Best Pal
From AlexBrownRacing
Lifetime Earnings: $5,668,245
47 Starts: 18 - 11 - 4
(Ran in-the-money 70%)
Owner: Golden Eagle Farm
Breeder: Mr. & Mrs. John C. Mabee
Read about Golden Eagle Farm & The Mabees' Legacy
State Bred: CALIFORNIA
BEST PAL was a champion racehorse, who to this day holds the record for purses of any California-bred racehorse, earning his owners, John & Betty Mabee of Golden Eagle Farm, US$5.7 million over his lifetime.
Arguably the best handicap runner of 1992, Best Pal was never honored with a national championship but won the hearts of thousands of fans, particularly in his native California. Best Pal raced in the Mabees’ maroon and gold silks for seven seasons, winning graded races every season he raced and retiring as one of the leading California-bred runners of all time.
Best Pal was named California Horse of the Year three times!
Best Pal was - above all else - a professional racehorse. The husky gelding came out running early and hardly ever stopped during a remarkable career that saw him win 18 races - 17 of them stakes - and $5,668,245 in purses, far and away the record for a California-bred, and at the time putting him 3rd on the all time money earning list behind Alysheba and John Henry.
A descendant of Princequillo on both his sire's and dam's line, Best Pal won the first running of the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar, and finished second in the 1991 Kentucky Derby, narrowly losing to Strike The Gold at the wire.
NY Times article about Best Pal's upset victory in the 1991 Pacific Classic
Best Pal won the 1991 Santa Anita Derby, and ran again, placing second, in the Santa Anita Derby in 1995 at age 7. In 1993, he won the California Gold Cup at Hollywood Park Racetrack. See below for Best Pal's entire race record (47 starts, including WINS at seven GI stakes races).
~ SUMMARY ~ Major Racing Wins, Awards and Honours
Major Racing Wins
Hollywood Futurity (1990)
Del Mar Futurity (1990)
Norfolk Stakes (1990)
Pacific Classic Stakes (1991)
Swaps Stakes (1991)
Santa Anita Handicap (1992)
Charles H. Strub Stakes (1992)
Oaklawn Handicap (1992)
Hollywood Gold Cup (1993)
California Cup Classic (1993)
Native Diver Handicap (1994)
San Antonio Handicap (1995)
~ ONE OF THE GREAT GELDINGS ~
Consider a 2-year-old who began racing in the middle of May, campaigned until early December, and completed a rare sweep of California's three major races for the division - the Del Mar Futurity, Norfolk Stakes and Hollywood Futurity - all of them at a mile or more, to end up the leading 2-year-old money-winner in North America and earn a 125-pound Experimental Handicap rating, only one pound below the national champion.
Consider a 3-year-old who suffered heartbreak seconds in both the Kentucky Derby and Santa Anita Derby, only to bounce back from Triple Crown rigors to win the Swaps Stakes, the biggest 3-year-old race of the Hollywood Park summer meet. Then, while the other top members of the division were still facing each other, he stepped up to beat a field of older horses at 1 1/4 miles in the inaugural running of the $1 million Pacific Classic, defeating the winners of the Kentucky Derby (Unbridled), the Santa Anita Handicap (Farma Way), the reigning grass champion (Itsallgreektome) and the horses who later won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (Festin) and finished second in the Breeders' Cup Classic (Twilight Agenda). He ended his 3-year-old season by finishing second on the grass at level weights to Fly Till Dawn, one of the nation's best older turf runners.
Finally, consider an older gelding who raced 28 times from ages four through seven, winning 10 stakes - six of them Grade 1 or 2 - and more than $3.5 million (for a final total of $5.7 million), with second or third-place finishes in another seven Grade 1 or 2 events, including a loss by only a head, at the age of seven, in the Santa Anita Handicap.
Those are three pretty good horses - except for the fact that all of those descriptions represent the three remarkable stages in the career of one very special racehorse ... BEST PAL!
