Originally posted on Paulickreport.com on 10/22/2024, written by Elizabeth Martiniak
Arts and Letters is among the many Virginia-Bred horses in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame
The first Kentucky Derby I remember watching was 1969, won by the drop-dead gorgeous Majestic Prince. My first Preakness came next, and once again, Majestic Prince won, albeit narrowly. The second place finisher in both races was a small, dark chestnut colt named Arts and Letters. Then came my first Belmont Stakes, and Majestic Prince lost to Arts and Letters. Well, I had just turned seven years old between the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, so it was probably not surprising that I vented childish anger at Arts and Letters for beating my hero.
It was only when I was much older that I came to appreciate what a great horse Arts and Letters really was. Arts and Letters was the complete antithesis of his rival Majestic Prince. The latter was a royally bred, bright copper chestnut by Raise a Native out of Gay Hostess, by Royal Charger. He had been bred by Leslie Combs II at Spendthrift Farm and sold as a yearling for a record $250,000 to Canadian oil executive Frank McMahon. Named Majestic Prince, he was sent to be trained by former Triple Crown winning jockey Johnny Longden in California. Majestic Prince was a star in a land of stars. Arts and Letters, on the other hand, was a smallish (he would top out at 15.3 hands) dark chestnut with a white right hind ankle and a large star on his forehead. He had none of the flash or brilliance of his future rival. What he did have in spades was stamina and soundness.
The mating that produced Arts and Letters was planned by William du Pont, Jr., scion of the powerful du Pont family, which made its fortune in the chemical industry. He and his older sister, Marion du Pont Scott, were both heavily involved in racing, Marion having owned the steeplechasers Battleship and Annapolis while William owned the top-class stakes winner Rosemont and champion fillies Fairy Chant, Fair Star, Berlo, and Parlo.
The latter, a chestnut daughter of Heliopolis foaled in 1951, earned co-championship laurels with Lavender Hill in 1954 by virtue of her wins in the Alabama Stakes, Delaware Oaks, Firenze Handicap, and Beldame Stakes. For good measure, she added wins in the Top Flight and Delaware Handicaps at four enroute to another co-championship with Misty Morn as champion older female.
As a broodmare, Parlo’s lasting legacy rests with her daughter All Beautiful, whose sire was champion juvenile colt Battlefield. Battlefield was a high-class stakes winner each year he raced through the age of five. His disposition was fragile but hardly surprising considering he was a son of the savage War Relic out of a mare by the moody and troublesome Display, both from the fiery Hastings-Fair Play sire line. All Beautiful raced only twice for one win. Though she produced nine winners, Arts and Letters was her masterpiece. One wonders what du Pont was thinking when he sent his daughter of Battlefield to be covered by the imported Italian champion Ribot, a stallion who possessed a combustible temperament of his own. Nevertheless, the mating went ahead and du Pont included her in his dispersal sale in 1965. Carrying her foal by Ribot, she was purchased by Paul Mellon for $165,000.
Mellon, heir to the Mellon banking fortune, art collector, and generous philanthropist was a very enthusiastic Thoroughbred breeder and owner and had won the Belmont Stakes in 1964 with Quadrangle. The Ribot–All Beautiful colt, foaled on April Fool’s Day 1966, was named Arts and Letters, an homage to Mellon’s years of study as a graduate of both Yale University and the University of Cambridge in England. The equine Arts and Letters showed talent early on in his training under the tutelage of J. Elliott Burch, but left little doubt he would need some time to develop.
The young son of Ribot could not have been placed in more capable or patient hands. Burch was renowned for his patient handling of horses. He had also served as trainer for Isabel Dodge Sloane. In 1959, he took Sloane’s Sword Dancer from a colt she tried to sell early in his 3-year-old season to a Belmont Stakes winner, two-time conqueror of the mighty Round Table, champion 3-year-old, and Horse of the Year by season’s end. Under his care, the late-developing Quadrangle spoiled the Triple Crown bid of Northern Dancer in 1964.
