SANTA ANITA : Great Communicator on Way Back

Great Communicator, the California-based hero of the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs, has been out of sight and out of mind since his miserable showing last October in the Oak Tree Invitational.

The quirky gelding finished eighth that day, floundering in the propwash thrown by Hawkster, who set a world record for 1 1/2 miles on the grass. The Oak Tree debacle marked Great Communicator’s fourth consecutive loss in a troubling downward spiral. Clearly, the old boy had reached the end of the line.

Or had he?

This week, as the second anniversary of Great Communicator’s victory in the San Juan Capistrano Handicap approaches Sunday at Santa Anita, trainer and part-owner Thad Ackel was delighted to tell the world that his 7-year-old campaigner has returned to the track and is being pointed toward a comeback this summer.

The ’88 San Juan not only launched Great Communicator as one of North America’s most popular thoroughbreds, it also provided one of the most emotional moments in Santa Anita history. The race came just five days after family patriarch George Ackel--the “great communicator” of New Orleans politics--died of a heart attack.

Thad Ackel dedicated the San Juan to his father, and Great Communicator did the rest. The former claimer went on to win five more major races in the next 13 months, boosting his earnings to $2.8 million and amassing a record of such consistency that he earned the nickname, “the Great One,” with absolutely no apologies to Wayne Gretzky.

Great Communicator’s victory in the ’88 Breeders’ Cup Turf remains his finest hour. Taking on the best 1 1/2-mile grass horses from France (Triptych), England (Indian Skimmer) and New York (Sunshine Forever), he beat them all at 12-1 with a memorable front-running performance.

But Great Communicator’s decline through the second half of 1989 left a sour taste with his many fans. After winning the Hollywood Turf Handicap on May 29, the gelding failed in the Golden Gate Handicap, the Arlington Handicap, the Arlington Million and then the Oak Tree race.

Ackel spent most of the summer and fall second-guessing himself and tending to Great Communicator’s growing list of nagging ailments.

“The one thing I definitely should not have done was run him at Golden Gate,” Ackel said. “The Hollywood race was harder on him than I thought. I should have stopped on him right there and given him two months off.

“But he’d always had a bunch of aches and pains, and he seemed to overcome those during his races. I never really worried about him during his morning work, because that was just him.”

In the subsequent Arlington Million, Great Communicator suffered deep cuts on a hind leg. Ackel was relieved to discover that the vital suspensory ligaments were spared any damage.

“I basically thought the cuts were the extent of the injury,” he said. “But I think when it happened, it actually threw his stride off up front, and he wrenched his ankle a little bit.”

“After the way he ran in the Oak Tree Invitational, though, I knew without a doubt that he needed some time off,” Ackel said.

After two months of walking and pampering at Ackel’s Hollywood Park stable, Great Communicator was sent to Fred Sahadi’s Cardiff Stud Farm in Creston, just east of Atascadero. The gelding took up temporary residence alongside Flying Paster, California’s leading sire, and Skywalker, winner of the 1986 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

According to Ackel, Great Communicator had his own paddock, an acre of lush pasture and plenty of attention, despite the fact he was a definite non-participant in the breeding season going on around him.

Great Communicator’s vacation ended in late March when he returned to Hollywood Park. He has been galloping for about two weeks now, growing stronger every day.

“He really needed the rest,” Ackel said. “He was getting a little tense, a little irritable. Now he’s much more relaxed.”

Ackel is not deluding himself about the chances for Great Communicator to reach his old heights.

“If you don’t expect too much, you’re never disappointed,” the trainer said. “Realistically, I’m looking at a 7-year-old horse. He looks great, but he’s got some wear and tear. Hopefully, the rest repaired all his aches and pains.”