Although this column usually focuses on history and top horses and races, that is not the case this time. Sometimes we have to explore other stories that while not as glamorous still are part of the fabric of racing and help form the bond that has linked horses to humans for centuries. ~ Steve Haskin
By Steve Haskin
You won’t find any champions highlighted in this column. You won’t even find any graded stakes winners. You also won’t find any happy endings, but no sad endings either. What you will find is a story of perseverance, determination, and an unwavering faith in an aging horse by his small-time owner, who has never had a top horse and currently has only two horses in training. And finally, it is a story about missed opportunity, physical setbacks, and plain old bad luck, but in the end, feeling blessed to own and breed a horse like Charcoal.
This is a horse who couldn’t win in $15,000 claiming races and who after losing his first nine starts at Fair Grounds and Horseshoe Indianapolis, eight of them in cheap claiming races, finally had to go to Mountaineer Park to break his maiden.
So why is he the subject of this column? And how is he remotely connected to this year’s Breeders’ Cup, even though he didn’t participate in it? We are writing about him because his story in many ways represents what Thoroughbred racing stands for as much as any Grade I stakes and the fine line between virtual anonymity and appearing on racing’s biggest stage.
You have to wonder why would Ben Huffman, longtime racing secretary at Keeneland and Churchill Downs and now Vice President of Racing at Churchill, stop Charcoal’s owner and breeder Ron Dowdy in the tunnel at Keeneland after his second-place finish in last month’s Grade 2 Woodford Stakes and say to him, “I wanted you to win so badly. I was really pulling for you. Racing needs you; you’re a dying breed.”
Huffman has spent the main portion of his life as close to Kentucky Derby winners as anyone, but was outwardly excited about a second-place finish by a 29-1 shot in a 5 ½-furlong turf race. That in itself tells the story of Dowdy and his now 8-year-old gelding, who for a few days walked among the giants of the Turf, and in his owner’s opinion could very well have stood as tall as any of them.
But let’s start at the beginning, which is at the 2008 Ocala 2-year-old sale, when a daughter of Van Nistelrooy sold for $35,000 after having been purchased for $20,000 as a yearling. If you are not familiar with Van Nistelrooy he was Aidan O’Brien’s hotshot 2-year-old in 2002 after being purchased as a yearling at Keeneland by Coolmore for an outrageous $6.4 million.
Named Rose of Aran, in her eight career starts for trainer Vickie Foley she won three races, two of them claiming races. After chipping an ankle she was retired and when her majority owners said they had no interest in keeping her, Dowdy, a minority partner, said he would take her and breed her. Dowdy had just begun owning small shares in horses. Of Rose of Aran’s first four foals one was unraced and the other three won a combined 3 of 44 starts for total earnings of just over $57,000.
Because Rose of Aran was a large mare Dowdy decided to breed her to a smaller stallion and chose English Channel. In 2016, she produced a gray colt that Dowdy named Charcoal.
Dowdy turned him over to trainer Merrill Scherer at Fair Grounds and right from the start he showed exceptional speed, turning in one bullet work after another going three furlongs. They thought they might have something good on their hands, but then the horse began bleeding badly after his gallops. When he lumbered around the track in his debut on the grass, he was subsequently put on the dirt and given Lasix. But the bleeding continued as did the poor performances.
No one could pinpoint what was causing the bleeding. It was eventually discovered he was suffering from guttural pouch mycosis, a fungus that invades a carotid artery, causing it to weaken and rupture, and can result in fatal hemorrhaging in 50 percent of the cases. It also affects breathing, which no doubt was the cause of Charcoal’s poor performances. He was sent to a farm in Paris, Kentucky to be treated, but more than one person recommended that they put the horse down. But Dowdy was determined to do everything possible to keep him alive and find the proper treatment. As it turned out, the solution simply was the old reliable penicillin.
Charcoal responded to treatment, but his ordeal caused him to be sidelined for 17 months, returning in August of his 4-year-old campaign with new trainer Tracey Wisner at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Racing for $16,000 claiming tags, he was put back on the grass and managed a second, a third, and a fourth before getting beat 15 lengths in an off-the-turf race.
This was the year Covid hit and Charcoal then was moved to Shane Spiess at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Northeast Ohio. But Dowd had one major concern. He still had faith in the horse and firmly believed he had talent. He told Spiess. “I didn’t bring him back to run in $16,000 claiming races. I’ll retire him right now and not waste my money.” So Spiess sent him Mountaineer Park for a maiden special weight race and he won by five lengths before campaigning steadily at Mahoning Valley though June of 2021. He never saw another claiming race. Moving up to allowance company back on the dirt he followed up a third and a second with back-to-back victories. Now more established, it was time to return to Tracey Wisner at Horseshoe Indianapolis and that is where he would remain for the remainder of his career.