Though Burch was high on the young colt when he first arrived at his stable in early 1968, he soon found the scrappy little chestnut possessed a disposition that could only charitably be called variable. Herein lay another difference between Arts and Letters and the Raise a Native colt whose name would be inextricably linked with his. Majestic Prince was adored for his kind and gentle disposition. With Arts and Letters, the fiery genes of Ribot, Battlefield, and War Relic, combined with the dark moodiness of Display, bubbled to the surface whenever the colt felt so inclined. He was not predisposed to like being fussed over or petted and was known to throw fits of temper, especially as a very young horse. It was found that a plentiful supply of sugar cubes could mollify the colt. His disposition did have a very gratifying upside in the fact that he was very competitive and tenacious in his racing. But as a son of the stamina influence Ribot, it was not surprising that he was a little slow to find his best form, both physically and mentally.
Arts and Letters made his debut in a 5-½ furlong maiden race on August 9, 1968 at Saratoga under Laffit Pincay, Jr. He tired and finished a well beaten seventh. It took two more tries, another fourth-place finish and a second before the Ribot colt broke his maiden, ridden to a confident 3-½ length victory over Meadow Stable’s Hydrologist by Jorge Velazquez in a seven-furlong maiden race at Belmont Park. His time was a decent 1:24 ⅕. This set up Paul Mellon’s colt perfectly for his next start, a one-mile allowance event at Belmont Park on October 15th. Once again, Hydrologist was his hapless victim, as Arts and Letters got to the wire first by 2 ½ lengths in a performance the Daily Racing Form summed up in one word: “easily.”
Trainer Burch, encouraged by his charge’s development thus far, decided the time was right to wade into deeper waters – stakes company – in the 1-1/16 mile Pimlico-Laurel Futurity only seventeen days later. The waters proved to be too deep, as Arts and Letters proved no match for Wheatley Stable’s brilliant speedball King Emperor, a Bold Ruler colt and full brother to champion filly Queen Empress. Arts and Letters finished a lackluster fourth, the Daily Racing Form stating he “lacked rally.” The little son of Ribot was then put away for the season.
Meanwhile, across the continent, in southern California, Majestic Prince was just getting started under the careful tutoring of former jockey Johnny Longden, bucked shins having interrupted his training and delayed his highly anticipated debut. The striking copper chestnut made his first start on Thanksgiving Day at Bay Meadows in a six-furlong maiden event and won easily. The day after Christmas, Majestic Prince again went six furlongs at Santa Anita and barely scraped home by a nose after a troubled start. With his beautiful physique, speed, and charisma, Majestic Prince was gaining the admiration and respect of a litany of fans.
The first half of his 3-year-old season was a frustrating one for the connections of Arts and Letters. The colt showed some flashes of brilliance but he had a maddening propensity to lose one prestigious race after another. As Majestic Prince sailed through victories in California, Arts and Letters struggled in Florida. On Jan. 25, Arts and Letters finished third to the highly regarded Ack Ack in a seven-furlong allowance race at Hialeah. Finally, Arts and Letters broke through in his next start nearly a month later, the nine-furlong Everglades Stakes at Hialeah. Guided by Jean Cruguet, Arts and Letters captured his first stakes victory by three lengths. Breaking last, Arts and Letters kept improving his position throughout the race and in the stretch galloped past second place finisher Top Knight, with Al Hattab in third and Ack Ack in fourth.
Confidence grew in the Arts and Letters camp for his next start, the Flamingo Stakes, again at nine furlongs. The Ribot colt was improving, but so was the previous year’s juvenile champion, Top Knight. Others in the field of 12 included the Round Table colt Beau Brummel, winner of the rich Garden State Stakes the previous autumn and Claiborne Farm’s Herbager colt Dike, winner of the Breeders’ Futurity at two. Here the frustration set in, as Arts and Letters took command on the turn for home and held the lead until mid-stretch before giving it up to Top Knight, who went on to win by two lengths in 1:47 ⅘, only ⅘ of a second off the track mark set by Bold Ruler twelve years before.
