Luck, the elusive universal force that is the motivation behind most prayers to the Racing Gods, rarely strikes twice for the same man with the same incredible affect. Throw in a horse with the word “luck” in his name and now you’re really tempting fate.
Luck has had little to do with Bob McIntosh’s Hall of Fame career, but the 62-year-old trainer from LaSalle, ON has been around the track long enough to know when fortune has been winking at him. When it comes to Camluck, Lady Luck smacked McIntosh on the lips not once, but twice.
“A couple of times, I’ve been more lucky than smart,” McIntosh said, referring to two close calls that easily could have scuttled the millionaire pacer from becoming the greatest pacing stallion Ontario — and Canada — has ever known.
McIntosh said Camluck’s stallion career very nearly got… um… derailed… before it started. McIntosh was just one start away from gelding the pacer.
“He was having trouble in the turns. I couldn’t figure it out,” McIntosh said, indicating that Camluck also has a large set of… well… you get it. “I thought, ‘Maybe his cords are bothering him.’ Then I took him to Sportsman’s Park and he won, so I threw out that idea.”
Good thing, because Camluck, who is owned by McIntosh, his cousin, Al McIntosh, and a number of other partners in the New Destiny Stable, went on to be enshrined in both the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame and is the leading pacing sire in North America by progeny earnings. Camluck’s offspring have earned just shy of $220 million combined, about $9 million (and counting) ahead of the late, great U.S.-based stallion Western Hanover currently sitting in second place on the all-time list.
To think McIntosh and his partners nearly missed out on one of the most lucrative stallions in history. The trainer actually made a deal to sell Camluck for $300,000 to a man from Ohio who was at The Red Mile in Lexington, KY on Oct. 2, 1992 when the son of Cam Fella out of Lucky Lady time-trialed in 1:48.4. But a not-so-funny thing happened to the man while driving to McIntosh’s farm, cheque in hand, to pick up Camluck. “He got arrested. They busted him for trafficking marijuana,” McIntosh said.
Before long, a lease deal was arranged with Chris Van Bussel, and Camluck was heading for Seelster Farms in Lucan, ON to start his stallion career.
“I was glad that Chris Van Bussel had (Camluck),” McIntosh said of the late breeder, who was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2004, the year after Camluck was enshrined. “I can remember having a meeting to send (Camluck to Seelster) and Chris was just a real gentleman. His handshake was as good as a contract. He was one of the nicest, most honourable men I’ve ever met.”
Camluck left an indelible mark on the standardbred breed, but the impact the super sire had on Seelster Farms is immeasurable.
“Camluck made Seelster Farms. Without a hesitation I say that. Without him we wouldn’t be where we are today. He put us on the map,” said Ann Straatman, the reproduction manager at the farm where the 28-year-old stallion stood for the better part of 25 years before being retired from active duty in October of 2014.
On May 15, Camluck will become the first horse and 32nd inductee overall to the Wall of Fame at The Raceway at The Western Fair District in London, Ont.
“Being the first horse ever is quite an honour. It caught me off guard, but he had a big impact on Western Fair,” McIntosh said.
Straatman said Camluck not only was the most fertile stallion Seelster has ever stood, he also consistently passed on his “drive and intelligence” to his progeny.
“He is, by far, the smartest horse we’ve ever had, and that’s a lot of horses,” Straatman said. “There isn’t a smarter horse than he is. He’s that smart. He puts that attitude into his foals. We notice it with his yearlings when we go to video them. They video terribly… They won’t be chased. They’re too smart to be chased. They’ll turn around and look at you and wonder, ‘What are you chasing me for?’ It is absolutely an intelligence that comes right from (Camluck).”
McIntosh said he trained a lot of horses sired by Camluck and a common trait was their ability to race tough.
“I think most of them, even when they aren’t 100 per cent, suck it up and give 110 per cent. That’s rare amongst sires,” McIntosh said. “Another thing, too, I noticed about them. When you breed to some sires, if you don’t get a stakes horse, you don’t even have a horse. Camluck sired horses of any class. You could get a good hard-hitting racehorse or you could get a stakes horse. You didn’t have to worry about getting a filly or getting a colt, because they were both good.”
Camluck will join Van Bussel on The Raceway’s Wall of Fame. Straatman, Van Bussel’s daughter, said she was touched by the honour, “especially at our home track.”
She said Camluck’s “nose is a little out of joint” that he doesn’t get to breed anymore, but otherwise, the senior equine is “fantastic”, “in good health” and is enjoying living out his days in his private paddock with special lawn as pristine as one might find on a golf course.
“Whatever Camluck wants, Camluck gets,” Straatman said.
Seelster still includes Camluck in its roster ads.
“Seelster will always be the home of Camluck,” Straatman said. “Since his two-year-olds started racing we’ve been looking for the next Camluck. I don’t know if there’s another. I don’t know if you get two Camlucks in a lifetime.”
Even in a story where Lucky Lady played a starring role, that just may be too much luck to expect.
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