Legendary Longden Led A Charmed Life
By: William F. Reed

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Feb. 15, 2003) - The train carrying Johnny Longden and his mother was late getting to the dock at Southhampton, in England, so they missed the huge new cruise ship making its maiden voyage to America. The year was 1912. The ship was the supposedly unsinkable Titanic.

And so, at the age of five, did Longden get his first major break in a charmed life that ended on Friday, Feb. 14, his 96th birthday, at his home in Banning, Calif. When he died, Thoroughbred racing lost one of its most endearing legends, the only man ever to both ride and train a Kentucky Derby winner.

Riding for John D. Hertz of rental-care fame, Longden won the 1943 Triple Crown aboard Count Fleet, a headstrong, front-running colt whom Longden believed to be the equal of any horse, anywhere, any time.

"Naturally, Secretariat was a helluva horse," said Longden in a 1993 interview at his home. "But I don't think he could have beat Count Fleet. You'd have to prove it to me. Count Fleet had speed and I never did ask him to run. Never even shook my stick at him."

After retiring as a jockey on March 12, 1966, with a then-world-record 6,032 victories, Longden became a trainer and hit it big almost immediately. At the 1967 July Select Yearling Sale at Keeneland, acting on behalf of longtime friend Frank McMahon, Longden paid $250,000, then a world record, for an extraordinarily handsome chestnut son of Raise A Native.

"I picked him out as a baby," Longden said. "We were at Combses' place (Spendthrift Farm, then owned by Leslie B. Combs II). When I saw him, I told Frank, 'There could be a Derby winner...buy him!' So we did."

Named Majestic Prince, he was unbeaten when jockey Bill Hartack rode him to a neck victory over Arts and Letters in a thrilling 1969 Derby that was attended by President Richard Nixon, who bet on Longden's horse because he was based in Nixon's home state of California.

After beating Arts and Letters in another photo finish to win the Preakness, Majestic Prince's bid to become racing's first unbeaten Triple Crown winner was crushed in the Belmont Stakes, where Arts and Letters romped to a 5 1/2-length victory in what turned out to be the final race of the Prince's career.

"You always dream of getting a good horse," Longden said. "So I rode one and I trained one. Majestic Prince was a picture horse. A beautiful animal, very intelligent. But Count Fleet did everything a horse can do."

During his school days in Taber, Alberta, Longden had a classmate named George Woolf, who later became an immortal rider known as "The Iceman" for his chilliness in the saddle. During summers, he worked in the coal mines as a "grease pig," the name given to the person who sat on a keg and greased the railcar wheels as they passed.

He also learned to ride "Roman-style," standing on the backs of two horses, and for two years he and Hollywood cowboy star Hoot Gibson entertained the crowds at the Calgary Stampede by demonstrating that style in exhibitions.

At Taber, Longden sometimes rode in races at the fair, which were held on a half-mile track that, said Longden, "was outlined with a series of cracker, sugar, and pickle barrels set where there should have been an inner rail." Because his father was barely eking out a living as a coal miner, Longden turned to riding in 1927 as a way to make a living.

"It was touch-and-go for meals and a place to stay at times," he once told Daily Racing Form. "I remember that I had to borrow a saddle to ride my first Thoroughbred in 1927. She was a filly, named Mary Phema, at Salt Lake City. She didn't win, but I won on my very next mount, with the same borrowed tack. The horse was Hugo K. Asher."

In 1936, Longden made a name for himself, not to mention racing history, by riding Rushaway to victory in two Derbys on consecutive days. They won the 1 1/8-mile Aurora Derby on May 22 in Illinois, then captured the 1 1/4-mile Latonia Derby in northern Kentucky the next day. Rushaway was trained by Al Tarn, Longden's future father-in-law.

"After we won the Aurora Derby, we vanned him to Chicago that night," Longden said. "We put him in a railroad baggage car and rode with him all night to Cincinnati. Then we vanned him from there to Latonia and ran him on Saturday afternoon. I guess you could say he was a consistent horse."

About this same time, Longden was riding in Miami, where one of his jockey friends was Earl Sande, who had won the 1930 Triple Crown for Belair Stud and trainer James "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons with Gallant Fox. Sande made certain Fitzsimmons noticed the young rider.

"Fitzsimmons helped me get started in New York," Longden said. "He was the best horsemen I ever saw. He saw me ride in Miami and asked me how I'd like to go on contract? Gosh, I didn't know. I wanted to come to California. I wasn't fussy about New York."

But go to New York he did. He got his first Derby mount in 1937 when Fitzsimmons, who also trained for the Wheatley Stable, put him on Melodist, who finished fourth to subsequent Triple Crown winner War Admiral.

While riding mainly for Wheatley, Longden also accepted mounts from other trainers. One of them was Don Cameron, a former lumberman, who began using Longden on some of the Hertz horses. Hertz liked Longden so much that in 1939 he signed him to a contract. For $2,500 per month and 10 percent of what he won, Longden would give Hertz first call on his services.

