from Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association
Trainer Tim Wilson Jr. and driver Dave Magee were facing a tough decision last November. Color Me Best had returned to racing following surgery for a broken sesamoid and was not very competitive. After a seven-month layoff following the surgery, Color Me Best hit the board just three times in six starts, earning a little more than $4,000. It was no way for a world champion, then nine years old, to go out. It was no way for a $1.4-million earner to be remembered.
But the cantankerous old gelding apparently was not ready for retirement. Maybe like all great athletes, he wanted to bow out of the sport on his own terms, not those of others. Whatever the reason, Color Me Best appears to be back on the road to being his best. He won his last four starts at Balmoral Park, earning nearly $27,000, and will be heading to either The Meadowlands or Woodbine to take a step up in competition.
“His first few starts, he wasn’t very good,” said Wilson, who owns Color Me Best with his cousin, David Yohe. “I didn’t want to tarnish whatever legacy the horse had. I questioned even whether to bring him back to begin with, but he loves to race. A couple times after those first few races, I talked with Dave Magee and we kind of hemmed and hawed about retiring him. He must have heard us talking because he got on a roll again. I can’t explain it, but he’s been awesome his last four starts. He’s sharp right now.”
Color Me Best returned to the free-for-all handicap ranks in his most recent start, Jan. 8, and won in 1:51.1 with a final quarter-mile of 26.4 seconds. It was his fastest win time in nearly two-and-a-half years, since winning the 2002 American-National in 1:49.4 at Balmoral.
“Words could not describe how proud I was of him,” Wilson said. “It felt like he did when he won the American-National; it was that satisfying. It was unbelievable. If it was summertime, or he was on a track as fast as The Meadowlands has been, I think he could go under 1:50 right now.”
Wilson and his uncle, Charlie Yohe, claimed Color Me Best as a three-year-old for the price of $33,000 in November 1998. He earned only $72,026 his first two seasons of racing, but came to life for the new owners.
“He supposedly had two broken hocks as a 3-year-old and was in for as little as $12,500 at one time,” once explained trainer Joe Anderson, who conditioned the horse for Wilson while at The Meadowlands. “So when he came to the track he was always very lame. Tim Wilson wanted to claim him and asked me if I’d take the horse. He’s kind of been a Cinderella story.”
On July 3, 1999 in an open at The Meadowlands, Color Me Best paced 1:48, still the fastest time ever on a mile track by a gelding of any age. Wilson called it his fondest Color Me Best moment.
“I think that was the top moment because Uncle Charlie was still alive,” Wilson said. “To think that the record still stands after six years in this business, that’s hard to believe. I’d like to have seen what he could have done in his prime with these new race bikes they’re using today. But I’m not going to complain.”
For his career, which in addition to his hock and sesamoid troubles included having to overcome a heart fibrillation, Color Me Best has won 56 of 184 starts. He has finished second 30 times, third 20 times and posted sub-1:50 wins in four straight seasons. In addition to the 2002 American-National win, he won the 2001 Presidential final at The Meadowlands. He finished second by a neck to Red Bow Tie in the 1999 Breeders Crown, was second to Gallo Blue Chip in the 2001 American-National and lost by a head to Peruvian Hanover in the 2003 American-National. He also was runner-up in the 2003 Dan Patch, losing to Sharky Spur.
Wilson sent Color Me Best to have the sesamoid surgery last March with the intention of retiring him, and attributed the gelding’s success to his fighting spirit.
“In order for him to have a happy and healthy life, he needed surgery, anyway,” Wilson said. “He’ll be a pet for life and I knew he would be a good riding horse for me. But the horse loves to race and he can take more pain than you can imagine. The surgery went real well. I think it’s the type of injury that’s ended more careers than not, but we were lucky because he didn’t tear up the suspensory ligament. There was no soft tissue damage, so that was the key.
“I definitely think his attitude is part of the reason he’s been able to come back; he’s not a friendly horse to be around,” Wilson added, laughing. “He’s more than a little rough. He keeps you on your toes all the time, either kicking or biting. He’s a handful. Dave Magee won’t get on the race bike until he’s on the track, because if he gets on earlier Color Me Best’s favorite thing to do is just to kick at him the whole way out. Even so, my kids love him. He’s like family.”
Wilson said he would like to see if Color Me Best can still compete on the free-for-all level, at least on a semi-regular basis. He said the horse would never be entered in a claiming race, even if there were little chance of him being taken.
“To me, he’s kind of like a modern day Rambling Willie with all he’s had to overcome,” Wilson said. “I wish I could figure out how to get my other horses to try just a fraction of the way he does. I’m not going to cheapen him. I could never enter him in a claimer, even for $100,000, because if someone claimed him I’d be sick. He’s been awfully good to me. If he was hurting physically or if I thought we were hurting his reputation, that would be it. He’s going to have a long and happy life in my backyard someday. That would be the end of it. If any horse deserve it, he does.”
Following are Color Me Best’s career statistics:
Year | Starts-1st-2nd-3rd | Money Won | Record Time | Track |
2005 | 2-2-0-0 | $16,300 | 1:51.1 | Balmoral |
2004 | 8-2-1-2 | $14,771 | 1:51.2 | Balmoral |
2003 | 23-7-3-0 | $217,892 | 1:51.2 | Hawthorne |
2002 | 32-7-4-5 | $209,448 | 1:49.4 | Balmoral |
2001 | 31-8-4-3 | $233,075 | 1:49.4 | Balmoral |
2000 | 27-7-5-3 | $238,935 | 1:49.3 | Balmoral |
1999 | 28-12-6-5 | $369,920 | 1:48.0 (WR) | Meadowlands |
1998 | 25-7-3-2 | $54,611 | 1:51.2 | Balmoral |
1997 | 8-4-4-0 | $17,415 | 1:56.2 | Thunder Ridge |