There are only a handful of great geldings who have earned a place in the Hall of Fame. Kelso and Forego lead the way, with Armed and Exterminator not far behind. Few horses - geldings or otherwise - can stand comparison with such a crew. None of them, however, began their long careers with a 2-year-old season that compares remotely to Best Pal's. At the very least, the sum total of his record stacks up favorably with those of Hall of Famer Native Diver, the Cal-bred speed demon of the 1960s, and of Fort Marcy, who was elected to the Hall of Fame on the strength of his long and honorable life on turf.
Apart from his record, Best Pal was a Southern California hero with a fan base that could impact attendance on the biggest days of the year. He was the subject of a children's book who was plagued off and on by troubled feet, yet he was still sound and honest enough to win all four major California main track races at a mile and one-quarter - the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup, Charles H. Strub Stakes and Pacific Classic - over the span of three seasons.
Retired from racing in 1996, Best Pal had a short career as a Pony Horse in southern California. (Trainer Gayle Van Leer on Best Pal in his second career as a lead pony with Dramatic Gold, below)
His retirement was given special note by the CTBA, which published a twenty-page supplement detailing his career and some of the personal memories held by the people surrounding him. The Mabees took steps to ensure Best Pal’s future by setting up a living trust to pay for his care. But he was not forgotten. He was annually honored at Del Mar racetrack, where he led the post parade for the Pacific Classic (now a grade I race) in 1996 through 1998, and he continued to receive bags of mail and visits from fans bearing his favorite treats -- peppermints and carrots.
A racehorse through and through, Best Pal was never fully satisfied with his cushy life as a farm pony, taking 2-year-olds back and forth from their training chores. In the 10 short years of his life, he left a significant imprint as one of the most precocious 2-year-olds in California history, proved himself the second best member of his 30,000-plus foal crop on Derby Day, then continued on as a durable older horse who could win on the road and excel repeatedly at America's classic distance.
~ REST IN PEACE ~
Best Pal died while leading young horses, yearlings and 2-year olds, to their daily exercise at the nearby training track at Golden Eagle Farm. While being ridden and after a light jog, the horse suddenly stumbled and collapsed, crashing through a fence. Best Pal was dead at ten years of age the result of an apparent massive heart attack. He was buried on the ranch and a huge boulder mounted over the grave with an engraved bronze plaque simply reading: Best Pal 1988-1998.
Best Pal is still remembered fondly at Del Mar, where the race in which he won his first graded victory, the Balboa Stakes, was renamed in his honor in 1996. His name was also given to a popular pub just by the paddock area, which to this day maintains a veritable shrine of Best Pal memorabilia. It is a fitting tribute to a horse that touched the heart of the Golden State.
~ BEST PAL STAKES ~
The Best Pal Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California.
The race is open to horses, age two, that are willing to race six and one-half furlongs on the dirt. A Grade II event, it carries a purse of $150,000. The 2008 Best Pal Stakes was run this year on August 10. This GII race is key for 2-year-olds on the road to the Breeder's Cup World Championships. Del Mar Racetrack also hosts an annual GI race named in honor of Best Pal's owner/breeder John C. Mabee of Golden Eagle Farm.
~ Best Pal Stakes Winners ~
2008 - Azul Leon (Rafael Bejarano)
2007 - Salute the Sarge (Michael C. Baze)
2006 - Principal Secret (Alex Solis)
2005 - What A Song (Victor Espinoza)
2004 - Roman Ruler (Corey Nakatani)
2003 - Perfect Moon (Pat Valenzuela)
2002 - Kafwain (Victor Espinoza)
2001 - Officer (Victor Espinoza)
2000 - Flame Thrower (Corey Nakatani)
1999 - Dixie Union (Alex Solis)
1998 - Worldly Manner (Gary L. Stevens)
1997 - Old Topper (Alex Solis)
1996 - Swiss Yodeler (Alex Solis)
1995 - Cobra King (Russell Baze)
1994 - Timber Country (Alex Solis)
Winnings: 47 Starts: 18 - 11 - 4, $5,668,245
At 2: WON Hollywood Futurity (G1), Del Mar Futurity (G2), Norfolk S.(G1), Balboa S.(G3), I'm Smokin S. 2ND Ladbroke Futurity
At 3: WON Pacific Classic S., Swaps S.(G2) 2ND Kentucky Derby (G1), Santa Anita Derby (G1), Citation H.(G2), Silver Screen H.(G3), California Cup Classic S. 3RD San Rafael S.
