John Henry Horse of Year for 9-Year-Old Campaign

John Henry, a castoff who has kept running until his career earnings have reached a record $6.5 million, is thoroughbred racing’s Horse of the Year for 1984 and the oldest horse ever to win the honor.

The announcement was made Friday night at the Eclipse Awards dinner at the Century Plaza Hotel.

In voting by the Daily Racing Form, turf writers and racing secretaries, John Henry edged out Slew o’ Gold, who finished second in the balloting for the second straight year.

The racing secretaries split the vote at 10-10; the Daily Racing Form favored John Henry by 42-24, and the turf writers gave the edge to Slew o’ Gold, 47-46, leaving John Henry with a 98-81 margin.

As a 9-year-old in ‘84, John Henry won six out of nine starts and earned $2.3 million. His major wins, all on the grass, were the Hollywood Invitational and the Sunset Handicap at Hollywood Park, the Budweiser-Arlington Million at Arlington Park and the Turf Classic at Belmont Park.

The previous oldest Horse of the Year was Kelso, who as a 7-year-old won the award for a record fifth straight time in 1964.

John Henry was voted Horse of the Year for the first time as a 6-year-old in ’81. By winning again, he becomes the seventh multiple winner of the award, along with Kelso, Challedon, Whirlaway, Secretariat, Forego and Affirmed.

John Henry’s owners, Sam and Dorothy Rubin, also picked up his Eclipse trophy for champion male grass horse Friday night. It was the fourth time in the last five years that John Henry has won that award.

When Rubin, a New York bicycle importer and an avid horseplayer who owned no horses, bought John Henry for $25,000 in 1983, it was the sixth time the, smallish, ill-mannered gelding had changed hands. At the time, John Henry had won only two out of 17 starts with earnings of about $50,000.

Now, John Henry has a career record of 39 wins out of 83 starts, including 30 stakes wins. Ron McAnally, his trainer, scratched him from the Breeders’ Cup last November at Hollywood Park because of a ligament injury, but McAnally hopes to have him back at the races as a 10-year-old by this summer.

“One Eclipse Award is as big as any of the others,� McAnally said, “but it was gratifying to see what he did at his age last year--win four major races.

“I had a hunch we had a chance in the Eclipse voting even though we didn’t run in the Breeders’ Cup. We traveled all over the country to win races, and that had to help him gain support. Slew o’ Gold’s an outstanding horse, too, but he didn’t go outside New York to win any races.�

While John Henry concentrated on grass, Slew o’ Gold was a dirt specialist. The son of 1977 Horse of the Year Seattle Slew won his first five races and earned a $1 million bonus for becoming the first horse to sweep New York’s fall handicap series.

Running in the Breeders’ Cup Classic despite sore feet, Slew o’ Gold got squeezed between Wild Again and Gate Dancer in the stretch and finished a close third, his only loss of the year. Slew o’ Gold was moved up to second when Gate Dancer was disqualified from second to third. Wild Again’s win was allowed to stand.