In 1942, Cameron had a 2-year-old colt that was so uncontrollable that Hertz was ready to sell him to trainer Sammy Smith for $4,500. But at breakfast one morning, Longden told Hertz, "Whatever you do, don't sell him. I'm not afraid of him. I'll ride him." And Hertz replied, "I'll just take him off the market."

The colt's name was Count Fleet.

Known as "The Pumper" for his aggressive style, Longden was the only jockey who ever rode Count Fleet in a race. In 21 starts in 1942 and '43, he had 16 victories, four seconds, one third and earnings of $250,300, a handsome sum in those days. And it all was made possible because of what Longden did on his most important train ride since he and his mother were late for the Titanic in 1912.

On June 19, 1942, Count Fleet broke his maiden in his third start. He won six of his next seven starts, but finished a disappointing third in the Belmont Futurity on Oct. 3. It was then that Longden finally figured out how he needed to be ridden.

"I tried to ride him and I couldn't," Longden said. "A couple of times, before I learned his habits, he got beat. Oh, I knew he could run. In the fall, I worked him three-quarters in 1:07 2/5. You had to let him go to the front and sit there. I didn't have to rate him, he'd rate himself. After I let him go to the front, he never got beat."

He won his last four starts as a 2-year-old by six, six, five, and 30 lengths. Then, after getting freshened up over the winter, he came back stronger than ever in April. After cruising to a 3 1/2-length victory in an April 13 allowance race at Jamaica, he came back four days later to capture the Wood Memorial by the same margin.

The previous year, Longden also had ridden Blue Swords, the Wood runner-up. But when he opted for Count Fleet, owner A.J. Simmons picked Ted Atkinson to ride Blue Swords.

"Atkinson was a good rider," Longden said. "I told him to ride him like I'd been riding him. But I also told him before the Wood, 'You better save him because he can't beat Count Fleet, anyhow.' Sure enough, he just run away from him."

At the start of the Wood, a horse ridden by George Woolf, Longden's childhood buddy from Canada, collided with Count Fleet and caused a deep gash in one of Count Fleet's coronet bands, which is where the hair meets the hoof on a horse's ankle.

"It was a deep cut," Longden said. "About as deep as my thumb. I didn't want to run him 'cause I was afraid he had hurt himself. But when Mr. Hertz decided to ship him to Kentucky, well, I knew he was a good horse and I thought he could win the Derby, so, naturally, I was going to stay with him."

About a week after the Wood, Count Fleet was put on a railroad car for the trip to Louisville. His only traveling companions were his groom and his jockey.

"I went with him to the boxcar and soaked him in Epsom salts," Longden said. "He was standing up in his stall. We had a tub, and every six-to-eight hours, we'd tub him with Epsom salts to keep out the inflammation, the poison.

"It wasn't that long a trip. Just overnight and a day. I had a cot in there and did some reading. I just called him 'The Count.' He used to love carrots, so I'd cut up some and give 'em to him.

"I got to know him better, traveling with him. He knew he was good. You could tell by his actions. But he wasn't cocky. He just had confidence in himself. By the time we got to Louisville, all the inflammation was out and then we could go on with him."

When the 1943 Derby was held on May 1, the nation was in the throes of World War II. Because gasoline and rubber were so important to the war effort, the government decided to ration each, cutting down sharply on civilian automobile travel.

Some feared the Derby might have to be canceled, but Col. Matt Winn, the track's president, urged citizens to walk or ride streetcarts to Churchill Downs. The public and the military took his plea to heart, showing up in huge numbers to see Count Fleet in what came to be known as the "Streetcar Derby."

Thinking a jockey change might make a difference, owner Simmons replaced Atkinson on Blue Swords with Johnny Adams. But what Longden had earlier told Atkinson proved again to be correct. This time The Count went wire-to-wire for a three-length victory over Blue Swords.

A week later in Baltimore, it was the same story in the Preakness, except this time Count Fleet's margin over Blue Swords was eight lengths. "It was just an easy work, easier than the Derby," Longden said. The colt came out of the race feeling so good that Hertz and trainer Cameron decided to run him in the Withers on May 22 at Belmont Park.

His five-length victory was so impressive that only two, Fairy Manhurst and Deseronto, went into the starting gate with him for the Belmont Stakes on June 5. On a dusty track, against the backdrop of an "Air Raid" billboard in the infield, Count Fleet galloped home by 25 lengths, a record margin that stood until Secretariat beat it in 1973.

Still, Longden's elation was subdued.

"In those days, they had the Belmont chute," he said. "He made a bad step going across the chute. I thought he'd broken down. I started to ease him up, but the farther he went, the farther he got ahead. But when they were cooling him out that night, it was learned that he had bowed a tendon."

Although Longden believed he deserved credit for nursing Count Fleet through the Belmont, Eddie Arcaro, who had won the 1941 Triple Crown aboard Calumet Farm's Whirlaway, later was harshly critical of Longden's ride in the Belmont.

"Nobody knew how good Count Fleet really was," Arcaro said. "He was an extraordinary horse. It's too bad he didn't last long, but I blame Longden for that. The dumb SOB let him win by 30. All he had to do was wrap up and win by five. But he wanted to break a track record with him. I don't know why. He was pumping on that horse, too. He didn't let him rest."