Two more runner-up finishes followed his performance in the Flamingo, to Al Hattab in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and to Top Knight in the Florida Derby. In the latter race, Arts and Letters was the best of the rest, including Al Hattab, but try as he might, he could not catch Top Knight, who sailed home five lengths to the good. Time was running out for Arts and Letters to persuade fans he should be one of the top choices in the Kentucky Derby. With three straight bridesmaid finishes, the Rokeby colt needed a breakthrough performance to earn that distinction. That he finally gave in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland – a whopping 15 length tour de force partnered by Bill Shoemaker that finally earned him some healthy support for The Run for the Roses. It seemed as if the connections of Arts and Letters had finally found the perfect rider for their Derby hope when, not long after the Bluegrass, Shoemaker was seriously injured and a replacement was needed. Their choice fell upon the taciturn Panamanian, Braulio Baeza.
Eight colts lined up in the Churchill Downs starting gate, among them Majestic Prince, unbeaten in his eight starts and the overwhelming fan favorite, second choice Top Knight, and Dike. Arts and Letters was the third betting choice. In the race itself, Arts and Letters gave the best performance of his career thus far, albeit a narrow and courageous losing one. Longshot Ocean Roar set the pace for five furlongs, with Majestic Prince on the outside, Arts and Letters along the rail and Top Knight right with them. At the ¾-mile point of call, Ocean Roar dropped back and Top Knight took the lead, but not for long, as Arts and Letters, under Braulio Baeza for the first time, swept past Top Knight on the turn. As Top Knight faded, Arts and Letters was joined by Majestic Prince on the outside. The glamorous copper chestnut and the scrappy dark chestnut then battled down the entire stretch before Majestic Prince, under regular pilot Bill Hartack, prevailed by a neck in 2:01 ⅘. Claiborne Farm’s Dike made a gallant run to finish third.
The Preakness Stakes two weeks later at Pimlico in Baltimore turned out to have even more excitement and an added element of drama. Top Knight came back for another try against the top pair in a field of eight that also included the highly regarded Al Hattab. Even after his superb, albeit losing performance in the Derby, Arts and Letters got no respect from the bettors, going off the third choice behind Majestic Prince and Top Knight. Past the stands the first time, Arts and Letters was caught between Majestic Prince and Al Hattab, as both came in on him. Baeza had to take up his mount, causing him to lose valuable ground. As Greengrass Greene and Glad’s Flame set the pace, Majestic Prince, Al Hattab, and Top Knight followed about three lengths in arrears of the top pair, and Arts and Letters even farther back. Around the turn for home, Majestic Prince swept into the lead and through the stretch had to dig down deep to withstand the furious onslaught of Arts and Letters, who just missed by a head. Baeza did not hesitate to lodge a claim of foul against Majestic Prince and Bill Hartack for the interference that occurred after the start when his colt found himself in tight quarters and lost ground.
Baeza told reporters, “Just before we got into the first turn, he [Hartack on Majestic Prince] started driving on his horse and came out. I have to stop my horse or I have to clip the heels of the horses ahead of me. I know I would have beat him if that didn’t happen.”
While the stewards agreed that Baeza did indeed have to briefly check his horse, it did not merit a disqualification. Even so, it took them 25 minutes to reach that conclusion.
The Triple Crown, not won since Citation turned the trick 21 years earlier, was on the line. Elliott Burch, the trainer of Arts and Letters, had been in this position before. Eleven years previously, his colt Sword Dancer had been the bridesmaid in the first two legs of the Triple Crown, only to win the Belmont and go on from there on a summer blitz that garnered him championship laurels as champion 3-year-old and Horse of the Year.
He had prepared Sword Dancer for his Belmont victory in a very daring way – by successfully running him in the prestigious Metropolitan Handicap. He decided to use the same strategy with Arts and Letters.
Arts and Letters was sent against ten other horses in the Metropolitan, including the top older male in the country, the hugely popular Nodouble, affectionately known as “the Arkansas Traveler,” as well as former champion Vitriolic, the speedy Promise, and the durable Iron Ruler. Promise set the pace and eventually held on bravely to finish third as he was swallowed up in the stretch by both Arts and Letters and Nodouble. The latter, that year’s Santa Anita Handicap champion, could not go with Arts and Letters and crossed the wire two and a half lengths in arrears of the Mellon color bearer. The time was a sparkling 1:34 flat, only ⅖ of a second shy of the track record.
