May 23 - Golden Ticket

This is going to be the longest story that I will tell about a horse, a race, and other tangents that converge into a story so good that even I couldn't make it up!

Travers Day 2012 - I'm in Florida taking my daughter to a semi-pro football game when I get a phone call from Susan Rose who is in the paddock at Saratoga. She tells me to call in a bet on the 3. She had no names, no racing form. Susan is a body worker specializing in Bowen Therapy and was in Saratoga to treat a few horses but took the time to catch the Travers. I've learned that when she says to bet a horse, BET THE HORSE! Since I was at the football game I couldn't watch the race. I kept asking her if the 3 was Alpha, Sheikh Mohammed's horse, who was a huge favorite. She didn't know. She was just adamant that I had to get a bet on the 3. So, I called into Twin Spires to place a bet. I remember saying to the lady on phone after placing the bet, "I know this sounds crazy, but can you tell me the name of the horse I just bet on?" - - -GOLDEN TICKET . . . "Ok, thanks, what are his odds?" CURRENTLY 36-1 (Now, I'm thinking I've bet too much on this long shot.). "Ok, thanks, goodbye" and probably goodbye to my money. (I bet him across the board, so at those odds even third would probably still be profitable.)

When the race started, I stayed on the phone with Susan who did a nice job calling the race. She kept saying 3 was in front, into the stretch, the 3 is still in front. Approaching the wire, Susan said there's one coming at him, hold on, keep going, hold on, Oh, I think he got beat at the wire.", again even second was going to be a good bet.

It was Alpha that made that monster move in the stretch to catch Golden Ticket and it took more than 15 minutes to review the photo finish, until it was determined to be a dead heat - horse racing's version of a tie. The bet paid off really, really well and that would have been a good story but…

A few weeks later, I mailed the group out of Montana that owned the horse, but never heard from them.

A couple months later Susan and I headed to California for the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita. We arrived on a Thursday as it happened my favorite football team, the San Diego Chargers were playing on Thursday night football, so we scouted out some place close to the track to watch the football game. The two of us sat at the only available seats, which happened to be at the bar. The guys crowded in next to us were so loud it seemed obvious that they were in California for the Breeders' Cup as well.

I asked and they confirmed that's why they were there, but they had scratched their horse that day. "Who's your horse?" – “Golden Ticket!”

Well, let the stories begin. We told them about our instant love affair with their horse and they told us their story about the Travers. Let me jump forward. I painted Golden Ticket and he's in the book, A Brush With Greatness. The book has quotes from all the connections of the 79 horses featured in the book and when the quote arrived for Golden Ticket, it was 3 pages typed! By far the longest quote we received from anyone.

Let me get back to the sports bar in Santa Anita. We met Stewart Carter and a couple of his buddies from Montana. I told them I was an artist and Stewart looked at one of the guys and asked, who was that artist that we were going to call . . . I have a letter from him on my desk…ROBERT CLARK, to which I said "Hey, I'm ROBERT CLARK!"

I ended up painting Golden Ticket twice for Stewart. It was funny, because he asked me if the other horse had to be in the painting. I told him, he was the boss and I do whatever he wants me to do and that's when the idea of two paintings seemed to make sense. Let's paint him with the other horse before the finish line while we are still in front and then let's paint him by himself - done.

Ok, if you've read this long, you deserve to hear the best part of the story.

Stewart is in the oil business and was on his private jet with a few business partners who also owned a piece of Golden Ticket as well. They were flying to Texas for business when they got a call from their trainer, Kenny McPeek. Kenny said the horse was training great and thought they should run in the Travers. "Ok, you're the expert, what's the Travers? Is it a big one?" “Yeah, it's the Kentucky Derby of Saratoga.” "Oh, ok we'll be there." They reroute the plane for Saratoga and land at the little private airport a few miles from the track. They get a rental car, a minivan. The boys make a quick stop to pick up a case of beer and continued to the track. They park and slide open the back door and several beer cans roll out onto the ground in the Saratoga parking lot. Stewart gets out and crawling on his hands and knees picking up the beer cans when a car pulls up against his butt, he looks at the hub cap and it's a Rolls Royce. Stewart looks up at his buddies and says, "Dorothy, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

You've heard how the race went - both horses get their turn in the winner's circle - as Stewart's gang is getting their picture taken with the horse, his cell phone rings and it's his mother. "Stewart, where are you?" - Mom, we're in Saratoga. - "That's nice, Stewart; but why are you in Florida?"

One of my all-time favorite stories and best bunch of clients. I love the race, love the horse.

The second of the two paintings is the one with both Alpha and Golden Ticket. I painted it live in the paddock at Saratoga in 2013 during the 150th celebration of Saratoga racing. Side note, David Cohen rode Golden Ticket to his first Grade 1 win that day and he has also become a friend. I love showing up with a blank canvas and drawing freehand, then building the layers of paint over the following weeks - that is my personal Golden Ticket.