Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Call him a grinder, call him a compiler, or call him whatever else fits a horse that just keeps plugging away year after year. But probably the most fitting description for T Red would be reliable.

“He’s just a healthy horse,” owner/trainer Henry Gulley said. “That horse has never been sick a day in his life. I never had him call for nothing. He’s no big star or whatever, but he’s mine and he’s been a good horse for me.”

The 14-year-old gelding officially stamped himself as special on Aug. 5 at the Western Michigan Fair in Ludington, Mich., when he became just the 16th pacer to win 100 races.

It was a long time coming for Gulley, who bought T Red as a 4-year-old, but well worth the wait.

Driver Ryan Ver Hage and owner/trainer Henry Gulley with T Red, who posted his 100th career win on Aug. 5. MHHA photo.

“You got that right,” the 72-year-old Gulley said. “It took a while, but he got it. He just keeps racing and racing. He’s like a human being. You have good weeks and bad weeks. When he wants to race, he races. He’s always been a competitor. You get him in the race, and he’ll race.”

Gulley got T Red, a son of Cams Eclipse-Al’s Honey whose distant family includes inaugural Hambletonian winner Guy McKinney, in 2009 after he didn’t race as a 2-year-old and won six of 19 starts at 3. It wasn’t like he went looking for him. In fact, he wanted nothing to do with the Michigan warhorse.

“He was the first horse I ever owned,” said Gulley, who had been around horses all his life and helped train, but never took it too seriously until he retired after careers working in oil fields and doing maintenance for a chemical company.

“It’s a strange story,” he continued. “Nobody wanted him. The lady who owned him was trying to sell him. She had a couple real good horses and didn’t have room for him and didn’t want him. And I didn’t want him, really.

“Tommy Wheeler brought him out to the farm and dropped him off and said, ‘You got yourself a horse.’ I said, ‘I don’t want a horse.’ I was training for Larry Jones at the time. And he said, ‘Well he’s yours, you can pay me when you get the money, I don’t care.’ I didn’t want it but finally I said, ‘OK, I’ll take him.’ I’d worked around horses, training for Doc Davis, jogging horses. I’ve been doing it quite a few years. After I retired I got him, got my training license and stayed active in the horse business.”

Although he has owned a few other horses over the years, Gulley’s main prize has always been T Red. The horse has averaged 40 starts per year for Gulley and earned $469,103 in his career despite never being in a race with a purse over $30,000. This year he has three firsts, five seconds and two thirds in 26 races. The chestnut gelding has hit the board in over half of his 460 starts, winning 100, taking 65 seconds and 70 thirds.

“He’s getting stronger the older he gets for some reason,” Gulley said. “Ages 12 and 13 were like his best years. He’s just a hard horse to beat.”

Remarkably, as a 12-year-old he set three track records on the Ohio fair circuit.

“He was something that year,” Gulley said. “I don’t know what got into him.”

T Red’s career mark came as a 5-year-old when he won in 1:51.1 at Indiana Downs. T Red has appeared at 37 racetracks during his career and driven to victory by 33 different drivers.

“He’s just a tough old horse,” Gulley said. “We have our arguments, but he’s like one of my kids, we have a lot of fun together, just me and him.”

T Red’s next race is Sunday (Aug. 11) at the Mercer County Fair in Celina, Ohio. Gulley will continue to race T Red through the end of this year, when he faces mandatory retirement. After that, he’s looking for the best landing spot possible.

“A girl who I worked with for a long time wants to use him for a riding horse,” Gulley said. “You can ride him now if you want, throw a saddle on him. I just want to find a good home for him, make sure he’s all right. He’s been a helluva horse. I have to give him to somebody who’s going to take care of him and give him a good home. He’s paid for a lot of stuff. That was the best 800 bucks I ever invested in my life. We won some money.”

The horse was not only profitable, but also opened numerous doors for Gulley thanks to all the tracks they visited over the years.

“I had a good time with him,” he said. “It’s like a partnership. I understand him and he understands me. It’s like a fantasy story to me. It’s a movie. I really have to thank all the people who helped me out along the way, I appreciate them. And I’ve been to a lot of tracks and people have been really nice to me in this business. It’s been great.”