Charcoal won three of his next five starts from June to August 2021, culminating with a 2 ½-length victory in the William Garrett Stakes, earning a career-high 94 Beyer speed figure. He concluded his 5-year-old campaign by finishing last of seven in the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes at odds of 32-1, but was beaten only 4 ½ lengths by turf sprint sensation Golden Pal, winner of the previous year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and second in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot. Golden Pal would come off his Woodford score with a resounding victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
So for the first time in his life, Charcoal found himself competing against top-class horses and certainly was not disgraced racing against the leading turf sprinter in the country.
Although he went winless in seven starts at age 6, five of those starts were in stakes and he managed three seconds and a third and was never beaten farther than 3 ½ lengths, and that was in his return match against Golden Pal in the Woodford Stakes at 40-1.
Although he had lost 12 straight races and was now 7 years old, he was actually more competitive than ever and would be pitted against the best turf sprinters in the country in 2023. In May he broke his winless streak in a five-furlong allowance victory at Horseshoe Indianapolis, defeating multiple stakes winner and 3-5 favorite Nobody Listens, who would go on to win his final four starts of the year, including the Brickyard Handicap, Parx Dash, and a three-length romp in the Grade 3 Turf Monster at Parx over five-time stakes winner and $800,000 earner Roses For Debra.
At the age of 7, Charcoal had beaten his first top-class stakes horse. Two races later he closed fast to finish second in the William Garrett, beaten 1 ¼ lengths by Twin Spires Turf Sprint winner Nobals, who would go on to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint later in the year.
Following a horrendous trip in the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint at Ellis Park, in which he was beaten only 2 ¾ lengths by five-time stakes winner and million-dollar earner One Timer, he chipped a bone in his ankle in an allowance race at Kentucky Downs and was out for eight months.
Dowdy had to decide whether to bring him back as an 8-year-old. He always found good homes for all his horses after their retirement and Charcoal had endured a lot in his career, cheating death and climbing out of the depths of cheap claiming races to compete with champions, millionaires, and Breeders’ Cup winners and never backing away from a fight.
Through the winter and early spring, Charcoal showed no signs of slowing down and convinced Dowdy and Wisner he still had more to give.
His first two starts in 2024 resulted in close fourth-place finishes, the second one in the five-furlong Mighty Beau Stakes at Churchill Downs, in which he was beaten two lengths by Nothing Better, two-time winner of the Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship, who also held the six-furlong course record of 1:06 4/5 at Aqueduct.
Sent off at 26-1 in the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint at Ellis Park, he sat two to three lengths off a blistering :21 and :43 1/5 pace and closed relentlessly in the final furlong to run down Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint winner Coppola and then hold off the late charges of million-dollar earner Arrest Me Red, winner of the Aqueduct Turf Sprint, Belmont Turf Sprint, and Twin Spires Turf Sprint, and the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes winner Mo Stash. With all of them right there at the wire it was Charcoal who had his head in front.
Charcoal wins the 2024 Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint at odds of 26-1.
It was time to actually start thinking about the Breeders’ Cup. First he was slated for the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint and the daunting presence of Cogburn, dubbed the fastest horse in the world after being the first horse to ever break the one-minute mark for 5 ½ furlongs when he won the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes in a mind-blowing :59 4/5, earning a sensational 114 Beyer speed figure. But his presence didn’t scare off Dowdy and his 8-year-old.
Charcoal, despite his previous victory at Ellis Park four weeks earlier, was sent off at a whopping 95-1. Cogburn went to the front as expected, with Charcoal, who broke sharply, sitting back in fourth along the rail, two lengths off the pace. Just as Cogburn was about to open up on the field here came Charcoal with a big run on the inside to pull within a head of the world’s fastest horse. But he was stuck on his left lead and couldn’t keep up with Cogburn, who began to draw clear. He still ran hard to the wire and was beaten in a three-way photo for third. Dowdy said they had been going through a heat spell and the turf course was rock hard, and Charcoal’s feet were stinging him and sensitive after the race. If not for that Dowdy was confident the horse would have finished second.
While Cogburn was given two months off to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Charcoal ran a month later in the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes at Keeneland, the race in which he had been beaten twice by Golden Pal.
This was the main prep for the Breeders’ Cup and it attracted a strong field that included the defending Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Nobals, as well as Arzak, who was second to Cogburn in his record Jaipur victory; Our Shot, runner-up in the 2023 Woodford; five-time stakes winner and million-dollar earner One Shot; three-time stakes winner Coppola; and the speedy Souper Quest, in the money in all nine of his career starts.
