978, and no one has won the Triple Crown since. The year before, Seattle Slew, who won the Triple Crown in 1977, wore shoes fitted for him by another Maryland horseshoer, Dave Pearce.

Andrew McDermott with Man o' War's
 shoes. He described himself as the
great horse's "farrier and shoeing
smith". (McDermott family photo)

Man o' War didn't win the Triple Crown--he never had a chance, since he wasn't entered in the Kentucky Derby in the first place. He did defeat the very first Triple Crown winner Sir Barton, however. Sir Barton was shod by Mr. Widener's exclusive horseshoer, Benjamin Franklin Talbert, who lined the colt's shoes with piano-key felt to protect his fragile feet.

Man o' War's horseshoer (blacksmith) Andrew McDermott shod him for his race start on this day almost 100 years ago, when he won the 1920 Preakness on May 18. McDermott identified himself as the great colt's "farrier and shoeing smith".

Hoofcare Publishing is working on compiling an honor roll of horseshoers who worked on Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown winners of the past (and present). If you have information, please send an email or get in touch however you can. You can also leave a comment at the end of this article.

The news from Maryland hasn't always been happy; in the 1960s, union horseshoers--members of the International Union of Journeyman Horseshoers--in Maryland refused to shoe the horses of Canadian owners who did not use union horseshoers back home in Toronto. The owners sued, and the case went to US Court of Appeals as an early example of the emerging union-busting fervor that would dominate the second half of the 20th century.

It's not all about the past in Baltimore: Shackleford won the 2011 Preakness wearing synthetic glue-on Polyflex shoes for a Triple Crown first.

Elmer, Dave, Andrew and the rebellious horseshoers of the IUJH's Local 7 may be gone, but there is a new generation of farriers working the tracks and farms in Maryland today. People like Berkley Kern, who seem to understand the tradition that they follow every day as they make their way around the barns.

And if you have a hankering to place a bet today at Pimlico, Berkley's trainee horse Trappist Monk is running today, on the Preakness Day card,  in the second race at Pimlico.

WBAL has a page devoted to Berkley, where you can listen to several sound files of interviews with him, as well as the video.

On Saturday morning, Orb--who shares a connection to Maryland via one of his owners, Mr. Janney-- is the odds-on favorite to win the Preakness, even after drawing the inside post on the rail. It's up to him now, to make his way into the history books if he can. He'll be in good company on those pages that are rich with connections to Maryland.

Good luck to everyone, and don't miss it! The telecast begins at 4:30 p.m. EDT on NBC with the actual post time of the race estimated around 6:30.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Have You Tried It Yet? "Blacksmith Buddy" Re-imagines Hoof Demonstrations with Education/Practice Tool

H O O F    B L O G   S P O N S O R E D   S T O R Y

The Blacksmith Buddy 

The Blacksmith Buddy was designed with students like these in minds. Once the Buddy is in place, the real horse becomes an accessory--and someone has to hold him instead of trying out the new practice leg!

Every year there's something. Farriers hang out after a trade show and talk over what stuck in their minds after they paraded up and down the rows of booths. Most often, it's a little thing--a new size, shape, hardness or color of something they use every day, which they believe will save them time or money. Sometimes it's a big thing, like a new model of gas forge or even a truck body.

But this year, many people listed an educational tool. "Wes Champagne's deal was slick," one said. Another's eyes lit up and sighed, "Why, oh why, didn't I think of that!"

Medicinal Leeches: The Much-Maligned Traditional Healing Aid is Making a Comeback for Equine Lameness Therapy

In this photo from German rehabilitation therapist Martina Mäter of Kathmann Vital GbR in Vechta, you see three colorful medicinal leeches hard at work. Lower-limb lameness is a common callup for leeches in the horse world; they may soon be in wider use in the United States. (Photo © Martina Mater, used with permission)

You're in a veterinary lecture on laminitis at a major conference on equine lameness. Set your watch to see how soon one of the speakers makes a wisecrack along the lines of "Yeah, sure, and we used to use leeches to treat laminitis, too." Cue: nervous laugh from the audience. Rolling of eyes. Wrinkling of noses. "Gross!" Shudders.

