Who’s in 1st? That’s Very Often Right

His name is Sam Who.

On the day he was born, his mother was very sick. She had salmonella. Sam Who was so, so close to death. Nobody thought he would make it. Sam Who was about to be here one minute and gone the next--his whole life as anonymous as his name.

At the farm where the birth occurred, Frank Taylor started up his old Chevrolet Impala, then gently helped lower Sam Who onto the back seat. The newborn was rushed to the hospital, where he nearly died, three different times. Day after day, it looked like the end of Sam Who.

Medical bills mounted to $33,000. Keeping Sam alive was costing a fortune. Yet, everybody could tell that this little guy was a fighter. He wouldn’t give up. He had staying power. The people responsible for Sam Who’s well-being began to love him more and more.

Until suddenly--look who’s walking!

Yes, it’s Sam Who, the horse with a name that either belongs in a private-eye story or an Abbott and Costello routine. Now widely regarded as one of the leading sprinters in racing, Sam Who--just off a disappointing finish in the Breeders’ Cup--looms as the heavy favorite for Saturday’s $75,000 Hollywood Turf Express, a six-furlong dash for the cash at Hollywood Park.

“Sam’s a neat horse--he’s got personality,” said Taylor, on the phone from Taylormade Farms in Kentucky. “One thing about Sam, he doesn’t know he’s a horse. He thinks he’s a pet.

“And frankly, that’s pretty much how we think of him, too. I’ve seen a lot of different things since I’ve been around horses, and I can tell you honestly that most horses would have died if they’d gone through what Sam went through. Sam’s got a will of his own, a strong desire to live. We just love him around here. He’s a real character.”

From the time that wobbly 150-pound foal was loaded into the back of Frank’s Chevy, Sam Who was brought up like a frail and favorite son. He was hand-raised, and required three nurse mares because his mother, Faneuil Lass, was still so ill. Everyone at the farm fawned all over him. And poor Sam needed a lot of looking after.

“He looked so terrible, and the expenses became so astronomical, that they thought about unloading him at a January sale,” Taylor said. “But nobody would go more than $18,000. Nobody thought he was worth much. And the truth was, I don’t think any of his owners really had the heart to get rid of him.”

Sam Who is owned by Nita Brooks and Sam Stevens. Sam who? Sam Stevens.

Therein lies the horse’s tale.

Sam’s wife, to her friends, was often called by a nickname, Laddie. Whenever the friends would phone the house and Sam would answer, they would ask to speak to Laddie. His reply would always be the same: “Laddie who?”

Since his racing career began to flourish, Sam Who has hardly been a nobody. Trained by Henry Moreno and usually ridden by Laffit Pincay, he has been, more often than not, both fast and first. Sam won three consecutive sprints at Hollypark last summer, and won six of his nine races in 1989, before the Breeders’ Cup.

No wonder Sam Who went off at 9-2 at Gulfstream, one of the horses to beat in the Breeders’ Sprint race. Pincay was aboard, and his chances looked great.

The record, alas, will show that he finished dead last.

There were extenuating circumstances. Sam Who actually ran fourth, but was disqualified and dropped to 13th after, according to the official chart, he “angled in sharply after the start, interfering with Mr. Nickerson, Regal Intention, Dispersal, Once Wild, Black Tie Affair, On the Line and Sewickley.”

Sounds like Sammy turned into a four-legged bumper car. Pretty soon they may start calling him Sam (Bam) Who.

“Yeah, he knocked into a whole bunch of ‘em,” Taylor said, laughing.

The horse actually ran afoul of Safely Kept before racking up the rest of the field 30 yards out of the gate. Pincay caught some of the flak after the race, but turned out to be more or less an innocent bysitter. Sam Who was guilty as charged. His name wasn’t even changed to protect the innocent.

Now he’s returning to the scene of better times. Last May 20, Sam Who set the Hollywood Park track record of 1:08 for six furlongs.

So, this Saturday, you can bet that people will be telling other people that they’ll be betting on Sam.

Sam who?

Yes.

No, what’s his name?

Sam Who.

The one you’re betting on.

Yes.

You’re betting on Sam?

Yes.

Sam who?

Yes.

Yes what?

That’s the one I’m betting on.

Who?

Yes.