His performance was a turning point in the career of Arts and Letters. Prior to the Met, the colt had raced eight times at three, for two victories, five second place finishes, and one third. For the rest of the season, he would not know defeat. Everything came together for the son of Ribot in the stretch of Belmont Park that afternoon of May 30, 1969.
Burch was ebullient, telling the press, “He came out of the Metropolitan better than when he went into it. Furthermore, he’s better than either Sword Dancer or Quadrangle. He can do amazing things.”
Meanwhile, things were not so rosy in the Majestic Prince camp. The dual classic champion was showing the effects of his rigorous campaign. He was tired, had lost weight, and trainer Longden revealed the colt was suffering from a troublesome tendon injury in one leg. Then came the bombshell – trainer Longden announced Majestic Prince would not contest the Belmont Stakes. The announcement set off a firestorm, including arguments between the colt’s connections and an indignant press, including a piece penned by Whitney Tower in Sports Illustrated entitled “The Prince Ducks the Big One.” But in the end, the final say came down to owner Frank McMahon, who bristled at the thought his colt was avoiding another match-up with his rapidly improving rival. He stated to the press gruffly the colt was not hurt and, “He will run. And if he loses, so what?”
If Majestic Prince was not the same horse he had been in the Derby and Preakness, neither was Arts and Letters. In an oft-used cliche, his authoritative victory in the Metropolitan had transformed him from a boy into a man. Only six contestants loaded into the starting gate for the mile and a half classic. Once again Majestic Prince was favored, but the fans and connections of Arts and Letters had come to believe the race would reveal Arts and Letters to be Wellington versus Majestic Prince as Napoleon in this equine battle of Waterloo.
The only other serious threat to either Majestic Prince or Arts and Letters was Dike, recovered from a minor injury which had kept the Derby third-place finisher out of the Preakness. The Claiborne Farm colt was a confirmed closer, but in the Belmont, Dike, under Eddie Belmonte, turned the tables and went to the lead directly to set a pedantic pace – :25 ⅖ for the quarter, 1:16 ⅕ for six furlongs, and the mile in 1:40 ⅕. Then Arts and Letters surged to the lead and ran the last two quarters in twin fractions of :24 ⅖. Majestic Prince, under Hartack, had been kept back in fifth position for much of the race, and when he finally made his move, was unable to rein in Arts and Letters, who was long gone, a 5-½ length winner in a final time of 2:28 ⅘. Dike held on for an admirable third place finish.
There was much consternation over the loss of the favorite, many placing the blame on Hartack for keeping his mount so far back when the pace was so pedestrian. Hartack refused to speak after the race, though Baeza, Burch, and Paul Mellon were positively beaming.
Mellon was as gracious in victory as he had been in defeat, telling the New York Times, “We lost the Derby by a neck and the Preakness by a head, and it was a good horse that beat us. If I had my choice of a single race of the Triple Crown, I’d certainly pick the Belmont, because of the championship distance.”
Sadly, the Belmont proved to be the last race of Majestic Prince’s stellar career. He never made it back to the races and was retired to his birthplace, Spendthrift Farm.
Arts and Letters, however, went from strength to strength after his Belmont victory and was absolutely untouchable the rest of the season. Given a good freshening, the rapidly developing colt was not seen under colors again until Aug. 8 for the one-mile Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga, then, as now, a prep for the prestigious Travers Stakes, but then, run only a week before the mid-summer classic. He and partner Braulio Baeza picked up where they had left off in June and merely toyed with the field, winning by a widening ten lengths.
For the Travers, Arts and Letters was obliged to carry 126 pounds under the allowance conditions for the race then in force, six to 12 pounds more than the rest of the field, which included familiar foe Dike (120 pounds), Hydrologist, Gleaming Light, and Distray. Those people who preferred to be 151 miles south of Saratoga at Woodstock, listening to Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, and The Who, missed an authoritative display of easy dominance by an equine rock star. Baeza was content to take back to fourth position for much of the race as Gleaming Light and Hydrologist set the pace. Around the turn for home, both Arts and Letters and Dike made moves, but nothing could match the powerful sweep of Arts and Letters as he galloped on to a six-length victory over the luckless Dike. Baeza, known for his taciturn personality, allowed himself a little emotion when he happily told the New York Times, “He just runs so well.”