After giving Count Fleet a long rest, Hertz asked Longden to work Count Fleet in the fall at Belmont Park. When he reported back to trainer Cameron that "he won't do," Hertz decided to retire him to stud.

The week before Longden rode Finnegan to a fifth-place finish in the 1959 Derby, he visited Count Fleet at the Stoner Creek Farm near Paris, Ky. It was the last time he ever saw him.

The Count died on Dec. 3, 1973, at the age of 33.

As it turned out, Count Fleet was Longden's only Derby winner in 10 rides. But at least he fared better than Woolf, his childhood pal, who died in a 1949 racing accident without ever fulfilling his dream of winning the Derby.

After the war in Europe ended in April, 1945, California resumed racing after a war-caused hiatus (Santa Anita was converted into an interrment camp for Japanese-Americans), Longden finally joined Woolf in California, where he spent the rest of his life. His first major victory on the California circuit came when he rode Thumbs Up, owned by Hollywood film mogul Louie B. Mayer, to a head victory in the 1945 Santa Anita Handicap on June 30, 1945.

One of his more celebrated victories came In the 1950 Big 'Cap, when he got a measure of revenge against Arcaro by riding Noor to a 1 1/4-length victory over the great Citation, who was carrying 132 pounds.

In that race, Calumet had one of the most formidable three-horse entries in racing history -- Citation, 1949 Derby winner Ponder, and two-time filly champion Two Lea. In the early going, Noor was next to last in the 11-horse field. But Longden began moving him past horses on the backstretch. They then circled the field in the turn for home to move to the lead, where Noor was able to witstand Citation's closing charge.

"Noor was the best distance horse I ever rode," Longden said. "He was the only horse I ever knew who could give you two or three moves during a race. You could ask him for speed at any time, pick up the horses you wanted to, then wait and move again with the same quick turn of power."

Known as "Mr. Moneybags" for the way he wisely invested his money (Hertz talked him into buying heavily into his company), Longden was 59 and financially well off when he rode George Royal to a dramatic nose victory in the 1 3/4-mile San Juan Capistrano Handicap on March 12, 1966.

"I told 'em three days before that race that I was going to quit," Longden said. "It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Nixon was there, and I told him Royal George would win. It was close at the wire. I felt I had won, but not until I was galloping back to the stands and heard the roar did I know for sure."

When he got Majestic Prince only a couple of years after his final race, he was still in such good shape that he served as the colt's exercise rider, giving him a unique edge over his training rivals.

A couple of days after the Prince had won the Preakness, McMahan announced that the unbeaten colt wouldn't run in the Belmont because Longden, noting that he had lost weight, felt he deserved a long rest.

"The Belmont was the last race Count Fleet ever ran," Longden said. "He pulled a suspensory (ligament) in the race, and that was the end of him as a racehorse. I checked back and found that horses that run in the Belmont haven't been worth a damn after that. I mean as race horses. We don't want to make the same mistake."

But a few days later they did. At least, McMahon did. Caving into pressure from breeders and friends, he overruled Longden and shipped Majestic Prince to Belmont Park. Like Count Fleet, that turned out to be the Prince's final race. But unlike the the Count, he was soundly thrashed.

After the race, Hartack, who had a reputation for refusing to ride horses that he didn't believe were sound, was asked why he rode Majestic Prince when Longden was so firmly against it.

"I love that horse," he said. "If he was going to run, I wanted to be the one to ride him. Nobody knew that horse better than me and Johnny Longden."

Although Longden never officially retired from training, his stock had dwindled to only a few horses, owned by family members, by the early 1990s. After the death of his wife, Hazel, Longden sold their house near Santa Anita and moved into a condominium in Banning, near Palm Springs, much of Longden's memorabilia was lost, including a photo of Count Fleet taken at Belmont Park just before the colt was shipped to Louisville.

Although his condo was located on a golf course, Longden had to give up the game because of pain from the steel plate that was held in his back by four screws. He also suffered from the lingering effects of the other injuries he suffered during his 39-year riding career. He broke his right leg four times, three above the knee. He also broke his collarbone and several ribs.

He liked to attend the races whenever Del Mar was in session and kept up-to-date on racing news and old friends. And he seemed to like it whenever a younger journalists or historian would drop by to ask about his career, especially about Count Fleet.

"When he came back and won the Derby after he had gotten hurt, that's when I knew he was great," Longden said. "I was the only one who ever knew how good he was. He could run over any kind of a racetrack, it didn't make any difference. Never once did I let him run. What the hell, I don't know why."

Native Kentuckian William F. Reed has been a sports writer in various capacities for 43 years and has missed covering the Kentucky Derby a mere two times since 1966. He has been a high-profile sports writer in Kentucky for the Commonwealth's two largest daily newspapers, the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader and was a national columnist for Sports Illustrated, covering among other sports, Thoroughbred horse racing and college basketball. Reed currently pens a column for the Louisville Sports Report and covered Kentucky Derby 128 for kentuckyderby.com. He will be filing frequent installments for CDSN's (Churchill Downs Simulcasting Network) websites throughout 2003.

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