At 4: WON Santa Anita H.(G1), Charles H. Strub S.(G1), Oaklawn H.(G1), San Fernando S.(G2)
At 5: WON Hollywood Gold Cup (G1), California Cup Classic H. 2ND Hollywood Turf H.(G1) 3RD Pacific Classic S.(G1), Oaklawn H.(G1)
At 6: WON Native Diver H.(G3), Answer Do S. 2ND Pacific Classic S.(G1), San Pasqual H.(G2) 3RD Kentucky Cup Classic S.
At 7: WON San Antonio H.(G2), Skywalker S. 2ND Santa Anita H.(G1), California Cup Classic H.
HABITONY ~ Best Pal's Sire
Best Pal's sire, Habitony (Irish-bred, purchased & imported by the Mabees for $2 million), is another California racing legend:
At 2: WON Norfolk S. (G2), Sunny Slope S. (G3); 2ND Del Mar Futurity (G2), Balboa S.
At 3: WON Santa Anita Derby (G1); 2ND San Felipe H. (G2); 3RD Hollywood Derby (G1)
Sent to Japan 1980, Returned to U.S. 1985.
Habitony died Jan. 30, 2001 at the age of 27, due to complications of old age. He rests beside his son Best Pal at Golden Eagle Farm, Ramona, CA.
Sire of graded stakes winners: BEST PAL, RICHTER SCALE (2000 Cal-bred Sprint Champion), TOTAL TEMPO, MY HABITONY and HABITONIA.
Richter Scale's pedigree PICTURED BELOW
Total Tempo's pedigree PICTURED BELOW
UBETSHEDID ~ Best Pal's Dam
1992 Broodmare of the Year in California. Dam of Best Pal, Prosperous Bid, Best Mate, Astrology, American Day, Youbetshecan, Americas Pal, Ubethedid, Stylish Bolide, Stylish Accent, First Buddy.
Ubetshedid, the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Best Pal, was euthanized on September 12, 2003. The 23-year-old daughter of King Pellinore declined in health shortly after an orphan foal she adopted this spring was removed from her care to join a group of weanlings at owner Betty Mabee's Golden Eagle Farm near Ramona, California.Ubetshedid and the foal, a son of General Meeting out of the Riverman mare Ages Ago, had been inseparable since being paired after his dam died of colic following his birth on March 28.
"She likes to show off this foal," Mabee told THOROUGHBRED TIMES in June. "She's keeping up with him. She used to really have trouble with her knee, but now it's harder to notice."
Ubetshedid was unplaced in one career start as a three-year-old in 1983. Her fourth foal was Best Pal, who won six Grade 1 races and earned $5,668,245.
Ubetshedid's other progeny include Grade 3-placed winner American Day, a son of Nureyev who stands at Golden Eagle; and stakes-placed winners Prosperous Bid and Best Mate.
Ubetshedid's final foal is New Event, a two-year-old son of Event of the Year.
A plaque honoring Ubetshedid will be placed near the graves of Best Pal and his sire, *Habitony, at Golden Eagle.
Bred in California by Mabee and her late husband, John, Ubetshedid was out of Grade 2-placed Ubetido, by Sir Wiggle. Her half sister Devine Pet produced Grade 1 winner Richter Scale.