Connecticut Drops Charges Against "Equine Podiatrist" for Illegal Practice of Veterinary Medicine

For years, Connecticut has been known as the wealthiest state in the United States of America. Add to that the highest number of horses per square mile of any state. It's also one of the most beautiful states. If you had to pick a state to live in and run a farrier business, you couldn't do much better for job security than Connecticut.

After a state legal decision made there last month, it might be an even better state in which to be an equine podiatrist.

Badminton Horse Trials' Farrier Prize to the Best Shod Horse 2013 Won by David Smith

There might not be much left of a pair of shoes by the time the horse has made the circuit of the world's most challenging cross-country course, which is just one phase of the Badminton Horse Trials. Video of horses in this year's event courtesy of Centaur Biomechanics.

Each year, the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials presents a "Farriers Prize" for the best shod horse at the world's most prestigious three-day event. To most, it is an after-the-fact announcement on a loudspeaker as they make their way back to the parking lots.

But to others it is a big deal.

Hooves of the Kentucky Derby 2013: Race Shoes, Hoofcare and the Farrier's Daughter

Sixty Minutes featured top jockey Rosie Napravnik the week before the Derby. Her other claim to fame? Her father is a horseshoer!

It's 90 minutes before the Kentucky Derby, do you know where you'll be today at 6:24 p.m.?

Kentucky Derby News: Scollay Replaces Injured Bramlage for NBC's "AAEP On Call" Role

Dr. Scollay is no stranger to television; she'll step in front of the camera today at the Kentucky Derby.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners reports that longtime AAEP On Call Veterinarian Mary Scollay will serve as the spokesperson for equine health during today's NBC Sports racing coverage at Churchill Downs.

Behind the Scenes at the FEI World Cup Finals with Swedish Farrier Bjorn Berg

You're a long way from home when you go to the Gothenburg Horse Show in Sweden. The huge Swedish spring horse show hosted both the dressage and jumping finals of the 2013 FEI World Cup indoor winter competitions. The best in both sports converged on the annual show and turned it into a world stage.

Sweden's Bjorn Berg has been the show farrier at Gothenburg for 12 years but you can bet that it had never been like this before.  Still, Bjorn managed to find time to snap some photos and email them to the USA.

Meader Supply's New Hampshire Farrier Appreciation Day with FPD's Michael Wildenstein

Shoes, shoes, shoes! One of North America's largest horseshoeing supply stores opened its doors last weekend to welcome farriers from far and wide to the annual "Farrier Appreciation Day". Meader Supply soon found out that the appreciation was mutual; the flavor of the day was more akin to a high school reunion than a business event.

News and HSUS videos: Walking horses seized from show trainer's barn in Tennessee, veterinarian Adair explains soring

Walking horse trainer Larry Wheelon heads to court today in Blount County, Tennessee. The well-known trainer and judge will face charges following his arrest on Friday. As shown in this video from the Humane Society of the United States, horses placed with Wheelon for trained were seized by the USDA, with assistance from the county sheriff and humane society officials, in connection with the charges.

Wheelon may be criminally charged for violations of the federal Horse Protection Act; soring is also a violation of state law in Tennessee. Further charges may be levied against Wheelon's employees or associates.

(Please wait for the tv news videos to load.)

The Horse Protection Act has been on the books since 1978 but attempts to enforce it have not been fully effective at wiping out the practice. As these videos point out, soring may be of the "chemical" type, which works on sensitizing the horse's pasterns and/or coronet, or "mechanical", which involves intentionally trimming the foot to thin the sole and lower the wall and then inserting objects or hard-curing epoxy between the padded shoe and the thin sole.