Gordon Waterstone

Lexington, KY — Today I’m going to tell the tale of Last Call Larry, who sells as Hip 863 on Saturday night at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale at Fasig-Tipton. Last Call Larry may be selling near the end of the five-day sale but he is a horse first to me and near and dear to my heart.

Before I tell the story, let’s go back to yesterday afternoon when the draw for Sunday’s $561,000 Kentucky Futurity and $351,000 Kentucky Filly Futurity was held.

Each race had a pair of supplemental entries, with the connections of Jujubee and Ahundreddollar bill paying $75,000 for the Futurity and the connections of Herculisa and Katie’s Lucky Day paying $50,000 for the Filly Futurity.

The draw for Sunday’s $561,000 Kentucky Futurity and $351,000 Kentucky Filly Futurity was held Thursday. USTA/Mark Hall photo.

Those weren’t the only supplemental entries for Sunday’s races as Charley May was supplemented for $60,000 to the $500,000 Tattersalls for 3-year-old male pacers — where he drew the trailing post 12 in the 12-horse field — and the 3-year-old filly Altar was supplemented for $8,500 to race against older mare trotters in the $81,000 Allerage Farms Open.

Race secretary Kevin Mack told me that it was the most supplemental entries at The Red Mile that he could remember, and I think he’s probably correct.

The draw was conducted on the track apron with the video shown live on the USTA’s Facebook and Youtube pages, hosted by Wendy Ross and Dave Brower. The sun had come out and it was hot standing out there, so the gathering of about 100 people mostly moved back under the shade.

After the draw I went over to talk to trainer Greg Wright Jr. and owner Jon Erdner, who wrote the big check to supplement Jujubee, who is riding a five-race win streak that includes that spectacular 1:49.4 win on the Hambletonian Day undercard at The Meadowlands. Greg and Jon and his wife, Joyce, breathed a sigh of relief when Jujubee — who will be driven by Andy McCarthy — drew post five.

“It’s been quite a ride,” said Jon, who is no stranger to The Red Mile winner’s circle as he co-owned 2008 Kentucky Filly Futurity champ One Tough Lass, who was trained by Ross Croghan. “I started thinking about supplementing to the Futurity right after he won in 1:49.4. The whole thing that makes you reluctant is that you don’t want to get an outside post and it’s a lot of money to put up. But you have to take a shot.”

Jon gave Greg all the credit for Jujubee‘s success.

“Greg has really taken this on and he has the horse’s full attention and the horse has his attention, and that’s what I like,” he told me. “It’s not spread out all over the place so it’s a great combination.”

Jon also told me that he also hopes to supplement Jujubee — at a cost of $62,500 — into the upcoming Breeders Crown later this month at The Meadowlands.

“It’s another check but it gets easier the second time,” he said with a laugh.

I also spoke to owner David McDuffee, who was thrilled that Bella Bellini drew post five for the Filly Futurity, the same starting spot she won the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks from on Aug. 7 at The Meadowlands. Led by the success of Bella Bellini and his undefeated 2-year-old filly trotter Venerable, who recently won the Mohawk Million at Woodbine Mohawk Park and is in the mix for honors as 2021 Horse of the Year, I told Dave he had to be one of the frontrunners for Owner of the Year. Dave said the owner would be nice, but he’d love to see his trainer, Nifty Norman, be Trainer of the Year.

Also at the draw was former Red Mile Twitter girl and now Kentucky Horse Racing Commission administrative assistant Joanna Ricci. Joanna told me since Thursday was a work-at-home day it was easy to make the time to attend the draw. Joanna introduced me to her assistant Deja Robinson, a senior at the University of Kentucky working on finishing a degree in equine and science management. In addition to her UK classes, Deja is interning at the Racing Commission.

I was able to grab a power nap in the afternoon and after my group canceled our dinner reservations, Dave Brower and I decided to head to Banner’s to watch some football. My trip was delayed a few minutes as we once again had a period of heavy rain. We were joined by Gabe Prewitt and Greg Gillman, who had planned on flying back to Fort Lauderdale last night so he could get back to his job at Pompano Park. Gabe was going to drive Greg to the airport — just five minutes from Banner’s — but Allegiant kept delaying the flight. The flight was finally canceled so Greg changed his return flight to Sunday night.