Charcoal, ignored again at 29-1, took back after breaking sharply, tried to move up along the inside but was stuck behind horses. He made his move at the head of the stretch cutting the corner, but had to spend a good portion of the stretch run looking for an opening. He finally was able to move off the rail and split horses, but eventual winner Our Shot had already stormed to the lead on the outside. Charcoal kept coming and running hard, with a six-horse cavalry charge closing in. He dug in and held off the others by a neck, while finishing 1 ¾ lengths behind the winner.
With his second-place finish in a top-class Grade 2 stakes and finishing ahead of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner and the Jaipur runner-up, and having held own against the brilliant Breeder’ Cup favorite Cogburn, it was hoped Charcoal would be selected to the Breeders’ Cup field.
But although Arzak, who had just finished behind him, was selected, he was only made the third also-eligible behind Howard Wolowitz and Nothing Better. When the Aidan O’ Brien-trained Aesop’s Fables, coming off two 10th-place finishes, didn’t make the trip it let Howard Wolowitz in the field. Then Nothing Better dropped out and just like that Dowdy’s dream of getting to see Charcoal on the world’s biggest stage was close to becoming a reality. Only one more defection and it could be Rich Strike all over again. Here he was on the track with the greatest horses in the world, just waiting for that last-minute miracle. It never came.
It had to be frustrating for Dowdy and Wisner and all those who helped Charcoal on his long journey to the top of the racing world, only to fall short by one horse. What made it even harder to take was that the temperamental English-trained filly Believing, who had refused to train during Breeders’ Cup week, making a spectacle of herself, acted up so badly going to the gate for the race she was scratched by the veterinarian. So the Turf Sprint ran one horse short with Charcoal in the barn.
And who wins the race? A 33-1 shot from Europe, with the first eight finishers separated by 1 ¾ lengths.
“I was so disappointed for him,” Dowdy said. “We couldn’t hold him, he was so ready to run. The race set up perfectly for him. This horse doesn’t shy away from anyone. He has so much heart and is very special to me. He makes racing fun.”
It was a tough break after so many miles to get there and coming so close, but it was time to move on. The decision now was whether to give him some time off and bring him back as a 9-year-old. But before a decision could be made, Dowdy received word from Ben Huffman informing him that there was a $100,000 allowance race in the books on November 24 going 5 ½ furlongs on the turf. It wasn’t he Breeders’ Cup, but it was still a good spot with a huge purse.
So Charcoal was off to Churchill Downs, but the race turned out to be a disaster. Sent off at 7-1 behind 8-5 favorite Run Carson and his old foe Coppola, Charcoal was hit in both eyes with clumps of turf and was taken to the outside, struggling home in last.
“The right eye was much worse than the left,” Dowdy said. “They were still getting junk out of there the following morning. When he got back back to Indiana, Tracey said in all her years she never saw so much gunk come out of an eye. They began treating him with antibiotics to prevent any infections.”
When told what happened, Ben Huffman said, “That certainly explains his performance. Hopefully he fully recovers.”
Huffman, whose life revolves around the Kentucky Derby, added, “I always root for the small-time trainer and an owner like Ron Dowdy who only has one or two horses. It would have been a great story had Charcoal been in the starting gate for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. But it was great to see him finish second in a Grade 2 at Keeneland. It is my hope that horses in modest-size stables with modest or small-size trainers that can perform on the Big Event days may inspire others to hang in there and not leave racing.
8-year-old Charcoal with jockey Alex Concepcion aboard.
“My point is this country has plenty of qualified horsemen that can get the job done but they are struggling to stay in business. When you see an 8-year-old like Charcoal performing at a high level, or Next or Three Technique, who both ran in the Breeders’ Cup, perhaps being in a small stable has something to do with their durability.
“I have a front row seat watching the constriction of horsemen in this country and it is bothersome. Small scale owners and trainers seem to be fading away, sort of like family owned businesses trying to compete with the giant companies. Perhaps writing about lesser known horses like Charcoal can be helpful.”
Charcoal’s story did not end the way one would have liked. In racing, fairy tales often collide with reality. In Charcoal’s case a promising year with so much hope ended in disappointment on so many levels. Who knows if this old warrior will ever come as close again to shine on racing’s brightest stage.
Because so few ever get that opportunity it doesn’t mean they don’t shine just as brightly in a place that can be in its own way equally as important – inside the heart and soul of those they touched.
Photos courtesy of Coady Media
Racing historian, author, and award-winning retired journalist for the Daily Racing Form and The Blood-Horse, Steve Haskin was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame’s Media Roll of Honor in 2016. Known for his racing knowledge and insightful prose, he has been an exclusive contributor toSecretariat.comsince 2020.
