Horse Racing : Shannon Gives His View on Brant-Jolley Split

There were reports in the aftermath of the breakup between owner Peter Brant and trainer LeRoy Jolley that a $500,000 training bill played a part in the separation.

“That’s not true,” says Mike Shannon, the principal owner of Manila, who was trained by Jolley.

“Peter’s training bills ran about $200,000 a month, so there might have been a month’s bill that was outstanding from time to time,” Shannon continued. “And I do know that LeRoy had to advance about $100,000, the amount of money it cost to run Peter’s horses in the Breeders’ Cup.

“But they didn’t split up over any money dispute, because Peter’s a guy who pays his bills. Peter just dropped LeRoy. I like LeRoy, and he did a fine job training my horse. But LeRoy can be hard to deal with, and he’s been dumped by several top owners before Brant.”

Brant’s well-bred horses have been turned over to Wayne Lukas’ organization.

Elizabeth Keck, the owner of horse of the year Ferdinand, talking about trainer Charlie Whittingham:

“He’s a horse psychologist. He studies his horses, and then he out-thinks them.”

The Long Island, N.Y., home of Penny Chenery, who owned Secretariat when he won the Triple Crown in 1973, was burglarized last week.

Some jewelry was stolen, but none of Secretariat’s trophies--which would have been difficult to replace--were touched. The burglars probably didn’t know the value of the awards.

Racing can be thankful that Alysheba didn’t win the Triple Crown, the Travers or the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year.

If the colt had swept the Triple Crown--he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before failing in the Belmont--or either of the other two races, it’s likely that his owners--the Clarence Scharbauer family--would have syndicated him for stud duty this year.

“We also would have taken another look at syndication if he had been voted horse of the year,” said Dorothy Scharbauer, Clarence’s wife. “But then that was taken out of our hands.”

Alysheba finished third in the horse-of-the-year voting, behind Ferdinand and Theatrical.

The Scharbauers bought Alysheba as a yearling for $500,000.

“We bought him to enjoy watching him run,” Clarence Scharbauer said. After his victory in the Strub at Santa Anita last Sunday, the Scharbauers have gotten more than $3.1 million in enjoyment out of Alysheba.

Horse Racing Notes

Dr. Lindsey Burbank, owner of the 2-year-old quarter horse filly who won the $1-million first prize in the $2.5-million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs last year but was found to have run with an illegal drug in her system, is saying that he won’t legally contest the loss of the purse. The New Mexico Racing Commission is expected to redistribute the purse after it holds a hearing. The horses that finished third, seventh, eighth and ninth in the Futurity also tested positive for an illegal drug. . . . Del Mar officials are considering an earlier date for the Eddie Read Handicap because the Arlington Million will be run about two weeks earlier this year, on Aug. 20. The Read has been an important prep for California horses running in the Million, which will be run at Woodbine near Toronto this year while Arlington Park is being rebuilt. . . . Barney Nagler, who wrote “Shoemaker,” a book that will be published in April, is ailing. Nagler attended the Eclipse Awards dinner last Friday night in New York but had to leave early because of fatigue. . . . Trainer Jack Van Berg, talking about jockey Pat Day: “When you throw him on a horse before a race, it’s like sending an artist out to work.” . . . In accepting his Eclipse Award for top jockey, Day said: “If God didn’t deliver me from the bondage of drugs and alcohol, I wouldn’t be here.” . . . Tobacco company executives Jack Landry and Pat O’Brien were largely responsible for building the Marlboro Cup into a race that was won by Secretariat, Forego, Seattle Slew and Spectacular Bid. The Marlboro has been dropped from the Belmont Park schedule this year, and O’Brien explains why: “I think it was strictly internal corporate politics. When Jack retired, every project he was connected with went by the wayside.”