Oh, I eventually found another job while at Hialeah, Fla. I worked for the guy who trained Holding Pattern. HP defeated Preakness and Belmont winner, late flying, Little Current, by a nose in the ‘74 Travers. He just barely held on.
1974 Travers Stakes:
Holding Pattern, Little Current, Chris Evert and others battle it out in the slop:
(track announcer Dave Johnson gives the call!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5zFwGjOwvk
I just now came across this. I forgot the pair (Little Current and Holding Pattern) had met earlier in the Monmouth Invitational. Little Current and Cannonade were two other horses I got to see up close and pet. Cannonade won the Derby the year LC won the Preakness and Belmont. Both horses bit me on the shoulder!, btw.
“After capturing the Belmont, Little Current only raced three times. He did not start again until August’s Monmouth Invitational Handicap where, after being nearly 20 lengths behind the leader, he put on another explosive drive to finish second by a nose to Holding Pattern. These two horses then met in the Travers Stakes with the same result.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Current#Belmont_Stakes