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One of the most incredible racing stories was that of the gelding John Henry. Horse started out in the mid-claiming ranks, then suddenly became a champ of champs, receiving Horse of the Year honors twice.

The horse was named after the folk hero John Henry. As a colt, John Henry had a habit of tearing steel water and feed buckets off stall walls and stomping them flat. This reminded his owners of the legendary John Henry, who was known as a “steel-drivin’ man”.[citation needed][2]

He was gelded both for his temperament as well as his lack of good breeding, which meant that he would have been unlikely to be in much demand as a breeding stallion.

John Henry was a Golden Chance Farm foal. His sire, Ole Bob Bowers, was sired by Prince Blessed and his dam, Once Double, was sired by Double Jay, a graded stakes race winner.

John Henry was back at the knee (a flaw in conformation that generally makes a long racing career unlikely), undersized, and plainly bred. He was sold as a yearling for $1,100 at the Keeneland January Mixed sale to John Callaway who is credited with giving John Henry his name.

Racing record

John Henry had a series of trainers, and earned money in minor stakes, allowance races, and mid-level claiming races. In 1978, New York City businessman Sam Rubin and his wife Dorothy paid $25,000 sight-unseen for the three-year-old John Henry.

Racing under the Rubins’ Dotsam Stable banner, he was first conditioned by trainer Robert Donato. Under him, John Henry won 6 of 19 starts and $120,000, starting the year as a cheap claimer and finishing it as a stakes winner.

In 1979, John Henry was given to a new trainer, Lefty Nickerson. Under him, John Henry won 4 of 11 races in 1979. When the grass season was over in New York, Rubin decided to send the horse to California under trainer Ron McAnally. Under McAnally, John Henry won six stakes races in a row.

Racing through the age of nine, John Henry won the 1981 Santa Anita Handicap and repeated in 1982 after Perrault was disqualified. He is one of only three horses with back-to-back victories in the race’s 72-year history.

He also won the Arlington Million Stakes twice and won three renewals of both the Hollywood Invitational Handicap and the Oak Tree Invitational Stakes, two Grade I turf stakes in Southern California.

He won one of America’s most important races for older horses, the 1981 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park, at 1½ miles on the dirt. This victory clinched his first Horse of the Year title.

A bronze statue called Against All Odds, created by Edwin Bogucki, stands on a balcony overlooking the paddock at Arlington Park. It commemorates one of John Henry’s most famous finishes; in 1981, at the inaugural Arlington Million, John Henry won over 5-year-old The Bart in a photo finish.

On December 11, 1983, John Henry became the first racehorse to surpass $4 million in career earnings when he won the Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes with jockey Chris McCarron at Hollywood Park Racetrack.

John Henry’s last race was the 1984 Ballantine Scotch Classic at the Meadowlands.

As he took the lead in the stretch, Meadowlands track announcer Dave Johnson exclaimed, “And down the stretch they come! The old man, John Henry, takes command!”

He pulled away to his 39th career victory and his second Horse of the Year title. The final time of 2:13 equaled the track record for 1-3/8 mile.

John Henry was a late entry into the Inaugural Breeders Cup in 1984 but a strained ligament in his left foreleg caused him to be withdrawn from the race and retired.

John Henry’s final race record stood at 83 starts, 39 wins, 15 seconds, and 9 thirds with $6,591,860 in earnings.

He was twice voted the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year in 1981 and 1984; 1981 being the first unanimous election of the winner.

That feat was not repeated until 2015 when Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was also elected unanimously.[3]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_(horse)