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Hall of Fame: Runaway
Original article written by Fanta Arcadia posted 11 years 1 week ago“When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.”
- William Shakespeare, Henry V
There once was an era in time when horses of immense and diverse talents roamed the land. They were not confined with the notion that they were restricted to being just a turf monster, a dirt phenom, or an all-weather fanatic. To these elite few, it did not matter what surface they competed on. They merely took pleasure in the simple beauty of running.
They were a proud group that could be considered a prime example of what one would call a “dying” breed. The age of the horse that could compete on multiple surfaces is all but a memory now, save for the few who can achieve the feat in this present day, Dr. Ghazi being a more well-known example.
Yet there was one horse who, in his day, ruled the sprint division with absolute authority. He could traverse dirt just as easily as he could the lush turf. He was a son of Future Hero that was born of the Panoramic mare Tuzla. He was bred by the Steward and owned by Susie Raisher, or Susie Rydell as she is known now. His name was Runaway.
Throughout his career, Runaway would become known as quite the globetrotter. By the time he would be retired he had traveled and competed in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and even Japan. Needless to say he could rack up the frequent flier miles and become a sensation no matter where he was on the planet.
Yet, his career began inconspicuously like most two year olds. He would break his maiden in Arkansas on his first try going five furlongs on the turf. His owner was in no hurry to push her future superstar and three weeks later he would win an allowance race in a very convincing manner in Florida.
He would ship over to Louisiana to compete in the Favorite Trick Stakes and take down his competition with the greatest of ease. He would suffer his first, and only, career loss in his next outing the Commitisize Stakes in Louisiana to Tulloch. The distance of the race was a mile and after that narrow defeat it was easy to see that he was a bit beyond his distance limitations, even though he did not go down without a fight.
That race wrapped up his two year old campaign and he caught the first flight from Louisiana to Paris to begin his European campaign as a three year old. In the Studs Gladness Stakes at Paris Race Park he made his international debut a winning one. Two weeks later he soared to victory in the Prix Maurice de Ghesst. He took a two week vacation and decided that London might be just the place for him.
For his next three starts he took the United Kingdom by storm. In Week 5 he defeated Crown of Jewels in the Cork and Orrey Stakes, in Week 6 he dispatched the same rival once more this time in the 2000 Guineas, and then finally in Week 7 he defeated Skip’s Lucky Won to take the Darley July Cup.
After three straight weeks of racing Runaway was given a four week vacation and caught a plane to the Land of the Rising Sun. In Week 11 he won the Sprinters Stakes over Archrival, and he then defeated that same foe in Week 12 in the Takomatsunomiya Stakes.
For his final season of racing he was given a campaign of epic proportions. He would be making the transition from turf to dirt and the world would be watching. His dirt debut was not to be in some minor stakes or allowance race. Oh no, it was to be in the Grade 1 Desert Golden Shaheen; talk about being ambitious, but his connections had nothing to fear as Runaway defeated Ready for Apremont like he had been running on dirt all of his life.
He returned to turf one more time to win a repeat in the Darley July Cup before winning a dirt allowance. Finally it was time to bid farewell to the magnificent gray horse in style, with a run in the Steward’s Cup Dirt Sprint. The world’s breath was stolen as Runaway put in a magnificent stretch run to defeat the highly talented and courageous Em’s Always Busy.
There was no better way for a champion to go out then that. In his career he was known as Europe’s Champion Sprinter, and was awarded a SIMMY that was simply called “Champion Sprinter”. Yet no greater honor could have been bestowed upon this warrior then when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Although Runaway has long since left this world, his legacy and memory shall live on through his heroics on the track and with him being placed amongst the best the world had ever seen in the Hall of Fame.