In his next start, the ten-furlong Woodward Stakes, Eddie Belmonte on Nodouble, tried to fool Baeza and Arts and Letters by trying to steal the race on the lead with buggy horse fractions, but it was a losing tactic. Baeza kept his mount closer to the crawling pace then swooped by at the eighth pole to a facile two-length win over the beloved Arkansas Traveler. One young horse lover in the stands who delightedly cheered on the winner was 11-year-old Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the ill-fated president who watched as a guest of the Mellon family.
The two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup at Aqueduct was the finishing touch to the magnificent summer and fall put together by Arts and Letters. With only four runners and Nodouble the only serious threat, the race proved a tour de force for Arts and Letters. Starting on the backside, Nodouble tried to steal the race on the lead, which he held through the stretch the first time and half way into the second turn. Then the race was over. Arts and Letters assumed the lead and just galloped from there, through the backstretch the second time, around the home turn, and through the stretch for home, a winner over Nodouble by 14 lengths. With that, Arts and Letters earned champion 3-year-old honors, co-champion handicap horse honors with Nodouble, and overall Horse of the Year.
Great things were expected of Arts and Letters as a 4-year-old, Mellon having plans on sending his champion to France later in the year to contest the prestigious Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. But his season proved to be an anti-climax. A dull fourth in his return race, he did capture the Grey Lag Handicap and was shipped to California. A rough start in the Californian Stakes resulted in an injury to his left foreleg which was deemed too serious to come back from.
Arts and Letters was retired with a record of eleven wins in 23 starts, six seconds and one third place finish and earnings of $632,404. He was sent to Greentree Stud on the Paris Pike north of Lexington for his stud career.
Arts and Letters proved to be a useful sire, getting 27 stakes winners, the best being 1980 Preakness winner Codex; the durable gelding Winter’s Tale, who captured the Marlboro Cup, Suburban Handicap, and Brooklyn Handicap for Mellon; Tonzarun, a dual Grade 1 winner on the turf; and Lord Darnley, another dual Grade 1-winning gelding. The best out of his daughters were Bachelor Beau, winner of the Blue Grass Stakes and the popular Alphabet Soup, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Arts and Letters lived a long and happy life at Greentree, and formed a strong bond with one of his neighbors in the stallion barn, Stage Door Johnny. Also a winner of the Belmont Stakes, Stage Door Johnny and Arts and Letters had adjoining paddocks. As young stallions, they would race each other up and down the fenceline. As elderly gentlemen, the two old friends would stand in the shade, as close to each other as the fences of their paddocks allowed. So bonded were they, that when Greentree was sold by the Whitney family to Gainesway Farm in 1989, it was written into the sale contract that the two stallions should live out their days together. Stage Door Johnny passed away first, on Nov. 21, 1996 at the age of 31. Arts and Letters lived on quietly for another two years, passing away on Oct. 16, 1998 at the age of 32. As in life, the two friends were buried near each other at Gainesway.
Arts and Letters had outlived them all – Top Knight, Dike, Majestic Prince, Nodouble. Yet still, respect for his accomplishments suffered in the shadow of Majestic Prince years after his rival’s death. Majestic Prince was named 46th on The Blood-Horse’s list of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century while Arts and Letters was ranked as 67th. Majestic Prince also beat his rival into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, being inducted in 1988 while Arts and Letters had to wait for another six years before being inducted in 1994.
Majestic Prince was the better stallion, with 32 stakes winners to his credit, including Belmont Stakes winner Coastal and major stakes winner and important sire Majestic Light. But the march Arts and Letters made through the summer and fall of 1969 had been extraordinary. Only the glossy chestnut neck and head of Majestic Prince prevented Arts and Letters from having a 3-year-old season for the ages.
Respect had not come easy for Arts and Letters, but it grew exponentially with each successive dominant victory that magical summer. And, he garnered the respect of a young girl who eventually overcame her childish pique to recognize Arts and Letters for the exhilarating performer he was.