Last Call Larry sells as Hip 863 on Saturday night at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale at Fasig-Tipton. Gabe Prewitt photo.

Speaking of Gabe, that brings me to the tale of Last Call Larry. Larry Flanagan, who sadly passed away suddenly just over a year ago, was one of the local legends here in Lexington and a great friend to both me and Gabe. Larry earned his nickname as no matter his working hours serving at some of the city’s finest restaurants, he made sure he always made last call at Campus Pub.

Larry worked in the dining rooms at both Keeneland and The Red Mile, and he proudly told me — many, many times as he loved to repeat the story — that when he was at The Red Mile he was always assigned to serve the late Bill Perretti. “I knew how to take care of Bill so I always had his table,” Larry always said to me. Larry was working at Tony’s at the time of his death, so I always bring up his name when I dine there. And all the workers tell me how much they miss Larry.

So, that’s why Gabe and his father, Catesby, named the son of Downbytheseaside out of the mare Otherpeoplesmoney — who jumpstarted Gabe’s breeder-ownership career in harness racing with earnings of $205,647 — Last Call Larry. Gabe told me that he plans on taking the nameplate from the stall at Fasig-Tipton to place on a wall at Campus Pub.

I tried to keep it an early night, and was surprised to see Ed Teefey, who is working the sale at Fasig-Tipton, show up with a group of five other fellow Illini brethren. “This is my new hangout,” Ed told me.

As for this morning, it was very, very foggy so visibility was poor on my drive to The Red Mile. When I arrived I saw Diamond Creek Farm’s Marcus Johansson walking toward me, and he said, “You’re late!” I really wasn’t, but I did tell Marcus I would have been earlier but I got lost in the fog and couldn’t find the racetrack.

I saw assistant race secretary Curby Stillings bringing boxes to her car, and she said this was her final day at the racetrack. “I’ve been here since June and it’s time to go home (to Pennsylvania),” Curby told me.

I began my backstretch tour and was headed to see Greg Wright and Jujubee, when I came upon Boss Kathy and USTA photographer Mark Hall. Boss Kathy said they were headed to see Jujubee and when I remarked that’s where I was going she gave me approval. “That’s OK, you can come too!” I thanked her for the go-ahead. When she and Mark headed out and she told Mark to follow her, I told him to get used to it, I’ve been experiencing that for the last 23 years.

Greg told us that Jon Erdner purchased Jujubee‘s brother, Canterasprings, at last night’s sale session for $100,000. How about the sale? I’m sure sales managers David Reid and Randy Manges are doing cartwheels as the gross has already set an all-time record — and there are still sessions tonight and Saturday night to go!

I walked by the reigning Trainer of the Year Nancy Takter’s barn and said I was sad about the retirement of Manchego, but that I was looking forward to seeing Altar — who has won her last three starts at The Red Mile including a sensational 1:50.3 win in a Bluegrass division last week — race against her older peers. “I think she has a good shot in there,” Nancy told me. And I agree with her.

My last stop was to stick my head into the judges’ office, where Johnny Z and PJ Cooksey were. I asked Johnny if I could look over the board for Sunday’s changes, and he obliged. Tim Schmitz then came up the stairs and the four of us somehow got into a discussion about Lexington’s steakhouses and which one was best. As I told them as I was leaving, it’s always great to talk meet with the judges.

I saw gas dropped at a couple of places to $3.12, and there are a pair of stations side by side on Limestone near campus that were at $3.15 and $3.03. Despite the 12-cent difference I saw people at the $3.15 station.

The weather for the final three days of racing at The Red Mile looks great, with sunny skies and highs around 80. A reminder that Keeneland opens this afternoon with a 1 p.m. post time. I know some people who also make a side trip to watch some Thoroughbred racing, but remember that there is no walk-up gate and that all tickets have to be purchased in advance online. So if you don’t have tickets you will be turned away at the gate. By the way, they are limiting attendance to 20,000 for each race day.

Also, a reminder that Saturday night is the big UK vs. LSU football game at Commonwealth Stadium/Kroger Field with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.